SeriesLine 6 Spider II

Well, Im not actually a "real" guitarist, Im actually a Jazz Drummer and have been for the last 9 Years. Ive played in several bands and orchestras, and my last endevour I toured Ireland in the schools Swing Band playing drums (im 19) In the last 2 or 3 years I have tried to put time aside for learning to play the guitar and bass, and more recently the harmonica! (very cool and quick to learn instrument, cheap too!) Anyway, Im a bit of a collecter when it comes to anything music, anything old and cool intrests me, as well as new and modern. Well, I managed to snap this baby up for 125 GBP off an online auction, and collecting the amp wasnt a problem, about 60 miles away and back, which is quite a fair way, but its no hassle when I wouldnt risk having it sent by delivery! I bought this amp to replace my ageing marshall 8080 valvestate which at the minute is in pieces having some soldering work done to it in my garage Oh, this amp is absoutly incredible. I dont know why I even bothered with the basic marshall when I could have bought one of these babys a long time ago. Each amp setting, the twelve amp models its based on, from the humble ac30 to a mesa boogie!, its got them all. Although I mainly play blues and rock, this amp doe the job nicely. Because the amp is so DIGITAL, it feels almost too perfect, theres no inacurasys in the sound, and theres lots of little quirks I love about it. For example, you can put it too a high gain amp like a mesa, and turn up the master to 1, and you can get some lovley little pinched harmonics squeeling, and I play an ordinary generic telecaster replica!. I also love the fact you can save the volume and EQ settings AS WELL as effects on four sperate channels which can be selected by hand, or simply by using a plug in foot pedal lke the FB2 (which came with my amp) The effects themselves are pretty nifty, I love the idea that the further you turn the knob on the effect,m the proresivly deeper / faster it gets, and also there is a tap tempo button for setting the delays. There is tremelo, chorus, phaser, flanger, tape echo, delay, and sweep delay (a bit like tape echo with a touch of flanger). Although the ability to edit these effects is fairly limited, who cares?, and BE HONEST, how often do we use effects other then wah wah and reverb, hmmm? Speaking of reverb, the reverb on this amp is pretty amazing, and sounds very organic and rich, not tinny and fake. OK, there are several things that frustrate me ever so slightly about the amp, and Ill be very honest with you about this. If you intend to go about flciking through the amp models with the mster more then 4 or 5, you might risk damaging youre ears as the gain gets progressivly louder, for example, if the gain turned right up on a ac-30 sounds fairly crunchy with the channel volume half way, imagine what the mesa-boogie sounds like!, YES, ALOT of loud squeeling and feedback. Because the amp memorises the gain settings, its dosent changer for another amp, and boosts it too the equivlent if the gain knob was turned that far on the amp it was being moddled on. My advice is suss out what amps you want and effects, and save them on each channel, other then that, turn youre volume down on youre guitar before you go delving in and all is ok The effects limitations might piss some people off, but they are there to be subtle like chorus and some mild delay. If you like Pink Floyd / Dave Gilmour, then you will LOVE this amp. The other thing I dont like about this amp is the very last amp on the dial "Insane", it sounds like a frog farting. The EQ settings can seem very subtle at times. The only other thing I dont like about this amp, and some of the people have purchased it, is the ammount that they bitch about how cruddy it is. It isnt cruddy!!, if you want cruddy, but a marshall AVT (no offense AVT owners, but the amp has its arse kicked from every angle from the line 6) The reason why I like this amp so much is the cheapness of it, its cheap!, and more importantly it does everything it says on the tin. My rant is over haha The construction of this amp is absoltuly lovley, everything says "quality" about it, the dials and buttons feel a tiny bit plasticy, but very smmooth and controlled and chunky. The asthetics are amazingly pleasing to the eye, but its certainly built for the road. im going to give this amp a 9.5 / 10 purley because I think there a .5 in improvemrnt to be made, but its one hell of a good amp for the money and if youre not an amp connosuir moaning about the lack of valves or "Tubes", then this one is for you. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought the Line 6 Spider II head at Guitar Center because i wanted a bigger amp with a lot of built in effects. This head is awesome matched up with the spider II cab or with anything else. I have been using it for about 6 months now and played at fairs and gigs and it has never let me down. Best thing I ever bought!!! I have no dislikes about this unit whatsoever. This unit is constructed firmly and has awesome quality Best money ever spent This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I purchased the amp through Music 123, after hearing sound bytes on Line 6's web page. The purchase price was $299.99. The clean sound is excellent. The "insane" distortion sound is very good. The reverbs and delays sound great, but the delay is a hassel to adjust. The price is excellent. I think the amp sounds artificial. The distorted sound closly resembles a Hot Rodded Marshall, but it lacks the warmth of actual tubes. It sounds electronic instead of natural. You dont have much control over the effects, they are either, on or off, slow, medium or fast. I think it should come with a footswitch. Their footswitches range in price from $75-$399! Which is more than I payed for the amp. I think it is constructed well for the price. However, I recently purchased a Behringer Ultrabass BX1200 bass amp and its construction is Much better than the Line 6 Spider II for about the same price. The Line 6 Spider II 112 is a great amp for the price. I would highly recommend it for beginners and as a home practice amp to anyone at any level. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Purchased at Sam Ash Raleigh, NC. I have recently purchased the 75w 1-12" amp $299 and the 150w 2-12" amp $499. One for rehearsals and one for live gigs. I am a part time professional and have been playing guitar for years now and as a guitar player you're always in search for the "Holy Grail" of sound for your style of playing. I now own and have owned many types of amps including Peavey 5150 amps to the "Evil" Fender Twin amp. I am very impressed with these amps. They are amazing! The built in amp models gives you a good amp sound model to begin tweaking to your own style of playing. And since these amps are all Solid State, their lightweight compared to Tube style amps is wonderful. It's like being on a diet and have lost a few pounds. The click buttons on the FBV Shortboard are kind of loud when changing your stored presets and effects. I guess it's because the entire thing is made of metal so it just sounds that way. Maybe after it's broken in a bit, it will be a little quieter. I have to say that I noticed the quality of this pedal board right away as soon as I unboxed it. It is appears to be of professional craftsmanship. It also gives you a feeling of using "Pro" level gear and seems like it will hold up well under any given situation. I have always used various types of floor pedals and stomp boxes such as Boss and others. It is such a hassle trying to run the power supply to all of them with wires all over the place.I have been using an SKB pedal board with the velcro to hold all of the pedals in place. Before, I had 2 guitar cables running from my SKB's effects loop to my amps effects loop plus another guitar cable running from the amp's out to the SKB in and then another cable from my guitar to the SKB. Then you have that little "Wall Wart" Boss power adapter to connect to all your pedals and a separate power strip to power it all up with. What a hassle! But now, with the Line 6 Shortboard, there's only just the CAT5 cable to worry with. And since it's a standard CAT5 cable, you can have your choice of different lengths depending on your stage setup. The Spider II amp powers the Line 6 Shortboard through the CAT5 cable and that's it. Just one cable on the floor. No cables to trip over or to have to duct tape down on the floor. Pretty cool! As you may know, you only get 4 stored presets on the amp face on the Spider II amp itself. But, with the FBV Shortboard, you now can get 36 stored presets. Wow! Plus you have full control over the amp by accessing the multi individual controls buttons. This allows you to keep your hands on the guitar and lets your feet take control instead. You also get to create a cool name for each pattern that is stored. I have to admit...the price of this pedal board was almost out of reach for me and will be for most others I am sure, but when you consider the many features that it has to offer, it almost makes it seem within reason. The wah pedal is pretty cool and it also doubles as a volume pedal which I have also been wanting to buy but just never done so. The built in guitar tuner is amazingly accurate and makes for not having to carry around a tuner otherwise. Another neat thing is that it has a "Stomp" button feature on it that gives you a boost in your gain for solo's. You can have the Spider II amp and Shortboard set up and ready to perform in just minutes. And at the end of the gig, tear down is a breeze also which means you’ll be all packed up and ready to go in no time and still have time to chat with your buds before closing time. Over all I have to say that I have been deeply impressed with the Line 6 products and I will continue to use Line 6 for as long as they are around which I feel will be a very long time. I am addicted! Thanks Line 6! This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

This amp is 15 watts but it seems as if its more, there is a lot to this amp that most people don’t appreciate but you would have to listen to it in person to really get the sound and feel of it. I am a fan of it after just jamming on it for 30 mins. I love the chorus and reverb on it, very clean. UTILIZATION It's pretty easy to dial up some decent tones through this amp. I don't think I ever had to crack open the manual. But, there is one major flaw to this amp: when switching between channels there is a long delay. Perhaps this is the "analog circuitry" taking its time, but whatever the reason it renders the amplifier unusable for switching between channels in the middle of the song. I'm pretty good with timing, but I could never get it down for punching in additional gain (from the other channel) for guitar solos. That being said, if someone didn't do a lot of channel changing, I guess this would be a decent amplifier, or it would have to be used and miked only in a studio environment where quick switching isn't necessary. SOUNDS This amp is no longer being made though, it has been replaced with a newer model. I havent had a chance to get my hands on the new model yet. I will soon though, sure you wont need a manual for that one either. Very easy to start using it. OVERALL OPINION This is a decent sounding amp, even though it's a Behringer. I had one problem with the input connection falling apart, probably due to its cheap manufacture. For a high school kid, it might be a good first amp for playing with friends, considering the low cost. But, as mentioned about, the delay in switching channels really hinders the users ability to play with this amp.

Let me start by saying how much I loath solid state amps and how much I can't stand amp modeling. Amp modeling is so processed and fake that no matter how much time you spend with it you will not be able to make it sound real. This amp continues to give me very little doubt about the amp modeling world. Line 6 are definitely the leaders in the amp modeling world but to be honest most of their tones from the recreated amps just don't sound very good. I like Line 6 products and many of their units I still use today. However, these amps are just garbage. They are positioned for the newbie guitarist who needs an all in one everything amp that has effects, tuner, and load of amp models. UTILIZATION * 12 unique amp models * 7 different effects with 3 available simultaneously * Smart FX knob for easy tweaking * Delay times can be set via tap tempo * 2 - 10" Custom Celestion speakers * Front-panel tuner * Spring and room reverb * Headphone out * 120W stereo (2x60W) * 27-1/2"W x 21"H x 15-1/2"D * 54 lbs. SOUNDS This is just a waste in my opinion. I like the way their effects sound and the way that their software is set up much like a real guitar rig, but the distortions and amp models are horrible! To me it doesn't matter what guitar you use with this thing it is going to sound nothing like the amps they are trying to recreate. If you must lay this amp then I would play it with a Gibson Les Paul or something with mahogany for the wood. Something dark and bold that will give some thickness to the tone of this amp. The amp sounds thin and sterile much like a stomp box overdrive or distortion pedal would sound like. The tone is very brittle and unmistakably digital. You will not be able to dial that out at all.You can hear and feel the digital process in the tone. This amp has no soul and no tone what so ever. It is a complete waste of resources. OVERALL OPINION If you want a mp modeler that has effects built in as well then go with one of the other Line 6 amps that Reinhold Bogner helped out with. They actually have a good usable distortion tone. No wonder they went out an found a pro to do the dirty channels. Line 6 has ceased to make this model anymore. Now they are on the Line 6 1V. Which has about the same amount of tonal qualities. You can find these in the classifieds for around $200 or so and maybe less. I have never researched to find out. My guess is that you will be much happier with the Bogner version.