All user reviews for the Line 6 Spider 212

I bought this amp about 6 months ago at a local Guitar Center. It cost $650 and i bought the pedal for $70. THE BEST DEAL I EVER MADE!!!

This is a GGGGGRRRREEEEAAAATTTT amp. It is the best amp i have ever played on. The 100 watts(200 watts max) rumbles my house at a quarter of the volume. It has great clear sound and can be heard from a mile away. The digital effects are great! You can change from 6 different models that all are awesome.You can change from pure clean to pure insanity. The distortion is awesome. there are many effects that you can add on to your sound that all sound great! I love how you can save 4 settings and change to them any second.I love this amp!

Nothing!!! The people at line 6 must all be genuisses(unlike me). Every thing about this amp is perfect.

This amp has great, great, great construction. Since i have had it, nothing has broken, not worked, of been damaged! The quality is unbelieveable. Every time i plug my fender into it, it sounds like new. Awesome!

I love this amp. It is the loudest, clearest, best sounding amp ever! Everything about it is great. If you ever need an amp, get this. You will be amazed!!!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought the amp from a friend second hand (but only used twice) for £100 but I don't know how much it useually costs.

The quality of sound, it is amazing!! From sleek clean jazz tones to blow your head off heavy metal insane distortion.

Brilliant if you are playing, classic, jazz, country, britrock, punk, indie, blues, metal - the list goes on and on...

It also comes with handy features like noise gate, extra gain, and loads of smart fx.

It has no line out, which isn't much good if your in a band (but you can always just put a microphone and get much better quality than a line out anyway), it has an upgrade, the Spider 2, which is probably 100 times better which makes me jelous and the amp is quiet on the high gain settings up to a quater of the up and after that it is just to loud.

But thats about it, it has hardly any cons.

I can't really tell because it barely goes out of my room but I use it as a seat alot and it seems to still be alright so I guess it is sturdy enough.

The buttons and knobs are still attached and everything works so they are okay... theres not much more to say.

This amp is brilliant!!! Definately to impress, for more imformation go to; www.line6.com.



This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I aquired this unit from the guitar amp and keyboard center in Brighten and payed a grand total of £329.

Likes its a lot of fun to play with the effects are great and having three on at once sounds good with some tweaking. The presets are really good to get you started.

The clean channel is a bit wooden, i know its a modeling amp but it really lacks any character at all. The two stomp scrolling footswitch isnt good enough to quickly access sounds live meaning you need to fork out another 70 quid for the fbv4 footswitch. For 150 watts its not exactly screaming with power. You also get a lot of feedback.

It looks really cool but i dont think it would last 20 years like a marshall and the knobs are a bit wierd.

I enjoyed experimenting with this amp but after two days i realised it wasnt the amp for me. I use a boss metalzone for my distortion and the clean channel just wasnt up to scratch. I took it back and got a marshall avt 275 which is a far superior amp for tone. I still think its a good amp but i think the spider 2 amps are much more begginer amps. The effects are good but the clean channel is tooweak for my tastes.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought this at Guitar Center in Lynnwood, Wa for $650 and an extra $70 for the four-button footswitch

This amp has a very versatile sound. It has multiple settings designed to emulate certain amps, from Fender Twins to Mesa Boogie Rectos. The heavy distortion "insane" setting is great for metal leads, and the clean sound is very expressive, especially with a little chorus and reverb.

The stock channel settings weren't up to my standards. For the most part, this can be taken care of with a little tweaking of the equalizer; however, the blues channel is just too muddy to use with single-coils (I recommend the clean channel), but sounds OK with humbuckers.

Also, the "insane" setting is a little too messy to be used for rhythm guitar. It loses its clarity when playing chords; it is best to use this setting solely for lead.

The four-channel setup is great. Once you get your ideal channels set up, it only takes a flick of the footswitch to get (not all, but) many of the sounds that you want.

It's a standard combo amp, nothing more, nothing less. The covering is vinyl, and it feels fairly durable. You may not want to drop off of a building or anything, but for standard uses the construction is solid enough.

I would have preferred casters on this amp (it is a little heavy), but those can be added.

This is a good amp, in terms of its versatility and metal-ripping abilities. However, if you put this head-to-head with an all-tube amp, it's obvious that the Line 6 can't pull the same tone and clarity duties as the tube. Overall, the distortion has a great lead sound, and the clean is just sparkling. In terms of rock or blues rhythm, it could be better.

The bottom line: if you can find a used tube half stack or combo in decent condition for less, that may be the better option (unless you're into the muddy sound, as some people are). But, for me, I think a tube amp with a good distortion box would have sufficed (but then I would have lost the versatile sound).

After much debating, I would call this match a draw. Go play the amps yourself, compare, and decide which best suits your personal style.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I was looking for my first serious amp and man did I find it. I looked in many guitar mags and shops for a long time. At first I was going to get a Bandit, but then I found the Spider. It was $714 at Grand performance, I had already seen the amp in Musicians Friend for $649. So I talked them into selling to me for that price, and it was worth every cent.

Let me start with, this amp is awsome I mean sweet with a capital S. It has a bunch of diffirent amp modles and affects. I am in love with this amp. Its cool looking and packs a huge punch. Its big, but will fit nicely on a desk or a shelf, and loud enough to play gigs. It makes even the less quality made guitars sound god. I played on the bandit with a ernieball musicman axis($1529), then played the Spider with a crudy squire($199)and belive it or not it sounded better. This amp is awsome. I would deffinatly invest in this product.

Well It doesn't come with a pedal to switch between the chanals, which is a draw back but that can befixed with a small sum of $80 trust me its worth the extra cash. Its heavy but thats only a problem for sume.Other than that their is nothing wrong with this amp, nata, zilch, zipp, its great.

Oh it is built solid like a rock. So far it has survived manycar rides in the back. Nice leather covering and prtective plastic sides. Its heavy but only because its well built. Very well built and looks cool to.

Bottom line buy this amp its sweet, it looks cool, sounds great, feels great, It is great! If you want a serious amp that sounds like no other get a Line6. You wont be sorry. Oh and have fun on your new spider.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I paid $650 dollars for this at Music Men in Springfield, MA. The price was origianally a rediculous $900, but we showed the store owner an ad for guitar world and he matched the price. Before i got this i only had a 15 watt Crate amp. It was solid but not if i wanted to perform. If you are looking for an amp that you can really crank up and keep good sound, this amp is for you, and i strongly urge you to pay the 150 more dollars to get this amp instead of the crate 212, which has weak distortion and no surprises.

This is a great amplifier. It has a huge variety of different sounds, this is a wonderful 2nd amp, or even for the serious muscian. The disortion is amazing, it has the quality of a 200 dollar disortion pedal. You can crank this amp up and keep good sound. I was playing in front of at least 150 people and i didnt have to turn it up more than half way.

well i have to be honest. The effects could be better. The flange isnt all that special, but i like the courus even though it doesnt compare to a pedal, but it still does the job. The reverb is pretty lifeless, but the delay is fabulou, especially the pin-pong version because it lasts a long time.

construction? well ive had mine for 2 1/2 years and not a mark on it. I guess you could say the quality is exellent.

This amp is great all around. I strongly urge anyone to go out and purchase this amplifier. IT has unbeliveable distortion and some alright effects, and best of all its loud as hell. Trust me, go bye this amp right now.

e-mail me if you have any specific questions, id be more than happy to help.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought this amp at Dels Music in Holland Michigan. I got the guy that works there to match the musicans friend's price so I bought it.

When I started looking for a nice amp to buy I was basicaly looking for a quality amp with out too many onboard effects and plenty of power. I dont really like onboard FX because going to an amp to change them is a hastle. I wanted an amp that was prime to plug a RP2000 or a gnx3 into. The spider was what I found

I have no complaints what-so-ever!

The quality is top notch and solid all the way.

If you want a powerhouse and an amp with plenty of balls, then get this amp! Its the best quality and not expensive at all when you look at all you're getting.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I paid $650 for it at a local guitar center

What can I say. When I bought this amp I wasnt expecting to get such an awesome piece of equipment. I had my doubts about going out and buying a combo amp when everyone else was walking out and buying stacks. Locally it seems as though everyone has a Marshall combo or stack, and I can say from experience that Marshall distortion doesnt have anything on my Spider. I basically bought a Line6 so I wouldnt have a Marshall, and now everyone seems to be envious of my superior choice. Try the insane setting... definitely the most insane distortion you will get out of any amp. no pun intended

The built in effects could use some work. The Flange is good, but its got nothing on a pedal. The delay and chorus are great, as is the ping pong affect since you cant really get it out of anything but a stereo amp. As good as it sounds though, its not exactly flawless on the tube emulating. You can tell the difference, but personally I think there are advantages to a solid state.

The construction is awesome. Its built really nice and I actually didnt notice that the speakers were angled until after I bought it. I try my best to take care of it, and not a scratch so far. I guess thats all I can ask for. Built solid... but pretty damn heavy to say the least.

Ive been playing guitar for a few years now and I have been searching for distortion like this everywhere. Ive been through tons of pedals, and nothing compares to the insane setting on this. If you solo on it you get a bright cutting distortion that screams, and when you mute the strings you can literally shake the room. I practice with a live drummer and a band and I still cant turn it up more than a quarter of the way or I'm drowning everyone out. LOUD amp. Lately Ive been playing a lot of Tool and A perfect Circle style music with it. keep the gain at a moderatly low level with a lot of bass and you have some nice warm distortion to rival Adam Jones. try the insane setting with heavy chorus and you can get some Billy Howerdell solos in there too. Awesome amp... screw Marshall... this is a no brainer. You will not regret it.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I had been saving for this unit for quite some time. I was looking around in magazines and web pages for the cheapest price. I looked at musicinas friend and saw it, it was $650.00 plus tax and shipping and handling and the totla came out to be like $720.00 or someting. I kept looking, I went to music123.com and saw it there for $602.00 and called to see how much it would come to with tax and shipping and handling. There was no tax and free shipping and handling. So a came to a conclusion and bought the unit. It was a very good investment.



What I like about the Line 6 Spider 212 is definately the power. It's got a lot of "beef". I like how it has its own modeler and different effects built into it for modeling, it makes thing easy. The Line 6 Spider so far has been a good investment and a very reliable.



Frankly there is nothing I don't like about the unit, besides the fact that it is kind of a hasle to pack around a little heavy. oh well!



The Line 6 Spider to my perspective is a very good quality unit not only sound but its constrution is very well done. It is loaded with 2 12" speakers and has 100 watts with 200 watt max. 67 pounds and incredibly tone. Beautiful apmlifier.



In conclusion I love my amp and I hop it stays up and keeps working like it has been. Well see what happens and where my amp and I end up.



This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Amp transistors 6 MODELING
2 hp 12 '
2x50W stereo
Delay, flanger, phaser, chorus, tremolo ...
a general setting, and reverb effects independent of other
connectors on the front
ability to program four adjustable presets
4-band EQ

UTILIZATION

Use of this amp is very simple, we chose one of 6 to 1 amp knob one side with a choice of grain to another knob, equalizer serious, 2 medium, sharp and we add the desired effect, the all coupled with an independent reverb.

SOUNDS

The amp was a try with a Fender Start Elite
With that we get enough good sounds in general, although I preferred the sounds clearer notement the blues amp.

OVERALL OPINION

It therefore very versatile and suitable for all styles of music.
It is a good value because mimics several kinds of amp and is found by chance around € 400.
Ideal for those who do not have the budget for this pay several amp.

Several people who spend much time with Line 6's 212 amps, and probably their 100 to 150-watt heads, seem to come away from the experience confused- it is a high-powered PRACTICE amp, or is it a gigging amp, like most 100-watt amps are? Does anybody really NEED a practice amp with that kind of power? The reality is, it is, at least for the Spyder 1 212, it is a BUDGET gigging amp- if you approach it as such, with an eye towards the limitations imposed by the budget measures it has, you can appreciate and use it for what it is.

This is an all-solid-state amp (all Line 6 amps have been, until the most recent "Valve" series.) It is a multi-channel, Digital Signal Processor (DSP) modeling amp. Line 6 rates it at 50 watts, times two channels, or 100 watts. As to whether that power is "delivered-" well, that is probably anybody's guess- Line 6 does not publish the impedeance of the signal, only that it is "100 Watts (2 X 50) Stereo." Although the amp has 2, 8-ohm speakers, it is quite possible that the power rating is at 4, or even 2 ohms- 100 watts at 4 ohms translates into 50 watts at 8 ohms, 100 watts at 2 ohms would be a 98-pound weakling 25 watts at 8 ohms. This kind of hocus-pocus has been done before- ART did it with their "100 watt" Attack Module Amps, in the very early 90's. Consumers have short memories, so I suppose 10 years was plenty enough time to forget...

Lots of controls- maybe too many. Really, does an amp need three tone controls? It is nice that you can have three effects at once, though.

As far as connections, Line 6 went the exact opposite direction as they did on controls- too few. One instrument in, and a headphone out- not counting the RJ-45 connection for the proprietary floor controlers, two connections, total. Really, would it have broken the budget to include stereo speaker or line-level outs? Having stereo effects when the only speakers you can hear it on are spaced 3 inches apart is kind of pointless- to hear the "ping-pong" delay, you almost have to get right in front of the amp.

Speaking of effects- this amp's got 'em- flange, chorus, tremolo, delay, "tape echo," (which is nothing of the sort ping pong, and reverb. As mentioned above, great that you can have three of them at once- not so great that Line 6 commits the cheap-amp cardinal sin (and, in the final analysis, this IS a cheap amp)- no way to control both speed and level of the effects. Booooo.

And, boy, is this thing LIGHT. Compared to the standard for 212 amps, the Fender Twin Reverb, this thing almost floats along, feeling like it may weigh HALF as much as a Fender TR. Where did the weight go? There are two 12-inch speakers in it, and MDF is NOT a light-weight building material, so why's it so light? I suspect that, as it has no tubes, Line 6 could get by with a much smaller, lighter (and cheaper) set of transformers. I put casters under this one, and frankly, I don't know why I went to the trouble- it is light enough to be hand-carried with the single handle on the top of the amp.

UTILIZATION

A good distorted sound is actually achievable- which should come as no surprise, as budget amps are primarily made for the younger players, who are more likely to want lots of distortion. And I mean, LOTS of distortion. The "crunch" and "retro" amp models can deliver more distortion than any three guitarist would really want- and more is on tap with the appropriately-named "Insane" model.

The "clean," "twang," and "blues" sounds are not as usable, sounding a little too sterile and bland. Imagine eating boiled chicken with only salt for seasoning, and you have an idea of what those settings are like. Little of the clean, bell-like chime of a vintage Fender Twin, or the brown-dirt power-tube distortion of a dimed Princeton or Deluxe. Some of that is there, but no one will ever mistake this for a tube amp.

The manual is quite good, but it should include an explanation of the effects, and when they are typically used. If the technical writers are going to hell, it will be for letting way too much blush-inducing praise for "the engineers at Line 6." To hear the manual tell it, they are gods who walk among men. The results tell a somewhat different story.

SOUNDS

Being a modeling amp, the Spider 212 works just as well with humbuckers as it does with single coils, but little or no "expression," that one hears with some tube amps, made it through the machinations of those miracle-working engineers. "Sounds," in the form of amp models and effects, are all decent, if un-inspiring. With three tone controls- bass, mid and treble, it hardly matters if the frequency curve is neutral- one advantage of all those knobs is you can EQ the thing until it squeaks- figuratively or literally.

OVERALL OPINION

After spending considerable time with the Line 6 Spyder 1 212, I found that acceptable tones and sounds can be coaxed out of it, without much tweaking or work. For the attention-deficit, instant-gratification-seeking youth of today, that probably has sold more Line 6 gear (as well as other makes) than any other feature. I got this amp used, and cheap, and bought it because I want to see, first-hand, what Line 6 amps were like. Overall, I am pleased- you could gig with this amp- it is both loud enough for most club gigs, and has the visual appeal of a twin twelve- and it's on-board effects mean that you need not bring anything other than the amp and you guitar(s.) Having to purchase the Floor Board to access the 12 different groups of settings, and the built-in tuner (which you can not use without the Floor Board) is just mean, but at least, now that the Floor Board is obsoleted by the newer Line 6 amps, the company is blowing out NOS Floor Boards for $50, plus shipping, direct.

And, about that "budget gigging" amp thing: a little too much about this amp says "cheap," but you CAN gig with it, to good effect- but chances are it is not worth the expense of buying a ATA flight case to put it in- just watch Craigslist for another one. And another.

(Watch for my review of the Line 6 Floor Board, coming soon.)

This amp is not a keeper amp at all. This thing is a basic sounding solid state amp modeler that doesn't sound anything like the amp modelers it claims to emulate. The tone is extremely thin and metallic sounding.

You get 6 amp models and none of them really are capable of sounding like the tube amps that are very famous and enough so that Line 6 would attempt to model. Not that it is Line 6's fault but the idea of amp modelers is really a humorous joke. The idea that they can emulate digitally a tube amp without tubes is just an enormously huge mistake. Nothing can emulate a real tube sound and feel.

UTILIZATION


SPIDER 210 SPECIFICATIONS
Amp Models 6
Digital Effects 7
Factory Presets 10
Factory Presets w/Floorboard 18
User Programmable Channels 4
User Programmable Channels w/ Floorboard 12
Headphone & Direct Out 1/4 inch TRS
Power 50 Watts (2 x 25)
Configurations 2 X 10 inch Combo
Weight 38 lbs
Dimensions 23.5" W x 17.5" H x 11" D (60 x 44 x 28 cm)

SOUNDS

I guess the most authentic sound are the effects. The effects do sound convincingly enough to go ahead make this purchase only for the practice aspect of it. If you are looking for a practice amp that is an all encompassing everything unit then this isn't a bad unit. You would never go on stage with this thing though. This is not a gigging amp. The sound man will laugh you right off the stage and may even ask you to take this amp off the stage and mic up one of the house amps.

This is why I am a bit confused of the reason for 50 watts of power when you will never need to turn this thing up this loud. Well, this amp is not a bad practice amp and with a good guitar it will get you jamming comfortably at home.

OVERALL OPINION

I don;t believe that these amps are even offered anymore. I think these have been discontinued to another more modern model. If you find one on the classifieds I can't imagine it being more than $200.

I would recommend this amp to only someone who needs a simple practice amp doesn't want to spend too much money. They are pretty reliable and that is a plus.