Yesterday I was at my local guitar center looking at smaller house amps (selection was super slim). They had what I assume is the newest spider amp and I gave it a try. I was honestly shocked, it was not complete garbage like the one I had years ago as a beginner. I only tried some high gain settings on it, and I didnt spend a ton of time tweaking, but its amazing how far these small modeling amps have come. I would like to try a katana and mustang gtx as well, but they had none in stock. Any other recommendations for small home amps, or general opinions around the topic welcome.
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How long have the spiders not sounded like complete garbage?
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I was very happy with my sound gigging with a Fender Mustang III.
It sounded great and I was able to program a bunch of tones I loved. Sounded very natural too.
It never let me down and I never stopped liking the sound.
“Practice cures most tone issues” - John Suhr
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Originally posted by PFDarkside View Post
And wait for Moore’s law to kick in.
The fender gtx may be new top dog. Either that or katana. Try both.
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I've tried cheap ones and more expensive ones. Outside of absolute grind, they feel terrible to play, and have absolutely no touch-sensitivity. I used to have a small earlier version as a lesson amp (which I eventually donated). One of the schools I teach at has a more modern verson, and that is pretty compressed and flat sounding on almost every setting.Administrator of the SDUGF
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I like the Peavey VIP series
I had one of the Vyper series and it sounded good
it was just flimsy as could be
Seemed like if you dropped it it would lay flat
The VIP ain't like that
EHD
Just here surfing Guitar Pron
RG2EX1 w/ SD hot-rodded pickups / RG4EXFM1 w/ Carvin S22j/b + FVN middle
SR500 / Martin 000CE-1/Epiphone Hummingbird
Epiphone Florentine with OEM Probuckers
Ehdwuld branded Blue semi hollow custom with JB/Jazz
Reptile Green Gibson Custom Studio / Aqua Dean Shire semi hollow with piezo
Carvin Belair / Laney GC80A Acoustic Amp (a gift from Guitar Player Mag)
GNX3000 (yea I'm a modeler)
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The VIP series is actually really great...certainly what I would recommend for a cheap practice amp with a lot of features...that doesn't sound bad at all.Administrator of the SDUGF
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Katanas are pretty legit amps for the money.
The possibilities are endless for working through tones and effects.
Go buy my book. https://www.amazon.com/dp/198405564X
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The only modelers I've used extensively are those from Vox. Had an AD50VT for 10 years or more and gigged with it all over the place. Held up great. Sold it and have been using a Vox AV30 ever since. It's a loud little amp too for a 30W 1x10 modeler. They market it as an analog amp, which it is, with 3 digital effect. One of the best sounding amps I've played through.
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The Spider V is a huge upgrade over previous versions... as long as you get the version that has an actual guitar speaker instead of the cheapest model that has a terrible attempt at an FRFR setup with a tweeter. The terrible speaker has always been the single biggest problem with the Spiders, moreso than the modelling.
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Originally posted by Cynical View PostThe Spider V is a huge upgrade over previous versions... as long as you get the version that has an actual guitar speaker instead of the cheapest model that has a terrible attempt at an FRFR setup with a tweeter. The terrible speaker has always been the single biggest problem with the Spiders, moreso than the modelling.Administrator of the SDUGF
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Oddly, I've always felt that cleans were the strongest part of the Spider line; very clear and clean, maybe "sterile" but they get the job done just fine. Barely overdriven is still the weakest part of the line, though, I agree on that (but it's still a LOT better than the III or IV, and really probably better than the cheap solid-state practice amps that made the non-Spider bottom-of-the-line when I started learning ~15 years ago).
The speaker was always the biggest problem, though. The Spider heads into a decent cab weren't anywhere near as awful as the cheap combos, but obviously no-one who is serious enough for a big head + cab setup is going to get a Spider head, so the point was kind of moot.
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Originally posted by Cynical View PostOddly, I've always felt that cleans were the strongest part of the Spider line; very clear and clean, maybe "sterile" but they get the job done just fine. Barely overdriven is still the weakest part of the line, though, I agree on that (but it's still a LOT better than the III or IV, and really probably better than the cheap solid-state practice amps that made the non-Spider bottom-of-the-line when I started learning ~15 years ago).
The speaker was always the biggest problem, though. The Spider heads into a decent cab weren't anywhere near as awful as the cheap combos, but obviously no-one who is serious enough for a big head + cab setup is going to get a Spider head, so the point was kind of moot.
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