I Was Gifted A Line 6 Spider 3 2X12....................

[Jeffblue]

I plugged the Line 6 amp in and I wasn't blown away. I am sort of a tube snob. I planned on using this amp strictly for acoustic guitar. I plugged my VHT Fryette Valvulator 1 into the amp and I was pleasantly surprised. I then changed ALL of the user preset settings to clean and plugged a tube overdrive pedal in front of the Valvulator and now this amp is useable for electric guitar and sounds really good. Good sounding tones.

[Securb]

I do not think there are many "bad" amps out there I think some amps are just more limited than others offering less flexibility in tonal options. I am glad you were able to find something in the Line 6 you find useful.

[Mincer]

A gift amp is a gift amp. I bet I'd find some good sounds in there.

[Aceman]

With anything that comes with presets:


Step 1 - Delete them and build your own.

Step 2 - There is no step 2.

[Jeffblue]

With anything that comes with presets:


Step 1 - Delete them and build your own.

Step 2 - There is no step 2.

Yes sir. All user presets are now clean and I'm using an external tube overdrive which is routed into the input of my Valvulator. I have deleted many of the effects in the presets and changed the one's that do not sound very good. With the tube overdrive and the Fryette Valvulator, the amp is sounding pretty good and perhaps useable.

[Aceman]

Yes sir. All user presets are now clean and I'm using an external tube overdrive which is routed into the input of my Valvulator. I have deleted many of the effects in the presets and changed the one's that do not sound very good. With the tube overdrive and the Fryette Valvulator, the amp is sounding pretty good and perhaps useable.

It's all about dialing in the sounds you want. Not sure what year that is, but anywhere after 2005 or so...if you can't crank a good sound out of something with all those models, it's you.

As always, less is more; Less Effects, less level, less extreme EQ, less gain etc.

I have an old Digitech RP200A I get good sounds out of. All about how you set the knobs. As many will attest, these things are built to sound good to 13-18 year old in a Guitar Center....

[Jeffblue]

It's all about dialing in the sounds you want. Not sure what year that is, but anywhere after 2005 or so...if you can't crank a good sound out of something with all those models, it's you.

As always, less is more; Less Effects, less level, less extreme EQ, less gain etc.

I have an old Digitech RP200A I get good sounds out of. All about how you set the knobs. As many will attest, these things are built to sound good to 13-18 year old in a Guitar Center....

You are right. I am getting some great tones out of the amp. The effects are nothing special for sure. Running vacuum tubes in front of this amp certainly helps.

[FuseG4]

Don't look a gift amp in the speaker grille...?

Haha. A lot of clean amps can sound pretty good with pedals that is what I would have done too.

[Rex_Rocker]

I've always thought the models on the Spiders were at least usable. Yeah, they're not last-gen Axe FX quality, but I mean, you can do far worse.

For me it's the poweramp/speaker/combo that don't really do those amps any flavors.

The poweramp is really loud, but it also gets harsh and kinda farty really quickly. The speakers are basically Seventy 80's which aren't fantastic and break up really easily, contrary to what their wattage rating would make you think. And the cab is like as open back as it can be, which doesn't really lend itself to good high-gain tones, IMO. Add all those up, and yeah...

[Mincer]

I was gifted a Spider practice amp that I now use for lessons. It has an excellent clean sound that is fantastic for pedals.

[Jeffblue]

I was gifted a Spider practice amp that I now use for lessons. It has an excellent clean sound that is fantastic for pedals.

I agree. The clean tone is superb and the amp does work well with pedals.

[Jeffblue]

I am running a TC Electronics Hyper Gravity compressor pedal into my Fuch's Plush Valve Job tube overdrive which is slamming into my Fryette Valvulator and it is sounding really good. The onboard effects in the Spider amp, not so good.

[zionstrat]

Congrats! Glad you found an immediate use.

Give it some time and you might find more...

I'm also a tube snob... but in a live mix, it's practically impossible to differentiate decent models from tubes...

The reason? Masking...

All those low grumblings and rich harmonics that we love at home end up mixing in with the bass on one end and the cymbals at the other...

It's pretty easy to prove... Come up with a simple black face or crunch patches and A B with tubes when you gig.. record the band with a high quality mic from audience side, and if you do it right, no one will be able to tell which is which.

And this leads to the advantages of modelers... they are also a lot easier to move from gig to gig when you need fast set up, maintenance is non-existent and your tone doesn't change when you vary the Master vol

And to complete the circuit from where you started... I have a black star hd pedal with a single tube... Can go anywhere anytime and immediately get a great sound with it plugged into anything.

So my lightest rig is a single tube, my overkill is 2 tube amps with a fader pedal in the middle and modelers fill the middle.

[8eezrule]

I have a Line 6 Spider Jam, cool little amp, I like some of the pre sets, mostly make my own though. But no modeler or solid state amp will ever "feel" like a tube amp does, or react to your playing like tubes. But they are fun to fiddle around with. So, enjoy your gift man! Have fun with it!

[Jeffblue]

I removed the Fuch's Plush Valve Job pedal out of the chain and instead added my Tech 21 Flat rig RK V1 while staying with the clean amp models on the Line 6 for amp nuances. Adjusted the delay on the Fly Rig for slapback and all adjustments to optimize tone. Basically using the Line 6 as a power amp with some presets with effects used lightly. Sounding mus=ch better.