Probably should be a poll.

[Radeon]

I would like opinons on a Line 6 Spider II. I like the sound but some times it seems to get almost sterial. I dont use a lot of the mods built in and it was given to me as a gift but I am not sure I really like it. I am partial to a more vintage sound. Maybe I am not being fair any thoughts would be appreciated.

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Probably should be a poll.

I felt that way about Line 6's products personally. The only one that sounded great dialed in was the Line 6 Vetta. However, for some strange reason, I tried dialing in the Vetta II and it didn't sound as good (try and make sense of that : /).

I think there really is something to tubes. I own two tube amps and they serve me very well (of course, with the costs of tubes, they better...). I think Line 6 will get down tube emulation well in the future, I just don't think they're there quite yet.

[Radeon]

Re: Probably should be a poll.

Chris, I tend to agree when I was younger I had a 100w Marshall tube head. If I only knew then what I know now ( what a dummy). Thanks for the response I appreciate it.

[JfromHouston]

Re: Probably should be a poll.

I didnt mind it. Take it for what it is...an affordable modeling amp. I played the head version and pounded out some pretty good tones. Seemed like it was geared more towards hard rock/metal but I was able to coax some classic rock sounding tones. I liked the effects too. If it was a gift I'd play it because it's not as if your loosing money on it.

I've been getting a little bummed lately on my big amps. There is such a difference in tone between 1 and 4 on the master volume that it is not fun anymore playing it at low volumes. I've been fighting the urge to sell all my amps and just get a Vetta II head and be done with it. No matter where the amps volume is at the head sounds the same and I like that consistency. The only thing stopping me is the fear of the computer crapping out in 2 years after paying 1500 for the head.

[Radeon]

Re: Probably should be a poll.

Thanks JfromHouston your right I can get some good tones. I probably shouldnt look a gift horse in the mouth LOL. It does do what I want it to I play a lot of rock and heavy metal but some times you know the blues kick in and that can be a challange. The spider just wants to crunch and grind but I suppose I could fiddle with it more to get a classic blues tone. I dont use effect pedals at all but I might get a EQ to help things out a bit.

[Kent S.]

Re: Probably should be a poll.

I don't know, but am interested in this subject as I've been thinking about gettin a spider II 2-10, off hand I just like the features, and the FX layout reminds me of my old korg g-3 (yeah, cool good sounding little toy)I loved the simplicity of it, but wished the delay time was adjustable, when I saw the tap function of the spider II, plus the distortion boost, and tuner ... i thought that would be a cool little amp to have as a all purpose work horse ( no grief if it gets broken or such). From my limited (very) exposure to line 6 stuff, they do have some really noce tones in them ... tubey? Hit and miss, on that ... come on it's a modelling amp ... I would be more concerned about how dynamic they are, how dependable also ... like a guy told me, if anything breaks, it's basically a computer, send it back to the factory ... I would get the FBV Shortboard with it though, speaking of that ... that don't say a whole lot about the wah function that's available from the pedal board ... How does the wah sound? Also, I noticed one the spider there is flanger, chorus, and then tremolo, on the spider II it's flanger/chorus ... are they still two different effects or are they kinda lumped into a conglomerate (I hate it when a chorus/flanger sounds just like that ...the chorus always has that flangey tone to it, and the flanger is always a little to chourusey), also how is the tremolo, and how is the phaser on the spider II ... Also the spider II has something called sweep delay, what's that? Is that the same as the ping pong delay on the spider?
How's the reverb, length, depth, tone? Anyone use the noise gate, if so how is that? I love a total indepth review of the two amps (the 2-10 versions only),the owner;s manual don't tell you much about the FX at all. Iif they are as good as the korg g-3's then they are good (not great, but good).
Sorry, about jumping the post, but I love to know the details ...

[Radeon]

Re: Probably should be a poll.

I have the Spider II 75W 2X12 and it is pretty versitile, the delay is adjustable but might not be enough it just depends on how you set it the more you adjust the knob the more the dely. It works the same for all of the effects they are adjustable. I dont use the wah functions but I do have the switc for switching between the presets or your programmed tones. The flanger and chours are well seperated not much overlape except when you are the the top of the chours/bottom of flanger. The sweep delay can handle the speed you play its kind of wierd to work with the tape delay is nice though again all adjustable right on the front consoule. Reverb is great and can go very deep and hold for a good lenght of time. Again it depends on what your very of deep and long is (no pun intended) LOL. The noise gate is super for cutting out a lot of crap that you get unintentionly for standing too close and will shunt the feedback pretty quick. Ther is another little hidden feature that will allow for some pretty powerful overdirve not sleceted from the mod control. I would be happy to share more if your interested?

[Kent S.]

Re: Probably should be a poll.

I have the Spider II 75W 2X12 and it is pretty versitile, the delay is adjustable but might not be enough it just depends on how you set it the more you adjust the knob the more the dely. It works the same for all of the effects they are adjustable. I dont use the wah functions but I do have the switc for switching between the presets or your programmed tones. The flanger and chours are well seperated not much overlape except when you are the the top of the chours/bottom of flanger. The sweep delay can handle the speed you play its kind of wierd to work with the tape delay is nice though again all adjustable right on the front consoule. Reverb is great and can go very deep and hold for a good lenght of time. Again it depends on what your very of deep and long is (no pun intended) LOL. The noise gate is super for cutting out a lot of crap that you get unintentionly for standing too close and will shunt the feedback pretty quick. Ther is another little hidden feature that will allow for some pretty powerful overdirve not sleceted from the mod control. I would be happy to share more if your interested?

I'm familiar with all the functions. As I've read the manuals on both, but ... they still don't explain much as far as the FX, can you give me a detailed run down of the FX ... how's the phaser (old phase 90ish, or smallstone with the colour switch set deep)? Can you get a single delay from it, like a country slap back or doubler? How long a delay time does it have? Can you explain the sweep delay again? I didn't understand that, what does it do? How is the tremolo, how do they overlap the rate and depth (or speed and intensity) parameters? Is the modulation smooth, or jerky? I'm assumming that you set the delay to what you want as far as the delay level/feedback ,and then it will hold that balance while you can use the tap function to change the actual delay time itself? Or no? I noticed that they didn't put the presence boost or volume boost on it like the spider (first one) had, but they did also include a tuner with auto mute ... how good is the tuner? Also both amps are supposed to have cabinet simulation ... are there line outs on the back of the amp,are there extra FX loops,does the headphone jack have the cabinet simulator engaged? See they really don't tell you anything about the amp as far as that stuff goes? Are there XLR outputs on the rear ...what is on the rear?

[Scott_F]

Re: Probably should be a poll.

I had one for a brief period (spider II).

For what I bought it for, it was pretty good. I wanted an amp that I could just grab and go, light weight and all, but had good tone. I ended up sending it back. Most of the models didn't really do it for me.

I ended up building a Tweed deluxe and now I've got my extremely portable amp with great (real) power tube distortion at reasonable volume levels. The bad news on that one is that I had to spend twice as much as the Line 6 cost, but I got what I wanted.

I do think what Vox does with their Valvetrnonix is a lot better than what Line 6 is doing. Just my two cents.

[ex-250]

Re: Probably should be a poll.

id get one just to play around with, its fun with all them effects and models and stuff, but i wouldny rely on it for my main tone

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Probably should be a poll.

IMHO, if I were to get one modeling amp right now, it would be the original Vetta. I got some great cleans, great distortions, and some decent inbetween tones. It really would work great as an amp to play at lower levels. I haven't tried playing it wide open, but for most gigs, I don't think you'd need to.

I may have to mess around more with the Vetta II and see if I can get the same great tones as in the first one, but after tweaking for about 45 minutes, I didn't find anything that great (still can't understand why).

The Vox Valvetronix is a decent practice amp, but I can't really say the cleans, overdriven, or distorted tones were that memorable. I recall them being quite bland. Maybe with better cabinet casing (that cheapo plastic won't get you good tone, you need baltic birch) it could be something much better.

If you're moderately happy with your tone right now, I'd say to hold off until the next big modeling thing comes along. I feel there is a future for modeling, but it's still missing something right now.

And Radeon, you're perfectly welcome. You may hear differently, but that's just my .02 on the subject.

[Kent S.]

Re: Probably should be a poll.

Yeah, i think I liked the idea of it more than anything else, I like the FX because they seem to be laid out like my little old Korg G-3's delay, and modulation controls (except on the spider you can adjust the actual delay time (tap) and have reverb at the same time as delay ... I just thought it would be cool to run across an all in one rig that was small for , well like Scott said, to pick up and go, to play, to jam, to practice ... whatever.
I'll have to put one through it's paces thoroughly one day ... no hurry though.
Thanks!