Re: Full Review of Line 6/Bogner Spider Valve
All right... just gave the 2x12 model a thorough test drive with an MIA Strat and my HH Silhouette.
My experience was largely the same as Joe's... although I should note that I found the midgain tones and clean tones to be more satisfying with the Strat. Still didn't really match the sounds a good tube amp can produce but this gets closer than anything else I've tried. Backing off the volume of the guitar on high-gain sounds doesn't really cause the amp to clean up that well at lower ranges... just kinda makes the tone a little crumbly.
The only other really weak point I found was that even at the higher gain/volume settings sometimes the sustain and the drive of the tones was somewhat lacking, as in you didn't get that long, rich, blooming sustain you're used to with a good tube amp. Makes me wonder if different tubes or a boost pedal would change that, though.
This sounds better than any POD/Power amp combo I've ever heard, and it's certainly the best feeling, best sounding Line 6 I've ever tried. I found the amps heavier tones to sound best with the master presence rolled back to about 4, as the amp can be overly bright and a tad brittle with the presence up too high. GJ's right about the volume jumps in between amp changes... it's like when you change amps the channel volume is automatically set on 7 or 8, but you really only need it to be on 5 or 6. Speaking of which, this amp is probably downright scary as a 100W head/half stack, because the 40 watt version was loud as sh!t. Loud and authoritative, but not EXCESSIVELY loud... it had plenty of good "real world" useable power. I've long thought of 100W tube amps as overkill in most people's playing situations... most guitarists don't need that kind of power unless we're playing arenas, stadiums, or other large venues. It's like taking an F1 racer to work every day during rush hour. The 40W this amp offers is great to work with.
Of note... the sticker on the front of the amp said this amp was using 5881 power tubes. I was confused because I thought these came with 6L6's, but I looked in the back and lo and behold a duet of 5881s was staring me in the face. Wonder if they changed something at the factory?
I think Line 6 did something really cool with this amp, and it's a big step in a really neat direction for guitar amps. It'll be interesting to see what happens when the technology gets refined and updated.
All right... just gave the 2x12 model a thorough test drive with an MIA Strat and my HH Silhouette.
My experience was largely the same as Joe's... although I should note that I found the midgain tones and clean tones to be more satisfying with the Strat. Still didn't really match the sounds a good tube amp can produce but this gets closer than anything else I've tried. Backing off the volume of the guitar on high-gain sounds doesn't really cause the amp to clean up that well at lower ranges... just kinda makes the tone a little crumbly.
The only other really weak point I found was that even at the higher gain/volume settings sometimes the sustain and the drive of the tones was somewhat lacking, as in you didn't get that long, rich, blooming sustain you're used to with a good tube amp. Makes me wonder if different tubes or a boost pedal would change that, though.
This sounds better than any POD/Power amp combo I've ever heard, and it's certainly the best feeling, best sounding Line 6 I've ever tried. I found the amps heavier tones to sound best with the master presence rolled back to about 4, as the amp can be overly bright and a tad brittle with the presence up too high. GJ's right about the volume jumps in between amp changes... it's like when you change amps the channel volume is automatically set on 7 or 8, but you really only need it to be on 5 or 6. Speaking of which, this amp is probably downright scary as a 100W head/half stack, because the 40 watt version was loud as sh!t. Loud and authoritative, but not EXCESSIVELY loud... it had plenty of good "real world" useable power. I've long thought of 100W tube amps as overkill in most people's playing situations... most guitarists don't need that kind of power unless we're playing arenas, stadiums, or other large venues. It's like taking an F1 racer to work every day during rush hour. The 40W this amp offers is great to work with.
Of note... the sticker on the front of the amp said this amp was using 5881 power tubes. I was confused because I thought these came with 6L6's, but I looked in the back and lo and behold a duet of 5881s was staring me in the face. Wonder if they changed something at the factory?
I think Line 6 did something really cool with this amp, and it's a big step in a really neat direction for guitar amps. It'll be interesting to see what happens when the technology gets refined and updated.
