:o I've been playing the guitar for almost 35 years. Seen a lot of amps come and go. I still own a couple Fender (got a SFTR that I love), a really nice Carr Rambler (and if you never heard one, go to Carr Amps ) and a Spider 112 (red one) and pound for pound, dollar for dollar, it is a sweet package. Light weight, decent speaker (Celestion), enough effects for studio use and small venue use. (I play through the board for a good mix any way). Yes Line 6 Spiders make good practice amps but they are good enough for pro gigs too. Don't worry about that cable to the footswitch btw. They sell them at any Radio Shack or computer store in the country. It's just a network cable and you can get them in shorter lengths if that long one from Line 6 bothers you. My only complaint about this amp is that Line 6 should give us the FB4/FBV4 switching pedal for free. :cool: