Line 6 Spider IV 75

Hello,

I'm new to the site and also the guitar, I got an electric guitar for Christmas and have been really enjoying it. It's quite a basic guitar with a very basic amp, I was wondering if it would help to purchase a new amp, the Line 6 Spider IV 75. I'm thinking it will help me learn to play the classic rock songs as it has the effects for them, thus I just need to nail the notes.

Is this a worthwhile investment, if not what amp would you recommend.

My current amp is a B.B. Blaster (http://www.jhs.co.uk/bb_blaster.html), the guitar is made by Encore I think the pair only cost about £150.

Any advice would be helpful, thanks.

Adam

Hi Adam, welcome to GT..
I don't think having the power and the tones would give you that much of an advantage.
I do think that having a varity of tones/effects can help make the repetiveness of practice a little easier.
Maybe check out one of line 6 PODS. I have a Line 6 pocket pod and it fits the bill for me.
Like you said, " you just need to nail the notes " And your real investment is the time you put into your music.
This is my opinion so hopefully you'll get so advice from so more experienced players.
Good Luck and pratice long and hard...

Thanks for the reply.

I've been looking around and it seems that the one to get is the Peavey Vypyr 30, the pocket pod is something I have had my eye on and I may get one in a month or three.

Adam

I have heard good things about those Peavey Vipers. While they won't give you an advantage in playing, you will enjoy the sound a great deal more. With almost whatever you get, really.

My experience with starter pack amps was pretty disappointing. I tried a couple out, intending to keep one in the workshop (so I just wanted a cheap one), but I ended up taking them back because they sounded pretty bad.

Hey bro, and welcome! I have been using this site for about 8 months and love it. It has been my greatest advantage.

I am a BIG classic rocker too. I love it and I love to play it. I have been "playing" guitar for about 15 years, but only 10 months wih real lessons.

As a few have said your greatest advantage to playing better is lots of practice. This site will get you there and you will get out of it what you put into it.

As for gear, I personally am NOT a fan of the line6 gear. I have heard so many people talking about how great they are. So I tried the spider jam, although it had some nice features, the tone just killed it for me. I love and am true to the classic rock tone that didnt have all that digital mumbo jumbo. If you want distortion, turn it up, or use a good overdrive pedal.
I also recently tried the pod2.0, returned it too. Same problem, the fine tone quality just wasnt there, I just couldnt enjoy playing if i didnt like what I was hearing.

Now for my advice, for what its worth. Musical instruments are expensive, plain and simple. You do get what you pay for. Now is what I would probably do, is just live with it for a while. Try it out, learn a little and see if you really want to play and do this before you make much more of an investment. Which is exactly what I did. A few things that you can do that may improve your experience is spend a few bucks on a set up, or learn how to do some of it yourself. Things like adjusting your truss rod, checking your intonation can make a big difference in sound and playability. In my experience those starter guitars will be at least playable if they are propperly adjusted. It is pretty common for those to be sold with the action (neck tension) and intonation out of wack. There are a lot of decent tutorials on the web for doing this, as well as the ask the tech section on this forum.

Now for the gear to think about when you are ready to take the plunge. First advice is drive to the local music shop and try every guitar in your price range, and maybe a few a little below and above that for compairison. The Fender Strat is a good choice for classic rock. The mexican made ones are fairly good and sell in the 3-600 range. I have one that I am fairly happy with, (I did tweak it a bit over time). I get a pretty good SRV/Hendrix/Clapton sound out of it. Take a look at the Epiphone axes too. They sell some pretty low end ones in the low hundred range which I have no experience with. But the ones that sell in the 3-600 range are pretty good. I had an Epi LP that I really liked (it was stollen). Now if you want to go more full tilt, look at the Gibsons. They start at the 700 range and go way up from there. The "Faded" ones sound/play pretty good. They just save on the cosmetics. I have a Gibson SG Diablo Custom that I love to bits. It is by far the best guitar I have EVER laid hands in 15 years of playing. I paid about 1800 for it though, but it was worth every penny. Plays like a dream and I can play any classic rock sound on it I want. I can even get pretty clean or real heavy sound too. As for amps. When you are ready for a good mid range classic rock amp, look at the Fender Blues JR, or the Marshall Haze. I plan to pobably get the Haze when I am ready for a bigger amp. For now I have a little Vox AC4tv. It is a nice little tube amp that has the pure classic tube sound. It is only rated at 5watts, but when I really crank it, it sounds louder (and much better) than the 75watt Line6 i just got rid of. I added a tube screamer pedal and I am classic rockin' my... butt off. Now if you'll excuse me, all this talk is making me want to play!

Hope this helps somewhat. Have fun!

Hello,
I have the line 6 spider myself. I have to say I really am pleased with it. The array of effects are nice but its the celestion speaker that really sold me. Once you get use to the settings its fairly easy for me to get the tone i want. If you have been playing for fifteen years though I easily see how you could be looking for something different.
The first things you would want to decide is how dedicated your going to be to your music, and thus how much you want to spend on it. Also if you want a combo amp or a stack, if you go stack i would highly recommend the Vibro King by Fender.
What i would do is figure out what guitar you want, and then play it on the amps at your music store to see which one meets the tones your looking for. Also c=see who your favorite artists are, what tones you want to try to catch, see what they use. john Mayer for instance uses the Vibro King I mentioned earlier. I hope that helps.
Infinite-T I was wondering which tube screamer you went with? Ibanez has about 3 or 4 of them now between the ts9 and ts808 and t7 It gets pretty confusing. Do you have a recommendation?

Thanks guys, this really helps.

I'm planning on picking up a Peavey Vypyr 30 today as I've been told I need to get rid of my current amp as soon as possible, plus I have some money to burn.

I'll have a listen to a few first but being new to this, to be honest, I'm not sure what I'm listening for, I guess I'll just go for the one I like the sound of.

Really enjoying the guitar, it's my number one passion since I got it, I wish I had started when I was in my teens, oh well, I'm learning now so better late than never!

Rock on!

Adam.

Hey Adam
I just surfed a few demos on the Peavey Viper..
Looks like good choice.
The price is awesum. One major guitar company had it the 30 amp Viper for $175.. I think it just changed my mind from the Line 6 Jams.
Good luck and keep pickin'

Hey compart1, didn't you notice, the guy lives in England.

He'll be paying a lot more than that!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dave.

By the way, Adam, I don't know where you go for your gear but I find Sounds Great at Heald Green very hrlpful and accommodating.

If I were in your shoes know what little I do now, I would find a Roland cube 15. I bought a micro-cube, which has the same electronics but can be battery powered, about a year ago and the portability has not been a benefit to me. The 15W cube is cheaper than the 2W micro.

Then, after you learn what you like and get comfortable enough to plug in to an amp at the guitar store of your choice, you can decide what sounds best to you. I don't know if everyone feels this way but I don't even want the music store staff to hear my limited abilities. So, I have decide that the micro cube and the borrowed bass amp will do me fine until I feel comfortable sound testing one on my own. Unless I find a killer deal on a more powerful cube.

Just one more opinion.

Correction: Cube 15 does not have the same effects (COSM) as the micro or the other cubes.