Line 6 Spider II combo

The Line 6 Spider II combo is a very versatile practice amp for those who are starting out or veterans who don't want to turn on thier entire rig for an hour of practice. I've had mine for about two months and love the little bugger.

Cost mine for $149.99

Pros:

Easy effects set up
includes chorus, flange, tremelo, phaser, tape delay, sweep delay, and reverb.
the effects sound great and two can be linked at once.

4 distinct sounding channels Clean, Crunch, Metal, and Insane.

With these channels acquiring sound close to yesterday and todays artists is more than possible. In fact Line 6's website offers settings for songs.

Portability- you dont need a u haul.

Tap tempo delay to find the right frequency.

It looks good as you can see.

Direct to PC or Recording device connectivity.

Cons- Effects can be touchy if you don't know how to blend them.

Reverb could be better.

Overall a great little amp. Anyone who owns any in the line should add anything I forgot.

yes, it is a very good amp for the money, however, my own pros and cons list, starting with the cons

CONS
1. the metal channel sounds nothing like the mesa dual recto it is attempting to recreate (read the manual, it says this) and sounds god-aweful. I cannot stand the metal channel

2. the insane channel is kinda muddy, but it makes for awesome lead tones

3. the tape echo isn't all that great, I can't get good sounds with it anyway

4. the footswitch uses some wierd cable, it's not a 1/4" like usual, it's some thing that you can only get at computer stores, and the cable that comes with the footswitch is like 40 feet long, which is a hassle when you only need 10 feet...

PROS
1. the clean channel is great

2. the crunch channel can put out a good sound, and even a nice hard rock tone if you crank the gain.

3. nice and small to carry, even my 30W version


and there is my short review... overall, for the $200 that I spent on it, it is definately worth every penny, but it just doesn't compare to high end tube amps, but for being less then 1/5th of the price, it definately is worth it.

btw, if you get a boss OD-20 and run it through this thing, the tones are amazing!!! possibly better then some high end tube amps

one of my bandmates has one at his house. I sit at his computer and jam with it a bunch. Definitely a great practice amp for the money.

I have been a keen guitarist for roughly 4 years now, and have been in a battle/thrash metal band (The Spoons - www.thespoons.net) for a good three years.

In the past I have had the priviledge of playing a fair line of AMPage (Including, Marshall: Mode 4, a couple of TSL 100-JCM 2000 triple lead's, JCM 900, JCM 800, MG100DFX; Line 6: the old red model and the spider II 212; Mesa Boogie: Dual Rectifier), to name a few.

...BUT the amp out of that whole list which really does it for me, is the Line 6 spider II!
It is truly a great amp, with great versatility and fabulous tone. It is also the only amp mentioned which happens to be solid state, opposed to valve, and works purely digitally. This amp offers so much at such an affordable price!

The Line 6 Spider II range, have gone where other amps daren't not go! They have acheived great tone in all respects, all the way from a light blissful clean - TO - a raging neighbour scaring InSaNe!

However, you may argue, "so what, I've tried out a few different branded amps which give me the same impression."
...but it doesn't stop there. There are four main things, which stand out to me as a guitarist, making this amp truly original, which other amps just do not possess:

1. NOISE GATE - this allows you to cut out all hissing and buzzing you may gain from the guitar or lead etc. giving you a beautiful crisp sound, intensifying the incredible tone, all at the click of a button.

2. DRIVE BOOSTER - this simply gives you even more control over your sound, allowing you to achieve the perfect tone.

3. RECORDED SETTINGS - being that the amp is digital you can store your perfect tones by saving them, so in the event of a gig you can switch between your previously perfected and recorded settings via the footswitch.

4. USB + MP3/CD PORTS - the USB port allows you to connect the amp up to your computer or mixing desk (in the event of recording), and record directly.
The Mp3 & Cd port enables you to plug your Mp3 or Cd player into the amp, further allowing you to be able to play along with your desired selection.

In addition to what I have said, the Spider II range has won multiple awards, the one most notible to myself is 'the best amp of 2004 (under £500)' - Total Guitar.

Need I say anymore. :rolleyes:

Originally Posted by: JonnyPriceThe Line 6 Spider II range, have gone where other amps daren't not go!

double negative and a word that doesn't exist, in the same sentance!?! nice

i've played all of those amps he has mentioned other than the mode four. I think i'd take the JCM's and mesa's. Whole different league. But for a practice amp and what it is made for, this line6 is great.

Originally Posted by: Letchworth40i've played all of those amps he has mentioned other than the mode four. I think i'd take the JCM's and mesa's. Whole different league. But for a practice amp and what it is made for, this line6 is great.

agreed, I've played a TSL100, and a mesa triple recto, they are better then this thing, but for like 8 times the price, just for the head! if you can afford an amp like that, then go for it, if not then a line 6 spider II is not a bad choice.

I aint argueing Maybe the Spider II head could be top ten but I would'nt know.
This little guy is good for practice. Maybe even recording. but onstage give me a marshall. Anyday.

Originally Posted by: 6strngs_2hmbkrsdouble negative and a word that doesn't exist, in the same sentance!?! nice

That's no way to treat someones first post. If you were just jokeing, let someone know with a smiley or something. Posts like that scare people off.

Originally Posted by: PRSplayaThat's no way to treat someones first post. If you were just jokeing, let someone know with a smiley or something. Posts like that scare people off.

hence why I said "nice" congratulating him on such a feat. also, I didn't notice it was only his first post. sorry about that dude, hopefully you knew I was joking.

The SpiderII IS a nice amp, good sounds, great versatility, and over all worth the money. But I have recently discovered the Behringer V-Ampire which kicks arse against the SpiderII. I ended up buying the 120watt 112 model and it's amazing. It's range of sounds decimates the SpiderII, and it has 125 storage spaces.

It also has all the extra features that really bring it to the next level above the SpiderII. It has a noise gate, universal EQ aswell as the individual EQ of each patch, a series of cabinet emulations that can be used freely with any amplifer emulation, a driver booster, a number of different reverbs, and a nice effect range with good control, including tap tempo.

The best thing about it though is the connectivity. It has stereo XLR direct outs including analogue speaker emulations, stereo 1/4 inch line outs, 1/4 power outs which can be configered an a variety of ways, a pre DSP effects loop, an auxilery in with individual gain setting and best of all, MIDI in/out. The midi is killer, you can use all manner of sequencers and controllers to change patches and adjust all parameters, you can link it up with a multi-effects board like a Boss GT-6, and my favourite application is full control from my computer.

Theres great software on the Behringer website which allows you to write patches on the computer, control the amp realtime, and save limiless patch libraries (in case 125 patches just isn't enough for you :) ) The software allows incredibly precise control that manual knobs could never give you, and it also allows far better control over the effects. Another brilliant feature is the LED rings around the knobs, so when you change patches you can see the exact settings each patch has. BRILLIANT!

Admittedly Behringer does have a bad reputation for quality... but I've giged mine a fair few times and it hasn't let me down yet.

Considering the fact that the V-Ampire is far cheaper than the SpiderII, I'd say the SpiderII just isn't competition. 10/10 for the Behringer, i reccomend everyone trying one out.

: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:

My friend Luke has the Spider II, and I think it sounds pretty cool. Whenever we play as a band though (he's the drummer), I just play through my fender frontman 25r and hook the mike up through his spider II. That way the guitar sounds gravelly-er and cruddier (like I like it) and you can get all the cool effects for singing instead, which sounds cooler.

I can't really speak for the Spider II but I do have the Flextone III which is awesome, I love it. I bought it used with the FB4 included for 150 bucks. That thing has some awesome sounds. And the footpedal cord is wayyy to long ;)

I own a Spider II 212, and although it's far too much amp for me (150 watts in a small 1-bedroom apartment is never a good thing...), dollar for dollar, it's the best deal I could find. I have the shortboard with mine, and the Pontiacsilverdome preset is my favorite one of the bunch. I've also managed to tweak a clean setting with a lot of reverb and a touch of delay for a really cool "surfer" tone. I love my Spider II, I also use a small Kustom Arrow 16R with a Boss GT-3 effects board, and I always go back to the Spider II. Has a really sweet tone that I cannot seem to replicate with the Boss and the Kustom, as hard as I try. I'm not one to fuss on how close the amp modelling is, I just know what I like to hear and I'm definitely hearing it in the Spider. And so are the neighbors. :D ;)

yah someone else ones a flexitone 3. i love mine great options tonnes of tones. only problem i find is theres to much to choose from, ow well thats not really the worst thing that can be said about an amp. :D

everything i've heard about teh spider is bad, but maybe people just expect too much from it, like they expect it to sound like a tube amp or something.

Originally Posted by: suicidalmooseeverything i've heard about teh spider is bad, but maybe people just expect too much from it, like they expect it to sound like a tube amp or something.

apparently you've never heard us talking about them on this board before! if you have $200 to spend on an amp, this is your best bet... in fact, if you have $400 to spend on amp, it's still probably your best bet. if you have $700+ to spend, then yes, a tube amp would definately be a better choice. but these things don't sound bad, just not amazing like a tube amp.