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New Amp - Line6 Spider IV 15


rokn4jc

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Ok, Ok, I know that it is a modelling amp and all, and I obviously wouldn't bring it to a gig. But here goes, for $99 as a practice tool, it is not badl. I essentially got it for my 13 year old son to use as a practice amp, but if you fiddle a little bit, you can coax some pretty decent tone from this thing. The amp seemed to be pretty ress[ponsive to, which has always been my beef with modellers. I certainly would have loved to have something like this when I was learning.

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I played one not long ago. It wasn't a bad little amp for around the house. I think the cheap modeling amps in the 10 to 30 watt range are great for sitting at home, just plug and play, and fiddle for fun. My first amp was a Gorilla 10 watt covered in gray fuzz with booger-green knobs. I would have loved to have had something like this when I was just starting out.

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Congrats.

Modeler amps in the right hands can easily get good tones be it bedroom or stage. Dont believe all the neg. BS.

My Flex II keeps my Tube Laney Gh50 1/2 stack at home for the most part these days as well.

My only gripe with my Line 6 is it doesnt have a true phaser model.

No big whoop though.

HNAD!

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I haven't played the IV, but I had a III and really hated it. Wasn't impressed with what I saw of the IV on youtube either. I think I'd much rather have the Cube 15 for the price, I have to admit. But if you like it, that's all that counts for a practice amp.

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I actually thought the Peavey Vypyr sounded better, but it just felt soo flimsy. Part of the charm of the Spider was it's simplicity. For beginning players, you don't want them to have a million knobs and settings to twiddle with, rather spend their time actually playing. Don't get me wrong, I still prefer tubes, but ... as a practice tool, not bad. I think the Spider IV is an improvement over the III series.

 

More info, for those interested.

 

Clean - Not bad, a litttle dull/boxy but useable

Crunch - Nice marshallly vibe (based on a plexi I think), I was able to get a pretty good rock/blues tone from this.

Metal - Not a metal player, but I was very surprised by how tubey, for lack of a better word this sounded and felt. Decent, tight, high gain sounds at low volumes

Insane - I really like this channel with very littel gain dialed up, a very sweet crunch/lead tone. I suppose one could dial in a "shredder type tone", but it sounds and responds good at lower gain as well.

 

FX

Chorus/Flange - OK to pretty bad

Phaser -lousy

Tremelo - believable

 

Delay - who uses a sweep echo ?

Tape Delay - pretty good actually

Reverb - OK

 

Wish you could control the FX level, but at this price whatcha gonna say ?

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meh, not a spider fan here. when I first started, a GC employee tried to get me to buy one, said no and got what I really wanted, Pathfinder 15R for much less.

 

I think the Valvetronix and Cubes are better modelling amps, the valvetronix being the hands down favorite of mine.

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I agree that the Valvetronix series is better, but GC didn't have any of the smaller models in, so it was down to the Line6, Vypyr and SS marshalls (way overpriced for what they are).

Once again, I think the reason the Spider amps are so popular is the relative simplicity they afford.

I may look into the Roland cube, as I myself am shopping for a new amp, though likely I'll end up getting something like a AC-15 (or clone) or Princeton Reverb.

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I agree that the Valvetronix series is better, but GC didn't have any of the smaller models in, so it was down to the Line6, Vypyr and SS marshalls (way overpriced for what they are).

Well, even the smallest VT is double what the Spider 15 costs. I'm not fond of either Marshall or Fender's solid state practice amps, so I can't say those would have been better choices.

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I have a Spider III and it is pretty decent for metal and random wankage. Mine is the 120W model, and it was my first *real* amp. Remember to turn the noise gate off though, as it is enabled by default and sucks the tone right out..

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Oh yeah, my son is really digging it. He is 13 and of course into Metal, which is where this amp shines IMO. He is into a band called Coheed and Cambria (?), and similar type artist.

Anyhow, I just wanted to pass along that for the $, they are not bad at all, and If I had to, I could certainly get by with one.

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In YOUR opinion maybe. Why be a tool?

 

Maybe because he IS a tool....

 

;)

 

Everything in the world of musical instruments is a personal choice. What is great for one person can be terrible for another. The important thing is what YOU think about it...you can't be wrong if you like something.

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Fine amps for the money,Good starter/practice amps.

 

 

Exactly. Hard pressed to find anything that sounds as good and is as versatile for $99. Very nice clean tones and I dig the crunch.

 

I went to a demo of the 120 Spider III model and it sounded great with a million killer tone options. Take that on a a gig and blast away.

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