NWB - Community Blog

15 Apr 2008

AMP OR COMPUTER? THE LINE 6 SPIDER III

Filed Under : Rants , Gear | Promote : Facebook digg it Digg It

Posted By : mr.nwb | Comments : 19

My amp blew the other week (during soundcheck! doh), so I've been on the hunt for a shiny new amp. I've always been a marshall fan myself, but the music guy suggested a Line 6 Spider III....

My question is, has the digital age gone that step too far? To me, the Spider amps just seem like a computer with speakers, rather than a speaker with attitude.

I stuck to my guns and went for a Marshall AVT275 instead (mainly because I didnt want to get nicknamed "spiderman" at gigs - lol). The marshall isnt a valve amp, but gives me the flexbily of having something looking cool on stage and having an array of effects available.

Does anyone out there have a Line 6? - I'd be interested to hear how giggable/useable they are.

Comments

# Posted by The Imposters - 15/04/2008, 22:53 (GMT)

Hi Paul .....

Interesting that ......

Your Amp blew on you ????

I have now had 2 Marshall AVT 150's die on me !!!!, both been fixed by Marshall but I have lost confidence in them and their reliability (thought that reliability was a bye word for the Marshall brand but not sure now !!!)
However at the risk of being totally dimwitted .... I stick with Marshall as I know that the sound I can get from them far surpasses any other reasonably priced Amp thats around ......

But to get back to your question ......

Yep Amps digital and modelling amps have now gone too far !!!!, in my humble opinion part of the skill of being a good musician is to be able to coax a good sound out of an Amp and Guitar set up without having to resort to an array of effects and dials .........
For the record ..... years ago I used loads of effects etc etc but found that they masked my true sound and that my technique had suffered and that I was relying on my effects rather than my skill, so for the last 8 years its been back to just an Amp (Marshall) and flipping between clean and overdrive channels only as required and I have found that my playing has improved a hell of a lot (but I'll let others be the judge of that !!! lol)

I'll probably be called a Boring Old Fart for this approach ..... but I urge people to try it ... it really tests you in a live situation !!!!

Regards

G

# Posted by The Imposters - 15/04/2008, 23:01 (GMT)

By the way Paul ........

How do I post a blog on this site ?????

G

# Posted by The Fabulous Eggs - 16/04/2008, 08:49 (GMT)

I used to have a AVT 150 Marshall- It died- not the amps fault- as I use a Bass ME 50 pedal I only need the amp for noise- I got the MG (Marshall) 100 it is quality and for £150 quid- BARGAIN!!

# Posted by mr.nwb - 16/04/2008, 09:04 (GMT)

Interestingly the Marshall amp that blew was over 11 years old, and had some taken some serisous gigging and knocking back.

Likewise Ive heard stories about the reliability of Marshall products, but atleast there's no major grumble in getting them fixed, or repaired. If your line 6 blows,.. then.. I think ya screwed.

I agree with G, and tend to gig "dry" straight through the amp. Ive never seen the point in getting a multi effects unit to get a good "rock tone", when the amp should give you the most authentic sound anyways.

# Posted by mrs.nwb - 16/04/2008, 10:38 (GMT)

Hi G

To post a blog on the site - when you have logged in, click on your name e.g. mrs.nwb (top right), click on 'manage blogs' and then 'post blog' :-)

I expect when the finishing touches are put in place we will have a 'post blog' button on your main admin page.

# Posted by BLACK PILATE - 16/04/2008, 10:45 (GMT)

Hi Paul

I used to play through a Marshall JCM 900 for years and thought I would always be a Marshall man... until I inherrited a Line 6 Flexitone II. Now the Marshall is gone, and I can't rate the Line 6 highly enough.

I get the point about it being cheating and requiring no skill to get a good sound, but that's just the point - the sound is awesome! Much better than I ever got out of my Marshall. Our other guitarist still plays through a Marshall is is always grumbling about not being able to get a satisfactory sound.

Don't get me wrong, there are a LOT of unnecessary features on the Line 6 amps (I only use 2 sounds btw, one for rhythm and one for lead), but the bottom line for me is it sounds great, every time, and has never given me any problems at all.

Cheers
Rich
(BLACK PILATE)

# Posted by mrs.nwb - 16/04/2008, 11:17 (GMT)

It's too late now! - It's just arrived! My poor ears :(

# Posted by The Fabulous Eggs - 16/04/2008, 11:47 (GMT)

Good stuff!! Mine blew (AVT) thru mistreatement and being dropped- wet gigged to death kicked over- borrowed- still got ace trade in on it against an Marshall AS 100D (acoustic amp)

Marshall just is innit- I still want a Fender Twin tho!!

# Posted by Matt - 16/04/2008, 13:25 (GMT)

If you love the sound, there is the answer!. Personally i'm not too keen on lots of effects, but that might be more to do with me finding it difficult enough to focus on what my fingers are doing, let alone my feet as well!

# Posted by SIN AFTER SIN - 16/04/2008, 14:14 (GMT)

Used to play through a Line 6 Spider III but found that to get anywhere near enough volume for me to hear myself (rhythm guitarist/vocalist) above the rest of the backline/drums I had to wack up the gain and it just squealed uncontrollably. Even pushing it through my monitor caused untold problems hence it's now history and a simple clean/overdrive footswitch to a Laney 150 through a 4x10 cab is the order of the day.
Tony - The Sinners.

# Posted by Woody - 18/04/2008, 17:35 (GMT)

MATT, embrace the effects...I may get an effects pedal in the near future.

# Posted by The Imposters - 19/04/2008, 01:21 (GMT)

Hi Paul, thanks for the info on posting Blogs

Cheers

G

# Posted by The Imposters - 19/04/2008, 01:34 (GMT)

Reply to Rich (Balck Pilate);

Hi Rich,

Dont know if this might be of any use to your mate who is having trouble "getting his sound" ......

When I got my First Marshall I rented the rehearsal room out for 4 nights and just took my amp and Guitar in there, turned up the volume and spent hours working out what effect turning the various dials on the amp etc etc had on the sound.
The main reasons for going in the room on my own were;

1/ To get the volume up and hear the sound various settings made (it does change when you play at lower volumes and when you think you have it sussed and whack the volume up it just doesnt sound the same)

2/ So as not to waste other band members time --- that wouldnt have gone down well to say the least !!! lol

But..... one other thought on Marshall sounds ...... they give a hand book with their amps and usually at the back they give suggested settings for single coil guitars and humbucker ones, they are a good place to start out experimenting (gave me a good guide post from which to start tinkering !! lol)

One more point ...... I play a Fender Strat (1974) through my Marshalls and to rock things up even more I fitted a single coil size Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck Junior pick up at the bridge, was that pleased with the pick up I have fitted them to all my strats now.

Hope this helps

Cheers

G

# Posted by mr.nwb - 25/04/2008, 15:52 (GMT)

Just had my first gig with the AVT275 - Must admit I was mighty impressed with the volume and tone. I've heard mixed reviews about the amp, but to me, it's bloody fantastic. The acoustic emulator is pretty handy, it wasnt something I'd think would be of any use. But in a band with two guitarists, its useful when both are playing "Clean parts".

# Posted by The Imposters - 27/04/2008, 15:52 (GMT)

Hi Paul, glad to hear youre pleased with it !!!!

The acoustic channel is good, but the only problem with it is that sometimes it is not loud enough ..... or is it just that my band plays too damm loud ????? lol

Have to admit though ..... you have to go a long way to hear anything like a Marshall !!!!

G

# Posted by mr.nwb - 27/04/2008, 16:31 (GMT)

Yeah, on its own its a wee bit quiet,. but if you use a Boss Equaliser pedal it really amplifies it quite considerably.

# Posted by Kingpin - 27/04/2008, 22:17 (GMT)

Paul, I remember you commenting on the size of the pedal board I had, anyway, sacked it all for a line 6 vetta 2 head, kept the hughes & kettner 4x12 and with the fbv floorboard everything is self contained and coonects with one cat5 cable.. The amp models valves well enough for live situation and is totally reliable. what is reeally good is the direct outs which go staright into the PA, no need to mic the cab!

# Posted by Kingpin - 27/04/2008, 22:17 (GMT)

# Posted by Solus - 19/05/2008, 00:14 (GMT)

my my, i have a line 6 flextone 3

i have used it for AGES and it sounds amazing, you can have some of the best distortion, to some of the most far out space sounds, to some amazing delay and echos, the amount of things you can do with it are endless.

all these effects built into the amp are godly, so no huge pedal boards required, just get a small FBV pedal to change the channels. When i expend, im gonna try and find myself a Line 6 hd 147, its huge and got double the models on it!

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