Line 6 Spider 112 Combo

I bought this amp after my old Marshall Valvestate gave up the ghost.
I only use it for my students to go through when I am teaching and a bit of fun myself. I use a Pod for home practice normally (see review) and Laney and Mesa Boogie amps live.

The amp has a good set of features on it for the money and just about anything I need to give my students the sound they are after for the lesson.

Comes with a very sturdy footswitch.

Ok, presets (to my ears anyway) sounded rubbish. This is an amp that needs to be tweaked - a lot.
The effects are ok but not very subtle and difficult to control. They 'morph' into one another and you can't edit much at all apart from the rate/time with the 'tap' feature. Reverb is nice sounding.
You can get some nice clean sparkley sounds out of this but it's clear that the overdive/distortion is aimed at metal.
I spent a long time trying to add more mid and get rid of that 'scooped' nu-metal sound. If that's what you're after - great. I ended up with some passable sounds.

This amp tends to have a lot of bass to it (especially in distorted sounds) that is hard to tame. The EQ reacts in a very odd way and takes a while to get used to, ie - sometimes turning down the bass actually increases it to my ears..

The 'insane' settings may be good for a teenager trying to impress their mates, but to me are totally unusable and gimmicky.

If you put a really good overdrive pedal in front of the clean channel on this amp - it can sound quite good. I have used this amp to get me out of several tight spots for rehearsals when my valve amp has been out of action. I note several others recommend using external pedals for overdrive. HOWEVER, surely the point of a modelling amp is that you DON'T have to put other pedals etc in front of it, isn't it supposed to give you those sounds anyway?! It was definately my Keeley pedal making the amp sound good, not the other way round..

Have owned it for a couple of years and have no problems so far.

Never had cause to deal with Line 6.

For the price, you get quite a versitile practice amp with a nice selection of features - some more usable than others.
For what I use it for (teaching at home)it does me well. It's far more flexible than my old 2 chanell Marshall valvestate that I bought it to replace.

The bass is very hard to tame though and this amp is definately aimed at metal players.

I would never dream of using this type of amp in a gig situation as I have my tube amps for that, but for the money and what market it's aimed at - it does a respectable job.

They have only footswitch and phone conector.

Nice,but a little to nice.The best are Clean,which is kristal clear.

Many have problem with line6 product on coold and/or humidy(water on air).The solution is:In some electrician store you can buy special spray which will protect from water.This is not a plastic spray!
Knobs are very good protected from breaking!

All Line6 product are from KOREA!The overall finish is like a s**t!
Everybody have so much to tell about Behringer from China,but they must be for example how guitar amp must be made!Exept knobs are very bad pozition for break by transport.
Maybe help if they produce Line6 in China.
Faceplate are from plastic-Behringer from metal.
Case are not very strong-Behringer they have.
Power amp don`t have aluminium radiator cooling-Behringer they have.
They don`t have line in/out,cd in,midi...
Average tolex-behringer have better one.
But it is looking nice from distance.

I'm just a hobbyist, playing mostly at home, sometimes jamming with friends, & this combo was just the ticket: it covers a lot of ground, & within minutes you can get some decent sounds - jazz, blues, rock, whatever - loud enough to compete with a drummer.

I use a Gibson 335 & a Telecaster Custom, & mostly want a clean or just-breaking-up sound: this amp delivers. Nice bluesy distortion too. If you want to make a big noise, this does the trick, though there is a lot of feedback on the heavily distorted settings. Most of the choices made for the effects are intelligent & usable - though you could quibble with the chorus (I use the phaser more). The "insane" setting is a bit silly, but then I don't play noise-metal.

The amp seems to have a life of its own: the volume settings can fluctuate wildly from one channel to another. You sometimes get a loud click when switching on the effects.

Not used it.

Been playing for nearly 3 decades now (ouch!) - till now I used a Peavey Backstage plus, a V Twin pedal & some effects. This amp is an affordable all-in-one package which I would highly recommend. Sure, there is better (& more expensive!) gear, only a valve amp is a valve amp & so on, but if you're more interested in playing than fiddling with your equipment (no gear-head I) & don't want to spend too much money, this won't disappoint.
I love the fact that now all I need to get out there & play is a guitar, a lead, & this amp.

Features as listed above.

I play a wide range of styels and consider myself a tone scientist. I am using 3 different Strats including a 68. I also own a Fender Power Chorus, a Twin reverb and a Sidekick Switcher so I have a wide range of amps to compare the Spider to. Let's just say I hate "vintage" tone snobs and SRV/Hendrix freaks. Those people will never be happy with anything because they have no voice of their own. They are not musicians, they are nothing but librarians.

I like experimenting with different combinations of equipment and there is nothing like owning a ton of equipment. I am not a retard expecting this amp to replace a wall of Marhsalls or making me sound good by hiding my shittiness. It's a 50 watt 1x12 combo and for what it is I was truly blown away. I was trying out the Schecter PT Tele when I saw the deal sitting on the floor. $140 used for this amp, I had to try it out.

I was very impressed with the tones the amp was delivering to me. I have a POD in my home studio which i use for most of my recorded guitar tones, I have always been happy with this piece of gear. I wanted a version that I could mic up for recording and this amp was it. The Schecter PT was just sterlar on every setting. My wallet fell about half out of my pocket when i played the clean tone on the amp. So clear and so crisp, I love that tone. So since I have been a Strat player for 20 years I decided to pick a used Strat off the wall to give her a go. The Strat was a complete pile of shit but the amp still sounded good in all settings. I won't go over all the settings because other people have done a great job of that already. The bottom line is I have a studio versatile amp that I can run guitars, bass and keyboards through for recording. I write dark ambient electronic music but my training is about 20 years of jazz/blues playing. I am quite sick off all the egos surrounding blues and jazz players I disowned them in favor of stuff that I find more fun to write.

I am very impressed with all the settings on this amp and I view as just one more voice I can use to my tonal advantage. I can use it for band rehersals and bedroom practicing as well as hooking it up to the studio gear and pulling new sounds from less traditional instruments. It's truly a deal that shouldn't be passed up. I feel sorry for the knuckle-walker guitar retards who couldn't find something to like about this amp or Line 6. There is nothing worse than close minded musicians.

Nothing is perfect so it gets a 9 but that is a proud 9.


My influences are: Danny Gatton, Richard Thompson, David Gilmour, Duane Eddy, Chet Atkins, Django Rheinhart, Rory Gallagher, Howlin' Wolf, Dj Food, Amon Tobin, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, James "Blood" Ulmer, Speedy West, Robert Ward, Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Yes, The Herbalizer, Dialated Peoples, Boards of Canada, Bill Frisell, Steve Hackett, the Beatles, Peter Gabriel, the Who, the Clash, SquarePusher and GodFlesh.

My influences do not include: Eric Clapton(the man hasn't done anything good since the days he was shooting heroine), Jimi Hendrix(though I can listen to him), SRV(a funny hat does not make you a good guitarist), John Meyer(owning a bunch of coveted Strats does not make you a good guitar player), Eric Johnson(spending more time on tone than the tune), Steve Vai(having a fan on stage just for your hair to fly around is silly), Metallica(more like Washedupica), and my least favorite...Dave Mathews because he sounds like he has shoved a tumpet down his throat and up his ass.

Just so you folks can grasp the kind of stuff I have floating around my head.

No problems.

Never had to use it. The website has a good amount of resources.

It's nice to see companies thinking outside of the box. I feel there are enough SRV, Hendrix and Elvis impersonators to cover the world ten times over. It's tough to find someone who truly has their own voice. This amp only gives those who use it more options to incorporate into their voice. This amp serves as a great tool for many situations but like everything it is not a fix for shitty playing. If you are having trouble with gear and your tone you should look at yourself, the tone comes from you and your fingers so if there is any problem at all it is most likely the player at fault. I hope this amp brings me many years of enjoyment and it will fit right in with all the rest of my "orphans" that are my "aces up the sleeve". Those who don't get it...go on and keep playing others peoples music.

I just had to write in about this amp...I have had it for two years and i have to say this is the best alternative to lugging around my Marshall heads and 4 12 cabinet i have ever Played !! The effects onboard are all perfect in every way for such an inexpensive amp.
My amp is the Spider 1 12 50 watt.

I would suggest spending the extra dough to get the pedal board with it,the wah and switchable chorus and delays and power boost are worth the extra money.

The ability to have 4 or 5 different sounding amps in one tiny package is wonderful to say the least.The clean and twang can be tweeked to sound like a good old fender tweed, Crunch is just ok, but the recto and insane have nice solid sound with a low end bass sound that is hard to believe.The recto for example sounds just like my 1980 2204 50 watt marshall head, and the insane sounds just like my 1991 JCM 900 of course it takes a little tweeking of the knobs and the subtle use of my OCD fulltone overdrive pedal....But man can this amp cook when you have it in the zone.I use Gibson les paul pro& SG guitars, Fender Stratocaster& Tele (american)And the sound with single coil or double make no difference..very little hiss and feedback.
You can even get a Brian May Queen sound like the little vox 10 watt i have through this amp using the recto and overdrive pedals.

Have not had one single problem..

N/A never had to talk to them or use the repair service.

I should mention that i tried the Spider 2 amp at home with all my gear and was sorely dissapointed that is partly why i did this review.The spider 2 was no where near the standards of the first.Buy the original not the new version Trust me the Marshall modeling on the 2 is pure crap compared to the recto and insane settings on my amp.
I use mostly boss pedals DD2 delay, super chorus,OD1,DS1,OCD Fulltone,NS1.(Power soak 1983).Marshall Cab's celestion 4/12 2204/JCM900 Marshall Heads.
Have played 25 years(rock) allways used Marshall amps. And thats why i like the Spider amp it is the closest thing to a Marshall sound you will find in a small inexpensive amp!

I bought it the first year they came in production (5 years ago?) This is a very versatile amps it nails the vintage fender type sound perfectly (i owned a fender deluxe reverb 1974 at the same time) i could match the deluxe reverb sound pretty close. You have two vintage marshall model. and two mesa type souds. Effects Chorus /flange/ tremolo(who use tremollo?) delay+pingpong (mono amp not good for ping pong)/reverb. 1 12" speaker. 4 chanels
If you buy the pedalboard you have 12 chanels + tuner + wha + volume.
+hidden function (tap button + another button) Boost + dist Boost +noise gate+ presence.

You really have to read the manual to understand alle the feature.
I gave a nine cos there is 2 feature missing (fx loop) if you want to bypass the built in FX + speaker out (you can not put an extension cab on this one

I used with that amp : aria fl10-gibsons SG-fender strat-epiphone les paul-ibanez studio-godin SD et XTSA yamaha RGX-AEX etc...
The trick is to program a sound for each of your guitar. EXP (bank 1 for humbuker guitars Bank 2 for Single coil) etc. Tube vs Solid state. I had a 1974 deluxe reverb and i sold it. I think the real question is do you like the sound? the answer is yes! This amp sound really good but you have to learn to use the hidden fonctions and the controls to bring it to its full potential. I can get much better sounds now than 5 years ago. The only sound i never get was the marshalls from the eighties i never found a setting that convinced me. One cool thing it always sound the same (my old fender sounded good some day but some other day it sounded crap) (you can put overdrive pedal in the front end it sound good)

I had it for 5 year nothing broke. i used it for recording only.
Once i tough the tune was broken (my fault you can not go to the tuner when in edit mode)
If you think you have a problem reset the factory preset!

I don not know

I started playing in 1988. I mostly do home recording. This amp is perfect for home use or small gig (Plug in the P.A.) this amp is ideal for what it is built for versatility and reliability. If you think it needs more headroom or it is not loud enough buy a bigger amp. I bought a lot of gear in the past, i always managed to make good sounds of of the cheapest junk. you just have to work at it. If you are not sure about a product do not buy it!

I really love this amp (i gave nine because the missing FX loop and no speaker out socket)

Bought it new in 2002. It's fairly versatile and loud enough for rehearsal or a small venue if you run it through the PA. You already know about the rest of the features.

Have a Fender Tele and an Aria LP Copy rigged with Gibson "57 Classics. Can get a good sound with all but the Crunch and Recto models.

Have used this amp out and about since I bought it, but with great care. It totally smoked during sound check at our last gig. Volume was set at half way, channel was on Clean and I switched to Blues and the smoke poured out and filled the room. I had just enough time to call a good friend and get a back-up. Line 6 says it will send(get this) a "refurbished board" for $150.00 and the local service tech. wants to charge $ 50.00 to install. New Spider 2 112's are selling for $299.00 in the MUSIC CATALOUGES. Go figure.

My tech would know more about this. He did mention that it took a while to get a response. He sounded totally frustrated with the whole deal.

OK for the money . I just wish it would have lasted longer. Time to spend a few more bucks on a " real" amp. I just bought the floorboard for this thing too, and now it is useless. Lesson learned I guess. I may sell "as is" on E-BAY for cheap, so keep an eye out if you need the spare parts. Ciao!

This amp is supposed to be top of the line in versitility, but I think it lacks in features. Sure it has the 6 amp models, effects, and a whole bunch of cool toys, but it's lacking in usefull features. It has no external Speaker jacks, a slave output would be nice, and so would an effects loop. Using any type of effects pedal is useless, especially distiortion pedals.

The effects need more controll, they are nice, sound decent (yes I like the flanger too), but the effects in themselves arent all that versitile.

The amp is pretty loud, I used to play at band practice and did a few gigs with it, it has quite a lot of power. Just remember, loudness is measured in decibels, not watts, I've seen louder 30 watts, and quieter 65 watts's.

The programable channels are pretty nice, VERY handy, so you dont hafta worry about your setting getting screwed up when the knobs get turned around in transporting.

I play metal, some blues, and it fits my style very nicely, My favorite amp models are Recto, Crunch, and Clean.

I play a hamer slammer explorer with an EMG-81 and a Dean ML-X with an EMG-81 in the bridge and an EMG-60 in the neck.

On all the models the tone controlls really dont effect stuff much, you'd never notice if the treble was all of a sudden turned half-way down.

Clean - I like the clean sounds, you can hear how it mimics a tube amp, and at high volumes it doesn't distort.

Twang - Supposed to model a fender blackface and bassman, I've never played either so I can't compare, but on it's own it's a nice tone, not very interesting to me, but good for country n stuff.

Blues - Based on a '65 Marshall JTM-45 Bluesbreaker. I like this setting a lot, at higher gain settings it sounds nice n grungy. It lacks soul though, needs more punch.

Crunch - Based on the '68 50 watt Marshall Plexi. This is one of my favorite models on this amp. Has a nice punch and a very crunchy difinitive tone, reminds me of Corrosion of Conformity.

Recto - My personal favorite setting, Based on the infamous Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier, I own a Dual rectifier, you really can't compare this setting to a Dual Rectifier running through a 4x12 cabinet, the handbook describes this setting: "sort of like a 4x12 that'll fit in a volkswagen". While it IS reminiscent of a rectifier, it lacks the warmth and headroom of a real rectifier. Though it has an awsome tone to it, it is NOT comparable to a half stack.

Insane - I do NOT like this setting, I play metal and I think this setting is horrible. The handbook describes it as "sort of like the rectifier with a distortion pedal" but a rectifier with a distortion pedal would still have TONE, it lacks bottom end, theres no headroom, it sounds like nails on a chalkboard. Gain is nice, but this is just crap.

Now the effects:
Flanger - Weak, or subtle, depends how you look at it, it's nice for a bit of background effect, but has no real versitility.

Chorus - a strong chorus, sounds nice, but it'd be better if it had a level controll.

Tremelol - again, it's lacking versitility as a stand alone effect

Delay, Tape Echo and Ping Pong - 3 different delays, the tap tempo is nice on the foot switch, thats handy, I had wished instead of 3 different delays they would of focused on fewer effects with more control.

Reverb - Yuck, sounds so digital, enough said.

Overall it's a very versitile sounding amp, and the models on there own are pretty nice, but they all mimic other amps, it's like Elvis impersonators, although they may sound good, they'll never be the real Elvis. I gave this amps sound a 6, because it's lacking real Professional sound, but it mimics it decently.

I originally bought a spider 210, but I had a problem with the amp, it would make a loud crackling sound, So it got fixed and it happened again, so I took home the 112 after that and didn't have a problem for many years, and that was in 99.

Fast foreward to 2005 at band practice, amps drop on ground (had it leaning up against the wall) and it dies, no fancy lights, no sound, nothing. Because it's warrenty had expired I opened it up, found a lil black thingy next to the power chord and disconnected, I re-soldered it and it was all fine, until it went again, same type of thingy, same PC board, different thingy, soldered that, all go again. That was just last week, if it happeneds again I won't be surprised.

The soldering inside the amp could be better, This amp took 6 years of abuse, and took it well. If I had a new or semi-new one, I'd gig without back up(and have) but I wouldn't with whats happened to it now, I have a feeling it's had all it can take and I'm just keeping it on life support by re-soldering stuff inside.

I've replaced the amp now, so for the problems in the begining with the spider series, and at the end, I gave it a 7, it gave me many years of reliable service, and it took lots of abuse.

I only ever dealt with the company I bought it from, long and McQuade, but they were helpfull and covered my original problems, and many MANY other problems all under warrenty.

After it broke again this year I didn't even bother with going to the company. But I gave customer support 10 because L&M was(as is) awsome

I've been playing 7 years now, and played this thing for 6 of those years, I played with it in a few bands with a few gigs, on stage it lacks presence, but it can cut it when needed.
Since it broke down I decided to upgrade, I went with a mesa dual rectifer, I went with an amp I wont need to replace every 5-6 years. If it were stolen I'd cut my loss. As of now it's a backup to my mesa, I might sell it for a few hundred if someone doesnt mind it's small history of defects.
One thing I love about this amp is the programable presets, I only need 3 sounds for the music I play, Clean, Overdrivin, and Over-gained, and in the end it meets those needs decently.
I hate the way the amp is so self-contained, Effects are uselss with it, no external slave or speaker jacks, sound wise it's pretty versitile, but when it comes down to other things it's not,
I'd like too see line 6 stick tubes in an amp like this, I'd also like too rig this thing up to a 4x12, Especially my rectifier 4x12.

Overall I give the Line 6 Spider 112 a 7, and thats being extremely critical. I can't see Metallica taking this thing into the studio, but I can see a metallica cover band taking it on stage. and in the end, that's all this amp is, a 'cover amp'

Features can be frustrating to use. You have to hold the D channel button down during startup to keep the FX functions from automatically coming on when you change amp models. It sucks the way the tone knobs work too. No line out sucks too.

I use a 2 year old stock Strat and a mid 90s Samick LP copy with Seymour duncan Invader and Jazz pickups. I have always liked the clean sounds of this amp, but the OD/distortion never really seemed to cut it. Not real loud for 50 watts either.
I am in the process of going through the transition from SS to tube amps and I needed to decide which amp to get rid of (I also have a '93 Bandit 112) I had decided that the Spider was going to be the first amp to go, but then.
NOW COMES THE GOOD PART
I just purchased an Ibanez TS7 Tubescreamer on Ebay for $25 (thanks to the reviews on this site). I tried it on the Bandit and wasn't impressed. I tried it on the Spider amp and couldn't believe my ears. I was totally amazed with the sounds that now came out of it.
According to which guitar I'm using and which song I'm playing, I use only the first 3 amp models, clean, twang and blues. I can now get just about any sound I want out of it. It has a lot more punch too. The chorus finally is useful for something other than clean playing.
I can get anything from Boston to AC/DC to Metallica out of it now. And with a stomp on the TS7 I go right back to clean sound.
Looks like I'll be keeping this thing for a while now.
I can't wait to compare it to the vintage tweed tube amp that's on it's way from Ebay.

I've had it for about 4 years and haven't had any problems with it. It's only left the house maybe 4 times. It's very lightweight.

Emailed them when I first got the amp to see if they had any more info on the settings because the manual is so vague. I got no response whatsoever.

Been plaing anything and everything that suits my ears for 15 years.
I will keep it but, I wouldn't get another if it were stolen or lost.
I am basing this rating on using the TS7 pedal with it. If you have this amp you have got to try it with a quality pedal. You won't believe the tonal quality. And tonal quality is the thing that is lacking on the distorted amp models on this amp.

Best bang for the buck!!!! Features are covered a plenty!!!!

I don`t know what Line 6 did different but these first series Spider amps sound much,much better then the Spider II. I don`t know if its the different speaker or what but the newer Spiders are no where near as good in my opinion which led me to this review. I had this amp about a year and although i am completely satisfied with it i was thinking about trading it in for a Spider II. After checking them out in local music stores i was shocked to find out they don`t sound as good as the first ones!!! Which brings to mind that saying....leave well enough alone! Line 6 should have done that so thats exactly what i did!! I`m not getting rid of this great little amp!!!

Solid as a rock,1 year and counting!!!!!

Great company!

Although i think the Spider`s are better then the newer ones, they are a great company with quality stuff and definitely the best combo amps for the money!!!!

blah blah blah, everyone knows the features by now.

NOW ON TO THE FUN PART. I USE THIS AMP STRICTLY FOR HOME PRACTICE.
CLEAN: SEEMS FULL , EMG 89s WITH COIL TAP ON MY LES PAUL MAKE FOR LOTS OF TONAL VARIATIONS. GREAT FOR A CREED TYPE CLEAN / CHORUS SOUND.
TWANG: GREAT FOR "COUNTRY" TYPE LICKS. TOO BAD I DONT KNOW ANY.

BLUES: SOUNDS OK FOR ON THE EDGE BREAKUP.

CRUNCH: SOUNDS REAL BOXY COMPARED TO THE OTHER OVERDRIVE SOUNDS.STILL HAVEN'T DIALED THIS ONE IN THOUGH.

RECTO: GOOD FOR THAT RECTO TYPE OF SOUND. LESS DISTORTION THAN THE REAL THING THOUGH. FOUND IT BEST TO TAME THE LOWS AND HIGHS AND GIVE IT SOME MIDRANGE. IT'S A LITTLE MORE REALISTIC THIS WAY. MORE OF A MODERN SOUND.

INSANE:THE MAIN REASON I BOUGHT THIS AMP. IT TOTALY NAILS THE STRYPER SOUND. GREAT FOR SHREDDING. EVEN IF YOU DO LOSE DEFINITION.NOISE GATE WON'T WORK AT HIGH GAIN SETTINGS AND THIS CHANNEL IS NOISY WHEN YOU STOP PLAYING. BUT IT'S ONLY FOR PRACTICE AND WHO STOPS ENOUGH TO HEAR THE NOISE ANYWAY.

EFFECTS ARE EASY ENOUGH TO USE AND SOUND FINE FOR WHAT THEY ARE.

BOUGHT IT USED, HAD IT FOR A FEW DAYS.. NO PROBLEMS YET.

HOPEFULLY NEVER NEED IT.

IF THIS AMP IS USED ONLY FOR HOME PRACTICE, IT IS A GREAT DEAL.DECENT CLEAN AND HEAVY DISTORTION SOUNDS. PEOPLE HAVE SAID THAT THE SOUND GETS SHRILL ETC... WHEN YOU TURN IT UP. WELL YEAH. THIS AMP WASN'T MADE FOR PLAYING STADIUMS. ALSO IT DOESN'T HAVE THE FEEL AND "PUSH" OF A REAL TUBE AMP. BUT IT ISN'T MEANT TO EITHER.I OWN TONS OF AMPS: MESA, MARSHALL, PEAVEY, REXX, ADA, METALTRONIX, PERFECT CONNECTION, SOLDANO, AND SEVERAL AMP MODELERS.THIS WONT REPLACE ANY OF THEM. BUT FOR HOME PRACTICE IT WORKS GREAT FOR ME.

It's a digitally programmed 50W amp, made in 2000. 6 programmed channels (Clean, Twang, Blues, Crunch, Recto, Insane) & 4 memory presets (which can be expended up to 12 with an optional floorboard, I own one as well) with usual EQ (channel volume, bass, mid, treble, gain). It's also got 3 modulation effects (flanger, chorus, tremelo) and 3 delay mods (delay, tape echo, ping pong), reverb and master output conrols.
Headphone jack is great for practice. It's a so called "AER-output", so you can also plug it right into the mixing console in the studio and record. (I still prefer mic-ing, 'cause you can benefit from the acoustic feaures of the room, and it sounds more dynamic.) No effect loops (pity). The amp is loud enough for me (one 12" speaker): I use it mostly for practice, jams, small club gigs and occasional recording. It's also lightweight (15kg) and quite compact, which is very important for me as I don't have a car.

I use the Spider with a Standard American Strat. I needed a versatile amp which can handle different musical styles (pop, country, blues, fusion, psycodelic, rock and occasional metal) and still be quite simple in tweakin' in the right sound. Well, this one handles it all ! I have changed all the presets using the original ones as basis and I'm quite happy with the result. Mostly I stick with the "Crunch"-mode with volume and tone pots rolled a bit down on guitar, so you get fairly juicy, slightly dark clean sound. For a good blues/rock lead I simply dial in more volume and kick in a VoodooLab Sparkle Drive. To make things more dramatic, I switch on to the "Recto"-setting which is also very good. "Clean" is good for Hank Marvin' kind of thing (together with tape echo en reverb); "Twang" goes well with some Gretsch-y tremelo action for a rockabilly sound. "Blues" is a bit one dimensional and dull, and "Insane" is way too noisy (though brutal enough to kick that metal ass, that for sure !).

Modulation effects are not high quality, but easily tweakable to get the right sound. Same goes for delays, though I really love tape echo and ping pong. Reverb is OK, but if you want better, you'd better look for an outboard unit.
The amp reacts good at volume and wah-pedals on the floorboard, though there is still some delay time (floorboard is directly connected to the amp). So if you need a really tight funky wah, you'd better use an external wah with guitar plugged right into it.

Overall sound is tight, bang-for-your-buck and quite convincing.

Due to the digital technology, this one doesn't react to any temperature/weather changes. You don't have to wait 'till the tubes are warm-and-glowing, with the Spider you can wail right away ! It's perfect for small stages as it doens't occupy much room, and, again, it's lightweight ! The only thing that's been annoying me for the last 4 months, is that volume pedal doesn't seem to cut ALL the sound in down-heel position, while the amp is in a 10-gain setting... As for the rest, it's a nice sturdy combo.

I'm gonna call the dealer to ask them if they could do anything about that volume pedal-thing. No comments so far.

I've been playing electric guitar for almost 7 years. Right now I'm looking for a second hand Mesa Boogie (Mark II or DC-5) for a REALLY good tube sound, but I might still choose for a Line6 Flextone III because of it's great diversity. I love Line6 stuff, also because of it's reliability and convincing sounds, and it's all for a very reasonable price. The Spider is great for small gigs,jams and rehearsals, and it can handle much more than only nu-metal or punk, especially if you got a versatile guitar (or several ones). You do hear the difference if you plug another axe into it, so it's quite transparant at that point. I'd choose now for a more up-market amp due to my needs (I went from amateur to semi-professional), but in it's own class Spider still beats all the rivals !

I think the features are really good for an amp like this bar one!!!! no line in, this was very annoying to me.
i too bougt the amp second hand and with being an owner of a marshall gr50 before that, i was impressed with the sound of the spider.

i'm playing a 1987 epihphone spotlight with Dimarzio Evolution pickups fitted and the sound on the insane setting is amazing but the only problem is that you have to set it then stick to it, you cant just change from insane to clean with out having to fart about with the other settings to get the desired effect.

i am rather annoyed with this amp now because of a dodgy channel vol knob making the sound rather dry at times then fine other times.
and that other thing is that when you change a setting there is a slight delay b4 the change takes place which is really annoying.
also the effects are rather tame especially the delay effect.
cant say i could depend on it for a gig cause its never the same twice over which is a shame cause it could be so much better.

dont know about customer sopprt but the site is very helpful with an active forum for ppl with the same problems.

well overall the amp is the best i've had but only good in my eyes for practising in the home.
too many faults compared to other plug and play amps. not sure how accurate my statments are because i haven't tried effects boxes or the like through it, but my experience so far with the on board stuff has been a little less than dissapointing. bearing in mind the only effects module i've ever had was a korg pandora px2.

Got mine second hand. But very good nick. Features already explained. But amazing. I have not seen another amp that is non-line 6 with these features.

I use a Les Paul standard and the DM4 and the MM4 line 6 stompboxes.
I like insane, i know many dont, but a few changes, a bit of chorous, and the sound is inspiring for me to write some music. At the top volume, the sound does suffer a bit. I always keep it on clean, to utilise the stompboxes to their full capacity. All the channels are useful, foe variety purposes, and a change of sound often goes a long way to writing new stuff.

This amp has been perfect, and i got it second hand. I am one careful owner, and so was the previous owner. The other guitarist in my band had one of the 212, and i bought mine without knowing what it was(yeh i know silly, but it all worked out) The two together in practices can make some pretty amazing music, one in twang, and the other in crunch or recto, for quite a slow rock song, can bring a tear to the eye.
This amp, is kept in my bedroom when practicing on my own, and i often use it to reach high shelves for example. It is sturdy as a brick shithouse.
The dials are rock solid, they aint going anywhere.

None needed, but I can only use it for the stopmboxes. But they are probably very helpful

I have been playing for 2 and a half years. I use it with an Epiphone Les Paul Standard. Awsome. A bit of a Line 6 fan, with the distortion and Modulation stompboxes. I have learned so much by myself with this gear. If the amp were stolen, i would probably buy a mark 2 head, and another a mode four or something to get a diverse setup. And a few cabs to get a beautiful noise.

2001 Great practice amp or small gig amp, four programmable channels, six amplifier model simulations and six different effects plus reverb.

Use with a les paul deluxe and a Ibanez 540. This amp has average clean sounds and very good dirty sounds, the recto simulation is really nice and contrary to other reviews the insane is useable if you tweek it. It was desinged to have to much gain you just have to back it off and you get some nice heavy distortion. The real minus is the speaker, like most budget combos it's lightweight and weak when you really push it. If you get a chance do what I did and replace it with a real speaker! I had a celestion g12h-80 left over from a project and the difference is amazing, it takes it from good sounding to great, now I can push it and thump it all day with no problem. I'd rate the sound a 6 with the stock speaker and a 9 with the celestion the clean could still be better.

Seems solid no problems so far.

never needed it.

Overall as a practice amp which is what I bought it for it is as good as it gets, but really if I didn't have my larger amps I think it would be very gigworthy in smaller clubs or miked for bigger and also great for band practice.

Not sure when it was made, I like the amp for its sound. It has a good distorted sound, I'm not too happy with the blues setting since I do enjoy playing blues. It has 4 channels, which could be better if it had more, headphone jack which I haven't tried yet. I use it in the basement while my band is practicing, we haven't gigged since I got it, but we will probably have one, at which point I will give another review saying how it did there. I don't use the Trem or Flange, the tape echo also sounds bad. I use Chourus occasionally, and almost always play with delay. The Ping Pong effect has a nice sound to it.

I am using a Charvel with a Seymor Duncan Humbucker in it(Not sure of brand). It is very good for what I play, which is new rock and classic (Zeppelin, Nirvana, BLink, ect.) Huge mix of everythign is what I play. It can be noisy, I haven't gigged with it as of yet, but it sounds great in my basement about 1/4 of the way up. I play it on Recto and Insane.

I have not had problems with the amp as of yet, but I always take care of all my equiptment.

Never Dealt With

I have been playing for about a year and a half now. I own 2 guitars, and another shit amp. If it were stolen, I would probably get something else, I like it, but I probably wouldnt get another one cause the new models are too expensive since I could pay 500 for a new one, or get a used Tube Amp for less. I wish it had a bit better of a distortion sound other than Insane and Recto (although Recto sounds great)

Amp was purchased in 2001/new. Had the amp 3 year+.
Play mainly country/rock, rock, blues and some fusion/jazz. Like many styles.
4 programable channels; switching is manual without pedal (pedal is overpriced); no effects loop that I've seen (only pedal I use is a DOD distortion or overdrive directly into guitar); there is a headphone jack (never use it).
Needs a "presence" response (I believe the new spiders have these--or was it the flextone model, hum, can't remember). I'm constanlty attempting to get a better treble/midrange response from this thing, but never quite satisfied. Always turn the bass down to zero because otherwise, the bass is overwhelming (thought I recall this being a problem with some of the older models--something to do with component fine tuning; not an electrical engineer, so don't know the science).
Power rating seems OK for me--I play in mostly smaller venues (small clubs, coffeehouses and outdoor farmers' markets)---also perform a lot of acoustic music.
Flange is weak; tremelo seems fine; chorus is OK in moderation; delay seems OK; don't like the sound of the tape echo, so never use it; ping pong echo is actually my favorite--nice "spacey" quality to it.

Use a fender tele and cheap squire strat, stock pick-ups and some mods at other times I switch out pups every so often just for a change).
Again, play a variety of styles, from blues to a more country-like twang. Haven't found a distortionI like from the amp, hence the distortion pedal. It's never gonna give a pleasant tube-like overdrive/dsitortion; didn't really think it would from the start.
I only use the clean channel (w/ pedal occassionally)--not to much impressed with the twang, blues (this one's particularly muddy--pretty miserable); and the retro/insane settings don't fit my style or tone preference. The clean setting seems adequate, particularly with a standard tele I recently purchased (I believe the guitar also has excellent tone, so that definately helps). I'll give it a "7" for the clean channel--"4" overall.

Here's where I'm sorely disappointed: last week the PC board scorched on me. Just had an outdoor gig--used the amp for about an hour only; got it home, plugged in and swoosh--waft of smoke and that disagreeable smell that goes with it,; something electrical burning. took it in to a shop 2 days later. Was told to purchase a new PC board, the old ones not worth fixing. $120 for the board, $30-40 labor and I've spent nearly half as much of the initial cost of the amp. The amp's been treated very well (I take pride in making things last and taking care of my equipment) and has been used only moderately over the years for practise and some giging. Very disappointed.

Haven't dealt with the company; dealt with an authorized repair shop nearby to home. Had to get it fixed, otherwise, no good to me anymore. And they won't let me keep the old board without paying an extra $40 (lotsa good parts left they can use again).

Been playing since 1970 (took most of the late 70s & 80s off from playing, however); own a number of acoustic guitars, PA system, and other performing gear for vocal performance, etc. If lost/stolen, would likely get something else.
Think the amp is overpriced for what it is; perhaps worth $200 max. Seems good for practise and maybe small venue gig, but the amp is very sensitive and finicky, and I'm often frustrted at having to reset settings at each performance (often don't have the time and like to concentrate on other things).
Would expect to get much longer from the product before a major break down such as this.

It's a 50 watts solid state guitar amp. You can choose between 6 amp models (Clean, Twang, Blues, Crunch, Recto, Insane) and you can save 4 presets (A, B, C, D). The controls are: Drive, Bass, Mid, Treble, Channel Volume. There are also some knobs for the effects: one for Flanger/Chorus/Tremolo, one for Delay/Tape Echo/Ping Pong (Delay and other effects lenght is controlled by a Tap button) and finally one for Reverb. Obviously there is also a Master volume. It's got a headphones output but not a real line-out. It's got a 12" Line 6 Tube Tone speaker.

I play mainly rock, punk, hard rock and heavy metal, but also country and poprock. I play an American Standard Stratocaster. It is difficult to give an overall opinion about this amp, so I will describe and comment the amp model it offers one by one.

CLEAN: Well, first of all, this isn't a clean channel. You can't get a real clean sound!!! It sounds unreal. The only thing that saves this amp model is that you can get quite good sounds with chorus or other effects... but don't expect to make your guitar play like an acoustic one.
I give it a 6.

TWANG: I like it more than the clean one. Obviously if you use effects...
I give it a 6,5.

BLUES: Well it isn't a bad amp model but I never use it. It doesn't sound so much different from the previous two.
I give it a 6.

CRUNCH: This amp model offers a light overdrive sound (even when cranked). I use this channel very often, but always with another overdrive pedal (Korg G3) which acts like a boost.
I give it a 8.

RECTO: Well it hasn't got all that gain that the name allows to suppose. I use this channel (always with my Korg G3) specially when I play at high volumes (rock and hard rock). It's a quite good channel, but it should have more gain and a more warm sound, in fact it sounds a little harsh (without a boost overdrive pedal).
I give it a 7,5.

INSANE: First of all, you can get conscious of this thing specially playing with this amp model, this amp sounds very good at low volumes (let's say until 10/11 o'clock on the Master knob), but when you play at high volumes you can't get a full and very warm sound, due to the fact that you loose great part of the bass frequences. So your sound become
thin. If you want to get a big sound even at high volumes you MUST buy an ALL-tube amp. In the end I must say that this amp is good for alone playing at home, but not so much if you play (like me) in a band (also because it hasn't got an high output).
Talking about this amp model, it's the one I use most often. Playing with a strat with single coils, I must set the equalizer in this way to get a big and powerful sound: Bass at 4 o'clock (near to the max), Mid at 1, Treble at 10 and Drive at 3. I usually don't use other effects, except for solos. Well, with this configuration I can get a real hard rock/heavy metal sound! It is fantastic! The distortion is full and warm. Sometimes I also play with Drive at 1 o'clock and with the overdrive boost pedal, to get an even more liquid distortion, but it isn't really necessary.
The distortion you get is really very big and very smooth. I tried an 80 watts AVT Marshall owned by one of my friends, and you can't compare the 2 kinds of distortion! I don't like Marshalls, and now I know why! Marshalls are good only for solos, but don't try to get a big and fat and specially smooth rhythm distortion from them! After having tried this Marshall I love my line 6 even more!!!
I love to spend a lot of minutes playing palm muted!!! It's fantastic!!!
I give it a 9.

In the end, if you love distorted sounds and if you play alone at home, this amp should be your fisrt choice!!!
Obviously speaking about solid-state amps... I play in 3 bands: with the first I play punk, with the second I play rock, hard rock and heavy metal and with the third I play '70s rock (Creedence and others...). My dream is to get a Mesa Boogie Mark IIc+ 100 watts head, but I would never abandone my line 6 112 spider!!!

Never had any problems. When it doesn't work it is surely a cable problem (I must repair my cables every month...).

Never had problems. It's got a 3 years warranty (if i remember well).

Very good amp for home (see the SOUND description). One of the best 50 watts solid-state amps.

Mine was a 1999 model. The features have been basically gone over. Six amp models, six effects plus reverb.

I have a Tom Anderson classic, an old ES 335, and a big DeArmond jazz box. The mosy usable sound for me is the "crunch" which is a plexi Marshall model. It sounds really good at low to medium volumes, but when you turn it up, instead of getting "sweeter" like a tube amp, it flattens out. The blackface Fender model is decent, but at high voulmes is annoyingly bright. The recto and insane models are also very, very top end heavy. I guess if you like that over processsed nu metal sound, then they're OK.

Very reliable, no problems at all

Never had to deal with the company, but I understand they are pretty good.

I've been playing over 30 years, and though I haven't made any big records, from what people tell me, I'm more than pretty good, and can play anything from Blues to Rock to Fusion and even a little bop. I also have owned some really high end stuff like VHT, Bogner, Mesa, and Marshall, as well as having played through just about anything you can name. I bought this to just have an amp to take to jams as I'm involved in a career that doesn't allow me the time to do a band thing right now. For the money this is a decent amp, but I just bought a Reverend Hellhound, and the sound of real tubes is just another world all together.

6 amp models: Clean, Twang, Blues, Crunch, Recto and Insane.
Digital effects including Delay, Echoe, Flanger and also capable of storing four settings
Lots of pretty lights as they guy said below but overall an ugly looking beast which could devalue a house by half by just
being in it!!

Hmmmmmmmmmmm......... where to start eh?? I use and Epi Les Paul Standard and a Squier Fat Strat...out of all the amp models and I can honestly say in my oppinion that Recto is the only one I was half pleased with... I found all the other setttings, from the muffled clean to the absolutely horrifying insane setting absolutely useless... the sheer awfullness of the blues and the cruch setting have to be heard to be believed... I played around with the equaliser for hours an end trying and even begging to get a decent sound out this thing but I just kept failing... perhaps if you are into metal and nothing else then this amp maybe slightly useful but if you are not, stay clear of this abomination... sure you can get a massive range of sounds out of this thing but are any of them actually good??? GOD NO!!!
My advice is to buy the Roland Cube 30 amp.... much better sound, much better amp models, much better digital effects, and all for a good #75 cheaper..

Never really had a problem with it breaking down

didnt need it

I've had this for 6 months and can't wait to get rid of the bugger... If it were ever stolen, I would hunt down the burglar and personally shake his hand... and then get something a million times better with the insurance... I urge people to buy the Roland Cube 30 if they want a great sounding amp with great digital effects and amp models...

This amp has a lot of lights on it, it may attract small children, perhaps that's why i bought it about 4 years ago before i knew how to play anything but a power chord...... it also has a headphone jack, it sounded pretty good on headphones, i think my dad liked that feature...... but hmmm features, ya it has a lot of them.... probably too much, this is one who tries to excel at all things, but succeeds at none of them........

I started off with a pretty crappy guitar i suppose, a Squire Stagemaster, and about 8 months ago purchased a Hwy 1 Fender Stratocaster (this is mostly american now that i've changed the electronics) with EMG SA's GXP and SPC (something like that). I play a lot of stuff, still a copy-cat but i play SRV, Van Halen, Pantera, (a few of the long list) a lot of different kind of stuff.... let's just say first off if you want to play ANY sort of blues..... DO NOT BUY THIS AMP.... the blues setting is horrible, and the best i could get was on the clean setting, but you try to play little wing on this thing.... it sounded better out of my acoustic, than through my dad's '76 strat and this thing, The insane setting is.... insanely crappy, first of all if you want to play it you have to drop the bass to 0, and then even then you will get not one ounce of clarity, makes Eruption solo sounds like 1 long note....... I realize you have to tweak this amp to get anything decent at all, but after 4 years, i'm giving up..... i just can't get anything good, i bought a few rack effects a Digitech Twintube GFX-1, Alesis Midiverb 3 and within 5 minutes i was getting sounds that blew this thing out of the water, i'm not saying the digitech is great, I still haven't decided that yet. if you are thinking about this amp, don't Go buy a 15 watt crap-amp and a Metal-zone pedal if you want the distortion, at least you will prob want to keep the metal zone pedal and won't havea 300 dollar boat anchor in your bedroom. or better yet spend another 50 bucks and get a 40 watt marshall or fender tube combo used.....i just got a fender blues deluxe for about 350 and i paid almost 400 for this amp new....... makes me sick since i can't get more than 200 on ebay for it, maybe i shouldn't be writing this review..... oh well screw it, if you are smart enough to research i don't want you to be stuck with this piece of crap

Yeah, it's dependable........ never broken....... umm the line 6 sticker fell off the front and i can't find it...... i don't think that constitutes being unreliable.... and i don't gig..... so i guess if i did gig.....i would never use this amp...... so N/A

(p.s.) to you who have not filled one of these out, it has some qeustions, that's why all the answers have someithing about gigging in them.

Oh yeah it's never broken down, but neither has my

I don't remember the warranty length, i'm guessing a year, i don't care anymore.... so this category is totally N/A

I got a few various effects, a Tech 21 Sansamp, Digitech Twintube, Alesis midiverb, and a Korg multi-effects (pretty much a tuner and volume pedal now) I like the midi controlled effects, it allows me to get a lot more presets, and they sound a lot better..... about to get in my new fender amp, a tubescreamer.

If this was stolen i would be pissed casue i couldn't sell it to someone on ebay.... but would not miss it's crappy tones one bit.

if you do buy this thing, either you don't know what guitar tone is, or for some reason don't care, i know people say that a good guitar player can sound good with any guitar...... yeah i'm not saying my playing sounds like shit on this, people like to listen to this amp when i play, but it doesn't let me acheive my potential, the mushy tone and far to bassy sound totally make me sound a lot worse than i do when i play on a fender hotrod, especially when i'm playing clean stuff....... i been thinking about what makes this thing crappy and i think i figured it out..... you ever had one of those little synthesizers?(sp) and put it on a grand piano patch? yeah you can play and it sounds like you are playing to a piano, and if you play good people are like wow you are good....... but if you get in front of a very nice grand piano and play something beautiful, you are gonna hit a nerve in people......

Say what you want, tubes feel like i'm playing something real

See the other reviews there are lots already

The ear candy is pretty good. At high gigging volumes it starts to fall down as the dynamic range isn't there when set up next to some big valve amps but if you're the only guitar you can control the volume on stage and this amp is sonically as good as valves when you have some headroom. It also has the small benefit of being massively more tonally flexible! Unless you only use two sounds or you've got room for ten different valve rigs this is a great way to go, period. At present Line 6 are selling these for #200 including the FB4, that is one seriously good set of sound for the cash. I use washburn idol, westone 335 copy and a Jap strat and they all sound great. When I compare this to how hard it used to be to sound good when I was as regular gigging guitarist in the 80s and 90s all I can say is you simply have never had it so good. THis is the dogs bollock (UK for very good) as a recording amp, versatile yet very easy to get great sounds.

Total reliability. I've had mine for 3 yrs, done several gigs and had my kids climb all over the thing and still its faultless. Some say valve sound better, I really can't tell the difference when my amp is in the zone, but this does n't blow up or need revalving every five minutes, you also don't burn your hands on the front panel (Marshall) need a noisy cooling fan like everything else with valves. I've never needed a back up although my vintage amp obsessed friends always need theirs, oh and the effects are totally reliable so I get the "can you play the chorused jangly bit 'cause my peadle boards gone down".

Line 6 have a great web site and constantly pass on their high end experience down to this end of the market.

9 - This amp can take you a very long way, they're now so cheap you can start with one and you may well still be gigging with it as a semi-pro. It covers nearly every tonal/timbral taste from clean to blue to knarly saturated rock, its musical too, turn the volume down on your axe and the tone changes, heay! just like valves. Try one, use it with some taste and you'll sound damn good. Then later when you settle on your own few sounds you can buy a boutique rig just for you, I bet you'll keep this as a spare though.

$200 new. Had it for over 2 years now.
Dsp modelling, 5 channels digital delay, flange, chorus.

the chorus is ok, so is the delay. the flange is fucking shit, its far too weak.

OK, for a beginner id say this is ok, you get an array of sounds, built in effects, and it costs next to nothing.

If you have been playing for more than a day though, This amp sounds synthetic, lifeless and irritatingly shrill. You cant turn the shrill sound off. Insane mode is about the best but it sounds so arfiticial, and again the shrill sound ruins it. It will make you insanely pissed off.
At full volume this amp loses all of its definition and clarity and sounds like a wet fart. Under ALL settings. Very shrill and weak to the point of pain. Never use this amp in loud circumstances ever. It WASNT designed for volume. it vanishes in a band situation, quicker than you can say "bin laden".

Its about at its best when directly injected into a mixing desk. It still retains is toneless lifeless shittyness.
If you want to feel your playing and you want others to feel it, dont buy this box of dog shit. It sucks life out of the guitar and should be banned along with the rest of line6 and their robofaggot crap.
Remember, your guitar goes through their code, they shape it. you dont.

They have a very insidious marketing campaign paying the slipknot idiots etc.. It is commercial lies. Dont be fooled into thinking this amplifier or manufacturer has any credibility.

The channel switching is crap. It randomly switches after about 2 hours use. The speaker packed in when the software decided to assume i was always directly injecting. line out works. speaker dosent.

Line 6 are shit, poor to deal with and seeing as they have discontinuted this model, completely ignorant. They wont respond to email. These bastards are only in it for the money. Unless you own their latest product they ignore you, or rather try to force you to buy their latest monstrosity because "person x" who plays for "commercial devils cock sucker band y" gets payed thousands to claim to use it. Lifeless, soul-sapping, false scum.

If someone stole this, id find out where they lived and thank them. Ive moved on from this amp and would NEVER buy from line6 again.
Do youself a favour, save up for a real tube amplifier, you wont be dissapointed. Dont waste your $200 on a short term shithouse.

This amp is great. Its a definite improvement from my old 20W Stagg amp that I got with my first guitar hehe... It has amp modelling built in and a few FX thrown in for fun too... I am currently tryin to sell my GFX-707II Multi FX pedal, but I fear I will not need a new one with the sound that comes out of this thing.... Well, I would need a footswitch for around #80 :(

I can get all the tones I need out of the amp - the only problem I have is 4 presets :( I need more. However, you can get from the very clean, to country twang, to punk to heavy metal - its all there.. from one end of the "tonal spectrum" (hehe i made that up) to the other...

The only problem I do have is the noise of the really high pitched notes.. I might not have it set up right yet (only tried it a few times so far) but really high notes hurt your ears...

I laugh at the 1 review where someone is upset because his roommates circuit board was fried. Look at all the other reviews and take no notice, this thing is build like a tank. That one review must have been something like spilling some beer into it and then tryin it out.. Its not like the circuit board just breaks on you - im glad it was out of warrenty... TAKE CARE OF YOUR BABY!!!

No chance, this thing will never break...

I use this thing with my Vintage Raider (H/S/H) and my Stagg Strat Copy.. OK not the best guitars in the world hehe, but it sounds awesom. I also tried my friends Fender USA Strat through it - doesnt sound any better hehe.. well until he plays it ;)

Overall, its great for the money. If you see it used, buy it (cos it wont break) unless ure picky about the couple of scratches that may be on it. I got mine for #135 used, immaculate condition and im glad I did...

Same features as all the other reviews. I bought it for when I want to travel light, i.e. for when I know one of the band members isn't turning up to a rehearsal so I don't have to lug my main amp in and out of the car.

The effects are very limited in turns of tweakabilty, but they are good generic sounds as long as they are used with discretion.

The only complaint is that Line 6 make it so you have to buy a footswitch or floorboard in addition in order to get best use out of it, adding at least #70 to the price. Luckilly I have the floorboard already for use with my Flextone II XL. If they just put a standard non-latching footswitch plug on so that you could scroll through the four channels it would be an improvement.

I use it with a Fender Texas Special Fat Strat for general pub rock music.

Now, I get fed up with hearing folk who are obviously crap with technology whining on about how anything with valves in has to sound better. This is a pathetic mantra that's been circulating the music industry for decades and saves ignorant people from actually having to think about their own sound. I've heard people with the cheapest guitar in the word and an old tranny amp making music to die for, and equally I've heard peole with a wildly expensive guitar and valve amp set-up sounding awful. So let's clear the decks of all the pre-conceptions before we go any further shall we?

Now, having said that, this amp is not a perfet emulation of six classic valve amps, but it IS a very, very good compromise, and sounds and responds far better than all of the competition, such as Vox Valvetronix, Marshall VST, Peavey Transtube, etc. The message for everyone who complains that it doesn't sound the same at high volume as it does at low volume is to type EQUAL LOUDNESS CONTOURS into a search engine and get clued up. The problem with this sort of technology is that it takes time to tweak it , so we all want to fiddle with it at home, then take it to the gig or and rehearsal the just crank up the master and it'll sound great, right? WRONG! The ear responds to frequency differently at different sound presure levels, so your EQ needs to be set appropriately for the level you're playing at. (and this goes for ANY amp. The difference with this is that with a dozen channels to set up we're all less inclined to do the job properly when the rest of the band are there.)

I use a Line 6 Flextone II XL as my main amp, and it sounds brilliant: far better than the other guitarist's rig with his digital floorboard, and this amp is capable of producing similar sounds, albeit with a bit of compromise. Once again, no, it does not sound precisely like whatever classic valve amp it's named after, but it does such a good impression of it that once embedded in the mix there's no way you or anybody else is going to tell the difference. How many punters at a gig are listening solely to the guitarist's tone, eh? Only the rather anally-retentive other guitarists in the audience. Hey, here's an idea. How about we all get out there and make music instead of getting up our own arses about our TONE eh? The vibe comes out of your fingers and from the band's groove, not from the gear you buy.

So stop wanting something for nothing guys, and at least be willing to put in a bit of time learning to use it and settting it up at appropriate volumes. I swear most of these complaints are just regurgitation of things guys have read in music mags, written by guitar journos who are too far up their own arses anyway.

The Clean sound is very good, but I prefer the Twang sound for clean work. The Blues setting is the least useful setting for me, but the Crunch, Recto and Insane settings are all really good. Pretty dynamic and responding well to attack, etc.

A word of caution here. The guys at Line 6 have deliberately given the last three setings far more gain than any sane person could ever use, so go easy on the drive for a better sound. If you drive it too hard it will compress the crap out of your signal and rob your sound of any individuality.

The amp's very new but no problems at all so far.

Never Contacted them.

I've been playing over 20 years and I also use a Flextone II XL, which I'm very happy with. Guitar-wise I use a Fender Texas Special Fat Strat as my main guitar, with a Washburn WG 580 (Super strat to you) as a spare. I also use a Yamaha APX5 acoustic with a Zoom 504II Multi-FX unit.

Overally this amp is great for what I want it for. It sounds great, but no, it doesn't sound exactly like a valve amp, and like all non-valve amps it will be quieter than a valve amp with the same power rating.

If you need Marshall stack, then buy a Marshall stack. If you want a highly versatile, highly portable unit with more flexibilty and features than you will find on anything in it's price-range then consider one of these.