Line 6 Spider II 112 Combo

I bought this amp from a friend from school about 2 years ago. Best 115 bucks i ever spent. He said he didnt liek the sound or something like that...guess he never learnt how to turn knobs.

I use an Ibanez rg350 on it and its as quiet as can be. the only thing i dont like is when you switch on the Phaser, for instance, and you can hear a faint wooshing which can be annoying as hell.

Another point id liek to bring up is that this amp is loud. I had made arrangements with a friend to take it to his house and play and his mom had this great idea...take it outside and crank it to drown-out the drunken hillbilly neighbors. So i did and long story short, i came home the next day and my dad says "Man ur lucky u didnt get the cops called on you. You had people outside standing in their lawns pissed off!" - Our houses are 5 blocks away by-the-way.

Its reliable as hell. It always turns on when i oommand it to do so.

Never have and never will how this thing is built.

I bought this because i already had a Spider 3 30w, but i wated delay. Id even buy more of these amps cause i guess im the only one that can make em' sound good.

I think mine is about a 2006 model. It was a guitar instruction amp in a music store, used by WHO KNOWS how many people.

I bought it stictly for our practice studio, as an emergency backup, and because it uses the same control pedals as my main performance amp.

One input, T5 jack for the FVB, and a headphone jack.

My main amp is a Line 6 Flextone III Plus. THe Spider does compare well to the Flextone, but the four patches I use in the Spider at rehearsal is all I ask of this amp, and it performs in this role very well. Some patches are better than others. Season to taste.

I do wish it had a midi connection so I could tweak the models with Tweak Wizard, but then, it's just a practice amp for me.

Is it loud enough? Absolutely! Loud enough to play a 500 seat club.

Another plus: It's a lightweight compared to my last Mesa and my current Flextone, and if I bump the door jamb with it I don't feel so bad, LOL!

My main guitar is a 1971 LP Deluxe and my backup is a 1982 ESP Classic 62 Strat clone. The LP has an old Bill Lawrence L450 at the bridge, stock neck, and the strat has two Lawrence L250's and an L290 at the bridge. Nice guitars.

I play most rock covers from the early 60's up to current day. Been at it since 1962. The four patches I have built are quite adequate.

High gain settings on some of the amp models can be noisy, just like all other amps. The clean channel is very good and very quiet, in fact surprisingly so.

There are twelve amp models taken from well known, classic amps. Nobody knows how accurate digital amp models are or are not. This is purely subjective. The important question is, are you clever enough to coax a good sound out of an amp when it has the capability, and this amp does. For many people, I'm sure the answer is "no". I have always had very good luck getting good sounds out of modern digital amps.

As with most modern amps, tube or otherwise, there is far more grind available (gain) in the Spider than I would ever be able to use. Dialing too much gain into a patch is a very common mistake causing some people to be critical of the amp. This amp can, in fact, be made to sound like total crap too. I call it "operator error".

The last reviewer implies no solid state amp can sound as good as a valve amp. That is simply ignorance speaking. I have spent many hours tweaking my Flextone amp and have gotten numerous compliments on the sweetness and accuracy of my amp models. Anybody who uses a solid state stomp box in front of their tube amp is doing precisely the same thing, they just won't admit it.

The Spider doesn't have as much capability as the Flextone, but most of the amp models are very good.

I do need to mention that I have an ace in the hole with tweaking this amp: I use the Line 6 Shortboard that goes with my Flextone to set up and save my Spider patches. This way I have total access to all the amp models, all the effects, and can save my four patches in any order I choose and name them whatever I like. Then, at the studio I switch to my Line 6 Express pedal which gives me a tuner, Wah, volume pedal, and four amp patches. Pretty slick! My shortboard then goes back on-stage with my Flextone.

How does the Spider compare to the much more expenseve Flextone? Not all that well, but with judicious tweaking some of the models are quite useful. The Flextone is, well, far more flexible. I highly recommend it.

Now my complaints about the Spider:

The Smart Control effects can be very bad. It's entirely possible that I'm doing something wrong, but so far the chorus is awful. Flange is okay but I don't use it, tremelo is not great. The best effect is the reverb.
In my opinion, this method of providing modulation effects was a very poor concept. I would have much prefered reverb ONLY in the amp, and an effects loop for effects of my choosing. Yep, the effects are poor.

Also, when dialing down bass in the three higher gain amp models there is a cut-off of lows instead of a smooth transition. It's possble that I need to go back and see if the position of the mid knob affects this or not because this too may be operator error.......mine!

You know, I don't know, but I am optimistic because my other Line 6 stuff has held up very well.

Haven't needed them yet.

I think this amp is a very good value for the dollar, especially as used. Why do reviewers tend to compare mid-piced gear to high dollar stuff? I just don't understand that. If you absolutely MUST have a Mesa Triple Rectifier, by all means, save your nickles and go buy one, but it is totally irrational to believe that a $200 amplifier should do the same job!

The previous review, who's author decided to remain anonymous (for obvious reasons), should be generally ignored. If you can't back up your words, keep silent. Your not helping anyone.

No, The Spider II 112 is not a top-flight, digital modelling amp, but it is certainly not junk, and for the price, I think it's pretty remarkable. It matters not to me if it was made in China, which it was. I benefitted from the savings.

If I was just putting my first band together and needed an affordable, fairly versatile amp, loud amp, this would be a very good choice.

Like all amps of this type, with a fair amount of capability, it deserves some time for tweaking, so if you're impatient, this is not the amp for you.

If this amp were stolen, yes, I would immediately replace it with another just like it.

yes the amp goes from vintage to metal, It has effects and stuff, basically you need to understand that line 6 stuff is digital, and obviously there are a lot less limitations as to what 'effect' s digital amp can do compared to a real analog amp.
It is SOOO annoying that the knobs go in circles without any indication as to where they are except for your ear, and then sometimes you'll turn it to a setting and it will be HELLA loud because it's all saved in there and not controlled by and master because the knobs are completely 360 rotate-able!! NOT COOL

this is the main reason that I wanted to contribute; there seems to be a discrepancy between those who think this amp sounds awesome and those who would say it's a terrible excuse to throw away a couple hundred over. Bearing no intent to insult those who like this amp I would like to clarify the counterpoint that digital amps sound COMPLETELY plastic. Whenever I would sit in my room and play this, what used to be a few hours of raw expression became an evening of frustration, with me just DYING to get any ARTICULATION out of this thing, no matter HOW you play the amp will only respond by lowering the volume or heightening it you get NO real response that even a cjeap solid state will give, look this thing is frankenstein, its strong its big in this case it can do a BUNCH of stuff, BUT ITS DEAD and it nearly took away my urge to even play, thank god I sold it and got at least a cheap tube.

It's reliable if your careful, just like any other digital electronic device, and is not far below the standards of any one that you may have used before, but what does it matter if it SUCKS?

Ive been playing for like uhh... WOW eight years OMG I feel so old! and i SUCK so BAD! but rest assured, I knew what sound I wanted the day I was born RAW DEATH but anyway, look harmony central is the ULTIMATE decider on what I buy, people come on here and they butcher products and that's what I NEED because if they cant find anything wrong with it, that's because it's all good, if your a kid looking around for a cool amp let me tell you what SAVE YOUR MONEY, its NOT worth it WAAAAY not worth it to buy this amp that will leave you asking for more, I got this amp as well as a gajillion pieces of equipment off of craigslist, I trade and trade and trade, and eventually i got a REALLY good Idea about what i want, so let me just telly you that you are looking for responsiveness, tone, most of the time a healthy distortion, and guess what? this amp doesnt offer any of that, and for the price of this or ANY of the line 6 or any other digital amp you can go ahead and buy a quality solid state or tube amp

-hero

Don't know what year it was made. Bought it new from the Guitar Center.

Too many usless features (effects). They would sound OK but there is limited control over the intensity and speed of tremolo, chorus, flanger, delays, etc. But good Reverb, Delays are OK.

I am a semi-pro musician. Got a day job and play music at small to medium sized clubs (50-150 people) on weekends. I bought this amp, I liked it at first but later went for an all tube Peavey Classic 30. I liked the sound much better than the Spider II (at first). I still took the Spider II along just in case I had problems with the Peavey. We play 1 to 3 jobs every week and I have had a few tube type problems with the Peavey during a few of the jobs.

After educating my ear to what tube amps sound like, now I can now adjust the Spider II to give better results.

I mainly use 3 axes: American Strat, S-1 Schecter and an AS-73 Ibanez. I use just the first two green positions with a touch of reverb on the amp. The sound, although not 100% tube-like, is really good playing clean or with a slightly crunchy setting with the Strat (with the treble dialed off a little on the strat to cut the spikey highs). The Ibanez sounds good, no matter what the guitar setting. The Schecter sounds either too trebly or too dead if you dial some of the treble out, although the Schecter sounds good with the Peavey.

I play rhythm and blues, do mostly rhythm guitar and play some horn parts to back up the 1 sax we use. I get all the blues rides and get more than a few compliments on them when using the Peavey or Spyder II. With the right guitar and spending some time setting up and saving the patches on the Spider II, I get good to excellent sound.

It has been stone solid. Never any problems, so I haven't had to deal with Line Six. I have several friends who are pro musicians and used them. They havn't had any problems either.

I now use the Spider II, since learning how to dial in the sound I want. Now, I take the Peavy along for a backup but leave it in the trunk (just in case). I trust the Spider II and although the sound is different, it's great for what I play. Plus it's easier to haul around.

N/A

In my opinion, this amp is fine for rhythm and blues but wouldn't have the balls for heavy metal. It is plenty loud though for what I use it for, but would need to be mic'd for larger crowds like outdoors or 150+ people.

If lost or stolen, I would buy it again if I could get one at a good price, or maybe go for a Roland Cube 60. More amps sound good and less of them suck these days. Try them out, take time and learn to set them up to get the best from them. Even the most expensive Marshall can sound like Sh*t if set up wrong or used with a crappy guitar.

This amp was made sometime around 2005/2006.
Chances are you know the details. It's a 75 watt solid state modeling amp with 12 (I believe) amp models, 7 effects, and 4 user programmable presets, all for a nice low price. It sounds like a beginners dream: it's versatile and loud. Unfortunately, the amp doesn't pull this off well, which I'll explain more. Good features for beginners though.

This amp can make just about every kind of tone you can think of, except for the fact that it can't make them sound too great. As you turn the amp up past bedroom volume, you lose definition and quality. This amp can produce metal distortion, but I'd like to add that most of the "insane" channel distortion is useless and noisy. I use(d) this amp for my bedroom, band practice, and even once a gig. I played through it with an Epiphone Les Paul, and at bedroom volumes, you can get an almost okay practice tone, but trying to use it in a practice or at a gig doesn't produce desirable results. The tone is very sterile and digital. I will give it one thing though: the built-in noise gate is pretty cool and very useful.

I'm not a fan of this amp, but mine seems pretty reliable. Once I saw a random screw loose for no apparent reason, but other than that, nothing. A pretty solid built amp.

Never dealt with Line 6.

If I could go back, I would not have bought this amp. Anyone that is considering buying this amp, please read the next sentence carefully. The amp sounds good in the store, but two days/weeks/months after you get home, you will sorely regret your purchase. My little Valve Junior Combo with a DS-1 in front of it has more useful versatility for practice than the Line 6. I strongly suggest looking elsewhere.

6 amp models.clean, twang, blues, crunch, metal and insane. i use the insane green LED for what i mostly(van halen) 4 effects. chorus, flanger,phaser and tremolo. not the best but usable. 3 delay models i never use the sweep echo. The normal delay and tape echo give u alot of range though. The reverb is pretty good too. oh ya, and the phaser sucks its to gritty. it dosent get the vintage phase 90 sound thats on alot of eddie van halen solos otherwise it's a very decent amp

i have 14 guitars but ireally only use 4-an ibanez rg350, an american deluxe strat (HSS) a gibson faded v and a steinberger gtu-3.

the clean: red LED is a really nice to use. it's more thin and tube like, unlike the green led wich is muddy.

twang: never use.

blues: never use.

crunch: red led is okay. mor of a fuzz than crunch. good for a jimi hendrix type sound its also muddy and dosent have much treble. i would prefer changing to green led for solos. green led is pretty good it can get a good ac/dc crunch or led zepplin type sound if your into that.

METAL: red led is really good for any type of metal band i use to use it for korn and pantera. Green led is very loud i'd keep the channel volume around 10 oclock for bedroom levels. it has a wide midrange level good for bston type sounds.

Now INSANE: red led sounds like absolute shit! it sounds like cats fighting or something. now my favorite green led insane. great for van halen well at least for me it is. I use the american deluxe stat for that old school evh brown sound. with my steinberger and the ibanez i also use this amp model for the sammy hagar era van halen. if u put the efects knob pointing where the led is for the chorus/flanger, u get that flangining/chorus sound that eddie uses from th 5150 album and on.

here are the EVH settings i use (all r on insane green):
old school brown sound:
gain 12 oclock
bass 12 oclock
mids 10 oclock
treble 2 oclock
slap back echo
reverb your choice
5150/ou812 albums
gain 11 oclock
bass 1 oclock
mids 10 oclock
treble 2 oclock
the chorus/flanger setting isaid earlier and reverb at 9 oclock

live right her right now/F.U.C.K/balance albums
gain 12 oclock
bass 3 oclock
mids 4 oclock
treble 1-2 oclock
chorus/flanger setting fast delay(not slapback)
reverb 9 oclock

Im only 13 so im not going on a gig any time soon. I hear that if you turn it up really high it looses tone and defenition. I think it would be good as practice amp or a or a recording amp.

never had to use it, hopefully never will.

overall, great amp. has many good amp models and decent effects. I'd recommend it for people who want to record or or practice. Anyone who wants a good all around amp GET IT!!!!!

I bought this amp new in 2005. I play with a group of guys just for fun, with the odd gig here and there. Our set list is an odd one, from The Beatles to AC/DC back to Green Day, over to INXS, and Dylan thrown in for good measure. There are 5 guys in the band with various interests, so we play whatever the others like to listen to. This amp seemed really appealing to me, given the range of music I play. I needed something to let me jump from ZZ Top to Roy Orbison, and the built in models gives me a lot of flexibility. I've played for 25 years, and have used a variety of amps. I asked a number of people I trust about this amp and got generally good feedback (as you'll see later, there's lots of bad feedback to come ...). Solid state, so I expect it to be dependable, but I don???t expect Marshall or Fender tube tone. It sounded great at the store, and at home at a reasonable volume. The headphone jack is a real plus, but there???s no line in for CD/Mp3 player; drum machine. That???s a feature I wish it had. 75 watts seemed like enough power, too, but more on that later.

Here???s where my review get mixed. The amp has a lot of cool toys to play with, and that???s mighty appealing in the store. But the more I use it, the more I wish I could rip out most of the extra features. I assume readers are generally familiar with the features, so I???ll discuss the ones I like and those I don???t. I play a ???83 Japanese Squier Strat. I am waiting to play a guitar I like more than that one. I???ve had it for 24 years and have never regretted buying it (though at the time I wondered whether ???Squiers??? were worth the risk. They were then; not so much now!). The built in noise gate is nice on this amp, since the single coils on my guitar have always hummed. Like many other reviewers, I use the red clean and green metal most of the time. I like the red crunch - sort of. It???s okay, but don???t even try adding some distortion or overdrive in red crunch for solos. It sucks out whatever tone you have completely. I have stopped in the middle of solos in rehearsal and just stared at the thing in disbelief ??? it???s that bad. My drummer thinks it???s hilarious, since I???ve run out of curse words for the amp and started making up my own. He tells me to rent a back-up combo, in anticipation of the day I will (not ???might,??? he says) put my boot through the thing. I bought the FBV pedal board so I can switch from crunch to metal for solos. That works okay ??? provided the volume levels are set just right. Sometimes the thing just jumps all over the place. I can???t hear myself one moment, then the next the other guys are covering their ears. I think it???s possessed. The effects are largely useless. The delay is okay, and the chorus is alright, but only if you lock it in and don???t allow it to move more than half a millimeter either way. The other effect ??? tape echo, sweep, even the phaser ??? aren???t worth it, and I???ve never seriously used them. Trix are for kids, folks. The direct access tuner is ridiculous. I???ve always ear-tuned with harmonics, so I ignored it anyway. But the tuner on the foot pedal is fine. I use it a lot. Here???s the bottom line: with headphones plugged in at low volume, it???s just fine. Throw it on a stage, or rehearsal, and crank it even close to 5 and you get nothing but abuse. Turn the master past 5 and the amp is completely uncontrollable. Tone takes a vacation, feedback (there it is!) comes from all over the place, and periodic volume drops (what the ????) materialize from nowhere. There have been times I have seriously thought that I am simply getting worse as a player thanks to this amp. It sucks all the fun out of live playing, and I spend all my time tweaking this, and changing that. This week I watched a DVD of a show we did last month and there???s the Spider II feeding back, squeaking, and generally making a nuisance of itself. I don???t trust it any more than I can throw my drummer. I just plug in and hope for the best. The best rarely makes an appearance.

Things are getting so bad now that I fear I can???t depend on this amp when it???s turned off and I???m at work. It???s probably screwing up someone???s day, just sitting there in my basement. I???ve used it twice without a backup, and that was rolling the dice, my friends. Then, two days ago, the volume takes a vacation. Of course, it???s one of those ???sometimes it does this, sometimes it doesn???t??? situations, so there???s a very good chance that it won???t act up for my tech guy, who???s right now got his brilliant mind stuck in the back of the Spider. I actually apologized to him for asking him to look it over. I am currently waiting to hear from him. I am in no rush.

You???ve just NOT won the lottery, fella! Your amp is two months out of warranty. Beautiful! The store I bought it from has been great. I expect they'll take this off my hands and sell it to someone who deserves it. You know, like a car thief, or a deadbeat dad.

While the amp is away for repair/holiday, I plot its replacement. Currently, I am using a Marshall MG50DFX as a loaner, and I must say it???s a lot of fun. I think I???ve improved as a player by just plugging in to it. Playing is fun! It???s fun! So, the decision is made: the Line 6 must go, but I am unsure what will take its throne (and right now, in my mind???s eye, the Spider is not sitting on the good kind of throne, people). I have treated this amp with the greatest care. This is not a mutually beneficial relationship. I treat it well; it treats me like I???m chopped liver (wrap me in cellophane and slap on a UPC sticker). I will not be treated this way any longer! The search begins for a new mate, and I am counting on this community (that's you, people) to give me the straight goods on what???s available and worthy of my second-favourite pastime, playing the guitar. Good night and good luck.

Hello dudes!!! this amp is perfect for my style... it was made on indonesia and got a celestion 12 " speaker. It is very versatile with the music I play (metal, hard rock, 80s rock, blues). I think that it could have a better channels management system because 4 channels its to few for me. But also they thought in this and there are many pedals for this amp that can save many channels. Its a very loud amp, i think it would survive a small gig. If you need it for larger ones, just plug it to a PA.

It is a metal amp, no doubt, and it does a goddamn good job playing metal!!!! its naturally distorted also in clean but with a pedal like a zoom 606 yo can make it sound better. The distortion is amazing. I use a greg bennett with two seymur duncan humbuckers and it sounds very good playing Yngwie Malmsteen, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Vinnie Moore, Guns n Roses, its surprisingly clean at high volumes. I put a 9 for the clean channel

Yeahh it would definitely suit a gig, its a very solid amp

I??ve never used the customer support..there are no problems yet with my amp!!!!

I??ve benn playing for about 3 years...i would definitely buy it again if it were stolen or lost. Or save about 1000 bucks to get a Marshall JCM amp!!! but cmon thats for professionals and famous people or rich people that can afford one of those. I love its design and sound, I hate its weight (its very heavy). But overall I love it...I ve made a very good acquisition!!!!!

I bought the Spider II 112 probably a month before the Spider III was released... Do I regret it? Not in the least! I got a great amp for a hella cheap price... I haven't owned a proper amp in many years, so this was my first step back into jamming with friends. I needed something simple, but with the sounds I needed for maximum inspiration... and with 4 channels to save my sounds, it's the right amount of simplicity and killer tones.

My main requirements for this amp were for it to be able to produce great bluesy tones AND crushing metal with equal quality. My four channels are set up as: Clean/Blues Rock/Metal01/Metal02

Clean is Red Blues, but with just a pinch of dirt.

Blues Rock is Green Crunch with more mids, less bass, less treble and a bit of distortion boost if I recall.

Metal01 is Green Metal with more mids and slight delay.

Metal02 is Green Insane with more mids and the bass & treble turned down.

For guitars, I play both a Strat and a Tele through the Spider. The Strat's pickups can be a bit noisier than the Tele's on the Metal channels, but I only need to move a round to stop that. Whether I'm jamming at home or with a band, my style is a mix of Keith Urban, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Eddie Van Halen sharing licks with a Swedish Death Metal band... and the Spider is perfect for that!

It's worked fine so far. You have to tweak it for higher volumes, but not by much. I jammed with another guy who owns a Traynor tube amp, and as soon as he heard the Spider, he dropped everything and wanted to have a go on it... I think that speaks volumes about the sound of this amp!

Never had to deal with them, but their website and forums are helpful.

I've been playing over 20 years now and this amp is truly the best one I've ever owned, not to mention the most inspiring. Is it the best amp out there? No... But it sounds great and works perfectly with what I'm doing now.

I don't know what year this amp was made
this amp is very versitile. I play almost everything. Mostly rock. i play worship, blues, and jazz as well. You can get pretty much any sound (relatively) you're looking for (but not exactly obviously).
this thing has four programmable channels. You can switch channels but it's easier if you buy a pedal mad specifically for this amp. i use the line 6 fbv express. Not sure if it has effects loops but it does have effects. it does have a headphone jack.
I wish it had chorus by itself (as i'm sure you've already read from previous reveiws). I like chorus but they only chorus that you have clean is on the red clean channel. I don't use the tremelo effect. You'll be able to boil it down to just a few amp models you like. i only use red clean, red twang, red blues, green cruch, red metal, and green insane. all other models i despise.
I use this amp as a practice amp now that i own a carvin legacy but before i use to use it for church gigs and for jazz ensemble at my college. it's plenty loud for that sort of stuff. I'm a headroom guy. i need 100W of tube power to be satisfied with a clean channel. wierd but true.
12 amp models. 2 for each catigory i mentioned
6 effects and a separate reverb knob (room and spring reverb)
1 12 inch speaker (in case you didn't know what 112 meant)
this amp also has an input jack that looks exactly like a phone line for specific line 6 pedals so you don't have to interupt your chain signal.

Don't expect this to sound like a tube amp (i don't know why people compare this thing to a tube amp). it's supposed to emulate tube amps not sound exactly like them and it does a damn good job of this cuz it really does sound like those amps. however, this amp's overall sound is very cold and steril due to the modeling and all of its digital features. I does cover pretty much all electric guitar sounds though for any style.
The clean channel doesn't really get distorted at high volumes but it gets really harsh and it's hard to take away the brightness without sounding like crap. However, when recording, somehow, it distorts way to easy even though there's no gain on. This is for all channels that are completely clean (which can be aranged for some that aren't).
The distortion is brutal. for fast leads, i like to use the green insane but i turn down the distortion as there is way too much there. This amp does have a lot of balls for a little 75 watt solid state 112.
I use and Ibanez RG1570 with dimarzio evolutions and a Fender Delux Player's stratocaster.
My music style is hard to describe but uses mainly fender type clean tones with the strat usually in the first three positions and my lead tones often want to sound like soft overdrive with a tight bottom end like a legacy's distortion. It suites my music style ok but not too great.
This amp is the opposite of noisy but it's because the noise gate is on on almost all channels (beware as some of the clean channels have the noise gate on them already and this will take away from the tone). But take the noise gate off and even with little drive and humbucker, man this this is flippin' noisy as heck! With the noise gate off, it's noisy in pretty much all settings except for humbucker on CLEAN channels and in all places that i've played mentioned above.

Not sure if i can depend on it. The input jack is starting to get loose (which is an easy fix i know) but it only happend after a few months of playing and man does this amp feed back on heavy gain settings like crazy with my evos and loud volumes (even with the noise gated on). I don't like using this thing for gigs cuz the knobs are soo loose that if you're playing loud (even happended to me at a church gig) they move and it's usually my master volume that moves and all of a sudden my amp is extremtly loud and i have to turn if down from my guitar which i hate doing cuz you loose a lot of high end and also, other knobs move too and it sucks after you found a good setting and forgot to save it onto one of the channels and the stinking knobs move.
The amp has never broken down.

bought this from guitar center and they were pretty friendly when i bought it but i havn't delt with them about it since.
Never tried to get it repaired. It's not worth the money. Especially since in have the legacy.
You could get a one year warranty with guitar center but i chose not to cuz it cost money.

I've been playing obsessivly for 2 years. I own the guitars mentioned above, a Marshall MG 15dfx, Yamaha F-335 Dreadnought acoustic, Boss MT-2 and OS-2, and a Morely Bad Horsie 2 Contour Wah.
If it were stolen i probably woundn't get it again cuz of the legacy and if i desperatly needed a practice amp, i have the mg.
i love it versitaltiy. I hate how it doesn't have the warmth of a non modeling amp (whether it be solid state or tube)and how it's so hard to dial in a good sound (if you're a tone whore like me).
I compared it to the Vox Ac series. I chose this one cuz it had better distortion sounds.
I wish it had warmer sounds.

I've been playing for over 20 years and have owned guitars of all types, as well as numerous tube amps. I am primarily into a Strat type of sound, but I also dig the SG sounds of AC/DC! I like an amp and guitar that can cover Eric Johnson and SRV, to Angus and Santana.

I bought this amp new this year. I was getting back into the band thing and initially I was using an old rack-mount Digitech ValveFX through a Mesa/Boogie 295 power amp. This set up always sounded nice, but I wanted something lighter and more portable. I was at the local Guitar Center buying a new Deluxe Strat (which I love), and I plugged into a few different amps to check it out. One of the salesman suggested I plug into the Line 6 since they did not sell Boogie amps, and the Spyder II was probably going to give me a decent simulation for me to check out the guitar. I ended up buying both, and selling the Boogie on Ebay. The features on this amp have been covered by other reviewers, so I won't go into that. I will say that the 75 watt solid state power is amazing. I am used to the all tube stereo Boogie putting out 95 watts per channel...this will make your ears bleed. However, the Spyder is PLENTY loud enough for decent sized venues.

I would also like to echo what a few others have said about some of the effects. They are good, but not great. I don't care for the fact that you cannot use chorus without the flange. You also cannot control effects mix...odd, in my opinion.

I noticed that one reviewer made negative comments about the reverb, but to me it sounds as good as most I have heard.

I bought the FBV Express, and that makes it very convenient to access the four presets, as well as control volume. It also features a wah pedal that sounds pretty good.

This amp is a bit of a paradox in the sound and tone department. If you get it home and mess with it you can get some very satisfactory tones. You will NEVER get it to sound exactly like a tube amp, though, so don't kid yourself. For recording purposes, you can certainly make it sound as good as any amp out there. This is where it is at its best. Live gigs are where the Marshals, Boogies, Fenders and any other tube amps are going to be superior when it comes to tone. The Spyder sounds good, but it lacks the bell like tones, and the balls of a tube amp. That being said, only a person with good ears for tube amp quality is even going to know the difference. The problem is, that person is usually the guitarist playing this amp. I have had to realize that the average drunken idiot in the bar will NEVER hear the difference...even when I am playing right along side the other guitarist in my band who plays through a JCM 800!

You can easily find four good, usable tones, but that is a problem if you play in a cover band and you need a larger variety of tones. I play in a band that does mostly originals in the classic rock style (old dudes). I get away with having one real pretty clean tone with some chorus and flange with a bit of delay and reverb, one bluesy overdriven tone, one heavier crunch tone, and one smooth lead tone with lots of delay and reverb for the Eric Johnson sort of sound.

My old rig that included a Digitech ValveFX through a Boggie power amp certainly had more "life" to the tone. But, that is because the ValveFX has a tube preamp, and it was running through a tube power amp. This little Spyder II will fool everyone in the room except the guitar players.

I've only had it 6 months, or so. It's been perfect.

Not needed yet.

Like I said, I've been playing a long time, and I have owned a lot of gear over the years. This amp serves it's purpose. It sounds very good, it's VERY easy to set up, it's very portable, and it's plenty loud. Some reviewers have suggested that this amp is suitable only for practice. I contend that unless you are playing in a metal band you could probably get enough out of this amp to play live gigs.

When I was younger and trying to "make it", I was a gear head, and a tone snob. I would only use the best gear and amps for my tone. These days I am playing more for the enjoyment of it, and I really like that I can get good tome without having to haul around 900 pounds of gear, and spend a ton of time setting up my equipment.

This amp has great features for a Combo, low-end amp. You can get classic effects for blues and so forth, and also great effects for for metal. I mostly play experimental music, The Mars Volta etc... And I think the effects on this amp could rival some of Rodriguezs fx himself. The only thing this amp could of done with is a loop, its good for getting the audience going, apparently it has one but I havnt found it yet. The tap tempo is extremely useful!

This amp has brilliant sound, playing it for two years and the sound still sounds the same as when I got it. I use an Epiphone Black Beauty 3 Pick-up. However the sound can sometimes deteriorate at high volume this amp is only made for practice. So it serves its purpose well!

Never had any problems!
HOWEVER DO NOT USE AT GIGS PRACTISE AMP ONLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Never dealt with them!

This amp gives you a bang for your buck, great effects, sounds, and realliability!
ONLY USE FOR PRACTISE!

My Spider II 112 is freekin heaven in a box. The celestion sounds amazing, and the amp models are awesome. I have left many crowds awestruck after a Red LED Insane distortion solo, it literally sounds like you are playing a freekin chainsaw.

With my '00 Deluxe Stratocaster, it sounds like heaven, but even on a less expensice guitar, you can still dominate. The only thing I regret is the Modulation effects, I can't find the right setting for Chorus Flange, Phaser, or Tremolo, they all just sound like ass. Otherwise the Models and shit are great. The tuner is sketchy, I still use my hand tuner, but with an FBV shortboard its easy.

Cranking anywhere from heavy distortion to a raunchy blues crunch, or maybe even the cleanest oldies tones you've heard, it sounds great at any volume until about 9, where I was filed with a Public Disturbance Call, because 7 of my neighbours including one on the other end of my street thought it was too loud. I had my window open.

The distortion is AMAZING, well, insane has massive feedback, but I don't use it ^_^ the cleans stay clean until you add gain, at which point, they sound good still. I don't play it past 5 on the master volume knob. I write my own shit, and usually play a Takamine 12 string G series, which is discontinued, but when I'm live I always push it through my Spider with my Strat.

OK, I was driving in the Ford, and had two things to bring home, A chair for my girlfriend, and my Spider from a gig. I hit a pothole in the road and came down hard. Both rattled against the tonneau so I pulled them out. The chair lay in four pieces, the spider had a small scratch which fixed with a sharpie marker.

It's like Twinkies -- Completely indestructible.

Haven't had to use it yet, but I'm sure its amazing.

If it were stolen, I would make it my life goal to go pound the living **** out of the prick who stole it, and would not sleep until it rested in my Recording Room once more. Once you play the Spider, you will love it beyond mortal knowledge.

I wish it could go louder, but I have pedals to control that. Anyone who looks at a CyberTwin, or any of that Fender Line, they're confusing and took me about a month to figure out. I traded it in for a Spider II & an FBV shortboard and I'll never regret it.

I don't know what year this amp was made. It is probably pretty versatile as a practice amp.

I used to be in a band with a guy that had this amp at home in his "study" and we used to jam with it. It sounded pretty good at lower volumes and seemed worthy of its price tag. However, I heard a band playing at the Masquerade, in Atlanta, the other day and the guitarist mistakenly used this amp in a big club, with horrorific results.

The band was really heavy metal and I can normally stand that sort of crap long enough to get through a set waiting for the band that I actually want to see. But in this instance, I was forced to leave the music hall of the club and sit on the stairwell. The sound of this amp at maximum volume, with maximum distortion, mic'd and running through a PA was absolute torture. It created these extra, non musical frequencies that were painful and made it impossible to try and listen to the actual riffs being played.

I am pretty open-minded and give everybody a chance. I know what it is like to be on stage and half of the audience leave during my band's set, so I try to stick around just to abstain from insulting the performers. However, I could not stay in the place, after sitting outside the music hall for about 5 minutes, I realized that even being directly outside the place, my ears were still being assaulted by this amp's secondary and unintentional frequency overload. I had to walk down the street outside of the venue in order to escape the amplifier's wrath.

I felt like telling this young guitarist that I wanted to hear his playing, but couldn't sit through their set simply because of his amp's horrible sound. They left immediately after their set, though, certainly embarrassed and upset that not even those people who came to see them could manage to endure the torture.

It seems pretty well built.

?

Young guitarists, do not use this amp live!!!!!!!!! It is made for practice. I know it might sound pretty good to you if it is on the floor and your ears are positioned 4.5 feet above it while you practice with your band. But once on stage and with a microphone feeding its direct sound into the PA, it sounds like fingernails scraping along a chalkboard.

First of all I'd like to note that all ratings in this review are based around 5 as an average- not 8 or 9 as seems common with other reviews!

Being a Line 6 amp this this thing is chock a block with features and can almost do anything (even eliminate pesky chupacabras, apparently). It has 12 amp models ranging from clean to insane, making playing in any genre easy. It's for this reson that I think this amp is great for begginer to intermediate guitar players who are intreted in different types of music and prehaps aren't in a band and so don't have to focus playing in one specific genre. Having said that this amp packs 75 watts of power so it can be used to play to anything up to 200 people in a gig.

The built in effects include flanger/chorus, phaser and tremolo on one knob and delay, tape echo and sweep echo on another, plus a master reverb knob. Note that only one effect can only be used on each knob and although there is a tap tempo function for the delay, the volume and feedback(number of repeats) are increased together. Also, having flanger and chorus combined is kind of annoying.

The amp has four channels, A, B, C, and D onto which you can save your settings - the amp model, gain, EQ, channel volume and effects. This is VERY useful and absolutely invaluble - a large part of the rating. The amp even comes with a footswitch to cycle through the channels, making everything so much easier at gigs. Nice one Line 6.

The clean sounds are decent and with some expermentation with gain levels and amp models you can get good blues/rock sounds and a cool Hives sounding overdrive. By selecting the 'green' metal setting and putting the gain to about 4, you get a great crunchy overdrive/distortion for hard rock and metal and this was the best sound i could find on the amp.

Being a solid state amp i wouldnt expect it to have great sounds but line 6 have done a decent job on this and the sounds are more than passable.

I don't think anything can really go wrong with transistor amps unless you do something really stupid so i guess its a 10.

I have never dealt with the Line 6 customer support.

I have been playing for three years and play on a Gibson SG standard. Using the bridge pickup and the aforementioned distortion setting I get great overdrive sound for playing metallica, AC/DC, Iron Maiden and bluesy lead stuff. Some of the effects could be improved like the tape echo, rather dodgy sweep echo and combined chorus flanger overall this is a great amp and I highly recommend it for beginerish guitarists. I'd likk to clarify that my ratings are based on average of 5 so 8 is a great score.

I think this amp was made in 2003. This amp is more than versatile enough for me and the styles of music that I play. I play many styles and usually I would not be satisfied by just one amp but this one's got it all and pretty good if you know how to use it. I play, classic rock, blues, metal, funk, and jazz. Of course if I only had one of these styles, for example, just blues, I would go buy me a Marshall but this one covers all and pretty damn good for a solid state modeling amp.

This thing has four programable channels that can be switched to on the amp or a pedal (sold seperatly). Not sure about effects loops. It does have a headphone jack which sound better than a lot of practice amps I've heard but still sounds like crap. Great for recording though, if you've got good equipment.

I think that the only features that I wish it had was Chorus by itself, and more programable channels but hey, who's to complain at this low price? You can't get the chorus by itself except on the clean default channel which is programmed that way. Also, there are so many sound that I find and like twitching that settings that I wish I could save them all but can't. There are obviously some amp models and effects that I do not use. However, the only one that I do not like, both channels and effects are the red LED Insane channel. It's more like an effect rather than an amp model. It's the sub-octave fuzz one. It's just stupid in my opinion. But, that doesn't mean that the amp sucks, just that there is more than enough amp models and effects that you'll be able to distinguish your favorites.

My favorite channels are, red LED clean, red LED blues, green LED Crunch, red LED Metal, and green LED Insane.

I use this amp in my room and in my band at church. I also play in small clubs with it. It's plenty loud but 100watts would have been a better choise for me just because it would sound a lot more powerfull but this one can keep up with drumbs and bass no problem.

This thing sounds LIKE and tube amp. Not exactly but I'd say more like a tube than a solid state because it sounds a lot more clear and defined than a solid state amp.

This amp sounds best if you have a guitar with single coils and another with humbuckers. The better the pickups, the better the sound obviously. If you must have one guitar I'd say a fat strat is the best pickup combo for this amp. The clean channels can go either way with humbuckers or singles but I prefer singles. The twang channel sounds best with singles but would sound good with buckers too. I prefer single coils for the blues channel too to get that stevie ray sound but buckers work good too. I think humbuckers are the best choice for the crunch channels but single coils give you that Jimi Hendrix sound. Definatly humbuckers for the Metal and insane channels.

The sound of this amp is more or less the sound I have in mind when I go to play a certail style of music. It is quiet as a butterfly and it's because it has a noise gate on on most settings which makes you loose about a second of sustain and gives your picking a lighter feel but you can turn it off if you want. And boy, talk about varitety of sounds. Anything! You name it. Metallica? red Metal. Stevie ray? Green crunch. Clapton? red blues. Pantera? green insane. Of course you can't get exact sound son this thing but you can get pretty close. For example, the closest way to get a Carlos Santana sound is with a PRS and a Mesa Boogie. But you can get it on the green metal chanel with the distortion turned down a bit, the mid turned about a fourth away from all the way to the left, a bridge humbucker, and the tone rolled about 65 percent down.

Trust me, this thing's got plenty of volume and the clean channel does not distort. There is already some distortion on the default seeting with the clean channel to give the treble strings more defenition. You might not notice it with single coil pickups. But you can take that off if you want.

Want to talk about how brutal the distortion is? This thing has as much distortion possible on an amp without it going hawire. And yes, you will get feed back with the noise gate turned off but you still get a shit load of sustain.

I'm giving it a ten for sound because what solid state modeling amp sounds better without some Flextone III settings? (which cost more actually.

this thing is very reliable. especailly the bigger ones. I would use at a gig without a backup. The only problem is, the knobs are so sensitive that if you don't tape them down, durring a gig, they will move and it might be catastrofic. So tape them down once you find all your settings and save them. So I'm giving it an eight for the knobs.

Never dealt with customer support. Have had it for a few months of consant tortural use and still sound just as good if not better than when I got it. Don't know how long is the warranty.

I've been playing for a year but I practice at least five hours a day (no bullshit) and 350 days a year. the other 15 days are for less and five hours. I know, I have no life but I'm going to be playing for the rest of my life so why not? And I got better than all my friends. Just graduated Highschool. I'm in the advanced level already. I don't just think I am, I know. I took lessons for a couple months and I've just been teacing myself after. And yes, if I were rich, I would have a Marshall JCM of some sort, a Fender Twin Reverb etc. I know what these amps sound like. I play through them at guitar center all the time so I not just liking this amp just because I have not heard better. I know. Same thing with guitars. I know what's good cuz I play hundreds of different ones and not just at guitar center. many other places.

This is a list of all the gear I own:

Ibanez Prestigue RG1570MRB
Fender Delux Player's Stratocaster
Yamaha F-335 BL
FBV Express
Boss MT-2 Metal Zone
Boss OS-2 Overdrive/Distortion (by the way this amp loves pedals but not like a Marshall solid state)
Morely Bad Horsie 2 Wah Pedal (Best wah pedal in the world IMO)

If stolen, I would definatly buy it agian. Easily too because of the low price!!

I love the sounds but I hate how it doesn't have chorus by itself.
I compared it to the Flextone III series which is better but it depends what you want. The Flextone's high gain chanels aren't as good as the spider II's and it cost about 200bucks more for the same wattage I think. A lot more amp models and better ones on the Flextone but I chose this one just because the distortion was better and the price was lower.

The reason I don't give it a 10 in this category is that, while there are plenty of features, I agree with what many other people are saying - there is no subtle setting for the chorus/flange/phaser effects and, yes, you can't control the number/amount of the delay feedback signal - only the delay time.
The headphone jack is handy, and you can use it as a line out to your recording rig. I have done that into a Griffin iMic into my computer's USB port and got some great recordings with it.
I am gigging with it for the first time this weekend - I have no doubt it is plenty loud enough - I haven't wound it all the way out yet.

I have an MIJ Fender Telecaster with three single coils. I play some originals, which sound sort of like classic rock and new wave.
I really didn't like this amp at first, in fact I was gonna bring it back. It is true it has around 28 sounds, but to me- most of them sounded like ass. Thin, weak cleans, artifical, computerized sounding distortion, the reverb's kind of weird, and if you strum a chord with very little attack in certain settings, it fades out really unevenly. And the "insane" setting is a bit too much. But I totally changed my opinion once I first plugged my guitar into a 19.99 Danelectro fab tone overdrive. That seemed to provide the right amount of pre-ampage to bring out the best in this amp. Now it sounds great! 2 points off for having to add an overdrive. Why can't they just include this in there? It is true you can hit the tap button while turning the drive past 6:00, which is supposed to accomplish this, but that really doesn't do the job.

I've had it a couple of weeks with no problems so far. There's a pronounced "click" when you change between the effects, which would probably sound nasty if mic'ed through a PA.

N/A - too new to have problems. I bought this at Adirondack Guitar in Hudson Falls, NY. I've heard good things about Line 6 from the guys in the store. The owner let me take home and try out one of the Line 6 POD's once, but I decided to get the modeling amp instead.

I've been playing for 35 years. I traded in a 1985 Fender Studio lead for it. It's much better than that - but that amp kind of sucked. If it were stolen or lost I would - collect the insurance money and use it towards another one, I guess.
I love that it is loud, and versatile once you get the hang of it. You need to learn how to get turn off the preloaded effects on the presets (you power it up with the "D' button pressed) and you need to realize that as soon as you mess with the knobs, the sound will change in somewhat unpredictable ways if you have been using one of the presets. Many of the sounds are unusable to me, but there are enough ones that I like to make it worthwhile. I would give it a 10 if it sounded the way it does when I add the overdrive to it right out of the box.

Hi high/mid/low adjust, 12 amp models, basic effects, a "tap tempo" feature, headphone/direct out jack, channel volume, master volume, 4 preset channels, and so on. There is no effects loop, not that I use them anyway. This amp is 75W and is louder than I will ever need for screwing around in my apartment and playing with friends.

For the price, this is an incredible set of features.

Supposedly the 12" speaker was custom made for Line 6 by Celestion. I assume that the Celestion sticker has more to do with marketing than anything else but the speaker sounds pretty good to me.

I play a Les Paul with a Duncan SH-4 Jeff Beck pickup in the bridge and an SH-2 Jazz model in the neck. I really like the effects. I use the chorus flange a lot - very creamy. I use reverb a lot too. However the amp models leave something to be desired. I just can't seem to find the type of drive that I want and find myself using my Boss OS-2 Overdrive/Distortion pedal (which I would recommend to anyway by the way) or DOD GS-30 multi-effects pedal which also does amp modelling. To my ears, there just doesn't seem to be enough variety in the Spider II's models. But I will say that the "insane" model with the sub-octive fuzz is really neat.

When playing aloud, through the speaker, I have never noticed any excessive noise but it seems pretty noisy if you play though headphones/direct out, which is pretty disappointing if you plan on recording directly from the amp.

I really like this amp (especially for the price) and its effects but the lack of variety in the models and the noisy output jack hurts its rating a bit.

I'm not sure that I would rely on this amp. It's a great design but it does seem a little cheap. It was made in China, has plastic knobs, and the drive pot on my amp seems to a have a little sticking point. Hopefully that last one will work its way out with a little use. Other than that, this amps seem as solid as any other.

So far, I haven't had to deal with them.

Originally I was looking at the Marshall MG50DFX because of its power and effects and somehow ran accross the Spider II. I am glad I did. For less money, you get more power, a Celestion speaker, (more?) effects, and a litle more variety even though the modelling isn't quite what I was hoping for.

Despite its few shortcomings, it is a great amp and well worth the relatively small price tag.

I thought I'd post a follow-up review, now that I've owned this amp for about two and a half years. It's your basic digital modeling amp; if you need the features check the reviews below or the company's website. It's pretty versatile and packs a lot of stuff into a 1 x 12 75 watt combo amp. It's extremely loud - you could probably play a small venue with 80-100 people easily without any miking. And I don't really think that it peters out as you crank the volume, like others have said. IMO it holds up pretty well.

Once again, keep in mind that this is NOT a tube amp. If you play mostly blues, jazz, classic rock, etc. then go buy yourself a Vox or Marshall or Fender tube amp because you probably won't be satisfied with this thing. That being said, this is the best amp that I've owned. Prior to this thing I used Peavey, Fender and Vox amps and this one easily trumps them all. I was skeptical at first because I don't really like the shrill, harsh digital sound of the earlier PODs and I thought the Spider might sound the same. But IMO that's not the case at all. The Spider II is the warmest sounding digital amp that I've ever played through. I've played Vox's Valvetronix series and several Behringer digital modeling amps. Both sounded overly harsh and trebley (and I suppose some people like that ear-piercing treble, but not for me). The Spider is warm and smooth. The factory presets aren't the greatest, but if you monkey around with this thing you can produce stunningly deep clean sounds and rich, thick, grinding distortion. And unlike a tube amp, when you stop playing this thing goes completely silent. You can't even tell that it's turned on.

Granted, my style is a little more in the direction of modern rock and metal, so I might be a bit more predispositioned towards this type of sound. The Spider (and for that matter, most of Line6's products) is geared towards the new wave of modern rockers and metal guys. But it does pretty nicely with some other sounds. I can pull off a pretty convincing vintage Fender imitation loaded with reverb and echo, and if you spend a lot of time with the EQ you can do a very nice 70's era Marshall. Needless to say, the high-gain emulations are superb and very convincing. The green Metal channel is extremely dynamic and can produce a number of high-gain sounds, from an old fuzz-box to a modern Recto-type sound. The green Insane channel is absoutely brutal - I never need to push the gain past about 1 or 2 o'clock. The effects are pretty good, although they're somewhat limited. Delays, echos and reverbs are all quite good.

The bottom line is that this amp is geared towards modern alternative/nu-metal. If you play that sort of music you'll be very pleased with this thing. If you play classic rock/blues, then go spend your thousands of dollars on botique tube amps. And don't put this thing down just because you can't play the vintage blues on it. That doesn't mean it's not a good amplifier. That's like saying a '59 Bassman sucks because it won't growl like a Bogner. Keep in mind what these amps are intended for (and how much they cost).

This amp has endured numerous trunk rides and flights of stairs, and I haven't had a single problem with it. Like anything else, take good care of it and you'll be fine.

I've never dealt with Line6.

I've been playing for a little over 7 years. I'm not what you would call a gigging professional, although at one time I played with a band pretty regularly. I'm in college now and this thing mainly serves as a practice/bedroom amp but I wouldn't hesitate to gig with it if I were given the opportunity. It's plenty loud enough. This is a steal of an amp for $299, IMO. You won't find a better, more versatile amp for that price. But like I said, this is mostly for modern rockers, so if you've been playing classic rock or the delta blues for 35 years then you won't like this thing. I'm sure 30 years from now most of us alternative rockers will be bashing whatever is out on the market at that point, talking about how it sure doesn't compare to our old digital modeling amps (wink).

You've seen the other reviews....I'm sure you know the features by now. 4 channels....lots of effects.....

When my 5150 Combo crapped out on me two day before a gig.....I was forced to buy an amp that would pump out some great metal tones like my 5150....but I was on a limited budget....I couldn't spend more than $350.

I went to the local music store and played on some Peavey, Crate, Randall, Crate, and Line6 amps. Out of all of the amps, the one with the most brutal bone crushing tone was the Randall RG75....but a close second was the Spider II 112 combo. The reason I picked the Line6 Spider II over the Randall was the fact that the Spider was much more versitile of an amp. With 4 channesl and several effects, I thought the Spider II was a better deal.

I got the Spider II home 4 hours before the gig that night. I spent about 1 hour playing through it and setting up the 4 channels that I needed......needless to say, I was really nervous going into a big show with a small like like this that I really didn't have any experiance with.

Well my nerves were calmed after the show when I had 4 people (one was the sound man) come up to me and comment on the tone of the amp. I'm not going to lie to you, it didn't put out the wall of sound like the 5150 did....but with the amp being mic'd into a PA system...it didn't have to be. It was plenty loud for me on stage, and it put out a brutal metal tone that everyone loved! I was very surprised at the tone of this amp. I'm actually considering selling my 5150 and getting a Spider head/cab half-stack...thats how much it impressed me.

I've only had the amp for 24 hours now....but it worked flawlessly at the show...and I've never heard of to many problems with Line6 gear.

I was extremely impressed with this amp, and after all of the people that commented on the sound after the show....I will definitly keep it around. When my 5150 get back from the repair shop...I'm going to set it up side-by-side with the Spider II....not for volume, but for overall bone crushing metal tone. If the Spider II sounds better....I'm going to sell the 5150 and take the money and get a Spider II Half-Stack.

Great job line6....I thought I was going to be in big trouble when my 5150 die before the show.....I didn't have much cash and I needed something that would rock.....the Spider II saved my butt. Thanks Line6. For a 112 combo....this thing is the Shit!

i'm sure you know about all the features...loads of effects in that dinky amp...really $%^&loads of gain...get a gibson explorer with emg's, turn the gain knob in the insane mode till far right and see what the word "sustain" means...

I'm pretty surprised - i play a cheap hohner strat and that amp turns out all the evil in her...i mean - %#@$ the single coils i play in a death metal band (yes, with single coils).
Beneath that you can really play any stile of music with it...you just need some skills in using those knobs...the only thing i would criticize (or however it is spelled) is that it's not possible to create a sound wich really is apart from the spider II sound (wich is defined by bass bass bass bass and bass).
the amp is no noisy at all and the clean sound is overwhelming...oh and...erm...you shouldn't play it with master tone totally full...would be same as grenade in your ear...

the amp is build to last forever...only those knobs seem to be cheap plastic which will break into pieces if i look to angry

never dealt with themn

atfer all i can say i like that amp...i'm not sure if i would buy it again...because...mhm...it has no soul...it has $%^&loads of gain but it sounds cold...ok thats great if you do fear factory stuff (i like the bastard in these moments) but when you try to get a nice guitar sound for hair metal you're just ^$%#@* up...but every rose has it's thorn (i hate that song...)

you won't regret it...but you should be sure what you want...play only slipknot and stuff? thats your amp!
only cover kiss and manowar? better try somewhere else...

Not sure what year the Spider II first came out. It is a versatile amp for the money that rivals other digital amps costing two or three times the price. 1 channel with 4 presets (very handy), no effects loop (who needs one with this type of amp anyway?). Headphone jack / line out combo jack. 75 watts (plenty for a small amp).

3 different footswitches are optional accesories (all too expensive). The two button switch should be included with this amp. A lot of features on the amp and no footswitch? Minus 2 ratings points.

I use this amp with small groups on small club gigs. It is perfect for that. Any larger venue and you are miked anyway.

The Celestion speaker is good for this amp. A decent speaker with presence.

I use 5 different types of guitars as I play R & B (strat, 335), Country (tele, 335), Jazz (335), and Rock (strat, musicman, Ibanez). I am a MUSICIAN and get work because of my diverse styles.

The Spider II is a two dimensional amplifier. It has very good clean tones (like a Fender), and it has a good rectifier emulation for a dirtier sound. The effects are good and all are useable if you play 80s, 90s, vintage, and other types of cover songs.

You have to spend time with this amp. People who bash the amp are people expecting a tube sound. THIS IS SOLID STATE!!! It was designed to emulate, not replace a tube amp. It was designed to provide most everything you need for simple gigs, and / or rehersals in a lightweight package. A sort of MUA (musical utility amp).

I use what I think is the best effects pedal around: Digitech GNX1. I can emulate any amp, guitar, pickup combination, cabinet configuration I wish. So, I really need a clean solid state amp and nothing more. I bought my Spider II for the small cover gigs and don't want to lug big equipment around. The amp's effects are there for just about any cover song there is.

The Spider II is capable of many different sounds if you take the time to understand it. The different amp models are there to give you a start point. Each model is different in tone, volume, and gain, just like a Fender, Mesa, Marshall, Peavy, etc. are different.

I discovered that all sounds have the gain turned on at various levels. I understand the logic of having a little gain on to add harmonics / saturation when you pluck hard on the strings, or turn up the volume, but I need CLEAN to work with my effect pedal correctly.
The reason effects pedals sound crappy with tube amps is because of the harmonics and gain tube amps have. The same applies here: Turn off the gain on the Spider if you are using stomp boxes or multi-effect pedals. It will sound much better.

The quality of the knobs are good, but the pots are cheap. The master volume only works up to halfway and is useless after that. This was a cost cutting factor in the electronics, I'm sure.

The back is open and the speaker is very exposed. Mine was in the box with the power cord and manual resting inside the back of the speaker. Line6, your packaging sucks! Put the cord and manual in the box, not near the speaker. Dumb!!

Since it is solid state, it should last awhile. But I wonder about the pots behind the knobs. Time will tell...

Never dealt with Line6 support. Again, time will tell.

Been playing for over 30 years. I have had many amps and solid state is the way to go if you have a mulit-effects pedal. You need clean and let the pedal emulate and not be colored by the amp.

It seems amp designers think their equipment should be designed for rock players first and other styles second. Just as in life, guitar players are all different and have different needs. Luckily, you can get just about anything out of this amp if you take your time with it.

If it were stolen, I would get another. For the price, it is a good deal.

I wish the amp had better quality controls. The knobs are nice, but behind them I wonder...The back is too exposed.

12 amp models
7 effects (3 simultaneous)
4 channels
Headphone jack and channel pedal included.

Very loud 75W amp good enough for the gigs im doin at the moment which are relatively small scale but is loud enough for bigger venues if controlled through a PA

Very versitile metal sounds with CRUNCH, METAL and INSANE amp models.

Works well with heavy rock/ metal guitar. Good distoprtion sounds, very loud.
The INSANE setting gives quite a lot of feedback and is quite noisy but the settings can be edited for your preference. Drive can be increased with amp shortcuts from www.Line6.com/co.uk.
3 simultaneous effects which sound good but they are not overly versitile.

Havent had it long but so far no problems.

N/A

I played the guitar for a few years only got the amp a few weeks ago. Great features and sounds very easy to use and get the hang of, it may look complicated but its simple.
Much better than the other Spider series I tried in the shops. Very good value for money.

I don't know and don't care when was it made. It's not a vintage amp:)The specs were written a few times, so i'll pass. it's got 12 channels(well, actually 6, but each one has 2 modes). I really play 2 modes, the rest is... well, lets say it is:) A few nice effects(like chorus, delay, reverb, tremolo, and phaser, but the last one is to say the truth, shitty).

First thing: THIS IS NOT A BLOODY PRO TUBE AMP. If u remember that, you'll even get to like this amp. I play(or at least I'm try)jazz, rock, fussion, prog rock etc. I use only 2 channels. Note: I hate metal(with a few exceptions), yet I say the best sound for the music I play, is on the Metal channel:) If turn down the drive to a min. crunch, the sound is actually very good(a friend, who uses a Fender Std. Strat and a Fender Blues Junior even admits[though, he still claims, that this amp is a whore{worse, I kinda agree:)}]). I you pick lightly, You get a nice clean sound, but try to hit harder, and what You hear, is a really nice crunch(something remotely resembling McLaughlin in Mahavishnu and Steven Willson on the early Porcupine Tree albums)(but just remotely!). The rest of the channels are, in my opinion, made for a laugh. I can't believe ANYONE could play on the factory blues channel(PATHETIC, but funny, when You're with some friends:)), the Twang has something from the fender(but just something). The effects, appart from the phaser are really quite cool. Really, this isn't a bad amp(and of course it isn't a particularly good one.) It's for a first amp(but You have to spend some time, for gettin' a good sound, couse the fabric presets aren't good)

Never let me down. It's built like a tank(and as some say, sounds like one:))

Never dealt with Line 6

I like it! It's not perfect, yes, but sounds really nice. If it were to be stolen, I'd probably try to buy a tube amp(a small hiwatt, for which I'm currently saving some cash), eventually a higher Line 6(say a flexsound) or a hybrid(exemplum bono: a Vox Valvetronix)

This is a solid-state, 75W Mono moddeling amp. Not too sure what year this was made in, but some people have put 2003 so, read their reviews. This amp is brilliant for practice, and is possible to gig with it, however you will need to mic-it-up, as its only 75w, but it shoduld cut it for about 80-100 people. One great thing about this amp is that it has 4 channels, and they are programmable, so you dont have to worry about losing settings too badly. When I bought it the amp came with a FBV2 footswitch, which isn't that great as a FS, but as an accessory that I wasn't expecting, it's great! I'm only gonna give this a 9 because I dont think this amp is perfect for blues players, and the clean sounds aren't that great.

Im using an Ibanez sz520, and I always use the bridge P/U. My music style is Hard rock- Metal. My guitar isn't perfect for shredding, but I manage to churn out a few metal licks. This amp is anything but noisy! It's almost impossible to get feedback from the effects! This is because they are digital, and no feedback can be good... sometimes I forget the amp is switched on, even with the metal distortions. This can be bad though, I like playing lots of Muse stuff, and its hard to get the weird sounds unless I use stompboxes. One real annoying things is that its pretty pointless having an EQ on the amp! Im not joking, you can flatten the Eq and it wont make a difference. Its not too bad though, I like the sound im getting, its pretty sharp, and it has nice Dist. and the insane and metal have got to be its best setting. However im thinkling of buying a boss Eq pedal. The clean doesn't distort at high volumes either!

Builty like a tank, not broken in the 3 weeks I've had it, and probably wont for years to come.

Never dealt yet...

Great practice amp, will cut it in a gig if needed too.. just MIC-IT-UP! Greatb value for money, just try one out before you buy, you might not like it. I turned a Marshall AVT50 down for this, the marshall had no punch, and a lack of effects, when the shop assisstant recommended this I just loved it!

This is the 75 Watt Spider II 112. You can read the specs elsewhere. Use mainly in basement, with occassional jam with buddies. Its got enough power for what I use it for, but I wouldn't use it for gigging unless in a pinch or small gig.

I play either an American Deluxe Strat or Gibson SG into it (also own Fender HRD and Marshall AVT amps). The amp is versatile in that it does several things good, but nothing great. I think that one clean, one crunch, and one Metal channel are fine. To me, the rest of the channels aren't that good (blues and twang). The "insane" channels are a total waste. Nice thing is you can play this amp at low volumes while practicing, and its plenty loud for the "hobbyist."

I have had it for over a year with absolutely no problems. I don't gig with it, but do jam with buddies.

Been playing 20 plus years. I own a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and a Marsall AVT20. If it were stolen I wouldn't replace it for I am happy with my other amps with the type of music I play. I like its versatility in that it does have a decent clean, crunch, and metal channel. I guess my biggest turnoff is that I just like tube amps better, but thats just a personal feeling

First I'll ask you to forget my poor english, because I live in Switzerland ;-)

My amp was made in 2005. This is a combo (i.e. the power amp is directly coupled with speakers), very powerful for it's size. The features are known by everyone, but let's write them again !

- Power : 75 watts mono
- Transistor amplification with numeric control to emulate tube sounds
- 12 amps settings, from clean sound to insane metal distortion
- 6 effects : chorus/flanger, phaser, tremolo, echo, delay, sweep echo
- reverb
- distortion boost
- noisegate
- 4 channels to save my own presets
- small footswitch to chose the 4 channels quickly while playing
- 1 guitar jack
- 1 line out (for recording & playing without disturbing the neighbourhood
- 1 RJ45 Ethernet cable to use the footswitch

This amp doesn't have :

- FX Loop
- MIDI interface
- More effects, like compressor, rotary, etc.
- A better Footswitch included : you need to pay the FBV Shortbord or FBV Xpress (which I use)

This amp features everything you need to get a good sound (jazz, blues, rock, etc.), and it's made to be easy to set. It's perfect for me, because I easily get some powerful, simple sounds, but if you like effects tweaking you would maybe prefer a V-AMPIRE combo amp.

Notice that, even if it features every classic guitar sounds, the Spider II is mainly made for metal. The distortion range is awesome, from rock, crunch, metal/nu-metal, to black/death metal. Other sounds like blues and twang are nice but not that good, but I think I don't use the right guitar to play them (see below). Clean is very good in my opinion considering it's not a tube sound.

I use only 1 guitar to play with my Spider II : a 2005 Dean 79 V series made in Korea (value : 750$), inspired from the original Dean guitars used by bands as ZZ Top in the 80's. This guitar is awesome for it's price, and even if the pickups are not EMG or DiMarzio, its loudness and power in bass/mid frequencies offers a warm vintage tone for clean sounds and a destructive modern distortion for metal sounds.

Notice that I play for 3 months only, and that the Spider II is my 1st amp. So maybe you won't agree with my opinion, but even if I'm not a guitar pro (yet ;-)), I know which sounds are crap and which sounds are good (well... I hope). I've heard some pro tube amps and expensive guitars playing with a Spider II, so I think I can judge those things (of course, with my opinion).

My favourite style is METAL : mainly Metallica in the mid 80's and their most powerful sound (like Master of Puppets/...And Justice For All albums), but everything from old metal like Iron Maiden/AC DC to Sepultura, ill Ni?o, Children of Bodom, Dimmu Borgir, Limp Bizkit, etc. I also like classical and warm BLUES (aaah, Albert King's solos...)

That's why I think the Spider II is perfect : for every setting, my sound is loud, warm, bluesy and screaming. Awesome for the price. Maybe it's my guitar that helps me to get good tones, but I don't agree with people who says this amp makes a cold, screechy transistor sound. My sound is very warm, dynamic and close as a tube amp. I play it at home now, and the 75W power could crush my house (I use only the 1/3 of the master volume knob). But I want to use it with my band to jam and play for some small gigs (100-200 people).

Also notice that the sound changes radically when switching guitar pickups, and I think this shows that Spider II really respects the original guitar sounds. People who says "This amp makes even a bad 50$ guitar sounds like hell" and "go buy a Vox amp to get your real guitar sound" are totally wrong in my opinion. Spider II emulates famous tube amps ; but those amps are famous because they apply THEIR sound to guitar : your Strat won't sound the same on a Fender amp and on a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier. So why saying Spider II sucks and not Vox (which is a very good label), using the "transistor sound" argument to cover a mistake in judging amps sounds ?

Well, my main settings are :

1) RED CLEAN : very, very, very good sound for a transistor amp !! As every setting, you must do all the EQ stuff to get THE sound, because the factory presets, as said before, are shitty. But after this, you get a warm clean tone, perfect for classical and jazz (with bridge pickup), and blues (with neck pickup).

2) GREEN CRUNCH : many people say that crunch sounds (based on a 68' Marshall Plexi 50 & 100W) are not as dynamic as the original ones. I don't know if they are right, but I am happy with my crunch because I can honestly play AC DC/Deep Purple with high GAIN setting, and cool overdriven blues with a soft GAIN setup.

3) RED METAL : this is far my favorite one !!! This channel emulates the famous Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier to perfection ! Again, maybe it's my guitar, but I can easily get the exact sound used on "Master of Puppets" album. It's just awesome (sorry but I just know this word ;-)). The distortion is precise, fast, screaming, as deadly as an army knife ! And I don't use EMG pickups.

4) GREEN INSANE : this sound is the most powerful and versatile on the Spider II. You can get the Rolling Stones sound with a low GAIN, and Slipknot/Soulfly modern nu-metal sound with extreme GAIN and high BASS/MID frequencies ! And to get a black/death metal sound, just switch off the MID knob, use 50% of BASS, and 80-100% of TREBLE : this will cry 2 times more than the extreme "Death Metal" pedal by Digitech. The INSANE distortion is very, very dangerous ;-)The noisegate is very useful to prevent larsen... You just have to hit one string and the amp is ready to blow away with this monster sound. But, with such power, the bad thing is that INSANE sound is not precise. You must set your EQ very well then, otherwise your palm-muting sounds will be too much loud and not audible. So if you like nu-metal, chose INSANE, but if you like heavy/trash metal, use METAL.

Well, I think you get the idea, but the only bad thing I've noticed is that the CELESTION speaker is too much loud : I have to cut the BASS frequencies for every sound. Maybe it wouldn't be that loud with a Strat' with single coils, but if you want to shred like hell with precision (like on Metallica's "Kill'em All" album), think about using less BASS.

I bought my amp only 3 months ago, and I didn't experience bad problems. The amp looks like very solid.

I never used Line 6 customer support yet.

I play only for 3 months but I LOVE this amp. I'm not that rich, and I'm so much happy with getting some pro sounds packed in a small, versatile box, with very good features for a small price. I would kill myself if it were stolen or lost !!!

I was first looking for a V-AMPIRE combo, less expensive and offering more features (more effects, more sounds, like Engel distortion etc. etc.), but after listening to the Spider II at my dealer's shop with a Les Paul-3 DiMarzio humbuckers, I heard the difference. The sound is louder and warmer, and, let's be honest, even if it will NEVER sound like a 4000$ tube amp, the sound of this lil' weapon is very close to them. If you are a beginner, or a pro wanting to practice without an entire rig, chose the Spider II.

I bought the amp new about 4 months ago. As a rock band there are some needed sounds that this amp provides us. It is easy to transport and yet it is loud enough for the size of groups we play to (around 100 people).

I got the FBV shortboard petal to go with this amp and I love it. I have only used 4 of the 30 + sounds that you can make for our recent performances because many are way out for our band. I use a LTD ESP Vipor with this amp. I also use an acoustic amp (made by AR Acosutic) for my 12 string Yamaha.

It is new for me and I haven't used it to it's potential yet but I will grow using it. It has been there for me and has not caused any problems yet. Some times when I practice without the FBV shortboard pedal I have had the sound seem to change to a much louder setting without me doing any thing. When performing with it (using the pedal) there have been no such problems.

When I first got it and the pedal I didn't understand how to use it so I e-mailed the company twice and they got back to me in a day with help. The amp and the pedal come with little instructions and I am new to amps and effect pedals so it was great to have the company respond so quickly.

I started playing in High school and then left it for many years and have taken it up in the last 5 years. I would be depressed if it was stolen and I would replace it with the same. The price was the best for all that you get and I find it difficult to hear much difference between it and other amps that are more money and said to be better. I like the lights the look the pedal, the tuner. The manic rock sounds are a bit out of control but fun, I am not sure when I would use them. I will say it again this amp has been great for our band, with it we have new and different sounds that have taken our playing to a higher level and it is a blast for all of us.

2005 mod. Features are as the others.

I play a fender tele with Bill Lawrence 280 pickups and a strat with dimarzios. Amp sounds ok but not outstanding. good enough for practice or recording through which is why I have it. The effects are ok also.

The amp selection knob goes crazy and will not adjust sometimes,the corners are plastic. I would not gig with this amp because it is not made for it. good enough for the home but not road worthy.

I live in virginia and there are no service centers available that would be feasible to transport the amp to. Shipping cost outway the value of the amp. I have a two year warenty on this amp which is basically useless unless the thing blew up completly and you could get a brand new one.

This amp is three months old now and has had its problems. $299.00 would be better spent on something else. Buy a crate or vox or something with a better track record. I have a pignose g40v that blows this and many other amps away.

Well, where do I start. Distortion, clean, blues, twang, insane, crunch, tape echo, delay, reverb, phaser, d.i, 75 watts, 4 user presets and a modern sexy look!

Im using an Ibanez rg 7620 (99 model) fitted with Seymour Duncan Invaders (humbuckers). The Spider is my central hub, so playing music such as Cannibal Corpse, Slayer, Carcass, Suffocation, Aborted, Megadeth, Exodus, Kreator, Morbid Angel, Vital Remains, Deicide, Napalm Death, etc, etc....... this little gem covers a broad spectrum in distortion modelling. Now , before some critical bastard starts jumping up and down about my comments, lets just remember how much this thing costs. While the sounds are not exact, (pretty hard to get studio quality brutal distortion straight from a 75 watt combo) this amp does it better than any other 50 - 100 watt combo for plugging straight in. Marshalls are good for your average overdrive to light distortion and some of the Peaveys are 20% better again. The Spider 2 has a lot more grunt than both put together, add in the effects and you have a very cheap alternative to having 6 - 7 stomp boxes and a very loud combo. As with anything amp wise, try screwing with everything, there is a lot in this package. My only gripe with the distortions, is they can tend to sound a tad sterile and a little fuzzy, but apart from that, the bottom end is quite good and the mids have a nice presence. The clean sounds are not bad either. Now the on board effects are'nt fully programmable, but you can definately tweak them enough to satisfy all needs. They're not brilliant, but they're far from being bad. You can get away with the presets, but you'll probably create 4 of your own.

Well it's bloody sterdy, buttons and knobs are of good quality. Micked up for gigging, you would have a very reasonable sound. Owned this one for a year now and its still functioning perfectly.

No need so far!

Been playing now for 15 years and have had a bit of gear over that time frame. Had a great sound coming out of a boss gt-5 into a sonic maximizer (442) into a Marshall JCM 800 with Marshall quad until some low life came and stole it, (over $3500 worth), but for the 600 odd dollars for the spider, Im just as happy. I do all my recording into a Roland vs 1880 and the spider covers everything. Miked up or straight in, it is very pleasing. Couple this amp with a vs 880, (going for around $350 on ebay) and for under a grand you have everything you need to create half decent demos. Line 6 have to win the bang for your buck trophy as this for me is a complete package for a no fuss set-up. Oh and please, dont run this thing through a shitty guitar, or it WILL sound shitty!

Probably made in 2005
I play mostly Metal and some Blues, it works great for that (see below)
The only features it lacks that I might want would be a line out ( yeah I know, if I want that I could buy the head) but I don't really need that now, it's plenty loud for my purposes, which are practicing and jamming. Also, a MIDI interface would be nice since it's a digital amp.
I like the fact that it comes with a tuner and drive boost, and some other stuff like that.
The red insane channel is basically useless, as everyone says, but it's kind of fun sometimes.
It's got a direct out for recording, which i look forward to using sometime.

I use a Jackson Randy Rhoades V, which works well with this amp I guess.
I play metal mainly (like Thrash metal like Megadeth, Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, etc. and also some Death metal like Children of Bodom) and I also mess around with blues for fun. I've heard that the blues channels aren't very good but I disagree. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING about this amp is: don't judge it by the factory presets. I had opened it up thinking "Yeah, this is gonna be great!" and then used it and on the distorted tones it sounded like mud on the low end for rhythm stuff. I had almost decided to return it, but then I started messing around with the controls and BAM! everything line6 said about this amp came true. It has quite a few sounds, so I'll only talk about the ones I use most:

Red "Clean": basically a vanilla, crystal clear clean tone, it sounds equally good on both pickups, and you can have volume and tones all the way up and strum 6-string chords hard and it wont break up or sound harsh. (although you really must pay attention to EQ and Channel Volume like on all the models on the amp, they are very finicky, by which i mean that turning one knob a little bit will change the tone drasitically)

Both "Twang" models: these are actually better for blues styles than the "blues" channel. I like to put the Distortion Boost feature on these for a really gritty sound for leads.

Red "Crunch": Sounds vintage, I use it to play old Judas Priest stuff like from Sad Wings of Destiny album.

Green "Crunch": With a lot of tweaking you can get a good sound out of it like a Van Halen sound.

Both "Metal"s: OK this is where you REALLY have to get to work messing with the controls. They sound muddy when first heard from the factory, and you gotta commit to reading the manual and you need to really "get into" the amp. I spent a good hour working on these, and now I have an AMAZING mid scoop tone and an equally good, um, general purpose metal sound.

Green "Insane": this is the only model that I've experienced feedback on (but only at high volumes) - the noisegate is not an option, it's a requirement. Even out of the box it has a good lead sound, and it's REALLY REALLY responsive to anything. Tapping really comes off nice on this, and any legato stuff that would normally be hard to pull off on another amp can be heard clearly. With the distortion up you can make it sound almost like liquid, just smooth and flowing. AWESOME. This is the reason you buy this amp! Also, it's versatile. You can get a Jimmy Page kind of tone from it by turning the gain down, the channel volume down, and the master up to compensate.

Effects: well I don't really use effects generally, so I'm not gonna say they're good or bad, but certainly a wide variety.

I've only had it a few days, and had no problems, but that's just sitting in my room. It looks pretty sturdy but I can't say one way of another for sure so I'm not gonna rate it here.

Never talked with 'em.

Been playing about 2 1/2 years, but I practice a lot. I own my Jackson RRV, and an Ibanez ICX120 (my first guitar) and use my sister's acoustic guitar cause she's away at school. Until buying this I was using a Digitech RP-100 modeling box through a cheap-ass Drive amp (but I played an EMG-equipped les paul through a Spider I amp at my freinds house and that's what got me intersted in Line 6) I also own the FBV-2 footswitch for this amp, and an Ibanez weeping demon wah pedal.
If it were stolen I would be seriously worried because there are so many rooms the theif would have to go through and I'm sure he'd take other stuff. If it were lost... I would commit myself to a mental institution because I'd have to have a second personality that hides stuff from me. How the hell do you lose an amp like this?

Four programmable channels for storing presets. If you use the FBV Shortboard, You can have 9 banks of 4 presets, Thus, you can have 36 total patches at your disposal. The shortboard also acts as a overall volume pedal, regardless of where your volumes are set. You can also punch your effects, i.e. chours, reverb, and boost on or off. The one feature that is missing is the ability to adjust the effects parameters more; chours and delay could have more flexability. With that said, the amp still does a great job.

I mainly play strat style guitars with various pickup configurations. From Kinnman to dimarzios, the amp excels greatly. There is no noise that needs mentioning. The amp can make a fairly wide range of sounds, probably more that most players will ever need. The distortions are Great. The cleans are just as good.

Too early to tell.

OK guys here it is. I am a working pro, and have been playing for 40 years. I have all the toys. Mesa boogie: DC-5, Studio preamp, nomad 100, Various powewr amps, Marshall Jmp-1, Access preamp, Carvin tube 100, Various cabinets 4-12, 2-12 stereo, I think you get the Idea. I love them all, and they all sound a little different. Now you must be wondering why with all those heavy guns, why I'd get a line 6 spyder 2? When you have your roadies carrying and setting up your gear, you can use whatever your heart desires. However, when you start playing smaller venue gigs in between the bigger shows, and you carry the rig, A lite, all-in-one amp, that sounds almost as good as my big rigs, that can be set-up in 5 minutes and kick-ass, well need I say more. Just some side notes. In my experience I have noticed that there really are just 2 sounds. Clean And Dirty. Whatever you tweaking preference. The effects we choose just color those sounds. The way you EQ your clean and dirty, again, just color those sounds. The amount of gain you use again, just colors those sounds. And finally, the guitars and pickups you use, ditto.... The line 6 spyder gives you Great distortion and great clean. Do the Math.

My amp has gone nuts, it pushed the volume up all by itself!
Just once one month ago, then more often, to the point you don't dare to power it on.
So I've had a quite special problem, since the only failures are total blackouts or strange noises.
My dealer says he has almost no problems with those spiders, he is quite astonished.
Still, mine can't work again...
With a processor as central brain, one can't be too sure of what will happen next...
My confidence in line6, and modelers in general, is very weak just now...
I baby my equipment, have a warwick ampbag to transport it, and I only used my guitar and a cable with this amp (NO PEDALS!) so I am not responsible for the amp's failure I think.

Can't be beat where I live. I came to the store with my defect amp, and left with a brand new one! It was one week next to the warranty's end so I'm quite lucky...
Incredibly kind and helpful: absolutely!

Still love the amp.
Note that the effects knobs does have better action, hence control on the effects, on this new spider. Maybe some improved software?
Or more like another tolerance of the part itself...

This posting is a follow-up, one year's use later
I used it intensively, and way loud. Main guitar is Ibanez RG7 strings, and a Squier stagemaster7 as b-up.
I tried other axes, 6strings like Artcore semi-solid talman, maple fgbd strat&tele, Ibanez rg170, but I didn't like the sound with them; lacks presence and punch. A SG fine copy was way good sounding through it though.

An Aphex Xciter did a huge job to bring this amp to life, no side effects since it fully eliminates hum automatically whatever the gain level. Perfect for humming guitars, and there are a big lot of them out there...

I also changed the speaker for an Eminence legend 121, huge improvement with my axes. OUt of curiosity I tried an Eminence Kappa12 and man my amp moved 3steps higher(see my review on the kappa), as did the weight...

I play funk, rock, power blues and a little bit metal stuff so I'm not your average 7strings player.
This amp is powerful, versatile, reliable (only one issue during rehearsal: the channel volume rose all by itself, way problematic! Cured by powering off and on.)
It is a perfect gigging amp, you always get a suitable tone and with the band going who cares about tubes and that. If you play well, that is.
I took it home, didn't like its lack of subtlety, so Mario early on this page (great guy, go on telling the very truth!) is right.
A V-ampire is better at home, way clearer (I've got one as well).

The feature I like is the hidden boost function, works exactly like a clean booster pedal, nice compression and clarity. Of course the amp's gain must be set low otherwise you only get mud.
Speaking of mud it is all the stock celestion produces on this amp.
I tried this speaker in another combo (Harley Benton HB80R) with very good results so see it as a mismatch.

Bottom Line: great gigging amp with a proper speaker replacement, otherwise no way. Aphex (or similar) exciter a must.
Thanks for reading, I did intend to put it on ebay but I like the way it does simplify my gigging musician's life (no cables, pedals, tuners and all this ++++) so I 'm keeping it.

-75 Watts, 1x12" Celestion speaker
-12 Channels (Clean, Twang, Blues, Crunch, Metal, Insane) x 2 (Red and Green settings)
-3 Band EQ w/ Master and Channel Volume
-7 Effects, up to 4 at once:
==>Tape Echo / Standard Delay / Sweep Echo (1 at a time)
==>Chorus Flanger / Phaser / Tremolo (1 at a time)
==>Reverb
-4 Footswitchable memory slots (A,B,C,D) to hold custom tones. (This number can be increased by purchasing a line6 shortboard)
-Tap Tempo
-Built in tuner
-Noise gate
-Headphone jack

I use this amp for practice and in my band, and it is loud enough to completely drown out all the other instruments without compromising sound quality too much. Of course I never play it THAT loud.

This amp is loaded with features, some of which I never use (will discuss later), but other than my Dunlop Crybaby I play straight into the amp: no effects. I'll give it a 9 because it didn't come with the footswitch.

I play 2 guitars into my amp: My Fernandes Ravelle Elite ($999.99 online) and my Jackson DXMG (about $450, but I've upgraded the pickups to EMG81s).

I play a very wide range of rock, from classics such as Led Zeppelin, to heavier stuff like Metallica & Guns N' Roses, to newer kinds of rock, like Jimmy Eat World. This amp is versatile enough to accomodate all my sonic needs. However, the following features are useless:

-Green twang
-Both blues (they sound like television static)
-Both cruch (they don't have any crunch to them)
-Red insane (I'll admit it's fun, but useless)

I use the red clean for most of my cleans; the green one for more of a fender sound. I use the red twang with the gain all the way down and the bass all the way up to get an accoustic guitar sound (a real nice one I might add). Red metal channel is for the old Metallica sound with the gain up, or more of a GN'R sound with the gain half-way. The insane channel is by far the most versatile, oddly enough. I can get a perfect Jimmy Page sound by rolling back the gain almost all the way (lol) and messing with the EQ. Switch to the neck pickup and that same sound is now a Slash lead tone (very accurate).

The speaker has plenty of low end once you turn the volume up a bit, and the highs are clear, not screachy.

If you use the right effects, this amp sounds great. If you don't, it sounds awful. Just read the manual and play around with it for a while (the standard presets are awful).

This thing is built like a tank. I gig with it every week, and I've only had to tighten 1 screw after a year and a half of playing. Awesome construction. The footswitch broke on me though, and i had to buy a new one. I bought the cheap footswtich, so I guess I have myself to blame, but still. 10 for the amp, 4 for the footswitch.

Luckily the amp is built well enough that you don't need to call them. However, when I tried to ask them a question about my footswitch's warranty, they were completely useless. Their page online leads you in circles, and you can't actually talk to someone. They don't answer e-mails for at least 2 weeks, which is how long I had to wait. They really were not helpfull at all, basically worthless.

I bought this amp primarily because i needed something bigger than my 10 watt marshall... something to Gig with. It has served me well as an amp. Once again, I can get all the right sounds, just not from the channels Line 6 intended me to. At $300 it was an excellent value, and was the only amp in its class. I would definitely recommend this Line 6 as a 2nd amp because of its amazing versatility and value.

If it were stolen though, I would probably buy something better. I've been playing for a while now, and now that I own a very nice guitar (Ravelle) I'd like to play it on a real tube amp, like a MESA Boogie or a Peavy XXX.

this amp is awsome. it can play all kinds of music because it has 6 different amp types, u can create 4 presets of your fav amp tones plus add an echo, a modulation, and reverb. i wish it had more on-board effects, but i suppose 7 is enough, right? if your an effects freak (like me) get a multi effects pedal! i use it in my bedroom, but i will use it live when i get old enough to play live!

don't listen to the guy that says the distortions are crap, there great! if you turn it to insane and turn the pickups on your guitar to a bassy sound, then you've got your own fuzz pedal that sounds almost like john frusciantes tone when he uses an EH big muff.
and the effects are great too, youve got a flanger, chorus, phaser, tremolo, delay, tape echo, sweep echo, i think.....plus reverb. with the chorus up at full you can get a nice nirvana solo for smells like teen spirit. as for amp models, you can choose 6 types-clean, tweed, blues, crunch, metal and insane, all based on real amps, plus theres 6 other presets they have done for ya.

i have had it for more than a year, and its fine. my brother spilt lemonade in the power switch... and it didn't turn on, but after an hour or so it worked again, the lemonade must have dried up.

haven't dealt with them

my setup is a fender jagstang or a vintage strat or a gibson sg, into a 535q dunlop wah, into this amp, and it sounds perfect to me. if it was stolen or lost, then i would probably save up for a fender bassman or something, only because when i bought this i wasn't really caring about amps. on the other hand i would never sell this thing, its too cool. i wish it came with a ferrarri or something, but ya can't get everything.

The amp I bought was made in 2005. I play mostly punk, metal, and classic rock. The features on this amp are really very good. LED's are a bit gimmicky. Four programmable channels with a footswitch included, 12 different amp models, loads of effects. Particularly good are the extra 'tap' functions. The noise gate is very good, actually it's neccesary because the amp would be hissing very loud without it. There is only a headphone jack however, no FX loops, cdinput or speaker extension, which is dissapointing on an amp like this and hence only a 7. It's loud enough for small gigs. I didn't like the way the tones for each model were preset, made for too much tweaking and not enough playing.

I play an Epiphone Les Paul Standard. I bought the amp mainly because of its vast possibilities of sounds. This is where the amp is seriously let down. Any distortion channels are scratchy and hissy with absolutely no character, muddy tones and no clarity. This is one of the worst sounding amps I've played on (and yes I spent hours trying to find the right settings - they don't exist!). Want an AC/DC or a Guns and Roses sound? - forget it. Even with the six distortion models you can't even get a good Metallica sound. That was only possible through the clean channel with an MT-2 pedal! As for the red Insane setting, I think the guy who thought of putting that in must have been insane, who's going to use that crap?. I'm afraid this is a gimmick amp with all it's LED's and crap sound. If you want a modelling amp forget this and have a closer look at a Vox.

Had no problems with it. It seems very robust and well made althought the facia and knobs don't look like they would take much abuse without breaking. Then again I had only had it 4 days! I definitely would not use it for a gig because it sounds so bad.

Never had any dealings. The shop I bought it from had no problem exchanging it without a handling charge (top marks for them).

If you want toneless, scratchy distortion, this is the amp for you. If you actually like to hear what your playing, buy something else.
I had this amp for 4 days and swapped it for a Marshall AVT50.

I mostly play metal and classic rock. the amp is very versitile with 12 different amp simulations and you can adjust and store them. there are also 6 effects to choose from such as delay and phaser. it has four channels, very convient for live shows and you can customise amp settings into each channel. i got a free footswitch to navigate through each channel. this amp is very versitile from jazz and blues to metal but i would say it best suits metal. i have gigged with this amp and although it's only 75 watts it was loud enough by far. one problem is you HAVE to read the instructions because working the speed and noise gate out without reading them is hard. after reading the instructions everything is easy.

i use this amp with an epiphone leas paul standard, a customfender with seymour duncan invaders and an ibanez s520ex. all pickups are humbuckers. suits my style brilliantly and my band mate loves the crunch setting for classic rock. it can get a bit noisy on the insane setting with the epiphone but thats cos the pickups are shit. this problem is easily dealt with by using the built in noise gate. This amp has a lovely clean setting with chords ringing in all the right places, the crunch setting with a bit of delay is wonderful for solos and the metal setting is the best sound,the distortion is cracking, the best you'll get for this price! there is a pointless shit sound where line6 have made their own model- never use it. the clean channel never gets distorted.

i use it without a backup but thats cos i can't afford one! i think i can depend on it and it's never let me down, i've had it about 4 months now. only thing is like with all amps tighten the nuts on the input jack regularly.

i've never dealt with the company so i wouldn't know. comes with a years warranty

i've been playing 2 years and have tried many amps such as the marshall 100dfx combo and the vox valvetronix 50 watt and this is better.
if it was stolen or lost i'd definetly buy it again. i love the sound but don't like the weight (not as heavy as some though.

No idea on when it was built as I bought it second hand. Versatility is the forte of this amp from clean to grunge. I play an odd mix of folk and blues influenced rock, I also dabble in "Latin jazz" and various covers (Beatles, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, The Who, etc.). Single Channel with 4 user banks which can be stored & switched via foot pedal (optional). More user banks are available through the Line 6 Short board (more moolah)which can really help tap into the flexibility of this amp.

It has a combined headphone/Direct output jack (not voiced to sound like a speaker cabinet and using it disables the amp's clip protection, better watch them dynamics & levels). It also features a built-in tuner, distortion boost, noise gate (enable/disable), tap tempo for the built in delay, 12 presets (2 clean, 2 Twang, 2 Blues, 2 Crunch, 2 Metal and 2 Insane), delay, reverb & modulation ... a lot to chose from.

It is a digital modelling amplifier and is quite loud at 75 watts.

I use a MIM Fender Stratocaster, a home made Double cutaway Les Paul (Kent Armstrong pickups), and a Line 6 Variax 300. Get ready to sit down with a paper pad and note which settings sound best 'cause it's easy to get lost in the options, no jokes. For instance, the "Red Twang" setting which you would think would bring out the best in my Strat ... it doesn't! My Strat sounds sloppy and hollow using that preset but ... switch over to "Red Metal" turn the drive down and fuss around with the EQ and reverb ... that gives my Strat body and smoothness without muddying it up.

The home made LP ... it just overdrives that same setting that sounds fine on the Strat, but ... "Red Twang" which sounded awful on the Strat sounds fine on the LP ... that is with the drive turned down, the EQ adjusted accordingly and the reverb set at about 40% ...

That modified "Red Twang" patch also brings out the best of the "Semi" and "Jazzbox" of the Variax ...

My point is: don't give up on the amp if the factory presets and user banks don't sound right on your guitar, this is an amp that can bring out the best of any guitar, as long as you're willing to spend the time and tweak it until it sounds right.

Clean to dirty, no problem. It delivers.

I haven't gigged in much too long, I use it in my Home Studio setup, so I can't give it an accurate rating. For my use, it' plenty reliable.

Browse their Web site, it's awesome! Great knowledge base, great product page (complete with sound samples), and great users Forums where Line 6 owners get to share info. Never dealt with Customer service per se, but 9 times out of 10 the answers can be found in the knowledge base and /or the Forums.

I've been playing for about 26 years (ouch!) and had I had access to this amp back in 1983 ... can you imagine? One amp, one guitar (in the Variax) and complete flexibility ... amazing! If it were lost or stolen I'd either get the same or perhaps a Flextone or Vetta (I wish! They're so expensive!). I love the the fact that it's compact, loud and flexible.

The direct output however ... it sometimes is a bit noisy and sputtery (then again it's only noticeable when I plug in cheap high impedence headphones) but I do wish Line 6 included a speaker cabinet voicing to the direct output (and it could be made to be enabled or disabled in the same way the distortion boost & noise gate are, using the tap tempo button) and that the clip protection wasn't disabled when the jack is in use ...

Rather than to bash the factory presets that don't sound that hot as is (Blues Green and Insane Red come to mind) I come back to my point: those presets can be manipulated to sound cleaner or dirtier.

Oh yeah, by the way, a Presence control would also be nice if they ever come up with a Spider III line ... cabinet voicings on the direct out, clip protection for the direct out and a presence control ... yeah those would be welcome improvements! ;) All in all, this amp packs a serious punch for the price, and is very, very flexible.

A VERY flexible, versatile and easy to use piece of kit. Name another similarly priced practise amp, with 12" speaker? This could so EASILY be upgraded. (perhaps even to say a Classic/Vintage Greenback, if the impedance could be matched).

Some of the FX are unuseable because of the poor range of settings except for beginners....(we all remember buying every effect we could and turning it up full)...but the FX are there if you need them to pratice the odd cover song!

The Vox AVT range are more money, but arguable much better due to the presence of that Valve in the Pre-amp. The FX are more controllable, more useable and there are more of them. But the 8" speaker? The 30W has a 10"...better but still not compatible with the sweet noise it could be making.

As I was on a tight #130 budget, (wife's orders!!) the 15W VOX was my original choice, but after an extensive home test over the weekend, although I got some nice sounds, and loved the 100ms to 8s delay range on the reverb etc. BUT -- because of its noisy nature and the CRAP 8" speaker, (NB The Vox is VERY hissy, even with the noise gate adjusted correctly!) -- I swapped it for the Spider II 112. I MAY have gone for the AVT 30 which I tried, but at more than #50 extra, I may as well have gone for say a Second Hand "Blues Junior" and used a OD-1 if needed!

My other concerns, apart from the lack of precise FX parameter adjustment, I would have liked a dedicated LINE OUT for DI purposes, rather than the Headphone/Line Out function. If you are working in a small band going through PA, you have ZERO personal backlin!! Same in the Vox etc tho! The #239 Marshall does, but it's nearly twice as much!!

What's wrong with this amp guys? Come on.....You can get this thing for #129, (or $243.879!! - 190.248 Euros)

What are you expecting? Should the 4 "quick" patches match the JC-120, A vintage AC30, A Mesa-Boogie Studio and Marshall JCM-900?

I can get Most sounds that I want for LOW LEVEL practising. This thing can still deafen someone in the firing zone though, so don't be fooled. You CAN achieve a clean, or "dirty sound out of ALL the preset voicings, whether they are matched to the Modelling engine or not, who gives a ***T! ALL the EQ's work well!!

Now, the BIGGEST contributor to this sound is the size of teh speaker, and cabinet. Can anyone name another similarly, or any priced PRACTISE amp, with a 12" speaker?

Purely from a cost and value assessment, this amp is very good. Even if it were more, (ie purchased at RRP) it would still be a credible combo.


NB Rating based on a comparible products basis, not against the sound of my own boutique head, with a couple of 4 x 12 cab attached!

Feels, seems and looks VERY solid and well built considering, eg Thickish wood with standard plastic coatied construction. Nice corner protectors and positive control knobs. Should be a turn up and go scenario. I am wondering if the battery for retaining the 4 preset sounds goes, would the rest of the amp still be as normal?

Only emailed ythem once about my POD.

I don't remember getting a response!!

I would not have bothered with a practise amp if I didn't want, or need one. I DEFINATELY would not of bought this actual model if it took AGES fiddling to get a particular sound.

Disappointing FX sounds and controls especially from Line 6, but what did I EXPECT for the price myself, when everything else is MORE than reasonable??

This is one of the cheapest Line 6 amps and don't have all the features of his "big brothers", but it's enought for the price.

Well in my opinion this amp sounds pretty for the price. You can't compare it with a tube amp because a tube amp is very expensive in comparison. Fits perfect for home situations and small club gigs. The basic sounds are OK, but if you're patient you can get better sounds. I have a Laney VC30 that sounds much better, but for small gigs I prefeer the Line 6 because is more transportable. The sounds are Ok, the price is OK... all is OK... but you must judge this amp with the 300 dollars in mind.

I bought it one year ago. No problems here.

Not needed

I'm very happy. A very good home/practice amp in my opinion.

A follow up review, read below.

At one time I thought this amp was great until I noticed something, at least with mine anyways. The Metal and Insane settings actually muddy-up your sound. I bought a Dimebucker for my guitar and at first I thought "DAMN this thing SUCKS!", I played it on my friends amp and it sounded beautiful. Just to let you know, don't get it for distortion.

More gadgets than I really need. See the company's website.

This amp sounds quite good, in my personal opinion. It is extraordinarily practical for someone who doesn't want a massive setup to haul around. If you're an old-fashioned tube junkie, then no, you probably will not like this amp. Stop comparing a $299 digital amplifier to $2000+ tube amps. IMHO, however, it is convincing enough. The cleans are warm and defined, and the high-gain distortions are absolutely devastating. The only real knock on this amp is that it lacks a truly good Marshall-crunch type sound. Chances are, however, that if you buy this amp you're not really in need of that sort of tone. The effects are decent, although it would be nice if the chorus and the flanger were seperated. I don't use a ton of effects, I just needed something that was portable and could pull off a number of sounds rather easily. The Celestion speaker is probably one of the nicer ones I've played through.

I've owned it for about a year and a half now, and no problems thus far. Take reasonable care of it and it should do fine in this department.

I've never dealt one-on-one with Line 6. I've heard mixed things about them.

I've been playing for a little over six years. I've previously owned Peavey, Fender and Vox Amplifiers, and I'd have to say this is my favorite. I'm currently using an Ibanez SZ320 through this amp, although I've also used it in conjuction with a Gibson Les Paul and another LP knockoff fixed with Duncan pickups. The best reason to own this amp, in my opinion, is if you are like me and you are tired of fooling with distortion and effects pedals. In terms of digital amplifiers, I'd say Line 6 is the best on the market. Is this thing going to sound identical to your $2000 Marshall? Absolutely not. Don't expect it to. However, it is reasonably close (the untrained ear couldn't tell the difference) and a pretty darn good deal.

You would definitely do well to purchase the FBV Shortboard along with this thing. It's expensive, but well worth it. It really opens up a world of possibilites with this amplifier.

Also, if you're looking for a moderate crunch sound (i.e. Train), you'd probably want to have access to some sort of overdrive pedal as the cruch sounds on this amp really don't cut it in that department. Otherwise it does quite well.

Brand new, 2005 model Spider II single 12" speaker, 30 (transistor) watts. No channel switching. I wanted a lightweight amp I could take to open jams with that was versatile. It seemed too good to be true and sounded decent enough in the store. And then I brought it home.... Nice effects, easy to use and store 'preset' settings for use on the fly.

I've got a '67 Strat. The amp sounds great when the volume is very low, but take the gain/master past 3 or so and it totally pukes. Very thin and clippy, raily and flat. Loses all the 'character' it might have had when the volume is low. The clean setting is horrendously thin and grating, no matter what you do. No matter how you slice it, this is a transistor amp, and it SOUNDS like a transistor amp. The effects are nice, but a little hard to control. It should have a separate effect level knob, as opposed to the 'graduated' settings it has on each (multiple) effects pot. Also, the save feature is 'strange'. If you happen to have saved a setting with the volume high, then switch back to that setting, the volume will be saved at the same screaming level regardless of where the master volume is turned to physically. It's really unnerving.

Don't know. Only had it 2 days before returning it.

Wouldn't recommend or buy another one. Too thin and transistory. Great for a low-volume practice amp, but not good in any real world situation. I returned it and got a Vox Valvtronix. It's amazing what a 12AX7 tube in the preamp circuit can do to smooth out the tone.

Too many... I think less is more. Like they say, jack of all trades, master of none.

I agree 110% with reviewer "Bruce" below. My local shop had one of these on consignment for several months, and I played through it several times, since they wouldn't let people go near the Marshalls or Fenders without practically waving cash in your hand.

Awful. No tube tone in any way. The best thing it does is distortion, super ultra high gain distortion. If you play metal, you'll love this. If you play things that require variable singing tone, forget it, dump this amp immediately. I compared with several quality tube amps (Mesa Single Rec, Hiwatt, Sunn, Marshall, Fender, etc.) and it was WAY behind.

I suspect the people who like this have grown up listening to bands with "synthetic" sounds ... totally digital distortions without harmonic complexity. Guitar that is more computer chip wizardry than actual tone. If you crank this up, it's painfully apparent. Things don't get richer, they get thinner and that's not good.

I couldn't use anything I dialed in that wasn't insanely high gain.

Worked fine all the times I played it...

This amp is not for me. I'm a tone hound, born and raised on Hendrix and and Clapton, and not Satriani and Vai, who both have generally terrible guitar sounds to me. Excellent players, terrible tone crafters. Eric Johnson knows what's going on - listen to his giant singing guitar cut through, then hear the hard, harsh treble mess that is Satch's tone on most albums. Stripped down to the basics is my idea of a good sound. I hate these computer-generated "modeled" tones - they sound terrible to me, and I've been playing through tube amps for over thirty years. No one bought this amp from the store, and the original guy just returned and picked up. That says a lot.

I believe this is the 2003 model. 75 watt amp features 12 amp models, 4 user programmable channels, normal amp control knobs (mid, treble, bass, channel vol, drive, etc.), smart control fx (up to three simultaneously) and tap tempo, ethernet out for pedal, and a headphone/record out.

This is a very versatile little amp and seemingly very well built. I've bumped it a few times moving it and it's never had any problems. Also, I don't know why so many people say that they don't like the distortion settings. I think the metal and insane distortions kick the crap out of the Marshall and Vox distortions that you could get at a similar price range. But since I'm still fairly new to guitar (been playing about a year and a half) I don't play that many different "styles" mostly rock, metal, a little alternative and a little blues and this amp does all of those very well. Something that I didn't know before I got this amp was that each default amp preset has it's own personalized tone settings which have nothing to do with however you have it set AND when you change something on one knob ONLY THAT KNOB IS AFFECTED. I really like this feature because it allows you to use the preset as a starting point where you don't have to guess at the rest of the settings if you just want to change one or two things. Also, you can save different channel volumes on your own presets which is VERY NICE.

I use this amp in my dormroom and it definitely gets the job done. I'd say that it's packing the perfect amount of power for my needs. I was originally going to give this an 8 because the footcontrollers that are made for this amp and other Line 6 products are UBER EXPENSIVE!! But I gave it one extra point just because of the cool light up sequence when you turn the amp on. I know that seems like kind of a silly superficial thing, but it's still cool nonetheless. Oh, and it sounds GREAT going into my computer. I just bought a plain old RCA stereo cable and a convert for both ends (1/8" and 1/4") and I was very pleased with how good it still sounds. I was a bit worried because the distorted sounds really sound like crap in my headphones but now I know that it's just the headphones (got em for like 10 bucks, so what can you expect?)

I currently have a Yamaha Pacifica with stock everything downtuned to Drop B and I've gotta say that this amp makes my crappy little guitar sounds quite good. The cool thing about this amp is that you can just plug straight into it and let the fun begin. I actually tried to run my digitech RP300 through it and it got a really crappy sound quality to it. After messing with the settings, I got an "alright" tone but still nothing as good as what comes out of the amp by itself so I gladly pawned off the digitech.

I just ordered an Ibanez RG370DX which will be my new "standard guitar" and to test out my amp with a similar guitar, I played my friend's RG321 through it. Gotta say that the overall tone was pretty much the same, although his guitar's pickups obviously are putting out more power (or maybe just treble) because I had to adjust my amp settings a bit. The only real differences that I could figure were like with doing legato-type stuff. His guitar is DEFINITELY better suited for that.

As I said earlier, the amp has a great variety of sounds and tones; my favorites being the clean settings and the green metal/insane settings. Using the different amp models, you can pretty much get any kind of clean tone you're looking for. You can have a nice syrupy thick clean sound with little distortion and a slight bit of delay, or you can have a more rock-like distorted clean tone. I swear though, the first time I turned the amp to one of the metalish distortions it just blew me away. First of all, it was LOUD! I could've turned it down, but instead I turned it UP and adjusted my ears to compensate. The insane metal distortion sounds just awesome with my guitar's dropped tuning. Gives it kind of a Slipknot edge to it and the notes are still clear dispite all the distortion.

This amp seems very dependable, but it's not exactly a "gigging amp." This is more of a personal practice amp, but it's light enough to where you could take it with you on the road if you wanted to and it would be ready to rock whenever, wherever. I've had it for about 4 months of heavy usage and it hasn't once even started acting like it was going to mess up.

N/A

I've been playing for about a year and a half and was looking for a new practice amp to help me define my tone (or actually GIVE me a tone) and I'm quite sure I've found it. I remember finding this amp in Guitar Center and messing around with it for like 30 minutes, only to come back later and mess with it for another 2 hours. Compared with other amps in and around this price range, it just can't be beat! I played through all kinds of amps before on my search for something new and better (Marshall, Ibanez, Fender, Fox, etc.) and I've still gotta say that this one sounds better than those that cost twice as much. Everyone that I know who's heard me play through this amp or has played through it themselves has fallen in love with it (in fact, 5 of them have bought it and similar models afterwards). If this amp were stolen, I'd track down the person who took it and beat them to death with their own severed legs.

If you're a total newbie to guitar, then I would recommend one of the new smaller models (15 or 30 watt) because they also sound awesome and just have a few less features. But if you've been playing for around a year or so and are still trying to define your tone (or figure out what tone really is) then I'd definitely recommend this amp or one of its bigger brothers depending on the situation. I use this amp as a practice amp, but I know people who use the 212 and HD for live gigs and they sound just awesome. As for older players who've been at it for years (or decades even), you may like this amp or you may not. But you figure if you've been playing for that long, you've narrowed down the kind of tone that you want and have found more specialized (and more expensive) amps to suit your tastes better. But even so, sit down with this baby and dial into it. Who knows, you might just like it....

see oher review, has plenty for the price range

Playing 2 wolfgangs and a Les paul and they all sound great. I also have a 5150,a Marshall AVT 50 with peavey and Marshall 4x12 cabs so this little guy is my backup. but I would feel fine using it for whol;e show if Mic-ed up which I may do this weekend. High gain sounds are awesome, very tube-like if you spend time to dial in the EQ properly. I have been a 5150 user for 13 years so Im used to that low end heavy, crunchy, searing sound and this can duplicate it pretty well on the green insane setting as long as the gain isnt cranked too much. The clean channels are ok, dont really use them. The Crunch, "EVH" model is a cool take on a variac-ed Plexi. I used to own one and still have the variac so I know what they sound like and this is definitely in the ballpark. The effects are pretty good too except for the chorus which doesnt give you any control over the rate..sucks!! Again, for the money this is a fantastic amp. If you are a shreddeer or 80s rock fan you will ove it. Minus 2 points for the Chorus which should have been a lot better

anyone who gigs without a backup is just plain irresponsible, things happen, tubes blow, amps break. If you are about to play in front of a lot of peopl who paid money to see your band and that happens then what??!!

called once and got a live person on the phone who was clueless about the questions I had, not impressed

Been playing 22 yearsm + , Its a great backup-practice-small gig amp for somone who is playing hard rock to metal type music. I see myself keeping this one, especially since it is under $300!!! The high gain sounds this thing can dial in will blow away some amps that cost 4-5 times as much

this has a great marshall and fender tone the marshall is great with no over-drive ( a little buzzy). here's the trick and this turned my new spider II amp into a marshall tube amp. I use the spider with no digital over-drive (raw) and the TOne bone hot british dist pedal. wa-la...it's all there tube tone . quite amazing and all I have to mantain is one tube in this product . probably comes with a cheap chinese tube so when this oges I'll get a good tubethat I've resarched already. the effect is a little pricy but look at the what you get, tube tone easy maintence (one tube). it's as close as you're going to get . there are a few tube dist pedals out there but this is the best . I hve no use for other pedals, mxr dist +, mxr 10 band EQ, selling them both as the tone bone has 6 knobs and switches to get EQ.

great marshall and fender. the big floor board is great too. you get the WAh and the tuner is digital read-out for all KEYS, sharp flat D, C you name it. selling my chrono tuner as well don't need it with all this . I use the EVH pedal into the tonebone to the marshall setting. awesome.. just hav eto get a maxon compressor to try out and see where that gets me. read my reviews in tone bone and EVH pedal. I play 61 SG and 62 strat

so far so good.

great when used as I described. let me know if you try it with the tone bone British, i'll be reading...

Bought it brand new at Guitar Center for $254.00...I never pay sticker...always ask them for a better deal. Versatility is the amps strong point without having to compromise. I only wish the foot controller came with the amp.

I am playing a Gibson Les Paul Standard, Fender Telecaster and Epiphone Riviera through the amp. It suits all styles of music. Built in noise gate is great. Clean is beautiful and rivals a Fender of equal price. The distortion is fabulous, creamy and thick or thin if that fits your taste.

So far so good. It seems very well built. Not cheap in any way.

Haven't had to deal with them. But I have dealt with Line 6 on other matters involving a Guitar Port....they were great.

I would definitely replace it if lost.

Same as above.

Good feature variance for modeling.

Play with an ibanez and les paul. The sound is okay for a beginner but as I have gotten more ear practice and have been doing production work on albums I have grown more weary of this amp. Although one can find value in most sounds (even bad ones) when the moment arises.

I would never gig with this amp. I had problems with it at first (playing too loud probably) and got it repaired by the manufacturer. It worked great again and then it suddenly stopped working properly right after the warranty ended. There is absolutely no sound unless chorus is in use and even then it sounds like crap, crackling and certain frequencies (high G) do not come through for some reason.

So....I contacted their customer support and they suggested I reset it (which I had already done since it was in the manual). After that they said to send it to a service shop as they had "no idea" about what could cause it. It seems if it was your amp that you made you would maybe have an "idea" at least. Anyway the service center for line 6 wanted $250 and the amp was purchased for $300 so I said forget it. I bought a Marshall tube amp and a distortion pedal for $200 more. Now I gig happily without ever worrying about my amp breaking or crackling or otherwise being a piece of crap like this one.

Good for quiet practice and modeling tone. Bad for everything else. I wouldn't even bother with this company. I think that they even had some of their employees put reviews on here since some of them seem so deceptively enthusiastic (come on, a 10!; does it cook you dinner or something)?

This 75W Line 6 is one of the best amps I have ever tried.
I have been playing on marshall and Hughes and Kettner before
and I can absolutely compare them to this one.

*75W
*many good effects
*footswitch
*nice looking
*powerful volume

I use a Gibson SG with original humbuckers. The amp hanldes this guitar very good. When your not touching the strings this amps is completly quiet. The clean sound is perfect especially with the chorus added. I use BOSS pedals for my Hughes and Kettner amp in my studio but i hardly need them for this anp. The phaser, tremolo, chorus and delay is almost better than my boss twin-pedals. Another good thing is the four channels where you can store your sounds and control them with the including footswitch.

This amp is great but its got a lot of crap-effects. The insane channel is way to brutal. You can even hear the tones when you play a solo. You dont have a clean chorus on the amp only a chorus/flange but it works okay though.

I have only been using this amp for 1 month so I doesnt have an opinion yet. it seems to work ok but im a bit worried because of all the digital stuff. This amp is equiped with a lot of lamps which i thing will break from time to time. But that doesnt disturb the sound.

I bought this amp at the musicstore I work in. I got some discount on it. If theres ever any trouble with it i will just talk to my boss.

This is a powerful amp with a great soundou play 70's or 80's rock music like me the crunch-distortion is the sound for you. If you play black/death metal the metal dist is the best one.

I have been playing for over 7 years and i am quite demanding when it comes to amps. This one got the best sound for this ammount of money.
This amp has the best clean sound i've ever heard,I havent tried another guitar into it but it works great with my SG's humbuckers.

This is very well spent money. Use a good guitar, use good cables and use this amp and you will get far =)

I look at other line 6 amps like the flextone and think wow I wish I had all those effects, but then i realize that I have everything I need in my spider II and I go back to it's awesomeness and forget about it.

I use single coil pickups. I play mostly punk rock. Other people reviewed it and said it had scratchy heights DON'T LISTEN TO THEM! I completely disagree! the one reason that kept me from buying this amp was thatI thought it had scratchy heights. GUESS WHAT... IT DOESN'T! This amp is awesome! I have yet to see a better amp for a better price.I look at other line 6 amps like the flextone and think wow I wish i had all those effects, but then i realize that I have everything I need in my spider II and I go back to it's awesomeness and forget about it. The clean is as clean as it gets and stays that way even when it is cranked all the way up to ten! The distortion is as brutal as it gets on the the green insane model. When I think about the volume I sometimes wish i had the 212, but then again IT GETS AS LOUD AS I NEED IT TOO. IT IS EASILY GIG READY!!! MY DRUMER DRUMS LIKE A MANIAC AND I AM AT LEAST 5x AS LOUD AS HE IS!!!

I haven't had any problems. It seems pretty well built but I'm still getting a travel case.

Dunno, never had to deal with them and I hope I won't have to.

I have been playing for a long time and I can tell you that this amp is a dream.I FIND ABSOLUTELY NO FLAWS WITH THIS AMP YOU SHOULD GO GET IT AND ABANDON ANY HESITATION YOU MAY HAVE! Seriously it's awesome.If it was stolen I would definetly get a new one!This amp is an awesome value but is still good at any price! This amp also works fairly well with the FBV4 four button footswitch. (but the manual mode dosen't work Boo line 6!)

The best thing about this amp is the delay, its pretty good and can do a lot more than most. it has a few distortions and a few clean sounds, 3 delays, rverb and a built in tuner.

at first i loved it but thats because i was using a p.o.s befor that. but now i find that its not as good as it could be most distortions come out very muddy, its hard to get a good clean sound on this amp most of them kind suck. basicly once you get the good sound save it and keep it forever.

its dependable ive used it a lot for playing gigs and its held up ok. the most anoying thing is it reset all my saved sounds once, that sucked.

ive been playing guitar for like 6 years and had this amp for 6 months and basicly it made me dislike line 6, it works good for $300 but id prefer something better. there are some other line 6 products that work way beter for just alittle more money, id say put out a few hundered more and get a flextone 3.

Lots of features. I want to address some issues that many people have opinions on. I've been biting my tongue for a long time in regards to the dispute between Modeling amps and Tube amps.

First off a Mesa, Marsahll, Soldano etc... when played full tilt in the style that many younger people seem to like. Really is not a very complex sound, as a matter of fact it becomes alot less dimensional. And to many people this is absolute heaven to there ears. And many manufacturters are pointed straight at this. It is not a complex sound. Now I know this whole topic is going to piss-off a lot of people. As soon as I go into my background as a musician, people are going to take offense, thinking that I'm some sort of "tube snob" . So here goes. I'm 52 years old and have been playing guitar for 39 years. I grew up playing tube amps mostly Fender tweed and blackface amps. Something magical happens when a tube amp goes into compression (distortion to most people). And if you listen very carefully you can hear the many complex things that happen to your tone. Sometimes this is a very subtle change. You can hear it when you play a single note and listen to the spaciousness, even order harmonics, articulation and other sonic wonders. Many people live in this subtle and complex world. Now-a-days many Boutique builders have addressed this issue with great success. Builders like, Matchless, Carr, Bad Cat, Budda, Bogner, Dr. Z, Dumble, Two Rock (my favorite) and many others. These type of amps if you listen closely, sound so pure and complex that it nearly sounds like you are plying through a very good reverb. The sound is huge and I don't mean a Marshall or Boogie stack kind of huge. And there is a difference. But it depends on what you want your amp to do. Many bands that are mentioned in previous reviews are not going for a complex tone. Good thing too, because these modeling amps can reproduce this. A freind went on vacation and lent me his Spider. I played this amp for three weeks about four hours or more a day. And my Impression (keep in mind my frame of reference) is that this amp does not come close to the amps it's trying to imitate, other than the massive distortion amps. It is more succesfull in this when the frame of reference is that of the afore mentioned Mesa, Marshall high gain not terribley complex tone. Just brutal distorion. And i'st flexible enough to be fun. For me it just can't reproduce what I know about tubes amps that aren't used for massive gain. But believe me if you have spent any time around tube amps and actually listen closely to the complexity of these amps (some people don't care about the complexity, just how brutal the distotion is)you will then realize that these modeling amps are far from accurate reproductions of anything other than massive distortion. Some people could spend ten years with a blackface deluxe and be nothing but dissipointed with the sound and think it's a gutless wimp (and it is) and no use to him at all. Money is certainly an issue for many people and these types of amps fill a void. Money aside how many pro' who are really talented musicians play these things. People like Al DiMeola, John McLaughlin, Jeff Beck, Steve Vai, Tony Mac Alpine, Eric Johnson and the list goes on for an hour. Even more so for blues players who don't live in the RED LINE ZONE of massive distortion.These people have BIG Ears folks and they play music that demands complexity and dimension in their tone. Many bands don't have the same requirements. I don't want to try and say something like my music is better than yours or anything like that, just that many people have different ideas of whats good. Eric Claptons amps are useless to people like Korn, Slipknot etc... as there gear is useless to Eric. Fell free to contact me with your opinion as long as you aren't some maniac who wants to just flame me for your difference of opinion.

Everyones alreadys knows this, but if you don't go on the line 6 website for all the info.

This is a beautiful amp with versatility and some amazing sounds. The clean is perfect for what i use ( the light passages of songs) and the distortion is brutal yet defined. It is an amp that plays to YOUR needs and has everything available to be able to play the sounds in your head. I play death metal (in flames, nile, kataklysm) and Alternate rock/metal (lost prohpets, tool, slipknot, korn)and have been playing for about 5 years. I have a SMALL BUDGET and therfore cannot spend 3000 grand on a stack. Of course this baby MAY sound shit when compared to a ENGL or MESA stack but they are also 10 times the price. For a person on a budget this cannot be beaten. The only reason it gets a 9 is because i wish it were a tiny bit louder.

It seems durable but then again i have only had it for a month. If any probelms occur i will post again. Go solid state, NO TUBES!!!

one year warranty is ok and i haven't spoken to line 6 yet. Hopefully i don't have to.

I own three electrics( two Ibanez's and Gibson les paul studio). Amp wise I Own This amp now, a Mesa Nomad 45, and a Marshall mode four. (I have rich parents)
I love this amp as something i can carry around anywere and has everything i need on it.

This posting is a follow-up. I installed an Eminence guitar legend 121 speaker in the spider2, and here are the results two weeks after( the speaker has not quite broken in but 20 hours of loud playing).
The sound stays tight till full speed, and I really enjoy the clean sounds that stay clean. Man they are loud loud, no way to guess there are only 75watts here.
The blues and dirty metal sounds are better, because they don't lose their definition when played loud. I also noticed that the honkiness of the celestion is gone(...) and it makes a good deal of difference.
The overall sound is a bit warmer, fresher, less ear-splitting, while still stiff. And the treble is not gone so don't worry you'll cut through the mix, only louder.
Given that the new speaker costs only 50euros there is no excuse not to install one in the spider2, it delivers a huge improvement in sound quality. Did I say this amp is way loud now?
Cherry on the cake, the weight is still the same, more or less 16 kgs, a real pleasure to travel with when you can't take the car (train, subway...).
Thanks for reading, rock on!

Absolutely killer for the price, and quite fun to play with, gigging is perfectly manageable (more than with other amps I've owned), the tuner and noise-gate are a blessing on stage , and so on. A ten, if only the fbv4 switch would work as advertised... Boo line6!

First of all, the switch fbv4 doesn't work as it could(and advertised as): you get tap tempo, but not the manual mode! It means you only can switch channels 1-4 and tap the tempo, you can't activate chorus, booster, delay or reverb. At the price they sell it, it is a shame. I feel I am stolen on this one, BOO line6!
Stick with the provided fbv2 switch, works as well.
The amp is very ez to use, what makes it perfectly manageable under stress situations where you have to react fast(and in the good way hem). The hidden functions are fuzzy to call, especially for checking where your settings are. The tuner is fine, why does it works only for standard tuning (E-flat is common nowadays after all)? It is because in real life situations everybody sticks to the stndard tuning...
Far enough power, but the celestion stock speaker doesn't stand the power since it breaks up fast, hence baddening your beautiful tone. I Have ordered an Eminence legend121, will post a follow-up after some time with it in the spider2. Theoretically it should stays clean, with more warmth and louder too.
Channels switch very fast, a real pleasure. With the fbv2 switch you can use this amp as a 2channel amp, like an old fashioned amp, just copy patch1 and 2 in the 3rd and 4th locations respectively. This way you don't have too look at what you do with your feet, like in the old days...
No loop, spkr out whatsoever, this one is an autist. I like it, because I knew when buying that I wouldn't lose any time with outboard effects, just plug'n'play. Also, no way to destroy it because of wrong connections etc. Fine with me.
Headphone out is convenient, but the amp then sounds very bad and lifeless, just like the pods... The xv amp behringer sounds 10worlds better in this regard.
Better be careful with the line out, you need a 6.3 stereo-to-6.3 mono jack adapter or you could destroy something, just like the first version.
Apart from that, this amp is like r&r: simple and effective

I only use humbuckers(although with autosplit in-between positions), and my current axes are Ibanez rg7321 and squier stagemaster7. Lots of bottom-end, then. I need very clean sounds because I slap the funk and it is the first reason I don't like common guitar amps: they doesn't stay clean when playing loud. So far I only found big keyboard amp, or bass combo, through a sansamp.
Modeling amps stays where you set them, regardless of the master volume. At least if the speaker is well chosen...
No noise, but even if there are some the noise gate works pretty good.
You have to try every possibility to find your tones from it , and that takes a lot of time. For instance I like full round clean sounds, and the best I found hides in the red crunch with gain at min!
The same way for good power blues(glenn hughes, rory, you get the idea) , the red or green metal with drive backed off. For this style I tend to play in the in-between positions, I get delicious harmonics. I use a clean booster to solo.
It works far better than the opposite, and more common, way.
Big thanks to the reviewer here who mentioned this: without him I wouldn't even have tried this amp. Thanks again, pal!
Full blown metal sounds are incredible as they stay tight and definite, and with 7strings guitars it is tough on amps.
I am absolutely amazed in fact, and am no newbie at all.
Because of the fbv4 problem mentioned above I use a booster for soloing (curiously the best I found is 1:a boss 2:the ds-2 model. Full round warm sharp tone, and lots of volume boost).
Since the built-in booster is very good at his job it is a real pity that the expensive fbv4 board doesn't do manual mode. Boo line6!

Seems well built, big radiator on the back, no connections to fool with: autists lasts long!
The knobs seems bit exposed, so I bought a rockbag case for the amp: for 85euros just perfect to travel with (casters, trolley, light, foam protection around the amp), be it in the car or the subway. Highly recommended, since the amp only weighs 16kgs(checked myself).
No ratings, only 2months old.

From what I hear I hope I won't have to deal with them.

I play since 18years, seven strings since 92. I had peavey transtube bandit(american one, not chinese), transfex208, stereo chorus. None of them can compare to the spider2.
I also had sovtek mig50 tube head with marshall 4x12 greenbacks box, aand I couldn't stand this(past 4 it is not clean anymore, what a ****), and a fender hotrod 112(same problem, with much more noises).
I really don't like guitar amps, until this little gem.
I love the possibilities of this, the simple-and-effective mood. Well set and well played nobody in the audience can tell it's not a fine amp. And it cuts through with clarity, what so many others (costing up to 8times much) don't.
At this price you can't find a better deal: light, fun, convenient, full of good sounds. Mates very well with a booster in front of it.
I only wish the f****ing fbv4 could work in manual mode. Boo line6!

I play many styles in a covers band and wanted something easy to carry around and easy to set up for practice. This amp seems to do that well. It means I have less gear to stack in the back of Steve's People Carrier.

I use Ibanez guitars, mostly RG which are great (shame about the locking trem. Does anybody else think like me?). Blues is geat for the lead work I do, and the tap tempo, well no-one does that like Line 6. Great sounds alll round. The only down side is the chorus. Yuk!! How can such a good versatile amp, have a chorus that sounds like zebedee in the magic roundabout. (showing my age and nationality here)

No problems here. I will have the reverb checked out, but that's probaly the way I set it up.

N/A Never needed them

I own a wide range of guitars and they all work well with this amp. It is more versatile than the advertising would suggest. I am an old guy who plays everything from modern era back even as far as the Shadows and I do that through this and using an Ibanez guitar. I guess that will horrify Ibanez and Line 6. The only reason I bought a Spider over a Flextone 3 is because I didn't want to get bogged down with deep editing and press buttons for speaker stimulations when I could not really see what I was setting up. Straightforward and effective. That's what I wanted and that's why I bought this really good amp. But the Chorus!! Line 6 please! Are you joking?

Every body ought to know them by now!!! Four FULLY programable channels, more with FBV. I have the four button one it's enough for me... for now. Instantly swithes, no delay at all. Well maybe a micro second. I gave it a less than perfect rating because there is no effects loop. This might be the one amp that can do without one but come on, sonic maxamizer, EQ, pedals. You got have a loop man.

I also have the 212 version so obviously I liked the sound alot or I would have got somthin' else. It's obviosly not as deep as the 212 but it's smaller man. PERFECT for practice or jams. I play death metal and hardy slaps of thick distorion typr shit. It also has a great Metalica Meshuggah esque clean tone. That's what I use it for. I'll jam out some blues, Satriani, Malmsteen, Skolnick type stuff. very great tone. I use a B.C. Rich ViRGiN with EMG-81 bridge and 85 at the neck 1 volume 1 tone three way toggle switch. Not much of a difference tone wise from the stock passives, but there is a difference and theese pich-ups behave differently, very quiet, more sensative, O.K they sound alot better. My point is this amp sounded great with shit pick-ups. I would also say like others you got spend time tweeking this mutha, tweek it again for loud volumes. And believe me it gets friggin' loud. Yeah it takes some time to week it right where you want it, but when you do it sounds perfect. I use the insane green with my volume rolled back on the guitar then I turn volume up for solos. More gain than satan himself could ever use. They sound better at high volumes than any solid-state amp I've ever owned played or heard(Marshal, peavey, crate). I like crate and peavey ss but turn em up and they start to sound like ass. Also the ditortion on this amp is not so trebely and DEICIDE sounding like most Crate I've heard. To get a good idea of what this amp is cabable of listen to the ney SLiPKNOT. Those are some of the tones I get. I don't know what the hell is wrong with you tube "PUREAFISTS" or whatever you ares. It would be nive if we could all play Boogies cranked to 10, but my budget, ears, neighbors, police, and landlord wouldn't tolerate it. I have seen many people play on Mesa and other top end valve amps and still sound like porcupine shit. Like stated by other reviewers true tone comes from your mind and fingers, your heart and soul, your... well ya know! If you can't get good tones out of this amp 9 out 10 says you suck armadillo dung and should just quit playing guitar and like start building shitty tube amps or somthin'. However if I were a pro playing arenas every 2 or 3 days, then I'd consider a great tube amp. But I'm not playing large venues, and neither are any of you piss-ants who bash this amp. Do you tube freaks play for 20'000 plus people regulary cause if you don't this is a great amp. F your tubes!!!

I take good care of my gear. It does not get abused in any way exept when I crank it. I usually scoop the mids and have alot bass and treble and it hasn't farted out on me yet. I hope it stays that way. There is no need to turn this thing past 7 and it handles that volume nicely with scooped sound. It has plastic knobs but is otherwise built like a tank. I would give it a higher rating but I feel amps that have been around for 10 plus years deserve high marks in this catagory. Time will tell.

They were very helpfull with my questions. Comprehensive web-site. Got back to me within 24 hours. But I have'nt really delt with them for anything major soooo...

As far as I know you simply cannot beat this amp for the value. I have been dying to try out a Berhinger I hear there good to. Especially for the price. FANTASTiC VALUE.I love my axe. I love my amp. Try one and you'll love it to.

This is just to correct what the crazy below says about speaker wiring. NO NO NO! DON'T DO LIKE THAT! Here is why: 1.Chances are high, that Spider 2's power amp is rated @8 ohm minimum charge. It means that going under 8ohm by connecting anything in parallel could very well destroy the amp period. And don't expect warranty there...
2.Never use a guitar cable to connect speakers, since there is voltage there, while on the guitar signal there is almost none. What you will do is melt down the conductor, hence shorting or cutting the wire, in both cases very dangerous or lethal for the amplifier.
A tube amplifier won't survive by any means, and a trannie could die fast.
3.Wiring two 8ohms speakers the more "logical" way gives 4 ohm total, and not 16. This is why it is dangerous for beginners.
4.Most amps don't survive with low charges(less than 8 or 4 ohm), most amps do accept high charges (e.g.16 or 24 ohm instead of 8) but some don't, and go figure which ones... So it is better to stick strictly with the original impedance of the amp (8 ohm for the spider2).
Now, if you want more volume with ,say, a 412 cab, do as follows:
First, double check that your cab impedance is 8 ohms. Then, make a cable with loudspeaker specifications(2x2.5mm2 for instance) and connect it in place of the original speaker. (Car accessories for the little plugs)
Now that only your 8 ohm cab is connected to the speaker wires of your spider2 (check polarity) you can switch the amp on.
You shouldn't have any problems as long as you properly do the job with acceptable materials...
I own this amp and find it has more than enough headroom for real life situations, and a mic is not that expensive or a big deal to travel with...

My Spider II Amp was made sometime 2003 I believe not that I believe that would really affect anything if yours was made a bit earlier or later. As for all the other reviews; throw them out. Seriously dont even concern them just this one. Now for starters, this is a digital amp. What that basically means is , unlike solid state or tube amps, this amp has a built in computer which manufactures its tones. And that can either a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you look at it. Its got four channels which you can program to fit your needs. Yes there are amp presets aready stored within the amp, but unlike some would like you to think(or are too dumb to have found out themselves...) they are overwritable and your not stuck with them.As for features there is no ext. speaker outlet on the amp but that CAN be remedied by a home wiring. And no that wouldnt require cutting the amps wires either. Just get a regular guitar cable, cut off one of the outs and strip off the insulation so the two wires are exposed. Ok so now you've got your two wires, what do you do with them? Well if you look in the back of your Spider you will see the speaker, and the wires which connect to it. Around where the speaker wires connect you will notice two "nubs" poking out from the sides. One side should display a plus sign, the other a negative. Ground your cut instrument cable correctly to these nubs and connect the other intact 1/4 out to your cab. As long as everything was done correctly you now got yourself a booming 5 speaker setup!!! So there IS a remedy for that. But it may void your waranty so dont tell Line 6 you did that if it blows up on ya. Basically use this trick at your own risk. As for features I never use, the delays come to mind but thats just me and one of the Insane Channel settings is just STUPID. I tend to use this amp for home practice(with the cab!! Ha my neighbors hate me!!!) and medium to large size shows. Its got plenty of volume if you hook up a cab to it and plenty without so you should be good either way.

I use a modded Squire Strat with some nameless pickups in it that I bought used and it sounds great. I tend to play some melodic Death metal-ish stuff and the amp suits me pretty darn well. I HIGHLY enjoy the clean channels as well as the flange and chorus effects which are both quality in sound. The amp can tend to get noisy unless you turn on the built in noise-gate which is a good feature. Mostly just for the High gain settings though. This Amp has LOADS of sounds you can get in it not unlimited but you can definately have a lot of fun coming up with unique blends.The distortion itself is not BRUTAL as some may need but it is decent enough and as I stated before can be played with to suit your tastes.

Let me give you a brief insight about myself. I am a psychotic driver. I love to speed. And I LOVE to take corners very quickly(and without much braking applied!). Meanwhile my Spider usually sits within the trunk, sliding all over the place and no doubtedly smashing haphazardly into the sides of my vehicle. Yes I know I know I'm a bastard to the poor thing but it has managed pretty well I'd say! It got a small tear upon the top area near the handle but other then that this thing is burly.

Never dealt with the company but the warranty is one year and if you just take the thing back where you got it and tell them to repair it your probably good. Long as its under warranty it should be FREE!! :)
FREE IS GOOD!

I've been playing around 4 years and besides this amp I own a small fender reverb amp and thats it.Oh and a Hartke 4x12 cab which I swear I've never connected to the Spider... Heh. If this amp were lost or stolen I would buy the HD instead that way there would be no need for a "nigger rig" job to connect to a cab.
I love all the different tones you get out of this amp and the fact that it wasnt too highly priced considering the value of the product.
I compared this to the Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier and although the Recto sounds better its also around $2000 for the head and cab. Most people dont have that kind of money to throw into something like an amp unless they are pretty well off so this for my money is great.If you've got a couple thousand bucks to spare dont bother with this amp as you're probably too fucking rich to appreciate it. If you're on a budget like I was when I bought mine grab one and do it after you play with the knobs and get a good chance to get a feel for the amp. Cause this amp wont really seem great unless you get maybe an hour to FULLY understand it and all its functions. Anyway though overall great amp just take the time to experience it.

If you are reading this review, you know the features. I give it a 7, subtracting points for the supposed "smart FX"...I think the tape delay is redundant, and you can't control both depth and speed for the modulation effects. I also wish it had a seperate "boost" button on the face of the amp instead of having to dial in while holding the tap button.

Guitar: Fender American Deluxe Fat Strat - 2 single coil noiseless pickups, 1 Fender DH-1 Humbucker

I play jazz, progressive metal, blues and classic rock. This amp covers all the bases reasonably well, astoundingly well for the price. Highlights in my opinion include the green blues channel - with the boost engaged, this thing sounds just like a Vox AC-30. The green crunch channel is very Van-Halenesque. The clean channels are nothing special.

You can do everything from Hendrix to Malmsteen with this amp, as long as you are willing to take the time to play with the settings. I've had mine about 5 weeks now and have finally dialed in some tones I really like.

I haven't had this long enough to judge. The thing is heavy enough, but that doesn't mean much. Personally, I wouldn't take this anywhere without a good surge protector and AC noise filter - it is a computer, basically.

Then again, only a moron gigs without a backup...

I've been playing 16 years. Have owned very BAD amps (ie: Peavey SS, Crate), old tube amps (Traynor) and some good stuff too...Fender Twin Reverb, Marshall JCM-900.

This amp is GREAT for someone who does a lot of "woodshedding" - ie: practicing in their home. The amp has a high "WAF" - Wife Acceptance Factor, which certainly helps. I am looking forward to gigging with it. It sounds good, it's portable, and the price is unbeatable. I am really happy with the variety and quality of tones I get. No, it's not a boutique tube amp, but then again, I'm not carrying a $3000 Soldano into Joe's Poolroom.

Excellent value for the money, probably the IDEAL amp for a beginner who wants to have some nice tones to play with as they learn (wish I had this when I started back in 1989....) Good for a pro too, as long as you know why you are using it...

Perfect ~ This is an amp i just bought new from the guitarcenter and i played all the other amps in the store and you know what, Ive played the Crate, Marshall, Mesa/Boogie, vox... There all OVERRATED! Hows that people that say Ohh, My marshall is this and that and this can blow this a way, then you know what?! are you just not smart enough to try it out in the store, Before... You take it home??? If you read the manual and learn how to set it up, Not turn some knobs to ware you get distortion, this amp sounds better than all the others ive tried out. There Over rated and expensive. This things built like a tank, very durable, very neet looking celestion speaker 75 watts,

I have a full effects setup here, I have the boss MT-2 Metal distortion and the DS-1 Distortion and this amp sounds better than both of them, my phaser from boss compared to this is almost exactly like this one the clean sounds preety nice compared to the AC2 the tweed is alswome,

I do play out at places sometimes furing streetfairs and carshows and i would Deffintally take this amp and would not need a backup, If you buy the External board for this amp, its just as good if not better than an outboard effect setup. This thing isnt some crappy pice box nailed together, this thing is solid,

I havent had to use the technical support, i dont think id have 2, My friend bought 2 of them and he always cranks them and always using them, and there still perfect

Ive been playing about 4 years, I grew up around musicans so i cought on quick - If it were lost id Buy a new one, then find out who stole it and beat his face in with his arm id rip off his arm - I love that its loud - hate noting - I compared it to quite a bit o stuff, I actually sit in the store and play the thing insted of saying ah, i hate this thing, I should buy it and take it home and complain about it... - Its preety much good, It'd be nice with some midi ports - If you want a real amp with real sounds get this, I dont see how some of these people say it sounds bad, I could sit here all day and tell you reasons why it dosent sound right to - YOU. I dont know why people say this is a toy? if you want a toy go buy a Roland Micro cube If you want a modeling amp get this or the 212 version of this

Lots of features. Its needed since this amp basic nature (its sound) is horrible. But its got lots of gadgets so I have to give it a good rating for that.

Horrible sounding amp to my ears. Yes, I'm jaded. I've owned all the typical beginner amps early in my day (Crate and Peaveys). Then I moved "up" to a Carvin. Followed by Marshalls, Fenders, more Boogies, Egnater amps, Matchless, Carr, and Fuchs.

My opinion is based on what I've owned and played over the years. I've returned so many amps at AMS and Musiciansfriend that they put a "hold" on my privaledges...I fought it and won. There's no limits stated in writing, their fault!

Anyway, this amp is a toy. The sounds are sterile, lifeless, cold, hard, and no harmonic structure. I'd rather have one good toneful amp than to have a bunch of crappy sounding amps. This amp is all about marketing and the people at line 6 and just about every big name knows one fact - a LOT of musicians are tone deaf. Tone deaf doesn't mean that they have a bad sense of what good tone is (its subjective) but that people can't hear tonal difference. Most beginner guitarists (I don't mean playing skill, I mean not around the biz and instruments long enough)can't hear any differences between amps...all they want is the most brutal distortion there is and a clean sound. Experienced players want a tone that's pleasing which usually meand full of dynamics, harmonics, touch sensitivity, etc. Playing a long time developes your "connection" to your equipment. Every played a cranked Fender Deluxe blackface or early silver face? That's heaven. My Fuchs OD50 has an amazing distortion charecter, silky smooth, harmonically rich and sweet.

For all of you who will ultimatly try and bash me will always use the "of course this amp is going to sound bad comparing it to those amps". My rating is based on that. If you've only played lower quality amps then that's what you opinion is going to be based on ...low quality.

I've played and owned tons of amps..literally. My experiences stretches more than 20 years and honestly, my tone has just recently been honed to understand the whole mystique about boutique amps. Mass produced amps are horrible. I've tweeked a few mass produced amps and am amazed at how $50 +/- of better quality diodes, caps, resistors, and wiring can transform an amp. The big names are all in it for profit. Example...Marshall, Crate, and Boogie. Marshall and Boogie used to be all point to point boutique style amps. Now they make amps with over 300w of power. WHAT!!! You don't need more than a 50w amp folks. But they know people like to brag about their bigger is better amp. PS - don't buy the "circuit board is better for consistency" BS. Talk to a tech. The boards used today are very cheap with weak and puny traces of low qaulity conductors. Don't get me wrong, there are some builders who use boards, but they are typically military spec. The big companies are now in it for profit.

Sorry for my english but i'm a french canadian so...
-12 amp models
-7 Control effects, including Tape Echo, standard Delay, Sweep Echo (all w/Tap Tempo), Chorus/Flanger, Phaser, Tremolo and Reverb
-4 User-programmable channels
-Built-in front panel Tuner
-Headphone/Direct Out (great for recording)
-75w into a 12" Celestion Speaker ( one of the best speaker compagny in the world) sounds great.

REMEMBER: SLIPKNOT AND EVANESSENCE ARE PLAYING WITH LINE6

The sound of this amps is so great. I play with an old school ibanez ex-350 and the sound is awesome. For many type of music style. I play new rock and it's perfect. It maybe only 75 watt but the sound is so clear that you don't have to pay attention to this. It's enough to play with drum, trust me. The celestion speaker is also one of the highest quality in that way.

I just buy it so... but all I ever seen this amp broken

Look, I buy this one in quebec city and I've got a 3 year waranty on that product. But, it come from the store so...

Look, first I was looking for a marshall MG50DFX. It's a great amp but, I'ld pay for the name. The real probleme with that one is taht you do not have any effect. With the line6, you have so many effects and you have it cheaper. This amps is also cheaper. If you're looking out for an new home amp, you should take this one...

you know em...good stuff

i work ina music shopl...i've plugged strats...tele's, LP's. SG's..schecters...ESP...jackson..bc rich...some used junk guitars...all sounded good... you really wont notice much of a different betweena 300$ schecter and a 999$ strat....if ur gunna plug a PRS into it...well you will notice alot if u plug one of those bad boys in. ive used almost every possible pickup and pickup style through many many amps. this amp can do all in a reasonable range. its DEFF no mesa boogie rec...but for 300 bucks compared to what 1800? it kicks butt plain and simple...i gig 5-6 times a month, have used Crate tubes...mesa dual rec...Tusc (british tube)...Dr. Z amps (custome made tubes) and a fender bassman. this amp sounds reasonably close to all but the tusc. (if u ever see one of those, buy it for the fricken speakers alone, the brits knew how to make those in the 70's ill let you what, and the reverb...o my God no one has ever made better) anyways this amp is awsome. the head version is amazing also. only cab i ever heard it through was a BERHINGER cab. it sounded like a 2000 dollar amp...hands down, for 400 for hd and 250 for the cab...awsome. anyone using all 75 watts will be buying hearing aids buy age 25...FULLY GIG CAPABLE just about anywhere...fun to plug into a 4x12 cab and use the amp itself for your own moniter of yourself...helps lead players such as myself alot.

i havn't seen one come in for repair since we started carying them at the shop...but im not there everyday ;). they sell like hotcakes though so line 6 is doing something right

Line 6 is a very easy company to deal with...

for beginner to intermidiat to pro...buy it. if you begginer you will be buying guitars and all other kinds of toys before thinking about a new amp...if intermediat...same for you...pro...prolly already have all the toys...so this should be one of your last purchases. if oyu are pro, it would be awsome to use for the effects alone, and the gigs u dont want you big rig for. i guarantee the only one noticing a tone change will be yourself, all real guitarplays never like their tone anyways, but come on, does anyone in the crowd really notice...unless its absolute junk (cough peavy cough) NO!!!!!


if anyone wants to arguee with me... e-mail me, im always up for changing peoples minds.

Made in 2003, I play metal, and it suits me just fine. 4 memories, 7 effects + HIDDEN effects(Noise gate, Dist. boost, which I will never use, its like putting a distortion pedal in front of the amp). 75W, 1 12" Celestion Speaker. The effects are a little weak. The reason it gets an 8 is because it doesnt include a footswitch, which can cost between $29.99 - $299.99 USD.

I use it with a Jackson DXMG w/EMG 81-89 set through a Korg AX1500G pedal(for chorus, wah, etc.) Sounds great, the clean tones are awesome, tube-like, and the distortion is great, I personally like the Red and Green Metal amp setting. Like I said before, I play Progressive/Metal, ala Dream Theater, Symphony X, Metallica, Pink Floyd, Van Halen. It sounds great for the price. Its perfect for gigs, the volume doesnt need to be up past halfway though. Its got a great variety of sounds, from shimmiring clean to brutal distortion.

Its a Line 6, I've heard good and bad about the old spiders, so I don't know how reliable it is. I would use it on a gig without a backup(because Im stupid like that), I trust everything I have. Seems very dependable.

Never dealt with them.

I've been playing for almost 4 years. Right now, I have a Jackson DXMG, this amp, a Peavey Blazer 158, and a Korg AX1500G. If it we're stolen, I would kill the person that did it, and take back my amp. Although I think I should have sprung for the 2x12, because of the bottom end, although I'm very satisfied with this amp. I do wish the effects were a little better. Overall, I give it a 10, definatly a great value.

I bought the amp a few weeks ago brand new. It is the latest version of the spider made by Line 6. This amp has the main standard amps like clean, blues, metal etc. The amp has a 75 Watts amplifier wich gives that power that you wish at home. The amp has also a smart control with a lot of features. With all these possibilities you can make the sound you wish.

I'm playing blues and rock on a Epiphone sg and a Les Paul. It gives you all the sound you need. In the amplifier there is a perfect noise reduction. It works fine a lower and high gain. All the sounds are typical Line 6 sounds, but with a little tuning you simulate every amplifier. Even a Fender.

I think it's a reliable amplifier. It has a Mashall amp in it. Says everything. But all amplifiers from 50 watts needs needs to be treated with care. I have no problems with the amplifier.

The warranty is one year. I have no problems so don't need them at this moment. But looking through the history of Line 6 i think you can't expect problems,

It is a good amp. Looking something different like other amps. I hope in the feature that the spider II will be standard with a footswitch. The amp is compact, has all the possibilities you want and a lot off sound.

I think it is a hell of a amp

The most important features are:
-12 amp models
-7 Smart Control effects (up to 3 simultaneous) including Tape Echo, standard Delay, Sweep Echo (all w/Tap Tempo), Chorus/Flanger, Phaser, Tremolo and Reverb
-4 User-programmable channels
-Built-in front panel Tuner
-Headphone/Direct Out for practice or recording
-75w into a custom designed 12" Celestion Speaker
-Built in noise gate


One of the reasons for buying this amp was I needed versatility...it delivers on that count!

I use the amp with 3 different guitars...a Fender Hwy 1 Strat, a '69 Tele Thinline re-issue, and a '72 Tele Thinline reissue. My taste in guitar tones leans toward rocking blues ala SRV and KWS. But the band I'm currently in (http://emerge.home.att.net) plays a lot of funk, R&B, soul, a tiny little bit of hip hop, and some 70's disco type stuff.

I own a Peavey Delta Blues 2X10 and a scratch built hot rodded Tweed Deluxe (http://home.att.net/~w.harbourjr/harbtone.html). I've also got a Bassman clone under construction.

There were several reasons involved in purchasing the Line 6 Spider II 112. First of all I needed a good back up amp to my Delta Blues. The Delta Blues has been my main amp for several years. It's 30w, all tube (4 EL84 power tubes), has onboard tremlo, 2 10" speakers and a midrange boost button. It has a clean channel and a dirty channel. Second I wanted an amp that would give me a range of sounds since we're doing different types of music in the band. Third, I purchased the Spider II 112 because I didn't have the spare cash to buy the 212...LOL. I would not call myself an expert on tube tone. I know how my tube amps sound...that's all.

I A/B'd the Spider II 112 against the Delta Blues and the Tweed Deluxe. I will attempt to describe the differences to you. You will have to take these with a grain of salt as your taste in tone and musical styles may vary. First I compared the Spider against my Tweed Deluxe. I compared the Twang, Blues and Crunch channels. I found that the Red Twang and Blues settings didn't quite have the low end of my Tweed. Keep in mind that I have 2 12' speakers in the Tweed. Both the Red Twang and Blues settings did a very good job of capturing the high end shimmery sound. I cleaned the Red Crunch setting up and that did the best overall job of capturing the sound of my Tweed. The Tweed sounded, for lack of a better description, a little smoother while there was a little brittleness in the Spider...but not much more so over the Tweed. Both the Tweed and the Spider sounded very fully voiced with lots of low end. Being a blues picker...I liked that sound very much from the Spider. Over all...the cleaned up Crunch setting came closer to the sound of the Tweed. I don't mind leaving the Tweed at home on gigs.

Now for the comparison against the Delta Blues. The Twang setting came closer to the Delta sound and the Blues setting had a compressed sound to it The cleaned up Crunch setting completely blew the Peavey out of the water. Note here that I didn't have the midrange boost activated on the Peavey....that totally turns the amp into another animal. In fact theres no better sound than the Delta Blues with the midrange boost activated and a guitar on the bridge humbucker....tone you can chew on! I also compared the gain channel with the pre-gain maxed out against the Metal setting of the Spider. I was very pleased with the metal sound of the Spider....both amps were very good to my ears. There are only a few songs we play where I'm using that much distortion. Overall I like the Spider much more than the Peavey. The Peavey is now my backup and the Spider my main amp.

In summary, I was most impressed with the cleaned up Crunch setting. Especially since most of my guitar playing has been with tube amps that are mostly on the clean side. As I said above...my distortion consisted of stepping on a tube screamer. The Twang and Blues settings are very good. They sound as good as the Peavey. Those settings may cut better at gigs and I may wind up using a patch with one of those settings. One of the concerns I have is with the input jack of the FBV4 pedal. I can see the plastic jack getting worn or broken with repeated giging. My 4 channels are set up like this: A - Red Clean, B - Red Clean Crunch, C - Green Dirty Crunch (like stepping on the Tube Screamer), D - Green Metal . Let me stress to you who are considering a modeling amp that you must play with it...spend some time altering the

Too early to tell, but another person on the Line 6 forums has gigged with the Spider II 112 and reports that it has held up very well.

I've seen the post of others who have had a few bad experiences but by and large those seem to be few. Line 6 apparently has pretty good service as well.

I put no-opinione here because I've only owned the amp a few weeks.

No opinion here...read the above.

My feeling right now is that the amp is a fantastic value for $299. I like the tone, onboard effects, 4 presets available by pushing a button, built in tuner. I can't wait to play with it some more to tweak my settings. If it gets lost or stolen I'll probably get a Spider II 212 or a Flextone III Plus (also a Line 6 product).

4 channels which can store specific user settings.
75W, 12" celestion speaker.
Clean, Twang, Blues, Crunch, Metal, Insane settings with 2 options for each one.
Distortion, Chorus, Reverb, Flange, Tremelo, Delay and Echo effects.
Solid state Amp

I'm currently using a Fender Squier Strat, and to be perfectly honest, i get some wonderful tones from it. The Clean channel is crisp and hiss free, until very high volumes of course. The distortion ranges from a mild bluesy gain right through to a sludgy mess, and all the great crunches in between. So its very versatile.

I have only had this amp for a very short while, but i tend to be very careful with my equipment so i dont forsee having any problems (hopefully).
However the connection between the footswitch and the amp is just a regular ethernet cable, and so the connections are very flimsy plastic things (very like a telephone connector)which are ridiculously easy to snap. So be careful.

Have not had to deal with them

I have been playing guitar for around 6 years now, and this is my first quality amplifier of my own. I have tried out a number of marshalls like the avt and MG models but i still prefer this Line 6 spider II 112. I would have preferred possibly to have gone with the twin speaker 212, but alas it's just too bulky.

you know em - I wired extra speakers to my 112 (couple 8ohm speakers)my white trash stack =)

this is where the student on a budget discovers his style. spider play's em all well on low volume ONLY (theres a plus there student)still coffee shop loud. I started takeing the blues seriously at the time of purchase my hearing has developed big time. flange sounds weakish (or mabey its me), ping pong dosent work with one speaker o well jus wire in another speaker. the customized sounds it comes set with sound alright but this is totally tweakable. overall this fits any style.

I got a bottom of the line jackson dx10 that i ended up customizing (another great learning experence the springs inside that wear out fast -lousy floyd rose ripoff- so i removed that)it holds a tune. I bought both of them well over two years ago,and my amp is still in mint and holds my saved channels fine. Im looking for a real guitar now, then real tube amp.

bunch of stiffs prolly j\k

coffe shop loud - this can ony emulate tube sounds at a low volume. If you crank it up it jus sounds fake as hell period. i jam with my dad at times (hes got a fender hot rod duluxe tub amp) the amps sound good together,(he plays a les paul) and i got a 200 dollar jackson.

Bought it at Guitar Center in December 2003.
Returned it to Guitar Center 1 week later.

The reason I bought this amp was because of the features. 12 amp models, tons of eeffects. Lots of colored lights when you turn it on...

I play a Peavey T-60 (great guitar) and an older Fender Mustang (1960-something). I was in band a long, long, time ago and never got it out of my system. So I finally broke down and got a new amp. I'm just a basement player, so I didn't need something huge, but I had to have something that would compete with drums. This seemed to be the perfect amp.

I'm going to review this amp twice, because the first time I plugged in, I was ecstatic. This thing was loud, the distortion was huge, the clean channel was wonderful. But as I played, something just seemed wrong. When I was younger, I had a small Marshall 2X12, maybe 100 watts. I simply could not get that sound. And the more I messed around with the settings the more I felt like I'd bought a toy.

The amp models are just that: models. Fun to play with, but every single setting (except for "Insane") sounds fake. Insane can't sound fake because I have no idea what it's supposed to be...

Only had it a week. It didn't break.

See above.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate this amp, it just wasn't right for me. It's entirely possible that it's my fault and the amp is great.

Bought in February of 2004 so I think it's a late 2003 or 2004 model. The amp is very versatile, but then again it's a modeling amp so that is what I expected. It has 4 channels with two variations each. Fully programmable and tweakable. I play classic rock, rockabilly, C&W, Blues, Easy Listening. No effects loop, but none needed with all the built in digital effects. I wish it came with a footswitch. I bought the 4 button footswitch and that was $75. It's a good investment for this amp. The amp is 75 watts and that is plenty for me. I don't use all the amp models. With the style of music I play, the Insane and Crunch are a bit too much for me. I like a blues sound with a nice edge and "pushed" sound, but not over the top metal sound. It has a single 12" Celestion speaker that is a good match for the amp. Overall the amp seems nicely built and quality is not an issue. I considered the model with two 10" Celestions, but I wanted to hold the weight down. I'm 55 and don't care for the heavy gear any more.

I'm playing a 87 Fender Strat Plus, a 96 Strat Plus, a 99 American Tele, A 2003 Gibson SG Special and a JT Hawk Electric 12 String through the amp. All the guitars sound good through the amp. I'm a little gun shy about gigging with this amp at this point after have an earlier model Line 6 Spider model that kept losing it's programming. In all fairness I had bought that amp used and it probably had that problem before I bought it. I especially like the clean sounds with delay and chorus or slow flange when playing "Chet Atkins" style or easy listening. The lower distortion settings sound good, but the insane and crunch settings are way over the top for me. I have been playing for over 40 years, and this amp has a setting or two that will fit everyone's needs. The speaker does seem to handle a higher volume OK, but with a lot of low end, the speaker does distort even when playing clean. I also have a Fender Champ 12 tube amp and a 63 Fender Vibroverb Reissue for more traditional playing. This amp was purchased to fill in the gaps with the on board effects.

I don't know how reliable this amp is since I only have only had it for a short while. My previous Spider was unreliable due to the inability to hold it's settings.

From previous experience, Line 6 customer support is OK. They are quick to respond to emails and queries. That is to their credit in my opinion.

I would recommend the amp for anyone wanting a reasonably priced modeling amp. The amp is not perfect by any means, but it is affordable, relatively light weight and very versatile.

Mine was made in 2003, its got 12 models alone with 7 effects that can be tweaked to your liking and saved to four channels and accessed through footswitch or just pushing which channel you want on the amp. It has a built in tuner, along with a 75 watt 12 inch speaker. For some reason, this thing puts out about the same if not more power and sound than my friend's Crate 212 amp, not to mention mine is heavier. It's a pretty nice amp with plenty of gizmos to mess with to make it sound good. Clean is just that, clean. The Metal on this thing sounds really really good, its nice and "dark and mysterious". The biggest fault this has I think is the Insane G, it really has no purpose, except for maybe a whacked out intro or something, but besides that, its impossible to play to.

I'm playing right now with an ESP LTD MH-201 (yaya i know), but I am surprised..with this guitar and the SpiderII 112 amp I have extreme versatility with sound. My guitar sounds very clean, and so does the amp, yet when I want them to, they can both scream. Its distortion is low and heavy, and sounds really good. You can somewhat tune it down a notch into the "crunch" setting, if you want distortion, just not as much. Overall, anything on this amp sounds good if not reasonable. If you want "Insane", you will most definatly get insane...thats for sure.

I've found this amp to be extremely heavy duty, and I haven't had any problems with it yet. This thing weighs a ton compared to others, but that doesn't bother me. It hasn't let me down yet.

n/a...never had to deal with them except for registration

If this were to be stolen, I would probably definatly get another one, it suits me fine. I've been playing for roughly 3 years. I like how you can tweak this amp and get many different sounds directly from it. Any mode on this amp sounds beautiful, except for Insane (on red), that, in my opinion, was kind of an added waste onto it, since it does nothing for you, however, it may be entertaining when you or your friends are high or something. It has a lot of built in features, like the tuner, and you can save the sounds you like to 4 different channels, and access them via footswitch, or by pressing the channel button on the amp. Since I only paid 190 for it (via trade-in), I thought this was a steal, and definatly worth that 190 dollars. My friend paid upwards of 400 dollars for his Crate 212, and in my opinion my Spyder sounds a lot better, and is louder. Overall, this is a real decent amp that should last. If your the kind of person who likes adding little effects to your music, but are on a budget, go for it. If you just like sitting in your room and jamming out, or with friends in a basement, go for. Lots of power, lots of features, sounds damned good.

The amp was made in 2004.My band goes back and fourth between very calm r&b and massive hevy rock.The amp had the sensitivity and bright sparkelng cleans that I like and It got unbelevably heavy with a lot of smooth botttom heavy disortions.It has for banks for presets that can be accesed from a foot swich or manually on the amp itself. It has no effects loop and that might be a problem for some axe slingers but not this one. I think this amp could use some more dedicated controls over the effects but aside from that it is a great amp and VERY POWERFUL. It has alot of cut in big gigs I play at.With 120 watts throught the 10' Celestion speakers,it gets the job done.

I use a customized Epi SG special with dimarzio pickups. I use them on all my music from the light fluffy stuff to the out of control heavy stuff.It works great with one guitar but not the other.It kinda got noisyon the insane and metal settings. I later found out that there was a noise gate on board. Problem solved.Obviosly I dont have to tell anyone in here that modeling amps are not the real thing and never wil be but the gap is closing fast and the spider definatly is tonal proof of this.The clean sounds didnt break up when I cranked it in a store noe when I boughtit home.The clean sounds range form crystal clear Fender Twin like clean to a kind of gritty clean on the blues settings.It holds well at really high volume levels and give great tone from low to high volumes.The distorion sounds go from Old Marshall Plexi heavy to a Triple Recto heavy.the Insane tone has one great sound on it ..but on the red insane setting is the reason that tonally the amp didnt get a perfect score from me.(What were they smoking when they came up with that idea?)You can get any distotion you want with this amp (and a couple you may not!)

I had to buy this amp beacuse my rig was destroyed in a car accident on the way home from a gig.I have used it for 3 shows now and I have had no problems from it at all.

never had to worry about it so far when I do ILL LET YOU GUYS KNOW

I ahve been playing for about 6 years now and I have a couple amps and tried ut alot of the other guitarist in my bands amps. From tube Marshalls to Mesas to Huges and Kettners, to solid state wonders like Randalls and Rolands. The Spider2 is desighned to sound like the other amps. and most modeling amps dont do a good job with this. but this guy is one of the few that do. And for the money I dare you to find a better deal.I have no doubt that more guys are gonna start using Spiders for that reason GREAT TONE unbelivale PRICE. Cant go wrong there especally if it means not haveing to invest in alot of pedals and not haveing to lug two amps and all those paedals around. I could go on but I wont.All in all this is the best amp in this price range. Peiriod.

The features have been fairly well covered, I will echo the gripe that too much is linked together with the FX knobs, esp. for tremolo depth and speed. However, at this price point this is pretty much forgivable. Still, it has a well-equipped effects section and a nice array of amp models. And the headphone jack silences the speaker and doubles as a line-out, as well. I can get any tone I want as loud as I want in the 'phones - VERY handy for us apartment-dwellers. The phones jack is stereo, so chorus has nice depth and you can run the stereo feed to a recording setup if you like to cut guitar tracks at odd hours.

Right now I'm using it with a Charvel Charvette that looks like it fell off an 80's hair-band tour bus. H/S/S pup layout, Floyd, typical pointy strat wannabe. It's actually not a bad guitar, I have next to nothing into it (been a few years since I last owned any electrics). I bought this amp to double on guitar (I'm the keyboard player in my band, but since I've been a guitarist as well since I was 7 I got pressed into second-guitarist service). We mostly do high-energy rock and roll, so a good high-gain sound was a necessity, as well as a good clean tone. This amplifier does quite well on both counts. I use the Blues models sitting around the house, it gets a really nice swampy vibe going if you dime the channel drive knob and give it some treble. The sheer variety of different tones this amp is capable of providing is very impressive, there isn't much dross here (except the one Insane setting with the octave-divider on it...too wierd for me.). Is it as touch-sensitive as a tube amp? No. However, it sounds *very* good for what it is. The clean sounds are a bit congested out of the box, but turning off the noise gate (hold TAP and turn the Reverb knob to the left, then let go of TAP) helps *immensely*. I find the noise gate to be a bit overzealous, though it helps on the high-gain metal settings quite a bit.

I love the chorus this thing has, and the reverb has surprising depth for a digital emulation.

I've used it on one gig so far, no problems. I don't forsee too much in the way of reliability issues...modern solid-state electronics do have dependability going for them, if nothing else.

Never dealt with the company, but they do have an extensive web site with a really nice user forum.

I've been playing for 26 years, though I've had a few years worth of hiatus from the electric guitar, concentrating on bass, keys, and Hammond B-3 for a good while. I love the tone and feel of a cranked tube amp, and modeling amps still don't quite get there. However, being able to get 'cranked'-ish tone at apartment-friendly volumes and in the 'phones makes it worthwhile as a practice amp even if one owns a stable of tube amps. My band rehearses with 'phones, so modeling amps shine for that as trying to keep a lid on an amp's volume just isn't an issue. I want to own a tube amp again (I had a Peavey Classic 50/212 and liked it a lot) but a tube amp won't get played at home much. I can't play my B-3 very often unless the neighbors aren't home, so a tube guitar amp would sit idle most of the time as well. I can plug my guitar and headphones into this anytime, and miked up at a gig it aquits itself well. If it got stolen, I'd get another one. It just sits at a price/performance sweet spot. You can do far worse with $300 than this amp...great tone for a modeler and very useful features. I'm quite happy with this machine.

Lets be clear, what we have here is a fantastic combo. Line 6 have blown away the competition in one fell swoop. I have been playing for over 30 years and have tried and own just about every type of guitar, amp and effects. This little baby is just fabulous!I play in a full 5 piece rock outfit, a Duo and I write & record. I can use this amp for everything

Make no mistake trying to compare this amp to the modelled amps it copies is not the way to think of it. To have those amps would cost you thousands , and to carry them around - backbraking. I know I have done it ! This amp is superb, I'm telling you. Having read some of the stupid comments above I am amazed at the lack of intelligence some so called players have. You have to adjust this amp to make it sound good. You have to be able to play. You have to be able to play in tune. If you cant do that no amp is gonna help you.

No probs so far

No probs so far

I have marshalls, laneys, boss, etc etc , I have one of every main type guitar ever made. I am a pro . Believe me this amp is gonna tear the industry apart !!

The new Line 6 Spider 11 112 combo has an output of 75W RMS and is a digital modelling amplifier. It has 12 amplifier models and 4 programmable channels with the supplied FBV2 footswitch - an additional 32 programmable presets are available with the optional add-on FBV Shortboard. The amp also comes complete with on-board programmable FX - Chorus Flange, Phaser, Tremolo, Delay, Tape Echo, Sweep Echo, as well as a digital reverb. There is also a built in tuner. Each channel has controls for Drive, Bass, Mid, Treble and Channel Volume. For the price of the amplifier you get a lot of features! The loudspeaker supplied with the Spider is a Celestion Custom 12" Unfortunately the Spider doesn't have the facility to output to an additional speaker, but it does pack quite a punch on it's own.

I've only had the amplifier for a day, but I've already managed to build some great sounds. I use a USA Telecaster with no FX pedals, and have previously only owned valve amplifiers- I was a digital sceptic until I heard this amplifier in the shop. Even I found that it was extremely difficult to hear that the Spider isn't a valve amp.. Using the 12 amplifier models as a base to build a sound from is very easy, and storing the sound, once you perfect it is intuitive. The Clean sounds from the Spider are brilliant - best I've heard for a long time - my old Fender Twin Reverb might have had a touch more shimmer, but the Red Clean sound is damned close. My favorite clean sound is the Green Clean, apparently modelled on a Hiwatt custom 100, it is a sound I always wanted but never quite managed to obtain... The two blues models are more than adequate, and have enough warmth to make you start thinking that digital modelling has come a long way - check out the blues Red for a lovely vintage sound. The crunch models are pretty good, the two metal models are interesting - the metal Green sound utilises the mid-range tone control as a distortion booster which is rather unusual, but enables 3 distinct categories of sound - with the mid turned full up it sounds like a Class A amplifier. Two Insane models are also provided - one of them is probably unusable, although the manual blurb says "Now, here's something we know you'll really like...!Not. the only filler though. Only thing I don't like is that the FX settings are stored with each of the main presets when you save your sound. I personally would have liked to just dial them in as I need them. This amplifier is also good and loud, and although I haven't gigged it yet (will be soon) I don't think there will be any problem holding its own in small or medium gigs - the Celestion speaker is a good choice for the Spider, and should hold its tone pretty well.
I play a lot of blues as well as some rockier/metal stuff, and I found that I could easily achieve four good presets which I'll use for gigs. The distortion is as subtle as you need it to be for blues, and as hard as you want for metal. Unbelievable that you can do this without valves - I remember the first solid state guitar amplifiers very well, hence my scepticism about digital modelling amplifiers. If you're a valve only person looking for a new combo amplifier, then at least check out one of these Spiders, you may be as pleasantly surprised as I was (as subjective as these things are)

N/A
Too early to tell
The Spider seems to be pretty rugged, although time will tell.

12 month warranty as standard.
The Spider is supplied with a fold-out manual that contains some useful information, and details of the amplifier models used, as well as some of the hidden functions. There is a web-site and a contact address, so it looks as though Line 6 take customer support seriously - some amplifier manufacturers seem to make it as difficult as possible to be contacted, so this is a promising start

No doubt that if it were stolen I'd go buy another- the features you get on this amplifier for this price are absolutely unbeatable. It sounds much better than I ever thought a non-valve amp could sound, and I doubt I could pick out the difference to be honest (although I'd like to be able to say that I could!). I compared this to a Laney LC 11 50 all valve amp, and while I liked the Laney, this little Spider sounded at least as good, just as warm, and allows me to do a lot more than I could with the Laney, which would have cost me the best part of #200 more. The only things I don't like are : Lack of a facility to connect an extension speaker cab, and the FX being stored with each of the presets, rather than being directly dialled, but you have to say that putting the features and sound quality together, you would be hard-pressed to buy a better amplifier for anywhere near this amount of cash.

Features are already listed. I would add that if you like setting your own tone don't waste your time buing this. The settings are factory, like it or not.

Sounds like it's made in China......and after looking in the back I see that it is. Not only are our jobs going overseas, we're stuck with cheap shit to top it off.

Well considering that the thin blew up the first day I had it I wouldn't recommend it. I emailed Line 6 and they just replied with some smart ass comments. Actually it didn't even work for me once.

Next to Carvin this would be the worste mother fuckers in the world to deal with. I asked about my Spider II head and speaker cabs and they told me I can't use a cab with my head. Then how the fuck do I hear it, headphones only? Total pieces of shit they are.

Fucking toy garbage made in China. Go ahead and buy one, you'll be sorry like I was.

2003 Spider II 112 75 watts digital modelling amplifier. 12 Amp models with various digital effects. Built in tuner. MDF cabinet covered in black vinyl with black plastic corner covers. Supplied with a simple foot controller to move up and down between 4 memory banks. (There is a more expensive optional foot controller which opens up extra memory banks). This amplifier represents tremendous value for money and I would highly recommend for any budget conscious musician. Plenty of features and sounds (covering the entire range). Different amp models can be created by turning a knob, this auto-selects the ideal amp settings which can be disconcerting as they don't represent where the knobs are currently positioned. (It would be great if all the knobs auto-turned to the settings applied by the amp). I find the Fx a bit weak, chorus and flange are combined (doesn't appear to be able to select only one of them) and the delay makes the amp very artificial sounding. This is why I gave the amp a 9 rather than the 10 it probably deserves.

I mainly use single coil Fender guitars. The amp will suit any style and has plenty of volume to handle small gigs. From fendery clean to Mesa mega distortion the amp covers every possibility. Does it sound as good as a valve amp, no its not as warm sounding as a real valve amp but nevertheless it does sound very good and certainly beats a normal solid state amp in a similar price range. My main amp is Marshall valve amp but I bought this amp so that I could get decent distortion sounds at low volumes for home practice.

n/a

1 year warranty.

I've been playing for 2 years seriously (but first started playing 20 years ago). For the price you simply can't beat this amp, for versatility and quality of sound. Don't let anyone tell you its as good as a real valve amp, its not, but at this price point you would be hard pressed to find as good a sounding amp with such a wide range of sounds on offer.

Bought new this month (01/04)- 2003 model I think. Make no mistake..this is a solid state amp. 4 programmable channels, 12 models, 7 effects (chorus/flanger, phase, tremolo, delay, tape echo, sweep echo and reverb. Like previous posters have stated ..the Insane Red model sucks, I have no idea why Line 6 went that way. All other remaining models (11) sound just fine for a $300 amp. This is what you must keep in mind...its $300 bucks, not bad for that price at all. Headphone jack, FBV2 foot switch...no effects loop. It has plenty of power for my needs as I play strickly for the fun of it. I give it a 9 due to the missing effects loop.

I play an Ibanez RZ520 with stock V7 neck and DiMarzio Tone Zone bridge. This combo really fits my music style perfectly - metal, hard rock. The amp can be noisy on some model settings (Metal, Insane) but you can switch on the noise gate and it calms it down. Although I do not play in a band (an old fart that has been toying with guitars all my life), I feel this little amp would do just fine in a small night club setting. The Clean models sound like..well clean. They provide decent models of various amps, one is based on a 1973 Hiwatt Custom 100. The Twang models are based on various Fender amps and a Gibson Explorer. The Blues model are based on Fender and Vox amps. The Crunch models are based on Marshall amps. The Metal models are based on Mesa Dual Rectifier and various other Class A amps, if you are a metal head...these models will probably suit your needs. I think you get the picture...most amp producers are moving to modelling. Its a new frontier and not a bad implementation for the price. Again when I review this things...I keep it all in perspective...includung the cost of this thing. In this case...the amp is a steal.

The amp is solid, looks like it could take a beating. To date zero problems. I will give it an 9 here...because I really do not have experience with it, however having said that my gut tells me it will be just fine over the long haul.

This thing is brand new...only had it a couple of weeks. Have not dealt with Line 6 before. It comes with a 1 year warranty.

Been playing since the 70's. If it was stolen? Yes I would not hesitate to buy it again. I think its one of the best amp values out there. I compared this amp to the Crates and low end Marshalls...I think its a better value. Therefore overall I give it a 9 for excellent value and sound.

a lot of features

amps are great and realistic..........anyone who thinks they suck i cant agree with them............what it is missing, and i big enough for me to want to go out and buy something like a mesa tube preamp.........warmth, non-existant....it has good distortion but it is not warm.....or warm enough for me........but i want to make it clear, the spider is still damn good

it seems very solid and well built, i feel confident hauling this baby around....big baby

havent had to deal with them thats good enough for me

it great.......buy it and try it

Brand new amp. 12 Channels and like 6 Effects you can mess around with. It goes with green and red channels. The only bad one is Red Insane. Stupidest thing ive ever heard. Phaser and the Tape Echo along with Sweep Echo aren't really worth anything to me. The chorus is with the flanger but you can ajust it which is good. I'm a metal head with a Bc Rich Warlock with Duncan Invader pickups, its a good combo.

My warlock has pickups that pickup the volume intensely with this amp. From stock it shreaded up the volume. Great for metal to whimpy light music haha i dont like that stuff. So much variety to it, and good tone. Sorta depends what kinda guitar, just don't think a crappy guitar is going to sound great on it, it truly has to be around 300 guitar to sound good with the 300 amp. VERY LOUD you don't need a bigger amp than this, ive one done is half way and its still loud as hell.

Not gonna break down, its tough i got a free warranty anyway. Nice people out there.

1 Year free warranty that won't be going anywhere or breaking apart.

It was only 225.00 cuz i have bargaining skills. I might experiment for another one and come back to this amp. Which is crappy is u gotta buy the extra 75.00 footswitch to play and switch channels easily which is annoying.

I just got this amp last week and at first i when i plugged into it, i was like what the hell i cant get any of my old sounds from my pedal board(which i must say were murdering. I got to tweaking the different amp models and saw that the amp will give u a great base to work from. As with a any great tone, there are other things going into the amp other than the guitar so u gotta set up new sounds for this amp. I personally run a digitech gnx 1(another amp modelling processor) through the various amp simulations and it sounds great so the amp modelling feature is really useful and they dont sound cold. the built in effcts are kinda crappy but that's not the main function of the amp. I use them in conjunction with other modulations and get some interesting effects. The amp is very loud and and can smite most other amps in the price range. But i'll have to give it an 8 because line 6 has produced much better external effects processors and it didnt integrate much of that technology into this amp.

The amp models are all very good quality and do sound like the amps they are based on, not exactly, but they are very close. I use it in jazz and rock/metal contexts and i use many of the channels and just use different distortion flavors from my pedal board. Many approach all amps w/ expecting the same warmth a tube amp generates, but this is a digital amp and it funtions accordingly, if u want it to sound exactly like a marshall, then buy a damn marshall. The amp can get kinda noisy, but i has a built in noise gate that solves much of that. Most of the amp models have really high treble levels, but so do Fender strats and we all know how great they can sound(a la Jimi, Clapton, and Beck). With 12 different amp models the sound possibilities are endless. The Insane channel, though i play lots of metal isnt as functional as i thought, i control high gain settings very well, but this one doesnt pack the punch that the green metal channel with the right pedals going into it. The clean channels are great, they offer very good jaxx tones if u tweak them the right way for the guitar u are using. I'll definitely give this amp a 10 in versatility because it's versatility depends on how well u can get used to using it. if u just want an amp to plug in and go from, then it's not for u. But if u're interested in developing some different tones and not shell out excessive wads of cash, then u'll love this thing.

I haven had a problem out of this amp yet, but i know it could be in bad shape if u ever drop it.

I love this amp, it serves its purpose very well, i'm not gonna over hype it, but it's definitely something worth having if u're still searching for a great tone because it's a quantum leap in that direction. For $299, u cant beat it. The sounds alot of guitar players want and covet come from gear generally out of the general financial reach. But with the right gear this amp can get u damn close to it.

If you're readin this you should know the features.
The "Smart FX" button is a very bad implementation. Modulation effect speed is coupled with the intensity. You cannot dial a subtle fast chorus or tremolo - it's either slow and subtle or fast and extreme.
The rest of the controls are very well designed.

I play a Ibanez RG - all stock.
I am a huge fan of modeling technology (being a technocrat), but this amp is a let down. So far I have spent two days trying to tweak sounds.
In general the amp has very scratcy tops that I cannot get rid of. The old spider had a "presence" control, but this one doesn't. If I roll off the hights, I get dull sound but the scratcy shriek is always there.
Amps:
- clean R is a little too bright for my taste. If you want bright, we've already have the Clean G and the Twang. Give me neutral clean to run my F/X box with !!!
- Crunch G can get very distorted and compressed, but no sustain - sound crumby and weak.
- Metal R is the most usable sound. Very good overall, but again scratchy hights.
- Innsane is ok, but what the f*** were Line6 thinking with Insane G ?! A complete waste!
Effects: As I said earlier one know doesn't do a good job because the effect ranges are not well selected. I've played a Peavey and a Crate with similar layout (single knob) and the effect ranges are chosen more carefully.
- Chorus and Flange are one effect now - big mistake! Can't get a subtle lush chorus - it's either in the flange theretory with lots of flange feedback (like an ambulance siren) or very yo-yo sounding in the chorus range.
- Phaser - it has some usable settings.
- Tremolo - bad. I wanted a James Bond-like tremolo which is fast and subtly, but if you dial in fast, you get extreme clamping. Once again bad range choice for one know control.
- Delays are ok.
- Reverb is more like an "early reflection" than ambient room reverb, but still does the job.

Overall I am dissatisfied with the new spider. I will be tweaking it a few more days, but the idea of getting it back to the store is already growing on me.
On the bright side, it gets really loud, so if you can find your sound you can grow it it.

Seems well-built.

I haven't dealt with them; hope I don't have to.
Only 1 year warranty, others give 5, so think twice.

I've pleen playing for few years, mostly old metal (iron maiden, dio, wasp, etc), blues and some funk for fun.
I can see how nu-metal kids will like this amp with its Insane setting and extreme toyish effects, but it s let down for other sounds.
Annoying scratchy hights that cannot be compensated. The old spider had a "presence" control to address that - what's with the new one!
Some people get good sound with expensive guitars, but Line6 should have tweaked it better for the guitars of the target customer - $300 amp goes with a $300 guitar. Don't tell me how well it sounds with a $2k guitar!
I auditioned the amp throught the speaker and with headphones (sound very alike, which is good). Compared it to my V-Amp and the V-Amp smokes it. I even plugged an old Zoom GFX707 f/x box into the clean channel and got better distortions with the Zoom.

The good side - it gets loud and the preset switching is very fast. It is also the cheaper 60+watt combo.

If you had good luck with settings, please e-mail me to exchange info. Thanks.

2003 Spider 112, 75 Watts, 12 Amp Models, 7 effects, built in tuner, headphone/direct out. Overall the features on this amp are great especially for the price. I just wish the chorus and flange effects weren't grouped together. I like flange sometimes, but would prefer to keep my chorus seperate for a nice clean channel. The amp is just the right size and power for jamming and is still easy on the back. Channel programming is easy and the old problem of no sound when channel switching seems to be fixed. Using the FBV4 footswitch with it, works well. Almost forgot this amp has a custom built 80 watt Celestion in it. For all the features and the price you really can't beat this amp. Would have gave it a 10 if I had my chorus seperate.

I play rock, classic rock, heavy metal type music. I have a Epiphone quilt top Les Paul (Can't see spending the extra $$$ just for the Gibson name) They sound well together, a good variation of tones. You really have to take the time to dial in the controls to get the right sound. Don't forget the secret controls for noise gate and distortion boost.(see manual) I have to disagree with the other reviewer I think the amp sounds better at higher volumes than it does at lowers ones. The clean channel is super clean and bright. Just add a little chorus and delay and it's a whole new amp. The distortion channels are varied. Some have very little drive to them at all, while the insane has a great distortion sound. Almost like a triple rectifier with better note definition. I give it a 9 because you can never get that perfect sound on any amp. It's a lifelong quest.

Too soon to judge reliability, but it seems to be built stronger than the previous models. It's equipped with a Celestion speaker so hopefully they didn't cut any corners when making this amp. So far I'm satisfied.

I've owned a POD 2.0 before and never had to deal with them for any repairs or help. From what I've heard they take care of their customers, but I have no first hand experience.

I have been playing for about 15 years and have bought and sold tons of gear in those years. I am happy to see the quality of some of the newer modeling amps getting better and better. And now to have this kind of quality and versatility at such a low price is even better. The people that complain about the modeling amps are starting to lose their battle. Tubes are great, but are way over priced and don't offer the same versatility as the modelers. If this amp were ever stolen I would definitly buy it again or maybe I'd buy the 212 or the head. Either way you can't go wrong. Thank You Line 6 for improving on a great product.

12 amps models, 7 effects, 75 w,12" speaker, built in tuner, the basics out of Line 6

I play a single coil american strat, and am primarily a blues player, but I also enjoy the occasional Metallica/Sabbath riff. To be totaaly honest, I see nothing wrong with this amp soundwise. Though I'd like to point out that even though the models are good, and sound great, do NOT expect to get the perfect vintage sound. It's not it, but I loved each model, and the group of friends that accompanied my to the music store couldnt even tell the differance between the Spider 2 and the real amps,but I did. And it gets VERY loud. Loud enough for gigs, will definitely carry over my overzealous drummer.

This amp looks really solid, I don't tink I will ever have a problem with this baby, though I will still take my peavey 112 efx just in case.

never dealt with them yet.

I've been playin for about 2 years now, and becoming a decent guitarist. With this I own a crappy 15w Peavey, a Peavey 112 Efx, a 70's twin, and various strats and LP's. If this were stolen or lost, I would totally buy another own, if I couldn't afford a nicer amp, like a Vetta. I love the sound, looks, versatility. But thissucker is HEAVY! It may even weigh as much as my twin! Oh, and get the shortboard if you can, or at least the 4 button footswitch, it make the world of difference.

I just bought this amp, I tried it in Guitar Center the day it arrived and couldn't resist taking it home.
It features 12 amp models (channels) with everything from clean to blues to a very hi gain distortion tone. They aren't the best tones in the world, but they are damn good.
7 Smart Control effects (up to 3 simultaneous) including Tape Echo, standard Delay, Sweep Echo, Chorus/Flanger, Phaser, Tremolo and Reverb. All effects are fully programmable and sound good. As good or better than any pedal I've ever heard.
4 User-programmable channels (36 with the optional floorboard)
Built-in Tuner (works great)
Headphone/Direct Out for practice or recording
Celestion 12" speaker

I use a modified Jackson Fusion with a DiMarzio X2N bridge pickup, and a stock Strat. This amp really shows off your guitars tone. My Jackson screams through the hi gain and crunch/distortion channels with a great full on sound without the need for an additional preamp. My Strat sounds excellent in the clean and blues settings. Creating everything from a crystal clean tone to a slighty dirty blues tone.

Can't say, I've only had it a little over a week, tho I did buy the extended 1 year warrantee for an extra $24.95, just to be safe.

Again, can't say.

A great amp for low volume playing, it offers some truly great tones for a budget price. My only complaint (if you can call it that) is the tone of the amp really falls apart when the master is pushed past 4 or 5. If your looking for great tones at a low volume, you should definitly try one of these, but if you need more than "bedroom" volume, check out either the 120W 2X10 or the 150W 2X12 model.

Just released by Line 6, the Spider II line of small budget practice amps has now become something of a serious amplifier line.
Many of the features are similar to the previous Spider line (4 presets, Smart FX, etc) although more models are now available and the sounds are actually quite good.
The previous Spider amps were just bad and should be considered for nothing more than low volume beginner practice amps.
That said, the Spider II is NOTHING like the prior line.

The Spider II is a real grown-up amplifier. This version has the 12" speaker and the wattage has been bumped from 50 to 75.
It shows. The amp now puts out some serious volume (for a 1x12 combo) and the quality far surpasses the previous Spider and many of the previous Flextone amps.
The clean and twang channels are good and variable, from Fender clean to Peavey or Vox clean. Also the clean channel remains very clean even when driven with a Les Paul guitar, just a hint of overdrive is present and no poor quality distortion and break up that was associated with the old Spider line.
Good cleans.
There are several levels of distortion, from blues to metal (and insane) and THIS is where this amp really shines. The distortion/overdrive models on this amp have been so improved over prior Line 6 amps (save the Flex III and Vetta) that I forget I'm playing a solid state modeling combo.
Line 6 has really done well with the models on this amp and it will work well in the setting that I'm going to use it; church/worship from clean contemporary to gospel to pop/hard rock.

The amp is 2 days old. So far, so good...

I've met several of the Line 6 employees and they've always been gracious. I don't expect to have a problem IF I need to call them.

I've been playing for 24 years, both professional and semi-pro, and primarilly used all-tube amps. Solid state amps haven't ever impressed me (except for their light weight) and the last few years of modeling amps have impressed me even less.
The Spider II has renewed my faith in that there might be something good to consider in this modeling technology...and my experience with the Flex III and Vetta has been similar.

The only features I wish this amp had were ext. speaker out and maybe line out (besides the headphone/direct out). But for the price and for my application both of those features aren't really needed.

My advice to anyone who has, like me, written off these amps in the past is to give the Spider II a try. You should be surprised.