Line 6 Spider III 112

I got this amp as soon as it came out, for $625 AUD it pissed on anything else for that price, or double the price for that matter. If you can find an amp that offers as much power, versatility and awesome tone for under a grand, buy it. Tonally it does pretty much everything I need, and is loud enough for deafening band practice (Metal band) in a shed with ****** acoustics. It's superb for home studio work too. I basically run a cable from the line out to the mic input on my computer's soundcard, and the sound quality is better then you'd probably expect.

The main feature I really wish it had is an effects loop. I know Line 6 have aimed to render effect pedals irrelevant with the built in effects, but somebody out there might actually want to use a wah-wah after distortion. You could get around this by running a wah-wah in the line out, then linking to a P.A or an external cab, but you shouldn't have to.

The following opinions were ascertained mostly at high volume with a Ibanez Art 100 and a ****house Strat copy.

Clean Red and Green:
Excellent. Nice when plain, perfect with a bit of chorus and reverb. I use red mostly, I prefer a glassier clean tone, and red delivers.

Twang Red and Green:
If you like The Cramps, this is your model. They have a great grittiness to them with the gain above 12 o'clock, and they sound awesome with reverb.

Blues Red:
I've only used this model when I needed a sound like twang Red with more grit. Not really my cup of tea, but it might float your boat.

Blues Green:
Provides fairly good distended gnarly late 60s gain, and a really nice clean tone with the gain knob at 11 oclock or lower. However, I don't like the effect of the mid knob on this model, keep your mids low or it'll sound like a bag of ****.

Crunch Red:
Not necessarily bad, but personally I'd rather use it's bigger, badder cousin, Crunch Green.

Crunch Green:
It's modeled on the 100 watt Marshall Plexi, and it doesn't quite match up to that, but it's as close as you'll get without spending your life savings on a Marshall Plexi. Like Blues Green, the mid knob is disappointing, but it doesn't completely tar the sound with crud. Strangely, just like a valve Marshall, this amp model sounds better loud...

Metal Red:
The one I use most. A pretty good approximation of the Mesa Dual Rectifier. Plenty of distortion, a hell of a lot of bass, basically if you're a metalhead and don't like this amp model, you're a retard. Excellent.

Metal Green:
The amp model you should use for emulating modern Marshall sounds. Produces a nice creamy sort of tone. One problem, it lacks high mid. With a more quacky sounding guitar then my Ibanez art 100 this probably would be irrelevant, but my guitar has balls. You could probably sort the high mid problem with a graphic eq in a second though.

Insane Red:
Personally, I think it's crap. Too much middley teeth gnashing for my liking. Would be fine for ...And Justice For All obsessive fret masturbators, but sucks if you want low end attack. I'll stick to Metal Red.

Insane Green:
Not remotely versatile, but that's beside the point. This one lives up to it's name. If you put the bass up past 2 oclock, it overloads and becomes quite flatulent sounding. Overall it sounds like a Marshall JCM800 on full gain fed by 3 Russian Big Muffs on full. Insane? You bet.

I've had it for a year and a half, and so far no meltdowns. However, the wood sometimes creaks when I'm playing loud with a lot of bass. I don't see it breaking, but it's still a worry.

Never had to use it.

I have no regrets about buying this amp. If you need an amp that can cater for many genres of music, is rehearsal and gig worthy, doesn't require a van to transport and 3 guys to lift and is easily affordable, you won't do much better then one of these.

2007 Model, 75W, 12" Speaker, many amp models and effects, 4 channels, setting saving, Gain/Bass/Mid/Treble/Channel Volume/Master Volume/Reverb controls, direct out/headphones jack, built-in chromatic tuner. i'd give it a 10 if it had seperate Presence control, cuz that's what "my" sound is all about...
the tuner is precise and easy to handle, it kills the output when activated.

i'm using it with an Ibanez RG 2570, Stock Ibz/DiMarzio Pickups, and the Amp sounds simply HUGE. No fuzz, no noise if you don't play but you can get some nice, nasty feedback if you release the strings and turn the guitar up. the 75W are loud enough to kill your whole band's ears during a practice or play in small and medium bars or clubs. for larger occasions you mic it anyway and run it through a PA.
i'd have given it a 10, but the direct out sucandks the not-so-gigh-gain amp models lack soul and feel, even if you play it with a vintage-style guitar (Strat/Tele). But as i mostly use cranced up crunch / Metal settings, it doesn't really bother me.
The effects are ok, reverb sounds nice, the phaser and delay are awesome. if you turn the tremolo effect to maximum setting you get a "chopped" sound, which is a kinda funny effect, the chorus sounds good on low settings and i don't have much use for the flanger.
if you play it with one of the fbv pedalboards which have a wah-pedal, you'll get to know the difference between a cheap-*** digital wah and a real one. it mumbles when closed, but doesn't really open up if you kick it all the way down, i'd recommend buying a dunlop crybaby instead.

the amp is built rock solid. it's solid state, so you won'T blow any tubes, it's got a big cooling part so it won't overheat and because you can save and restore 36 settings,this is the ultimate gig amp.
not too heavy to carry around, the handle won't tear off, and even if it did, the amp youldn't break up. i accidentially dropped it once very hard and it didn't even get a dent.
again, there's one minor flaw about this thing: the pedal connector cable. it's a standart ethernet cable (like you use for computer networks). first i don't like the plugs, because the little pin,which keeps them in place tends to break, the other thing is that you just can't unwind these cables.they're stiff and if you don't stick them to the ground with a lot of g

didn't contact them directly, but they have good support on their homepage.

the amp is one of the best things i've ever played.though it's got same minor things, which won't bother you if you know how to avoid them (the connector cable, presence control - just play with the high and middle controls a bit) it's the most versatile amp you'll ever have. It's light enough to carry it around without needing a whole crew of roadies, you can use it as if you had dozens of amps with you and though it's just 1x12" the sound is just killer.
i've played a marshall jcm900 halfstack and a fender deluxe (one of these old ones, don't remember rhe exact model) with ibanez distortion pedals before. i've been playing for roughly eight years now and i love having an amp with noise gate (not having one was a real pain to me until now). i tested this amp not only with my guitar, but with a few others, everything from a 150 bucks mex strat to a 5000??? Gibson LP or an ibanez JEM. most of the amp models are ok to awesome (the higher-gained the model, the better the sound). the clean channel is wonderful, the high gain channels produce a sound you could shave with.
the only amp that sounded more aggressive was a peavey XXL halfstack i once played at a music store, but it only had two channels, no effetcs, it was a heavy-like-hell halfstack and it cost about 1300??? if purchased as i played it, about 4x as expensive as the spider. for everybody with high needs and low budget, this is THE amp.

i compared this moedling beast to the V-amps by behringer, and the modeling amps by ibanez and mesa boogie, and the spider really stands out.the mesa and the behringer tend to sound muddy on the metal settings, no matter what guitar you play them with and the one by ibanez made an unfinished impression to me.

This is a garbage product. I am a novice player and was intrigued by all the amp had to offer. I admit I was stoked on the sound at first, but being a beginner I had nothing to compare it to. After the first day the thing completely died on me, no power at all. Next day I brought it to the shop it was purchased at and exchanged it for the their same floor model, plugged it in and the thing died right there! two amps, back to back in the same day. Now I gotta wait two weeks for shipping from another shop, if this next one dies I have no choice but to switch. Needless to say I'm pissed.

Im giving thsi a 10 because for the price the amount of features you get is amazing. The quality of teh effects is OK, not great, and I was really hoping they would have tweaked teh chorus so you could adjust the rate instead of always having that fast warbly sound...eeech. Ill use my boss pedal but it stickns they left that as is. But 36 channels and all of the presets toplay with!!? 10

Ok, I have owned the Spider 2 1x12 and currently own the following amps: Peavey 5150 halfstack, Peavey 5150 combo, Marshall AVT 50 head and 1960 Cab, so yes Im a product of the 80s and love a crunchy lead tone. I currently play in a Van Halen tribute band so tone is very important to me.I bought this becuase for certain gigs my halfstack is just too much, Im 36 years old and act as my own roadie..get it? Now, onto the sounds: Compared to the Spider 2 this version is not all that different sounding except on 2 models whihc in my opinion have been GREATLY Improved, Metal and Insane. Green Metal is the best overall place on the amp. very Marshall like and the mid control can really change the tone and feel. I have used this model more than any. The New insanes are both good, heavey, thick, searing hi gain sounds, but unlike the Spider 2 the red insane is actually usable and not that gross noise. the EQ on these models is VERY sensitive, and even small adjustmenst can make or break your sound. Th artist presets are useless to me because I dont think I have heard of any of the artists outside of 311, sign of my age I guess. But, the songs presets have their moments. Some are very bad impressions of the recorded tone, but some are so close its actually scary! Among those they nailed are "Back in Black", "Smoke on the water" "Money for Nothing" "YYZ" and "All right now". Its funny, but the preset I used to tweak and base my main VH sound on was "bed of Roses"!! I am not a Jovi fan, but this preset had just the right settings in the green metal channel to get my attention and make me want to enhance it.
I havent played around with the clean sounds much but they dont sound bad, need to look into them more. So, while this amp is clearly not a tube amp, with some time and effort it can be dialed in to sound and feel close enough to satisfy me needs, which is a tall order since I am very picky. I also admit its fun to mess around with if you have an hour or two to go through all of the presets. Is it a "toy", well sort of, but it can be gigged with no doubt, I know because I played show with it last week and it my sound was pretty much the same as it always was, more on that later...

its a computer, im not taking it to a show without a backup, actually, this will be my backup for now

Been playing for 25 years, own or have owned Marshalls (tube and SS), Peaveys (tube and ss), Boogies, VOX, Behringer, and others. as you get older you tend to want gear that is more functional and less fashionable, which is what Line6 stuff provides me. To all of the other reviewers who say that this is crap, they would be embarrassed to gig with it, no tone, etc.....fine, thats your opinion, but I have and always will believe that a good player can make any amp that is "half way decent" sound excellent, and this amp is definitely at least half way decent. I used it for a show recently and actually got compliments from a friend of mine who plays through a Bogner...If Satch, Eddie, Petrucci, or Lifeson had to use a Spider111 for a show, trust me, nobody would have a clue unless they saw the amp. Tone is 75% hands, 25% gear folks, those of you who know will agree with me, those who dont will continue to complain about their sound...I would rather play :)

2006 model. I bought this amp for my kid until he is good enough to get a real guitar amplifier(he liked all the flashing christmas lights on this thing). Has hundreds of presets and the same crappy effects and models as earlier spider II. nothings changed. Good for a kid, thats it.

What a joke, again. Like I said only bought it because the kid liked it. The sounds are horrid. Absolute crap. I do not play through this thing unless I want a good laugh or something. Computer hooked to speakers = no tone. Very sad. This amp makes me sick to my stomach.

Don't care

I myself have been playing for 26 years.12 years as a guitar tech at Musicman. Rock, Metal, Blues, Country, you name it. MM Van Halen, PV Wolfgang guitars, Gibson Les Paul Standard. Mesa Boogie and Peavey 5150 TUBE amps, Marshall, 5150 and carvin 4-12 cabs, Boogie mark IV head, and Marshall 1987x 50 watt head. If you are a true pro you wouldn't be caught dead gigging with any line 6 product. I'd be too ashamed to even have it on stage. They should just give up and start making tube amps.Why try to duplicate the best tones? You will NEVER in a million years be able to duplicate what a tube amp does using processors, software and memory chips. I don't care how high your sampling rates get, It's not going to happen.Thats why they call it modeling, it's fake! Thats why former line 6 engineers formed their own company to make TUBE PREAMPS(Damage Control) But go right ahead and keep trying, anybody who knows TRUE guitar tone will tell you that digital = 0 tone. Do you see ANY REAL guitar legends using this garbage? Technology can be good or bad, this is an example of bad and old technolgy kicking it's ass. New technolgy doesn't work in the case of guitar amps. The best technolgy for amps has existed for over 40 years now and tubes will always produce the best sound. You can tweak till your d**k falls off it's not going to sound worth a damn. GET A REAL GUITAR AMP! TUBES RULE! SAY WHAT YOU WILL PEOPLE, I KNOW MY S**T. I'LL GO UP AGAINST ANYBODY WHO WANTS TO COMPARE THESE PIECES OF S**T TO A TUBE AMP. I welcome all comments good or bad. I have the playing experience and the ear to always prevail no matter what. Email me, lets argue.

Brand new. I just picked this up. Weird thing is that Line 6 is running ads in all guitar mags and they didn't even have it listed on their own site. I did some research and found that Samash.com had a couple. I have the Pod XT Live and thought I would give this a try. Wow was I pleasantly surprised. It comes with 200 "star" settings and 200 "greatest songs ever" settings or tones I guess.
The tones to my surprise are really good. Alot are very accurate and useable. This amp sounds awesome. Comes with a 12" Celestion speaker and 75 watts. Very versatile and any style of player would love this amp. I have owned tons of amps all price ranges and for $299.00 this is hands down the best bargain of any piece of gear I have ever owned! Buy it!

The sound quality is amazing. There is a built in noise gate, amp is very quiet. Has clean, twang, blues, crunch, metal and insane channels. There is a cool feature when you switch to one of these channels it the led turns green. If you move the dial a little more it turns red. It's just like hitting a stomp for added gain. All the channels sound great. The insane has brutal distortion and it doesn't sound digital either. There is an unlimited tonal range in this amp I can't believe it's that cheap. Has every effect known to man. Easily tweakable. I play mostly an Ibanez rg1570 with Dimarzio Evolutions through this. Also have a Gibson SG and Les Paul. All sound amazing. I am not one to buy an amp sight unseen but this one looked intriguing and I can't be happier.

Seems to be built tough. Never had an issue with any of my Line 6 products. I would gig with it with no problem.

Don't know. Heard they're slow. Hope I don't need them.

Been playing for about 10 years. I definetly would buy this again and may buy the 2x12 also. I love everything about it so far and I think it's the biggest bargain out there in modeling amps.