Fisheth24

Hey guys, I've recently spotted a Spider Valve for sale (Good or bad, I don't know... But Spider is putting me off!)

How do these things work? I'm assuming that the tubes are there for a reason, but with a DSP I'm not sure how it all works together...

Could someone please tell me?

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ragingkitty

Preamp = Pod 2.0 firmware
Power amp = tubes
No relation to the POS Spider series.

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Fisheth24

So it's actually ok and not a pile of fizz?

According to the specs the seller has listed apparently it's got pre-amp tubes in there?

Bit of a n00b when it comes to these sort of amps.

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zl1288

Yea, it's got two 12Ax7's in the pre-amp. These amps get a lot of hate, but I like them a lot. Not really a fan of the high gain tones though, so if that's what you're looking for I'd advise you look elsewhere.



Source on this? I would have thought they would be using newer DSP tech

Fisheth24

Yeah, these amps seem to get a solid rep on this forum...

Thanks for telling me about the high gain tones, I'll listen to some clipz and what some of the other guys say, then see what I think.

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loki_lulamen

go for a vypyr tube 60.

they are a million times beter than the spyders. horrible tones everywhere.

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ragingkitty

Well from my experience, it does get fizzy if you punch the gain above 2 o'clock on the dial, the fizz does come through. Nothing as severe as the POS Spider amps, but its nothing like any tube amp I've ever played. However, the models are pretty POS if the gain knob is dimed. All the models, not just the high gain ones.

The gain doesn't compress like a tube amp will. It just gets digital and grainy. However, if you're using it for other purposes, or if you aren't piling on the gain, then it's all neat sounding. Nothing like the Pod HDs, but still very good tone nonetheless.

Is not a bad amp by any stretch, but from my experience, it's the same as putting a Pod 2.0 in front of a power amp.

I can't quite recall what the first preamp tube does, but the second preamp tube is the phase-splitter. I think the first preamp tube might be a FX loop buffer, maybe it plays a minor role of a raising the preamp signal for amplification, but I can't be too sure as the Pod 2.0 can also play that role too.

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Fisheth24

So it's not great for high gain stuff?

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ragingkitty

I remember this from a discussion I was having with some over SV owners here on UG a number of years back. The SV was released just about a while after the Pod XT or X3 was released, so the DSP can't be too new.

I could be wrong, but based on side by side comparisons of the SV and the Pod XT, the SV software through the power section didn't sound as good as the Pod XT through the SV's power section. Although I could be wrong.

The SV2 has a tweaked DSP engine that's all newer than the original SV, so you can't directly compare the 2.

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ragingkitty

Depends on how high gain you want it. I don't need a highly compressed and heavy chugging sound, so for all intents and purposes the SV was good enough for me.

However if you need a chugging and droning wall of sound, the SV will give you more fizz than compression.

Exactly what is the highest level of gain you will need?

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Fisheth24

Well I'm currently wanting a heavy tone, but it depends in heavyness. I've got my Laney AOR for all my classic Metal stuff (Ozzy, Maiden, Priest, Saxon type stuff) So I was wanting to go opposite end of the spectrum, like for stuff like Killswitch Engage, Nile and modern Helloween.

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Arby911

I've used the SVII pretty extensively and liked it fine for a number of things, but for what you're asking it's likely that you would be better served with the Vypyr Tube 60, which has a 6505 power amp mated to better high gain models.

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Addonexus408

Ive gigged with my friends spider valve head when my head was out of order, and i loved the tone it gave me. It can easily do that type of metal that you listed. The valve series are nothing like the regular spider amps

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Fisheth24

Yeah, that's what I was thinking... But I was wanting it for classic rock/metal use as well as my Laney AOR is out of commission at the moment.

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ragingkitty

Helloween's never been too heavy on gain, so the SV will work fine. However, for a compressed grinding tone like Nlile's you'll have some difficulty getting very far with the SV. You might be able to get somewhere close to the KSE sound, but you'll need a lot of fine tuning, and even then you might not get very far.

Even before approaching the gain needed for compression, the sound,starts fizzing, so honestly I'd pass on the SV if that's what you need it for.

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Tom 1.0

Get a hd147 over a SVii.


Get a Vypyr Tube 60 over both.

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zl1288

Makes sense, I was assuming he was talking about the SV2



I'd pass on the spider valve if you want to get that heavy. Like ragingkitty said, at high gain settings it tends to get really fizzy and loses note definition. Vypyr tube would be more suited for the heavier genres. You could also look for a used XXX, JSX, or 6505/5150

Fisheth24

Yeah, that's what I was thinking.

Was also looking at stuff like the DSL, TSL (both boosted) and the 900 SLX ( I know Carcass used them at one time boosted) but I don't think that would cut it.

(or a used Bugera 6262 and changing the speakers to V30's that I have lying around)

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ragingkitty

I have limited play time with the amps you mentioned, so I won't comment on them, but the Vypyr and the Vypyr Tube handles high gain significantly better than the Spider Valve (which handles low and mid gain better than high gain), I'd look at those.

The 6505 is good for high gain, but I like the sound of the XXX more.

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