Spider II Half Stack Review

lINE 6 Spider II Half Stack - Head and 4x12 Cab - for less then most combo amps.

Features:	9
Sound:	8.8
Reliability:	9.6
Impression:	9.6
Overall rating:	9.3
Users rating:	8
Comments:	20

overall: 9.3

Featured review by: unregistered, on october 06, 2005

Features: The Spider II head has a ton of power, period. I personally play a lot of hard rock/metal and use alot of drop tunings. The basic clean could be better, but I add a little delay and chorus it sounds badass for what I'm going for. I usually use the metal settings for all my distortion. It mimics the Mesa rectifier and I couldn't ask for anything heavier. I've never had a head that I haven't needed a distortion pedal for but the Spider II metal and insane settings really push it to the next level. My only complaint would be that the delay/tremlo/etc settings can't be individually adjusted. // 8

Sound: I'm using a Schecter Diamond series with EMGs and it sounds really heavy. The pinch harmonics get pulled out so easy its ridiculous. I usually turn it up very loud and get great sound. The noise gate really helps keep the static down. You really have to push the head before you hear and breakup in sound. It keeps up with any tube head I've played with. // 9

Reliability & Durability: Havent had it too long, giged it a few times, no probs. Have heard stories of blowups 'cause of the cab being in non stereo mode. // 10

Impression: Overall, awesome deal. Can't beat the price. It really pushes 150 watts well. As far as metal music goes its one of the best amps out there. Mesa rectifiers are probably better live amps but unless you have a few G's to throw around I would go with the Spider II. I'm using a Behringer 400w Cab and it easily handles the heads 150 watts. I can't believe there is a head out there that sounds this good for the price. I would buy this again in a sec. Other guitarist I've played with have traded in their stacks for my setup. // 10

overall: 10

Reviewed by: unregistered, on november 07, 2005

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Features: I bought the HD head 150 watts of power, and the features are great. This is the first time I've never needed a distortion pedal. The tones are so nice that I could s--t my pants with happiness. My drummer plays really hard and I can hear this amp soar over him perfectly. On my HD head the tremolo and delay can be adjusted by using the tap button. The tones are nice and everyone in my band loves it. // 10

Sound: I'm using an LTD with basic pickups (I'm getting a Jackson warrior for christmas) and this thing makes my guitar sound great, alot better than any other amp has ever made it sound. The clean channel is pretty good, I dont really use a lot of clean so I'm not really worried about it, sounds good to me though. I play a lot of metal, and it works perfectly, I couldn't ask for more for the price. // 10

Reliability & Durability: I have cranked this thing as loud as possible and a speaker hasnt blown, and for the time I've had it its been reliable and very durable. I would most definately use it in a gig without a backup amp, I have no problems with it messing up or anything. // 10

Impression: Well I'm in love with this amp, mainly because of what it ofofers for such a low price, and I would reccomend it to anyone who doesnt have a lot of money but wants to sound really good. When I bought it I even tried out a Marshall head and I like this one better. So I guess that says enough. // 10

overall: 8

Reviewed by: unregistered, on august 12, 2005

Price paid: $ 350

Purchased from: local music store

Features: The Spider II head is probably one of the best heads feature wise you can get for the price it has a cool line of special functions such as gain booster noise gate and tuner. The reason why I chose to buy the head alone was because when I played the half stack in the store with a spiderII cab it sounded really bad. Get your 1960 now! Not later other than the cab the head is very good sounding for a solid state good distortion and lot of versatility and I mean a lot you can't really achieve those bright bright tones like a tube amp but this amp has a huge range from evil distortion to twangy blues it does it all. // 8

Sound: I use this half stack mostly with my American Jackson with active EMG's and a fixed bridge and it brings the metal. I also use the head with a Marshall 1960A cab. Unfortunately this amp does not have the best clean channel but with a lil delay and reverb you could easily sugar coat that. The distortion models for this amp are really really heavy I love it but if you want clean this isn't for you. // 8

Reliability & Durability: Very reliable, played many gigs with it worked fine no tubes to worry about no power failures all systems are go. Easy to control with 2 button footswitch sold seperately for 30 dollars. // 8

Impression: I play a lot of metal and a lot of really really clean jazz. This amp is ideal for metal and will give you the heavy tones you need but for clean it's not my best choice. // 8

overall: 9.5

Reviewed by: unregistered, on june 09, 2004

Purchased from: Guitar Center in Houston

Features: This amp clearly has the most sound options in my opinion ,and it has a very wide range of selections. From Death Metal to Blues. From Funk to Punk, this amp cam do it all. It also has hidden features such as extra distortion and a noise suppresor. It has more power than my friends Mesa-Boogie Dual Rectifier. This amp has more features than any other amp. // 10

Sound: I have a 1994 BC Rich NJ Warlock. The stock pick-ups suck. This amp was a dream come true. Not even a Marshall could make my guitar sound good. The SpiderII could. It has no feedback and it is more distorted than Corey Taylor's (Slipknot vocalist) new mask. You can enhance the metal sound by adding a BOSS Super Octave OC-3 to your line-up or putting EMGs in you axe. // 8

Reliability & Durability: I have had many gigs and I still haven't even had to change a speaker. This is the only amp I cam rely on to last the whole gig. // 10

Impression: I play metal and this is the best amp for it. There is nothing to hate about the amp, but the one thing I like most about it is the very crunchy distortion. Here is a list of popular metal bands that you can imitate with this amp: Slipknot, Hatebreed, Morbid Angel, Metallica, Korn, Pantera (long live Pantera), and Disturbed. // 10

overall: 10

Reviewed by: unregistered, on december 28, 2005

Features: This power packed beast has 4 programable channels and a huge 150watt stereo sound! It has 12 different sounds ranging from clean to insane distortion and 7 effects including delay, chorus/flanger and my favorite reverb! You can also have 3 effects on at once! // 10

Sound: I use a PRS Billy Martin SE and a Gibson Sonex and they both sound great through it. I also tryed my BC Rich through it on the insane distortion and it sounds really nice! Non of the clean sounds get distorted, the volume increases, tone stays the same. This holds its own against any valve amp, the sound is jsut so full and thick. // 10

Reliability & Durability: Haven't gigged it yet but it looks sturdy enough. I would trust it, nice and solid. // 10

Impression: I play rock/punk type music and before this amp I used a Vox AD50VT with a Danelectro Black Paisley distortion pedal along with some more effetc pedals. Since I got this amp I only use amp distortion and the onboad effects as they are all a guitarist needs. They are just so good! I bought the FBV Express with it and that is all I need. 4 pedals for the 4 channels that I've programmed, tuner and volume/wah pedal. This amp is great, Line 6 rocks! // 10

overall: 9

Reviewed by: Skywalker_90, on april 15, 2005

Price paid: $ 790

Purchased from: Avenue guitars

Features: The features on this amp are pretty well the reason why I bought it. It has tones of features. If you try and experiment with them you can get any sound you want. I play rock, hard-rock, metal, and I can nail any sound I want with all the features. It has four channels, which is way not enough for all the thousands of sounds you can come up with. The downsides are that it doesn't play well with others, as in other brand names its pretty well only compatible with Line 6 products. But with the purchase of the Line 6 floorboard you no longer have any problems with anything. // 8

Sound: The sound is great; I play with EMG 85 and EMG 81 pickups and the combo performs! I really don't think it matters what style you play, this amp does it all. Headroom for days and great sustain. One huge problem is however that the amp is surprisingly quiet for a big 150 watts bad boy with a four speaker cabinet. I was hoping I would break the windows out of our rehearsal area but to no luck. I would want this amp with 300 watts like the HD147 but without having to do away with my spider II HD. // 8

Reliability & Durability: I seriously doubt this amp will ever breakdown or blow up, and unless it falls out of the back of my truck on my way to a gig than it's going to keep rocking for years. // 10

Impression: My overall impression is that this amp is fine and I'm glad I got it. It's a little too quiet but then again I play gigs without having to mic it either so it can't be that bad. The user is almost forced to buy the floorboard, which should just come with it the amp to make things easier but all around it sounds better than most and defiantly has more sounds than all. And chicks dig it too! // 10

overall: 9.8

Reviewed by: Corsair1, on september 19, 2007

Purchased from: Ebay

Features: First off, I'm writing a review for the Line 6 Spider II HD150 head and the Spider 4x12 cab. The head is amazing! It has all the features you'd ever need in an amp. With a little tweaking, you can make it sooo gorgeous, that the young girls cry, or you can bring the rukkus. The Insane "Red" Is retarded. It sounds like a cheesy CKY patch, but does no justice. Anyway you get 12 sweet amp models 2 for each title. Clean, Twang, Blues, Crunch, Metal, And Insane. You also get a full line up of sweet effects (Chorus/flange, Phaser, Tremelo, Delay, Tape delay, sweep dealy, and reverb) there are 4 saveable user channels, where you can literally build your own custom sound, save it, and feel great about your sound because YOU made it. The only problem is that the 4 channel footswitch (FBV4) is discontinued, and replaced with the FBV express which is expensive, and cluttered. This amp is loud! one of the loudest solid states I've ever heard. When cranked, It loses no sound quality what'soever. It's definitley worth ever penny. // 9

Sound: I use a PRS CE22, and a PRS Santana SE with this amp. I play mostly Metal and hardcore, but dabble into R&b and blues. My band is very southern, so I need grit. Like I said before, this amp is loud, and you don't lose sound quality when you crank it. It can get very "Hissy" but the head has a built in noise gate which actually works quite well. For metal, I definitley reccomend this amp. With tweaking you can get the Insane "Green" to sound like a Mesa Triple Rectifier, and the distortion is carried through the cab so well that it makes your chest rumble and makes you proud of playing it. But again this amp is very versatile, and can handle anything from church ballads, to grindcore. // 10

Reliability & Durability: With this amp, there is no need for a back up. It's so solid, that I sometimes feel like I'm playing battle armor, in fact, if I went to war, I'd bring this rig to protect me, and to shred face when I wasn't being shot in the spleen by white hot 50.cal rounds, but seriously If you take simple care of this amp, you should be fine. There are no tubes since it's a solid state, and I'm sure Line 6 takes care of their rare repair customers (at least I'd hope). I feel so prepared getting up on stage with this rig, like you're the only kid in class who did his homework right, and everyone else is crying, saying "I'm such a douche!" // 10

Impression: Ok you get it. Overall, this amp is a godsend. The people Who talk down on Line 6 are just afraid they'll find something they like in a solid state, but tubes don't make you a good guitarist, tone does, and you get complete control over your tone with the Line 6. If this amp was stolen, I'd be pissed. I'd buy a new one, but boy would I be heated! I feel if I go Line 6 for my music career, I can't go wrong. I actually had the money for a mesa Dual Rectifier, but I picked the spider II because of the control, tone, and diversity of the amp. Very bold move, I know, but you shouldn't follow the crowd, and buy something cause you think it'll make you cool. Like Marshall's distortion just flat out pisses me off. It's so scratchy, and lined up with the spider II, the spider blows it out of the water. In fact, in my opinion, the Spider II blows them all out of the water. // 10

overall: 9.5

Reviewed by: swifty8083, on july 25, 2006

Purchased from: Samedaymucic.com

Features: The features are great. I'm sure you know what this can do, delay, reverb, tremelo, phaser, chorus, flanger, tuner built in. I wish the tuner had a dispalay, instead it uses exsisting leds, but once you know how to use its fine. It has 4 channel presets which can be pushes via buttons A-B. I wish it came with a footswitch but you have to buy that ranging from $30-100 depending on which one you want. I have used the FBV-4 which has a volume/whammy pedal, 4 foot selectors and a display for the tunner. // 9

Sound: I play mostly hardcore/metal and this thing sounds great. You won't get this tone anywhere else for the price. If you play with the settings you can get a truely great tone. I play out of a Laney 4x12 stack. It will get loud enough for any gig/practice. The tone dosen't suffer much when being cranked. // 9

Reliability & Durability: I just bought it so I haven't had a probelm with it hopefully it will hold up. I have a 50W Spider which still holds up after years. // 10

Impression: I would reccomend this amp for anyone Who needs a stack at a great price. This is truly the best value amp in my opinion. If you want a good heavy sound buy it. If you are looking for a warm and very clean sounding amp save your money and buy a tube amp. If you want something to gig with and you play rock/metal/hardcore etc this amp is for you. Jazz/blues/folk/accoustic probably not. The clean and blues channels aren't bad but they don't offer the tone you will get out of a high end amp. // 10

overall: 8

Reviewed by: leondb, on april 20, 2007

Price paid: $ 250

Features: Solid state, 150 watts (75x2), 4 programmable channels, flanger, phaser, tremolo, delay, tape echo, sweep echo, digital amp modelling, 12 amp models from Clean to Insane distortion. I use the flanger and delay on clean for the Cult songs we cover. It's awesome! I don't care for the tremolo, and don't really have a need for the phaser. I like having all the onboard effects. // 9

Sound: The clean models are okay. I add the tiniest amount of delay, with the tap set fast. Sometimes I put a little reverb. It helps to improve it a little. I occasionally use the Crunch amp models for classic rock. It's not too bad. Again, I always turn the delay a little. I use Green Metal channel the most, the distortion is really heavy and it comes in handy for the heavier music we cover, like GN'R, STP, Velvet Revolver. It sounds good (for a solid state), but it doesn't have tube sound. I knew that when I bought it, but I did it anyway. Now I kind of wish I got the combo instead of the half stack. I notice it's a little sensitive with pick noise when palm muting a little soft, unless I strum hard. // 7

Reliability & Durability: I probably would use it for gigging, that is, if I keep it. I'm getting a Fender Hot Rod Deville soon, and may or may not keep this amp. I've only used it for home practice, and haven't turned it past 4 for long. It's loud, and seems to be built tough, but now I don't wish to be lugging this beast up the stairs to reheasals, or gigs. // 8

Impression: Our band plays classic rock, and metal. There isn't much problem with metal, but I always associate classic rock with tube sound. That being said, it comes as close to the sound I need as a solid state can. I've been playing guitar for 14 years, and owned 2 tube amps, and a bunch of solid state amps. For solid state, I like this one the best. Personally, I recommend the combo! // 8

Comments

[BodaciousBob]

I need a stack, I've been considering a Marshall however i don't have that kind of budget. I am seriously considering one of these heads but maybe not a Line 6 cab.

[RJMan]

i agree line 6 is great but these reviews are useless because of course the person reveiwing is going to really like thier amp otherwise they wouldn't have bought it. I actually have one of these ordered. The whole kit for 800 canadian with the pedal, head and cabinet and its also the new model. So yeah, can't beat the price

[dagget]

dont listen to these commenters. i have serious doubt that theyve even played any spider II amplifiers. prolly jumping on the bandwagon of idiots on these forums and this site. This is a great amplifier, ive tried one myself, and after hearing so much doubt in them, i was VERY impressed. try one, u may like it, u may hate it. worth a try.

[metal is fun]

This amp kicks ass. I have one and its great!

[6black6label6]

Spider II is the way to go almost half the price of a marshall, the only problem i have with is the weight lol

[nick dixon]

I have the spider 2 212, I LOVE IT. the 4x12, can only be an improvment!. Dont listen what some dickheads say about this amp, it is seriously sweet. Ive owned 3 marshalls now, and they are all quite bad in comparisson (2 valvestates, and an AVT200)

[leondb]

I'm considering the 150 watt Spider II head. My other consideration is a Crate GLX 150 watt head. I like the power and features of both of these amps.

The Line6 Spider II is cheaper now that the Spider III's are out. I'm so tempted...

[XChristianX]

Can't go wrong with this. Best amp I've bought and it's perfect. The insane setting with all the different effect is perfect for any metal songs you want to play basically.

[leondb]

I just got my Line 6 HD head from American Musical, and I won't have a cabinet for a few weeks. This sucks. But, I did hook my head phones in and saved a few channel settings... one for Cult- She Sells Sanctuary. It's crazy! All I need is a foot switch!

[Skywalker_90]

yes that man speaks the truth it is pretty freakin' heavy!!!!

[leondb]

Yes, heavy it is. But the features are worth the weight. Damn. 1 1/2 more weeks until my cabinet arrives. I guess it's worth the wait too. Ahhhhh...

[Shizzster]

This thing sounds unstopable, im looking to upgrade my MG 50 to a half stack, so far its between a Peavey Valve King and this thing. What do you guys think is better?

[leondb]

Dang. I've had mine for a little over a month, and it's awesome. But after trying a Fender Hot Rod Deville 2x12 and the 4x10, I kind of want to sell mine and get the Fender. Can't touch tube sound. And it's loud at 60 tube watts!!!

[TheCalvinator]

I really wouldnt see the point of getting this stack since the Spider II 212(which i have) Can blow the windows out of a gymnasium, haha.

[King ofKumbucha]

Shizzster wrote:

This thing sounds unstopable, im looking to upgrade my MG 50 to a half stack, so far its between a Peavey Valve King and this thing. What do you guys think is better?

Peavey by FAR.

[k1ng_pooh]

go buy a marshall, spiders make me sick

[stafford5150]

k1ng_pooh wrote:

go buy a marshall, spiders make me sick

thank you, i agree definatly, i mean they are great if you are a bit strapped for cash or want a really heavy tone but i dont like them, i gigged my m8's one and it sounded horrible i had to change amp after 2 songs.

[Corsair1]

has anyone tried the noise gate or the distrtion boost? it's sick!! oh and if you're looking for a good pedal, get a used FBV4 on ebay. the pedal does it's job quite well, but it's discontinued.

[HELLSHREDD]

its funny how most of these jokers put this amp down, when any amp takes alot of tweaking to get right sound. i have the new spidervalve & it kiks arse , watch any mesa vid then go check out the HD100 Spidervalve vid & then tell me what sounds better!

[HELLSHREDD]

My spidervalve half stack cost 1934.00$ canadian & its worth every dollar , tyvm line6\m/