Spider IV 15
Reviewed by:
Kamil12l, on december 24, 2009 6 of 11 people found this review helpful
Price paid: € 119
Purchased from: XMusic Dublin , Ireland
Features: The amp was made in 2009. The amp sounds great at clean and crunch and it also has two other modes based on Mesa/Boogie® Dual Rectifier® sound they are "Metal" and "Insane". Clean sounds simply awesome, Crunch is great, perfect for playing AC/DC, it's so great because it based on 68 Marshall® Plexi 100. Metal is based on Mesa/Boogie® Dual Rectifier® and it sounds great for Metal solos and most heavy songs like Metallica greatest Master of Puppets etc. Insane sounds like the heaviest sh** there is on earth it's based on Mesa/Boogie® Dual Rectifier® ( RED CHANNEL )This skull crushing sound is great for tapping solos like "One" solo. But apart from that it's just a hell load of distortion good for absolute bone crushing sound and fun to play with a tremolo bar, make some wild noises. Effects are good not great but they aren't bad for 100 amp. You can choose between "Chorus Flange", "Phaser" and "Tremolo" plus to this you can add the following echo effects; "Sweep Echo", "Tape Echo" and "Reverb". From those effects I mostly use Reverb but sometimes I like to play with the tremolo effects for songs like Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Green Day). So basically it has 4 Channels 3 + 3 different effects and a Drive, Bass, Mid, Treble, Channel Vol. And a Master knob. It also comes with an FBV Pedal, CD/MP3, Phones / Record outputs. // 9
Sound: All four channels are doing a great job providing me with any sound I want. I use with two double and one single coil, pickups. It's a great amp for an experienced jazz or blues guitarist and also for a small rocker who likes to play heavy, for me it's perfect. It can makes sounds from smooth clean calm sound to absolute *********** skull crushing sound simply Insane. Distortion sounds good on all channels and it could be quiet and it could be really loud. // 10
Reliability & Durability: I trust this amp very much and advise you to get one is well. Since I got it I haven't got any problems with it. It looks great and well build although it's build in China it's very good quality. I am sure I would use this amp as a backup but not 15V, at least 75V. Really good quality for the price. // 10
Impression: I mostly play Heavy music like Metallica, Megadeath, Iron Maiden etc. But I aslo like to play some jazz, blues, and rock music like AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, The Who etc. I've been playing for 5 years and have a little knowledge on guitars. My first guitar was an Epiphone Les Paul Special and then I got Yamaha ERG 121 (Special Edition) and a few months ago with the Line 6 amp I got Jackson RX10D. I also have a Vox V9168R Pathfinder 15R Guitar Combo Amplifier (15 Watts, 1x8 in.) But my spider has better effects. // 10
Spider IV 15
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on january 26, 2010 2 of 4 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 100
Purchased from: Guitar Center
Features: This amp is from 2006 and a it fits almost all styles of music perfectly for me. I play mostly Ska, Punk, and occasionally some classic rock. At first I didn't think that it was so good for punk in particular but after playing with the settings on the amp I was able to get a great UK '77 type style by turning the Drive down on the metal setting. It has some great features including the effects, my favorite being reverb for that surf rock and occasionally tremelo. I never find myself using Phaser or Flanger settings which come off to me as cheap novelties. I'm in a garage band so this is perfect for me to turn it up over the drummer but can go soft enough to practice at home. // 9
Sound: I'm using it with a Squier Strat with stock pickups and I feel it suits me well. I have to be careful when switching the settings on the guitar and the amp at the same time though because occasionally it comes out as very bad noise. I actually hate the Insane setting, I feel it just appeals to the "Louder is Better" crowd and really mucks up the sound. Pretty much everything about the first 3 presets, clean, crunch and metal is great though and with some minor adjustments metal turned out to be my favorite setting // 7
Reliability & Durability: I've owned this thing going on a year so I can't really rate this catagory well. It has survived a few drops with no scratches and I have yet to have even the slightest problem with it. I can't see what's in this amps future but I'll give it a high score for now // 8
Impression: I just totally love this amp. For somebody on a budget this is their dream amp that can make them feel up in the big leagues if they know how to use it. Again I love the reverb setting and the metal channel. The only major drawbacks are the lack of a pedal and the insane channel. Of course if it were lost or stolen I would likely save up to buy an even better amp but probably stick with Line 6. This is my first "Real" amp and Line 6 has made me into a loyal costumer. // 9
Spider IV 15
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on november 23, 2012 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: £ 98
Purchased from: Dawsons Music
Features: Got this amp as my first one. I had no idea what I was buying so I just got it, so this is a really non bias review. The effect are good though I must say. For a beginner anyway. I emphasise BEGINNER. They are alright sounding effects but if you want top notch effects then seriously you need to buy foot pedals separately, but I'll talk about pedals later. The chorus and flanger and all that stuff is great for beginners I must say. Some of the effects are really pointless though, but hey someone might have a use for them. You can switch the channels but not while playing, you have to click a button with your finger so basically you can't change settings during a song like "Smells Like Teen Spirit" for example you can't turn the distortion on and off. By the way it IS NOT a versatile amp its very much for people who like metal and alot of bass and treble, not good for me, but that's what Line 6 specialise in anyway I guess. // 7
Sound: I have a Kurt Cobain Signature Jaguar. So I usually use a DiMarzio Super Distortion pickup with it. And to tell you the truth... The amp just can't handle the pickup. Its too HOT for the amp. I also play alot of Blink-182. And it doesn't really do the clean sounds that great either, its really thick and mushy. doesn't cut through well at all. When your playing in a small band (like me) it really has trouble getting through the bass and drums. Its just all fuzzy and weak. It can't stick up for itself in other words. Its bullied by the drums and bass whereas in my opinion it should be the main sound of the band. The distortion is pretty shocking. Like really bad. (NOT TOO BAD FOR A BEGINNER THOUGH) so yeah I bought a Boss ds1 distortion pedal thinking it would be sounding better. IT didn't. The amp HATES pedals. It can't handle them at all. When I play using my DS-1, it just sounds like pure fuzz and the sound just dies. So for what I like to play its TERRIBLE. // 1
Reliability & Durability: The amp is fine in this section. There is nothing wrong with it. Its great but this doesn't make up for the fact it sounds terrible. I would never ever ever gig with it in the first place YOU WOULD BE LAUGHED AT it sounds like ssssssshhhhhhhhhhhh it just sounds like drum and bass. Because you can barely hear the amp. I've knocked it about abit though and mine is still fine, still just because its durable and reliable doesn't mean I'd say go and buy one. But seriously, don't gig with it at all haha. I've never serviced it either btw just saying. // 10
Impression: I play Nirvana and Blink-182. IT'S A TERRIBLE MATCH. I've been playing about 3 years. I own an Epiphone SG a Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar and lots of pedals. But this amp does non of my great gear justice. It makes my guitars sound awful, I hate it. And I'm really tying to be non bias here. Basically its got great features and its fantastic but as soon as you consider the most important part (SOUND) its just terrible. I got away with it as a real beginner cos I didn't know anything better and I thought it was great but when you hear other stuff I realise how shocking this amp is, but if your a beginner I'd say try it first but the chances are if you have this amp, it was your first amp and you didn't know what you were looking for, but if you have a better idea then go buy a Fender Frontman! If it was lost I'd laugh at whoever stole this terrible sounding amp. I'm really sorry if this is a letdown but honestly to summarise the sound: it can't handle pedals, it doesn't do your guitar justice, its hopeless in a band, sounds like mush and there's no tone or cutting edge. If you want a good amp buy a real amp like a tube amp. Beginners though, you might want to check it out but I still wouldn't recommend it. // 1
Spider IV 15
Reviewed by:
AlphaGhost, on february 06, 2012 1 of 3 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 109
Purchased from: Best Buy - Anchorage, AK
Features: The Line6 Spider IV 15w amplifier is decently equipped with features for being a cheaper smaller amp. It comes with 4 channels, Clean Crunch (Overdrive), Metal, and Insane. There is two effects knobs, each with atleast 3 effects each. For each of the effects, there is a "range" selection, which automatically chooses the subtly of the effect. One of the effect knobs is a modulation effect, and the other is a delay effect. The mod knob contains: Flanger/Chorus, Phaser, and Tremelo. The delay knob contains: Sweep Echo, Tape Echo, and Reverb. The speed of the effects are controlled by the Tap button. Press this button with the desired effect selected and you will see the LED blink at the speed of which you pressed the button. Each channel has its own Treble, Mids, Bass, Gain, and Channel Volume knobs. The effects and tone settings can be programmed into each channel. Simply set the desired tone and effects, then press and hold the channel button, let the LEDs blink, and you have stored your channel setting.
The amp has a slot for a footswitch pedal, I haven't got it yet. It also comes with a 3/8's input jack for MP3 players or other devices you can hook up to the amp. The volume for the input jack is controlled by the Master Volume. The 1/4 output jack, when used, turns off the speaker allowing use of headphones or it can be plugged into a computer recording preamp. I mainly use this amp for practice and noodling in my room, and for really heavy parts. The sound is explained in the next section. // 8
Sound: I am using a Gibson Les Paul Traditional Pro 2009 with stock pickups. I either use my pedal board, or straight to the amp, depending on what I am looking for in sound. The clean channel is clear, but also heavy in the mids and bass. The crunch channel, is very heavy in bass when playing aggressively. In my opinion, since I play rock, and metal, the two better sound channels are the Metal and Insane channels. The Insane channel is a little treble heavy, but its so you can get a screaming solo. For the rhythm parts, the Metal channel is perfect. I use this amp mainly for metal and some clean sounds, but for clean and crunch I use other amps.
With the effects on amp, one could achieve a sound similar to one of Buckethead's songs where it sounds like Jordan in the beginning. Kind of something cool to mess around with. The amp can be turned up to medium volumes and play pretty loud. For where I live and and how big my place is, I don't have to crank the amp all the way up to achieve a loud sound. The distortion is pretty heavy, I would defiantly gig with another amp just for a selection of sounds. If I were to play metal the whole night, then this would be my amp of choice. I could either use my pedal board, or straight into the amp. // 8
Reliability & Durability: Well, for anything I buy, and use constantly, I try not to drop it, or kick it, or abuse it in any way. The box seems well put together, but I wouldn't drop it from anything higher than 2 feet. Don't crash anything into the knobs, or they might break off. I haven't had that luck yet. The front speaker screen is pretty tough, but then again, I wouldn't kick the amp, or stab it with scissors. The amp is an open back amp, so be careful with things in the back of the amp. // 8
Impression: I play metal, and rock, but I noodle with different styles. This amp meets my metal needs pretty well. I have been playing for 2 years, and been using this amp for about 4 months. If this amp was lost or stolen, I would probably look for a different amp, or get a better Line6 amp. I love that this amp is really powerful but I don't like that its not very responsive to my picking velocity. Compared to my Marshall MG15HFX, its heavier, but for other styles I would use the Marshall or Fender. I wish I had the footswitch so I could quickly and easily switch channels.
Overall, this is a good beginner amp, and decent metal amp. I wouldn't drop the amp, and don't stand on it. Buy as you wish. // 8
Spider IV 15
Reviewed by:
sqrrloncrack, on january 18, 2012 1 of 3 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 100
Purchased from: the local shop in wichita falls texas
Features: The Spider 4 is my current practice amp. Not sure when it was made, but I bought it two years ago. This amp is versatile enough for practicing and writing songs, and I even made a few recordings with it (low quality, but it gets the music down so it doesn't get lost). There are 4 channels. Clean, crunch, metal, and insane. I only really use the clean and insane channels. The other two are kind of useless. You can EQ all the channels, and it's got some cheesy effects, standard reverb and delays, phaser, chorus, etc. Again, they aren't very good. But like I said, this is a practice amp and it does what I need it to do. It needs a foot switch really badly but those are expensive to buy separately. // 7
Sound: It sounds okay, nothing special. If run a cheapo guitar through it, you can definitely tell. If you run a nice guitar through it, it won't sound fantastic but it will get you by. I just use it as a practice amp and play everything form heavy metal to jazz on it, and it does quite well for what it is. It's not noisy at all, not very loud, and it has an okay variety of sounds. None of them are spectacular but the insane channel's distortion would be pretty decent if it had more power. // 7
Reliability & Durability: I've had it for almost 3 years. It went through airport baggage, I've dropped it, moved it all over the place. It's pretty solid. Light weight, solid state. This amp has never broken down once, but it has never really been pushed much past practice volumes. This get's a 10 just because I've never had a problem with it. // 10
Impression: Not too bad. I would recommend it as a cheap alternative to a decent practice amplifier. If it was stolen or lost, I would probably buy the next one up on price, but probably another amplifier altogether. In general, it's a great deal for the price, and for how much it costs it's really not that bad. I originally bought it after boot camp while in tech school after my grandparents shipped my guitar so I could play it. I love that it's simple to operate and has little to no maintaining, but I hate that it's got all these sub par effects that I never use. // 7
Spider IV 15
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on december 08, 2010 2 of 8 people found this review helpful
Price paid: € 85
Purchased from: thomann.de
Features: This amp was made in 2009, it's solid state, 15watts and it has a 8 inch line6 custom design speaker. On the front pannel it has four channel. Clean, crunch, metal and insane, with seven knobs for each one: drive, the EQ (bass, mids, treble), a channel volume, two effect knobs and a master volume knob. The effects are separated as it follows: the first one has chorus flange, phaser and tremolo and the second has sweep echo, tape echo and reverb. You've got your guitar input, a headphones jack, an auxiliary input and a fbv pedal input. This amp can suit allmost all music genres, for home practicing (I use it for that so it's allright). For me it's fine, because I play mostly metal and hard rock, with bits of blues and Dire Straits, so I find myself using allmost everything, specially the clean and metal channels. I wished it had a channel switching pedal but for the price this amp has got many things. It also has some good features, like saving your own presets, a noise gate and a boost for the distortion, to have even more if you like it. At first it looks very good, but it's not. // 7
Sound: I'm currently using an Ibanez rg350dx, white with a white pickguard (beautiful) with no pedals at the moment. Like I said I play metal mostly, but this amp doesn't have a good distortion for it. The metal channel sounds aceptable, but muddy at high distortion levels and the insane it's unplayable because you can't hear the notes you played with distortion at ten o'clock only. Plus it's really noisy. The crunch channel it's not bad but it could improve a lot at low distortion levels because I wanted a classic rock sound but it can't do it. The clean channel, on the other hand, it's really good, because it sounds defined, and at high volumes it distorts only a little bit. This is the best thing about the amp probably. The effects are good also, especially the chorus flange, but the phaser and the tape echo are also of my liking. The reverb, the sweep echo, and the tremolo are just pasable, because they don't have the sound I'm looking for. It's a pity Line 6 doesn't make good amps. // 3
Reliability & Durability: I've owned it for three months and at the moment it has only given my one problem. While I was testing it at high volumes it started doing strange noise, specially on the metal channel, but it doesn't bother me, as I use it for my bedroom. Other than that it's perfect and looks sturdy, which is good, as I will sell it soon. Obviously you can't use it to gig as it's 15 watts. // 8
Impression: I've been playing for a year and this was my first amp (I played before with a classical guitar) and I was really disapointed. I tried a frontman at a music store and I thought "I should have bought this". I wish I tried it before, as I purchased it on the internet. I compared it to a Marshall mg 15 and I bought this because of it's features, at least the effects and the clean channel are good. I don't think anyone would steal this but if someone did I would chase him to pay the price. Line 6 will have to improve their distortions if they want me to buy another of their products. // 1
Spider IV 15
Reviewed by:
McBaino, on september 15, 2009 1 of 7 people found this review helpful
Price paid: £ 90
Purchased from: R and B Music
Features: The amp was only released about a month ago (August)and can support literally any type of Music due to it having 4 built in channels, Clean, Crunch, Metal, Insane. It also has 6 effects built in and you can use 2 at the same time if you wish. Chorus Flange, Phaser, Tremolo, Sweep Echo, Tape Echo and Reverb. It is a small amp but very powerful. It is big enough for a bedromm or garage or some small place like that but you can't use it for a gig. You can use headphones in it but you can only use Line6's FBV effects board for it and you can't use any other make of effects such as Jim Dunlop Wah pedals which is disappointing. // 9
Sound: I currently use an Epiphone Les Paul Standard with this amp. As i already said it suits any music style. On the clean channel you can play slow nice music or blues such as Dire Straits and Cream. On the Crunch setting you can play AC/DC or other Classic Rock stuff. On Metal, as you can guess you can play Metallica or Megadeth. Insane is the worst thing about the amp, it is probably designed to make as much noise as possible and it is hard to play anything with insane on. // 9
Reliability & Durability: I have had it for about a month and it still sounds as good as new but I wouldn't use the amp for a gig as it is too small. I would use the amp in a garage or bedroom while practicing. I had a Vester Maniac amp before this and I must say it broke down all the time but with this amp it is so far so good so I hope it stays like that. // 10
Impression: I play Classic Rock or Metal and I get a great sound for both of thos genres with this amp. I have been playing for about 4 years and have owned 1 amp before this, a Vester Maniac and it was not that good, but the Spider is good. I currently use a Epiphone Les Paul with it and it sounds pretty good. I would recommend this amp to anyone as it is a great amp and is a bargain at £90 and the learger version of this amp (Spider IV30) is only £150 and is the same but bigger, louder, and has 6 effects instead of the IV15's 4. My favourite feature is the 4 different channels to suit anyones playing and my least favourite feature would be the Insane channel which just makes a loud irritating noise or the fact that you cannot use any other effects pedals/boards other than the Line6 FBV boards. // 9
Spider IV 15
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on november 24, 2011 0 of 1 people found this review helpful
Price paid: € 160
Purchased from: Filipos Nakas
Features: I believe this amp was made in 2009, either way I bought it in 2009. This amplifier is relatively reliable and has always been for me. I generally play blues, classic rock, rock, jazz, rock and roll and psychedelic rock. This amp is passable for all these types of music as it has a wide variety of sounds. There are 4 channels and 6 effects. I am often found in my bedroom with my headphones on practicing and I have to say, this amp sounds brilliant through headphones. I hardly use metal and hate insane. Those two channels might as well not be there. Waste of space. But then again I'm not interested in the music that consists of such sound. Crunch is fantastic and really snappy and reminds me of the sounds of the SRV and Hendrix. Clean is good for soft rock and such, another good channel although I don't really use it as much as crunch.
This amp is probably one of the best deals out there for the money although if you want something for gigs you're better off with a 75er. Sounds great with a Vox V847. // 9
Sound: I have a Yamaha Pacifica and I use it for blues solos and rarely rhythm guitar. I have done 3 gigs with it and it hasn't let me down although other a--holes show off with their more expensive amps which is rather frustrating at times. I have noticed that when I'm jamming in my room my girlfriend may turn on the light in the other side of the house and the sound flickers. This probably is due to the sh-ttiness of the house though. don't PUT A MIC NEAR IT. Unless you wanna either kill yourself or give up music and become deaf. Make sure you don't use it with a mic because it sounds shit. Really.
*GREAT FOR JAMMING with bandmates.
*ok for gigs although as I said a 75er is more suitable.
It's volume perfection limit is until the half way point... After that it becomes muddy and rubbish. Don't turn it up with headphones on, they will blow. // 9
Reliability & Durability: Yes, I would use this in a gig. The amp has never broken down. Just keep it clean and dust free and it should last forever. Great amp always reliable and for me still is like it was when it was new. Of course you should treat it with care and love otherwise you might as well have a 2nd hand piece of shit from the car boot. Never needed a service and because of the way it is made with plastic padding on all corners VERY TOUGH. But again I state treat with care. Don't be a daredevil. Keep your wires away from the inside of the amp. Don't tuck them away for practicality. // 10
Impression: I'm no Jimi Hendrix but I have been playing for 5 years. I have no problem with the amp. I love it and If you are a beginner you should definitely consider buying one as your first amp. I would be devastated if it were stolen. Although I would move on and buy a 75er since I am now experienced in guitar and not a beginner. If you dig the sound I like, stick to crunch. Peace. // 10
Spider IV 15
Reviewed by:
skyman457, on november 14, 2011 0 of 1 people found this review helpful
Price paid: £ 79
Purchased from: Nevada Music
Features: 4 channels, Clean, Crunch, Metal, and Insane. They all sound amazing. There is a headphone jack, I use this amp for home practice, but it can bee good for band practice too, but unsuitable for gigging, obviously. There are 6 effects, chorus flange, trembolo, reverb and 3 others. I never use these because I never need to. // 9
Sound: The distortion is pretty brutal on the metal channel, but on the insane channel, it has that swarm of bees type sound, and it just gives me headache. I use my Epiphone SG G-400, so it sound brilliant. It's only 15 watt, but extremely loud! It can be used for all genres of music. The clean channel can sound a bit distorted on a high setting, but I turn the overdrive down, so its no longer distorted. // 10
Reliability & Durability: This amp is very reliable. It has never broken down, I never need backup during band practice. // 10
Impression: I play mostly Hard rock, Metal, Classic rock and the odd Blues. It can handle all of these genres. If it got stolen, I'd definitely a new one. I'm so glad I bought this. There's nothing I HATE about this, but I love the dry clean sound. I've been playing for 2 years, I use this amp with my Epiphone SG G-400, with a Boss MD-2 Mega Distortion pedal, and it sounds amazing, even without the pedal. It has everything I need. // 10
Spider IV 15
Reviewed by:
DavyG707, on june 20, 2011 0 of 1 people found this review helpful
Price paid: £ 80
Purchased from: GuitarGuitar
Features: Amp made in 2009. Very versatile. From a great blues, soft rock, hard rock to metal! 4 channels (Clean, Crunch, Metal, Insane). Doesn't have channel switching, does have a headphone jack and does not have effect loops. I never use the phaser because it just sounds silly but that's just my opinion. The amp can go very loud so yeah it has enough power, also the Drive can be changed for each channel for the sounds. for example, if you put it on metal channel and put the Drive down to lowest possible it will have a cleaner sound with a touch of distortion. The great Line 6 logo at the front, a tight handle to make sure you don't drop the amp, an indicating light which tells you whether the amp is on or off and lots of labels telling you where everything is which I find very helpful. // 9
Sound: I use a Epiphone LP100 with HOT Open Alnico V humbucker pickups. I normally turn into treble for loud sound production but rhythm is good for clean and blues. My personal favourite is metal and this amp is perfect as the Drive can be put to maximum for a great distortion. The difference between metal and insane channel is that insane is a more controlled distorted noise while keeping the metal distortion with it, it also adds reverb onto it which gives it a great effect and is a great example to play with Diamond Head's "Am I Evil". Clean channel is very varied as you can mix the tone up with either Tape Echo and Sweep Echo as Sweep Echo has this crazy little sound at the end of a note and tape echo sounds like something that would be on a record. Crunch is a great channel for soft or hard rock depending on the amount of drive, Crunch is good for AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Def Leppard and so on. I don't know whehter it is just my amp or if it is any body else's Spider IV amp too but when I put the channel volume and the master volume on without the amp actually being switched on and when I Switch it on the amp will go way above the channel volume and the master volume and it's not my guitar knobs/pickup volume controls also when changing channels you might have to put down the channel volume and the master volume because the amp will just go way above the designated volume amount. The clean channel does not get distorted at high volumes. The distortion can be very brutal depending on the channel and amount of drive. If you have metal channel with full Drive it's pretty fukin awesome. // 10
Reliability & Durability: I can depend on this amp although I would have to be careful when switching channels and I would have to make sure all the settings are correct also I would have to be careful when turning the amp on that the channel volume and the master volume are lowest possible. The amp has never broken down. // 7
Impression: Metal is a good match, Soft/Hard rock is a good match but for Blues I would choose another amp or buy a blues pedal for it as it does not push the limits. Been playing about a year now and I own a Squier Junior Acoustic guitar and a Elevation classical guitar. Not really, maybe a demonstration about the settings and what matches each channel but that comes in time. I would defiantly buy this amp without any doubt. I love how the amp has the great metal factor on it, it owns! I hate how the volume situation is a bit of a mess. My favourtie feature is the reverb, it's like as if your playing in a stadium. My friend told me, this is the amp to get, it's well worth saving up for and I can tell you know that was such a awesome decision. I did compare it to a £20 Marshall amp and I thought screw that! I chose this amp because it had the effects, channels and the price on this was very good aswell! A better handle as it is a bit tight and small. // 10
Spider IV 15
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on february 24, 2011 0 of 1 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 99.99
Purchased from: Guitar Center
Features: I bought this amp 7 months ago and i have to say, at first i was pretty impressed. The Insane channel is just insane. It provides a face-melting lead tone when using the neck pickup. Harmonics screaaam on this channel. I think the Metal channel is ok. It sounds muddy and I don't use it at all. The crunch channel is decent, but also muddy. The Clean chanell is good at low volumes, but once you go past 9'00 o'clock the tone getts muddy. The Reverb is really good and so is the delay, but the tremelo, phaser, and flanger that come with the amp aren't that great(in my opinion). After a couple of hours of playing my impression of the amp changed. // 6
Sound: When i bought this amp I was looking for a Hard Rock/Bluesy (Guns n' Roses, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith etc...) tone which I couldnt find uing this amp alone. I use an Epiphone Les Paul Special II. I tried using a Boss DS-1 Distortion pedal, and I found the best tone soo far(at bedroom volumes), but guess what, the tone got muddy and more distorted as I turned the volume knob past. // 8
Reliability & Durability: I wouldn't gig this amp at all because of the muddy tones that are produced at high volumes. This amp can play along with drums (volume). This amp hasn't broken down on me so far, but my previous Line 6 Spider III 30watt suddenly just stopped working.One day i was playing it, and the next day it just wouldn't turn on. // 5
Impression: Overall, I think this amp is a pretty amazing deal for its price, but it just isnt right for me. Don't get me wrong, if you're looking for a cheap amp with brutal distortion, and muddy tones at high volumes, then this is the amp for you!
BTW;I would deffinetly reccomend this amp to beginers ;) // 7
Spider IV 15
Reviewed by:
kwatne96, on february 01, 2011 0 of 1 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 100
Purchased from: Beacock's Music
Features: The Line 6 Spider IV 15watt was made in 2009. I play metal/hard rock, so it has the basic levels of distortion I need. It has 4 channels: Clean (A), Crunch (B), Metal (C), Insane (D). You have to buy the FBVexpress MKII, or FBVmini pedal if you want to be able to Switch channels and not have to press the button on the amp. And I personally think the Insane setting sounds like crap. The only I effect I pretty ever use and barely use, is reverb. All the rest have you stoked to use them, like flanger, tremolo, phaser, sweep echo, but they are pretty much pointless unless you really really need them. One effect it really needs is a Looping function, but it pretty much has everything you need cable wise: Headphone and Mp3 input. // 7
Sound: I have a homeade stratocaster, with basic pickups, so I'm not going to complain about the sound and besides its my first guitar. It makes a decent variety of sounds, which is pretty cool, and clean stays clean, and distorted stays distorted, unless you mess with the Drive knob. The distortion on Metal sounds allright, but Insane just sounds straight up bad in my opinion. I'd recommend a Boss MetalCore pedal if you want really good distortion. // 8
Reliability & Durability: I've only had it for 9 months, and it hasn't had a problem since, and I carry it back and forth from friends' house. It is only a 15watt though, so I would never use it at a gig (unless a tiny one). I play almost everyday, if not everyday, and I don't neglect it. // 10
Impression: I've been playing for about 3 years now, and before this I used a Park G10, and compared to that this is a huge improvement. I got this as a birthday gift, but if it did get stolen, I'd definitely buy a bigger one, 50-150watt, if not something else because those have all the good features and effects on them. I recommend this as a starter amp, but I wish I had one of the larger sized ones, because I wish it had all the effects that the bigger sizes did. // 6
Spider IV 15
Reviewed by:
Heideck, on december 22, 2010 0 of 1 people found this review helpful
Price paid: C$ 150
Purchased from: Futur Shop
Features: This is a 2009 model. It's a versatile amps, you can go from very clean sound to a big "fat" heavy metal sound. IT as 4 channel (clean, Cruch, Metal and Insane) they are all good. IT as two different effects. First the echo which can be ajusted and the tremolo effect. I mainly use this amp in my bedroom of with friend to Jam and its enough powerfull. But if I play in a concert, it might not be. // 8
Sound: I'm playing different music styles. From The Beattles to group like Death and Morbid Angel, and it sound very well. The only problem I sometime have is when I go from the clean channel to the metal or insane, it's sometimes starting to make noise. Except that, nothing to say: the clean channel stay clean at high volume and the effect are also good at high volume. // 8
Reliability & Durability: I could honestly depend on this amp. I have it for 4 months and its good. I would play with this amp on a gig because I'm not sure it'S loud enough. I never had any technical problem with this amp. It also look very solid (drop him in stairs once) and it didn't even had a scratch. The only thing that is preoccupating me is that the front grill isn't very soldi but that's the only negativ thing I can say.I would certainly use this amp without backup. // 10
Impression: In conclusion, it's sure it's not a 1000$ amps, but for the price, you can't find best. If you want to play with a lot of people or in a concert, just buy thee 75 or 120w amp and you'll get enough power. If it was stolen, I would buy a new one because it's working very well. I'm playing this with an Ibanez RG420EG and with my frien Ibanez RG370DX and it always sound good. // 8
Spider IV 15
Reviewed by:
jimmyjimbo72, on may 26, 2011 0 of 2 people found this review helpful
Price paid: € 98
Purchased from: Thomann.de
Features: The only reason I bought this amp was due to the features advertised; 4 channels (clean, crunch, metal and "insane"), 6 effects (reverb, tape echo, sweep echo, tremolo, chorus/flange, phaser), headphones/recording output, auxiliary input, tuner and footswitch compatibility. At 15 watts, it was loud enough for practising in my flat. Does this mean that it sounded good? Read on... // 7
Sound: I was playing through this with an Epiphone Les Paul Special II. The amp generally sounded terrible on the clean channel, but this was due to the guitar's bridge humbucker; it only sounded passable when playing with both the bridge and neck pickup. With this setup it was IMPOSSIBLE to play ska and reggae, though I could get an average jazz tone. Also, the channel clipped at times.
The crunch channel was awful as it sounded terribly artificial and too bassy; even the EQ knobs didn't help!
The metal channel is the best, but is still only average; like the crunch channel, it sounds too digital.
The last, and in this case the least, is the "insane" channel; it's a joke! It's noisy and sounds like garbage; who in the right mind would play music with this channel?!
A variety of sounds is possible. Unfortunately, they're all average or terrible. // 2
Reliability & Durability: The hardware was durable enough for me to depend on it. That said, I'd never use it at a gig unless I wanted to come across as insane. The only breakage was the auxiliary jack, which came right out when I removed a cable. // 5
Impression: I play all sorts of music; reggae, ska, punk, rock, blues, jazz etc and this is a bad match for all of them. I've been playing for nearly 5 years and I own a Fender Stratocaster, a Behringer X V-AMP which I play through headphones for the time being, and some other bits. I have that Squier SP-10 practice amp, which is actually better that the Spider. If it was stolen, I would actually thank the thief; I would have insured it beforehand, enabling me to buy something better.
I love nothing about this amp. The metal channel is passable, that's all. // 4
Spider IV 15
Reviewed by:
dr83, on march 30, 2011 0 of 2 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 89.99
Purchased from: Guitar Center
Features: My ratings are not meant to be compared to those of a $2,000 tube head. The ratings reflect upon the value and quality of what you get for less than $100.
I bought this amp in August 2010.
15 watts solid state
1x8" custom speaker
Create, save and recall 4 complete amp settings with the push of a button
Bass, Mid and Treble knobs
Drive knob, Channel volume, Master volume
Direct-recording output
Four dialed in amp models: Clean, Crunch, Metal, Insane
Six Smart FX (2 at once) modeled after celebrated stompbox and studio effects; Chorus/Flange, Phaser, Tremolo, Tape and Sweep Echoes, and syrupy Reverb; Tap Tempo syncs all time-based effects
Drive knob; Channel volume; Master volume
Built-in tuner
1/4-inch input; 1/4-inch headphone/direct output; 1/8-inch CD/MP3 input; FBV jack
It pretty much covers all of your bases. I was satisfied with the amount of effects and channels I was given. I also like the ability to save my presets. I didn't buy the FBV pedal for this so I can't comment on that. I wish it had some kind of looper, but perhaps that's too much to ask from an amp this cheap. Overall, the amplifier does a good job at giving you what you need. However, I think I could have gotten a bit more in terms of effects. // 8
Sound: I've played a few guitars through this amp. A crappy start knock-off, a Peavey Predator Plus EXP, an Ibanez RG2EX1, a Schecter 006 Deluxe, and an Ibanez S570B. The S570B had DiMarzio PAF Pro and Super Distortion pickups in it.
I'll go through them by channels.
Clean: This channel is okay, it does what it needs to do: give you a clean tone. The preset you get out of the box is drowning in chorus though. I use a tiny bit of chorus, and it sounds okay. Don't expect Fender chimey-ness though.
Crunch: I don't really like this setting. It's okay for some blues and I was able to get a faux-Hendrix kind of tone, but it lacks the overdrive that I was hoping to get. The sound is more soggy than crunchy.
Metal: I use this preset the most. I have it EQ'ed to get a decent lead tone. This channel kind of reminds me of early Metallica tone, very trebly without much bass. I was satisfied with this channel, it sounds good with some tape echo as well.
Insane: I used to like this channel, but now I don't. It's way too bassy and muddy. I don't mind the extreme amount of gain, but I can't get that great of a sound from it. It's okay for a mock nu-metal tone.
This thing sounds like shit when you crank it past halfway. It really is only suitable for bedroom levels. I don't think it would be able to handle a Jam situation. The effects are okay, but they're not very dynamic, and are a little too powerful (you can either have no phaser or too much of it). This amplifier does what it says it will do, but seeing how I only want to use half of the channels, Line 6 could have done a bit better fine tuning them. Comparing this with other modelling amps of the same price I was pretty disappointed. // 7
Reliability & Durability: This thing broke on me last month. The gain channels cut volume in half after 30 seconds of playing, and now I have to keep pressing the channel button in order to fix that problem. Other than that it's pretty solid and is built fairly sturdy. I think I got a lemon, but if I hadn't I feel like it would last a good amount of time. Just keep in mind that these products are hit and miss. // 5
Impression: I play metal, blues, and shred. This amp can do all of those on a very basic level. This is a mere practice amp and nothing else. I've been playing about a year (don't use that against me please) and also own a Randall RG200G3+ which I would consider a huge step up from this amplifier (though the Randall has some issues of its own).
I wish I had asked to see other modelling amplifiers of the same price before I bought this one. I was a guitar noob who got suckered into Line 6 by a GC employee (go figure). I played a Peavey Vypyr 15 the other day and was much more impressed by that amplifier than this one. If this amp were lost or stolen I'd probably buy that one.
This amplifier is just okay. For $100 I can't complain too much, but on the other hand you can do a lot better for $100 too. If you have this amplifier then you probably agree with me, but if you're looking to buy a cheap modelling amp I'd look at other brands. // 7
Spider IV 15
Reviewed by:
Synguitarist, on february 08, 2011 0 of 2 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 99
Purchased from: Alto Music
Features: This is the ultimate of all beginner to intermediate amplifiers on the market in my opinion. With 4 preprogramed channels, Clean, Crunch, Metal, and the infamous Insane channel. Dist, Treb, Bass, Mid dials. A built in tuner. 6 effects knobs ranging from 2 echos, Reverb, Phaser, Chorus effect, and tremolo. An mp3 jack, pedal input, headphone input, and a delay button. // 10
Sound: This amps vary from clean, chilling sounds, to Nirvana type crunch and grundge, to Van Halen, A7X, Killswitch Engage sounding Metal Channel, and the perfect mix of the other 3 in the famous Insane channel. I use a Dean with Stock Pickups in it and even with stock pickups, the amp sounds awesome! Pinch harmonics are a breeze, hammerons and pulloffs never loose sustain, tapping is great. I play metal, period. All metal and heavy metal and the "Metal" channel on this amp is amazing. All I do is turn on metal channel, turn bass and treble all the way up, mid all the way down, and dist around 50% to 100%. There is relativley no hum what so ever. I can just pick up my guitar and strum and be suprised to hear that my amp was even on. Honestly. // 10
Reliability & Durability: I would and will deffinetly use this on stage with no cabs, pedals, or effects or anything like that. I am confident in this amp to deliver everyhting it has when I am on stage. It has never broken down at all. I can crank it til my house shakes or play it quietly to myself while people around me are sleeping and the sound never changes or the tubes never crapped out at any point. // 10
Impression: This amp is perfect for every type of music. Mostly Rock and Metal though. Overall if you have $100 and need or want to upgrade in amps, get this without even thinking about it or doubting. GET IT! Just reading this review should give you enough of a reason to buy it. And Guess what, I didn't even test this out in the store. I saw it, asked for it, got it for Christmas and am completely staisfied. // 10
Other Features:
Built-in Electronic Tuner
Headphone/Record Out Jack
FBV Jack
Handle
Compatible with FBV2 and FBV Express MkII
Tap Tempo (For Sweep Echo, Tape Echo and Tremolo)
Overall, the features of this amplfier are great. I do wish that that there was a delay effect built-in also. The Crunch Channel is great for playing "Sunshine Of Your Love" and The Metal Channel is great for playing "Sweet Child O'Mine" and Crazy Train". // 10
Sound: This amp is great for all styles of music including Rock, Alternative, Metal, and Blues. This amp can be noisy in small spaces (such as a bedroom). I use mine in my basement, allowing me to be able to have the volume louder. As you can see from the features section, the amp has a large variety of sounds it can make, making it perfect for guitarists of all different styles. The distortion on Insane can be brutal at high volumes, but insn't really bad. The amp doesn't make buzzing noises compared to the Squier SP-10. // 10
Reliability & Durability: I can depend on this amp highly due to the fact that it manufactured really well. The amp has never had any problems and don't think it will at all. I would use this amp without a backup due to it's high quality. My Squier SP-10 had lots of problems that this amp doesn't. // 10
Impression: The Line 6 Spider IV 15 is a great match for the styles of music I play (Alternative, Hard Rock and Metal). After owning guitar for 5 months, it is still in great shape and operates correctly. My guitar (Starcaster by Fender Stratocaster) doesn't go well with the amp because of the pickups being sensitive. My favorite feature on this amp is the Chorus Flange effect. You can use this effect as Chorus, Chorus Flange, or Flanger. I prefer Flanger over all of them because it sounds good with the styles I play. This is a much better amp then the Squier SP-10, which came with my guitar. I still do wish it had a delay effect. Overall, this a great amp for beginner and pro guitarists who need a small amp. // 10
Spider IV 15
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on december 02, 2009 0 of 2 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 99.00
Purchased from: Musicians Friend
Features: I got this amp in September it had only been out about a month or so. I bought it from Musicians Friend and I got it in about three days after ordering it. I have played with all the buttons and knobs and have gotten some really nice tones. I play rock and hard rock/metal. It has four channels, but you can read the specs on any website that carries this amp. I use this amp at home because of limited space. Besides who needs a bigger amp unless you gig. It's loud as hell. I like the fact that it is compatible with the FBV pedal. Overall I love this amp. // 9
Sound: I am using an Agile Al 2000( Les Paul, tter than any Epiphone) that has two humbuckers and I can achieve any style if tweaked right theough this amp. I get no feedback due to the noise reduction feature of this model. There are multitude of sounds and tones you can get even though it is only 15w. The metal and insane settings are great for the brutal death and heavy music genres. I can get a better clean sound on crunch with low Drive. The actual clean channel sounds hollow and spacy. // 8
Reliability & Durability: This a very sturdy piece of equipment. I hope it will last a long time since I don't have tons of money to drop on amps. ALl the knobs and buttons do not feel cheap or ready to come off like on other low end amps. I have not had it long enough to know if it will break down, but it doesn't give me any problems and I put a ton of hours on it. // 9
Impression: This amp is a good match for any style, I have played with all the effects. It really suits what I play and I am glad I bought it. I am using my Agile and I have an Ibanez GRX20 ( I don't use it much anymore) I also have a Roland 15x cube which sounds amazing on the clean channel but I like the distortion better on the Line 6. If it were lost or stolen I would buy it again or maybe the 75 watt due to the amount of presets on it. But this amp is well worth the 99 bucks I paid. // 9
Spider IV 15
Reviewed by:
Jcthelovechild, on february 18, 2010 0 of 4 people found this review helpful
Price paid: £ 70
Purchased from: Music Brothers, Shrewsbury
Features: Features 4 main channels: Clean, Crunch, Metal and Insane. All great sounding if you don't mind the fact that theres an annoying reverb echoe sound that you cant take off unlss you put all the effects on and off again, which isnt very useful for gigs. For easy channel switching i had to buy an FPV pedal which broke after a few months.It has a headphone jack but from my experience it isnt good quality and isnt worth using unless your on a clean sound. I have only used this amp at home and practising with my band, but I haven't and wont use it at gigs because of the annoying effects. // 6
Sound: At the moment I am using a Fender Jaguar HH with humbucker pickups. Overall it suits the sound I'm looking for. The 'Insane' distortion sound is extremely heavy, and I prefer to almost all other built in amp distortions. This channel works well with the built in effects, as does the metal channel. The 'crunch' channel isnt really to my liking and I almost never use it, but the clean sound it generally very good and sound brilliant with reverb and delay. On high volumes you do start to get a distorted sound with the clean channel, bu simply changing pickups will get rid of this. // 8
Reliability & Durability: I have never had any problems with it, but I would only use it at a gig at a very last resort. The amp has never broken down and it doesn't look like it will any time soon. Very reliable, strong and durable. If you want to change between the channels easily then you will have too buy the FPV pedal, but this is not very reliable as mine broke after not very long and thats when i decided that i had had enough of this amp and I bought a PA system instead and a Boss ME-70 // 1
Impression: I play basically all the sub genres of rock music, and there is a sound in this amp that can suit a good percentage of them. I have been playing for a few years and this was my first decent amp, but I soon switched to using larger amps with effects processors and stomp boxes. I wish I had asked if the annoying tape echo/ reverb that you can't switch off was permanent. If I had known it was I wouldn't have bought it, its incerdibly annoying. Do not buy this amp if you wish to use it on its own with its effects and channels in a gig, it will Drive you crazy and you will be having to go back and forth to it and back again turning off unwanted effects. // 6
Why can't you use any other effects? Just put it on clean and run your guitar chord through a effect box before going into the amp. The effects suck on the amp anyways, but it's nice and loud.
I don't know if i'd suggest this amp for anyone, my friend has one and it's messed up. The phaser always stays on (yes ....even when it's off), but i guess it's an ok beginner/practise amp
When one of 4 channels is "unplayable" and "only makes noise," I doubt it deserves a 9 in sound. If 25% of the sound that the amp can make is crap, then you have to start the sound rating from 7.5 and rate the rest from there.
I played one of these to see if there was much improvement over the Spider IIIs and there isn't much that I could notice. I would still much rather have something like a Vyper than this terribly overpriced amp.
I have a spider III and i use an ''Onerr - FatBoy whammy pedal'' and you dont need a special port on the amp for it. You just connect guitar to pedal using standard cable and pedal to amp also just using a standard Guitar-to-amp cable.
To be completely honest i would just buy the Spider III 15 rather than the SpiderIV 15 as its really not that different...
have a lot of problems with my Spider II amp. Delay and tape echo won't turn off, no matter what I do. Occasionally, when it does work, it sounds nice, though.
I suggest buying the Spider III 15 wat instead of the Spider IV. I own the Spider 3 and have played the Spider 4 at guitar center and there's little to no difference accept price. This is about $100 and the Spider 3 is about $70 if that. The insane channel sounds pretty good on my amp also, its just really distorted (how it should be)
hello, Ive got Spider III 15 n Im satisfied with it....for that Insane channel I play old Linkin Park stuff on it or some Korn Ive got Ibanez RG 321MH so it has nice sound on the Insane and also I use its effects a lot except the Echoes
The Spider IV is definitely an improvement, I played the amp for an hour or two at Guitar Center. It's got a fuller, bigger sound, but I still dislike how digital it sounds -- though to untrained ears it will sound great.
A good practice amp for a beginner, but after you play bigger and better things you'll never feel right using this to play in the van or anything -- would rather use a Vypyr in that situation.
A side by side comparison would not be helpful, as they are both garbage. The spider IV is the same amp, but with pitch shift, and other useless crap. If it doesnt sound horrible to begin with, piling effects on will certainly push it over the edge.
i use my Spider III 75 watt with my Digitech RP350 all the time.. just set the amp to clean and turn all the eq knobs to the middle. works well for me.
I absolutly hate my spider. I own one of these and a Peavey Vypyr. The Vypyr wins hands down. better effects, better tone, louder. (FYI there both 15 watt versions)
When one of 4 channels is "unplayable" and "only makes noise," I doubt it deserves a 9 in sound. If 25% of the sound that the amp can make is crap, then you have to start the sound rating from 7.5 and rate the rest from there.
It's pretty common knowledge that the insane channel is shit. The Metal channel is much more authentic, but it takes a lot more tweaking. At least that's how it is on the spider 75.
Well reading all these comments and the review, I'm glad I bought the Spider III instead of IV. Same thing, different button looks is what it seems like. I, personally like Insane mode. But thats on a Spider III, not IV. You just have to know how to use it right.
I picked one up recently and thought the phaser was screwed up until I read the instructions (I'm a guy, I usually don't "do" instructions). The amp comes preset from the factory with what they think are good settings. They can be reset by holding down the channel button for a few seconds. The lights will all light up and then it's reset.
"The Spider IV 15 amp models have been revoiced, the back is now a "3/4" style,and there is now an FBV controller jack for the FBV2 or FBX Express pedal."
"The Spider IV 15 amp models have been revoiced, the back is now a "3/4" style,and there is now an FBV controller jack for the FBV2 or FBX Express pedal."
do u no if they sound quality is much better than the spider 3 or is it pretty much the same? thx
I couldn't tell you. I'm pretty impressed with the IV. It's better than what I expected. I play everything from Cream to Kiss to Pantera and it all sounds good but I've never compared the two.
Some guy said that you can't use Jim Dunlop Cry Baby Wah pedals with this amp how stupid he is. You don't plug in the pedal to the FBV output , you first plug the cable into the pedal then to the normal GUITAR output and then with the second cable you plug in your guitar to the pedal and it's ready to play how simple.
The Spider IV is definitely an improvement, I played the amp for an hour or two at Guitar Center. It's got a fuller, bigger sound, but I still dislike how digital it sounds -- though to untrained ears it will sound great.
A good practice amp for a beginner, but after you play bigger and better things you'll never feel right using this to play in the van or anything -- would rather use a Vypyr in that situation.
Agreed, the spider sound sucks in comparison to a decent amp. My brother has an IbanezS520ex, 2 joe satriani style humbuckers, sounds awful thru the old spider III 15 watt amp, digital and lacking in depth.
Yes, you can reprogram the channels easily. Set it to how you want it and hold down the preset button for a few seconds. It's like changing a preset on a car stereo.
Rate the amp low if you don't like the sound but don't rate it low because you can't figure out how to change the presets so the effects don't come on. The presets are set at the factory but you can re-set them easily to any settings you want. If you don't want echo/reverb than reset the channel without echo/reverb.
And what about writing that
The amp has never broken down and it doesn't look like it will any time soon. Very reliable, strong and durable.
and than giving it a rating of 1 for reliability and durability because the fbv pedal broke? Go to the effects review and trash the pedal there.
I like how none of the reviewers mention the fact that it has a noisegate and a gain switch. The default Insane channel on the amp has extra gain and no noise gate. Thats why it sound like crap. Just turn the noise gate on, the gain off, and fix the effects and you have a better amp.
Simply press and hold insane while your booting it up.it will flasht, then go to you original setting.no more pesky Auto effects.do this every time you boot it up
I bought one because I needed something cheap to record a guitar track with for a movie soundtrack. Recorded the Insane channel direct into Cubase, hit it with some VST effects and the $hit sounded great. For around a $100 out the door you really can't complain. It's capable of some decent sounds, great little practice amp.
i have this amp i like the sound i get out of it but i hate getting so much feedback when i turn the drive up past the 1/4 general area. it almost overpowers the guitars sound with feedback. does any one else have a problem with this or is it a problem with my amp. how can i get a bunch of drive without a bunch of backround eeeee.
When one of 4 channels is "unplayable" and "only makes noise," I doubt it deserves a 9 in sound. If 25% of the sound that the amp can make is crap, then you have to start the sound rating from 7.5 and rate the rest from there.
insane really isn't too bad, it just depends on what you play.
i love reading the comments on line 6 reviews theyre hilarious and much more entertaining than the reviews. i can't believe how awful the featured review was.
idk maybe it's just me but Peavey VYPYR's seem to blow these things out of the water, now I'm not saying VYPYR are the best amps ever, but the certainly (in my opinion) outclass spiders
I picked one up recently and thought the phaser was screwed up until I read the instructions (I'm a guy, I usually don't "do" instructions). The amp comes preset from the factory with what they think are good settings. They can be reset by holding down the channel button for a few seconds. The lights will all light up and then it's reset.
This!^ Ive had one for a little over 6 months I believe and it took me a while to figure that out. for the money you can't do a whole lot better. i've seen people flame this and also the Vyper so whatever. Of course I'd get something better if I could afford it but I don't get into all thos crazy effects anyway. Clean and Crunch is all I need. I also just got a RP90 by Digitech which is fun to play with and has a lot of differant settings. So far this setup is working for me.....
so many poor people are forced to learn the hard way about these bad amps.
There is much, much worse out there man. Ever played a Fender MH 500? I played an MH halfstack beside my Spider III and the Spider sounded 100x better.
I'm actually convinced that the MH 500 is the worst solid state amp ever. I don't know how many different EQ settings I tried it always sounded the same. Terrible lol
When one of 4 channels is "unplayable" and "only makes noise," I doubt it deserves a 9 in sound. If 25% of the sound that the amp can make is crap, then you have to start the sound rating from 7.5 and rate the rest from there.
I bought this 15W amp to have a small one I can carry around the house easily, only 15 pounds, from the music room to the computer room, etc., or can pick up quickly and simply and go to a friend's house. The sound is amazing for such a small box. The FBV2 channel switch pedal works well. I have plenty of other powerful, heavy amp gear, including a Line6 POD HD400. So, I didn't buy this one to be my only amp. I have had it two weeks and played it a few times. The 4 channel settings and "Save" are easy. All of the sounds are good and useful. Insane is a bit crazy, but will work for things like the end of Santana's Europa and some Joe Satriani stuff. I want to get a good blues sound, but have not experimented much yet. I think I can run the Clean channel at high drive, or the Crunch Channel at low drive to get a warm blues sound. It is definitely worth the price. The mp3/auxiliary input works well to jam along, or do the one-man-band with your iPOD, CD player or other music source. If you want one to do most everything and to fit every gig, buy the 30 W model, but it is twice the price. The 15W fits what I need.
I bought this Line6 Spider IV 15 to use as a practice amp, lightweight that I could carry around the house easily, from music room to computer room, etc., or to friends houses on the spur of the moment. It has 4 channels with good sounds on each...other comments later.
This amp is realy awesome, it sounds great. It can make every sound i want. i also use an other amp with it, it's a Yamaha ax-497 so I can record songs and listen to myself when i'm playing (that Yamaha amp is not a guitar amp)
Wow... Ppl actually love this thing O.O
I have this amp and i think it sounds uber muddy on distortion and reeally bad on cleans. ive had to resort to driving a tonelab direct into the cd/aux in of the amp to get a 'warm' tone.
just bought one for $100. not a bad little practice amp, I live in an apartment anyhow where the jobless welfare neighbors bang on their ceiling just for me walking across the floor, it's got overdrive and distortion and some reverb which is the only things I use playing 80's metal. so yeah, not a high end amp but good enough for most of us who just play for fun
i have a problem with the headphones jack, when im on stage i usually mic the amps, but i got this one from a friend, and he said it was good and hes used it along time, but when i saw/heard how AMAZING it was, i didnt want to screw with a mic and have something bad happen to the sound, so i pluged it in with the headphone ack, and it contiuned to sound like it was loose, and like it was spinning around ('yall know ur guitarists, u know the horrid sound i speak of) and when i tried to jiggle it, it didnt move and it made the sound worse, do any of you know how i could fix this problem?
Help! I've fallen while amp shopping and can't get up.
Because of finances I can't afford the Sundown 35 watt amp and the additional postage.
So it looks like I better get this damn Line 6 Spider IV 15 watt sucker.
I'm only game for another amp because my son-a-biatchin' Ibanez TB 15R locks me out of the Gain knob on clean channel.
So, my question is: Can I use Gain on the clean channel with this mofo?
I understand from the reviews that this biatch does a lot, but I need to know if it's got a "Middle" and "Reverb" knobs-- I think it does, but am not sure because of how Line6 labels its crap.
Please msg me here or at MajesticMeteor@yahoo.com with answers to my whining, please.
As stated, I'm only game for an amp if it has a Gain knob and lets me use it on clean channel. And I need those Reverb and Middle knobs too. These things together are actually hard to find all together on affordable crap like this, believe me.
I do hope that an owner of one of these biatches gets back with me.
Thank-you.
fail! lol... what I was trying to say, was that this amp sucks... for beginners, fair enough, it has loads of different sounds... but they are all pretty bad in the grand scheme of things... If you have a computer.. I suggest getting some kind of virtual amp software like POD Farm or Amplitube or something like that.. its cheaper, and if you want sound variety that's the best way to go.
Man, im reakky sick of people saying that the spider iv sucks just get a tube or get a vyper. sounds on a amp is 100% opinion. there is no this is good and this is bad the only thing that is fact is whether or not the sound has tonal definition. ive played tubes and solid states s i know the difference. yes tube has its pros like a warm sound and all that noise but a solid state amp for $100, i think its a great deal and u get good for the price if u like the line 6 sound. sorry if this sounds like a rant i just hate when people just say it sucks for no reason other than the way it sounds and that is a valid reason but put that it sucks because you dont like the sound not just because "it sucks." thats not a valid reason. im not trying to trool i just needed to vent.
H377F1R3 :
Man, im reakky sick of people saying that the spider iv sucks just get a tube or get a vyper. sounds on a amp is 100% opinion. there is no this is good and this is bad the only thing that is fact is whether or not the sound has tonal definition. ive played tubes and solid states s i know the difference. yes tube has its pros like a warm sound and all that noise but a solid state amp for $100, i think its a great deal and u get good for the price if u like the line 6 sound. sorry if this sounds like a rant i just hate when people just say it sucks for no reason other than the way it sounds and that is a valid reason but put that it sucks because you dont like the sound not just because "it sucks." thats not a valid reason. im not trying to trool i just needed to vent.
Man, im reakky sick of people saying that the spider iv sucks just get a tube or get a vyper. sounds on a amp is 100% opinion. there is no this is good and this is bad the only thing that is fact is whether or not the sound has tonal definition. ive played tubes and solid states s i know the difference. yes tube has its pros like a warm sound and all that noise but a solid state amp for $100, i think its a great deal and u get good for the price if u like the line 6 sound. sorry if this sounds like a rant i just hate when people just say it sucks for no reason other than the way it sounds and that is a valid reason but put that it sucks because you dont like the sound not just because "it sucks." thats not a valid reason. im not trying to trool i just needed to vent.
But you can find better amps than Spiders for that price. Buy a Roland Cube, it's better. It's not so noisy and it doesn't have that "insane" sound which is even noisier. Cube doesn't sound so digital, I like its Marshall sound. Line 6 clean is a bit better though. With some chorus it sounds very nice. I like my Roland's clean, too. (I don't use any other amps than the Classic Stack any more. I just turn the gain down and there's the clean sound.)
I`ve got one of these, and while it`s ok for the price, it isn`t really much good at all. The clean tone is horrible, crunch is OK, metal is passable and insane is just a wall of fuzz. And the FBV pedal must have the worst wah-wah effect ever invented.
Bought this amp for my son and I think some people here need to spend some time tweaking the amp for better sound. My son lives the insane channel and it doesn't sound too bad with a Jackson KV with stock CVR humbuckers, mainly the neck. I like the crunch channel, set the drive at around 12 I clock and you'll get a very nice 70's tone like Opeth's Heritage tone. Metal just set the mid at 9, treble all the way and bass at 3 and it sounds very similar to Dimebag's sound and 80's Metallica/Megadeth. On insane just drop d the guitar and try some lamb of god riffs, sounds pretty damn cool.
The clean channel sounds good but like someone else mentioned, you can't get a full clean tone because even with the effects off, you still get that tape echo that can be annoying.
And last but not least, this amp is what it is. A $100 practice amp, I would not carry it past my bedroom or basement, it's barely loud enough to play over drums. I would laugh at anyone who would show up at a gig with this thing. 15 watts is not exactly gig material!
can someone help me, sometimes the amp will sound really good, then I'll go and comeback to it and for some reason all the channels just sounds really muddy, I've made sure it's not me forgetting to save the settings because I did that, it just changes on its on own randomly, any help?
Just another useless modelling crap. It sounds so terrible, I can't imagine how someone could actually play on this. But perhaps imagination is a huge force: it makes people "hear" things that don't exist.
Good starter amp. Clean channel doesn't sound great. Insane and Metal are pretty good, just got to tweak it a little. I like the last line of the first review, "I wouldn't drop the amp". Good call bud.
Good starter amp. Clean channel doesn't sound great. Insane and Metal are pretty good, just got to tweak it a little. I like the last line of the first review, "I wouldn't drop the amp". Good call bud.
BBE Sonic stomp makes the cleans on this a lot better. Worth getting regardless if you plan to keep the Spider or not.
It's funny how many people hate on this amp. It's nothing to write home about but there are much much worse amps out there. My Peavy Rage for example.. horrible amp!
Peveay vypyrs are so much better. Tried both the spider and the vypyr 15 watt models back to back at guitar center, and I found that even for a beginner, the vypyr is not that difficult to understand, provided you have common sense..... It does take some tweaking from the factory presets, but I had four fairly good channels saved at the store after about 30 minutes. The spider has terrible factory presets, unless your used to a 7 watt amp. The spider is easier to understand, but only because it has fewer settings and editItable parameters. The Spiders effects are sub- par as well, and if I remeber correctly, you can't edit the effect parameters. You can on the vypyr, which is useful for me, since I play a lot of early 80s judas priest, and as far as I can figure out, they use a tiny bit of chorus. Also, the vypyr has 12 different salable channels, where as the spider has 4. Now, both of these amps are no replacement for a good tube stack, but For a bedroom, backstage, small gig, etc. the vypyr takes the cake. I bought the 15 watt, and it entertained me for hours! And for a 15 watt amp, its pretty loud. Seriously though, do not buy a line 6 spider. If you have $100 dollars and you want a digital modeling amp, buy a peavey vypyr.
Just another useless modelling crap. It sounds so terrible, I can't imagine how someone could actually play on this. But perhaps imagination is a huge force: it makes people "hear" things that don't exist.
You probablly need to learn how to use modeling amps.
Just another useless modelling crap. It sounds so terrible, I can't imagine how someone could actually play on this. But perhaps imagination is a huge force: it makes people "hear" things that don't exist. You probablly need to learn how to use modeling amps.
Modeling amps lack the "character." They sound boring and Line 6 Spider is one of those amps. I mean, there are better modelers, Spider is one of the worst I have tried. When you turn it up, it hurts your ears. I haven't heard of any other amp that could do the same. It has some high frequencies that no other amp has. Spiders are OK for practice. But for anything else... just meh.
I'm actually convinced that the MH 500 is the worst solid state amp ever. I don't know how many different EQ settings I tried it always sounded the same. Terrible lol
Hi there
My guitar is Fender Squier Stratocaster Bullet Strat, I also use a Boss OS 2 pedal.
Can I have a good sound with that guitar and the line 6 spider IV 15? (i´m thinking in buying one)
^ Ive had one for a little over 6 months I believe and it took me a while to figure that out. for the money you can't do a whole lot better. i've seen people flame this and also the Vyper so whatever. Of course I'd get something better if I could afford it but I don't get into all thos crazy effects anyway. Clean and Crunch is all I need. I also just got a RP90 by Digitech which is fun to play with and has a lot of differant settings. So far this setup is working for me.....
Should i buy SPIDER III 30watts or SPIDER IV 15watts ? 
i want one=$