Hey guys i was wondering if anyone had any experience with the line 6 spider iv amps, I was looking to buy the 150 watt head with the matching 4x12 320 watt cab and the foot pedal but i kept finding mixed reviews about it (even though the majority were still somewhat good) but id rather come here and ask you guys about the amp.

I have the Amplifi 150 and although there is some convenience  to using premade tones, I personally  would prefer dialing in my own tones. I find the interface somewhat confusing too much give me pedals and a marshall half and I'm happy .

I know this don't answer your ? just wanted to put my input on line 6. 

I have the Amplifi 150 and although there is some convenience  to using premade tones, I personally  would prefer dialing in my own tones. I find the interface somewhat confusing too much give me pedals and a marshall half and I'm happy .

I know this don't answer your ? just wanted to put my input on line 6. 

i do appreciate the input, anyone else able to give me some insight?

@@DeadlyPower Have you been able to listen to it/playing with one? If not, you should probably not buy it before making sure you like what it sounds like.

 

Line 6 amp aren't bad but many people tend to not appreciate the sound it produce so you would be better going at your local guitar shop with your guitar and try amp there first before making an investement in gear.

@@DeadlyPower Have you been able to listen to it/playing with one? If not, you should probably not buy it before making sure you like what it sounds like.

 

Line 6 amp aren't bad but many people tend to not appreciate the sound it produce so you would be better going at your local guitar shop with your guitar and try amp there first before making an investement in gear.

Thanks for the feedback, Ill be sure to visit guitar center tomorrow but im not sure if they will have the amp there. Im honestly just looking for a rig because i have a rock concert in a few months at my school that i play guitar in with 1 other person and its a pretty massive place to play and we play in front of atleast 1500 people, And by the time the concert comes up i will only have around 1300-1400 saved up to get the set up, So if you could give me any tips off what i just said id really appreciate it.

The place should have PA and a monitoring system on stage (i seriously hope), in that kind of situation you don't really need anything (maybe a TRS to XLR but even that shouldn't be necessary if the place is decently equiped).

 

The thing with an amp is that you will need to mic it up too which doesn't really make it easier if you have no idea how the place will be setup at all... 1500 people is a fucking big place and you won't power it up with an 150W amp alone anyway, it will only serve as a monitor for people on stage.

 

So you will be better checking out as many amp as you can (even some decent multi effect pedal or setting up a pedal board) to find out what kind of sound you like. There's probably some other Line 6 amp in a guitar center to gives you a decent idea of what it might sounds like too.

The place should have PA and a monitoring system on stage (i seriously hope), in that kind of situation you don't really need anything (maybe a TRS to XLR but even that shouldn't be necessary if the place is decently equiped).

 

The thing with an amp is that you will need to mic it up too which doesn't really make it easier if you have no idea how the place will be setup at all... 1500 people is a fucking big place and you won't power it up with an 150W amp alone anyway, it will only serve as a monitor for people on stage.

 

So you will be better checking out as many amp as you can (even some decent multi effect pedal or setting up a pedal board) to find out what kind of sound you like. There's probably some other Line 6 amp in a guitar center to gives you a decent idea of what it might sounds like too.

Alright thanks for the help

Line 6 amps are generally awful. I once bought a PRS Torero, which came with a free Line 6 Spider IV 15W and it was utter junk. Tone was trash and it just did not get any better in any way. However, I've a few times played a Line 6 that was designed with the help of Reinhold Bogner, which was good for what it was. Even that was made in China though. All Line 6 amps are like that, low to mid end at best, and really, for a 1500 people concert, the last thing I'd do would be going on stage with a crappy amp that doesn't even have any tubes on it. I wouldn't expect much from that cab either, as I don't know what speakers it uses to reach that 320W. Just looking at wattage levels of crappy transistor based gear is mistakenly buying gear at best, JFYI.

Like firekorn mentioned, you'll have whatever gear you have on stage mic'd, so you won't actually need those kind of wattages even for that much people. Now, for what I'd suggest, you would need to up your budget, and it would seriously be worth it. If so, then you can get an amp like this:

https://reverb.com/item/2170446-mesa-boogie-express-5-50-all-tube-guitar-amp-head

Then I'd couple it with a cab that has Celestion Vintage 30 speakers in it. Those are the speakers you might want for solid tone on the higher gain levels, and especially for, again, a 1500 people concert. However, not every V30 is made in Britain with Celestion's highest quality standards. Most are Chinese made. For that, I'd look for some cab that has British V30s in it and go no less than 2x12. Such as this one:

https://reverb.com/item/1603819-bogner-2-2x12-guitar-cabinet-closed-back-2010-black-tweed

The cab above also seems to be bit oversized for a 2x12, which would be better off. Bogner is one of the best for these things so you can't go wrong with it AS LONG AS it is the 8 ohm one. It needs to be 8 ohms in order to be British. 16 ohm V30s are made in China.

Line 6 amps are generally awful. I once bought a PRS Torero, which came with a free Line 6 Spider IV 15W and it was utter junk. Tone was trash and it just did not get any better in any way. However, I've a few times played a Line 6 that was designed with the help of Reinhold Bogner, which was good for what it was. Even that was made in China though. All Line 6 amps are like that, low to mid end at best, and really, for a 1500 people concert, the last thing I'd do would be going on stage with a crappy amp that doesn't even have any tubes on it. I wouldn't expect much from that cab either, as I don't know what speakers it uses to reach that 320W. Just looking at wattage levels of crappy transistor based gear is mistakenly buying gear at best, JFYI.

 

Like firekorn mentioned, you'll have whatever gear you have on stage mic'd, so you won't actually need those kind of wattages even for that much people. Now, for what I'd suggest, you would need to up your budget, and it would seriously be worth it. If so, then you can get an amp like this:

 

https://reverb.com/item/2170446-mesa-boogie-express-5-50-all-tube-guitar-amp-head

 

Then I'd couple it with a cab that has Celestion Vintage 30 speakers in it. Those are the speakers you might want for solid tone on the higher gain levels, and especially for, again, a 1500 people concert. However, not every V30 is made in Britain with Celestion's highest quality standards. Most are Chinese made. For that, I'd look for some cab that has British V30s in it and go no less than 2x12. Such as this one:

 

https://reverb.com/item/1603819-bogner-2-2x12-guitar-cabinet-closed-back-2010-black-tweed

 

The cab above also seems to be bit oversized for a 2x12, which would be better off. Bogner is one of the best for these things so you can't go wrong with it AS LONG AS it is the 8 ohm one. It needs to be 8 ohms in order to be British. 16 ohm V30s are made in China.

Im a 17 year old kid that works 2 days a week and has to pay car insurance and shit by himself, But i appreciate the answer and ive actually always wanted to try a mesa, Like i said before ill have to get into a guitar center soon and try these out. But there is probably no way i could make 2000 dollars by the time this concert comes up to get the amp head, cabs and pedals.

You could go cheaper with bit lower end gear, while being around the price level of the Line 6 couple and still have it miles ahead of anything Line 6, like with this combo:

https://reverb.com/item/1271317-2014-koch-multitone-50-watt-amplifier-head-sku-4333

https://reverb.com/item/2498771-marshall-1960a-lead-4x12-guitar-speaker-cabinet-awesome-used-cab

 

You could go cheaper with bit lower end gear, while being around the price level of the Line 6 couple and still have it miles ahead of anything Line 6, like with this combo:

 

https://reverb.com/item/1271317-2014-koch-multitone-50-watt-amplifier-head-sku-4333

 

https://reverb.com/item/2498771-marshall-1960a-lead-4x12-guitar-speaker-cabinet-awesome-used-cab

 

 

I made my way to guitar center and actually tried the spider iv and it seemed pretty decent, definitely got loud but i wasnt too much of a fan of the metal channel (yet i only played it for a bit) but the cleans and the twang sound pretty good. I tried looking up a video of the amp you showed but all i found was a video of the combo in which it got alot of hate on the sound so im not completely sure, But heres the video.

 

If I'm not wrong, from what I just looked up, the combo comes with Koch speakers. They ain't gonna sound as good as a well regarded in past cab such as the Marshall 1960, and the comments there are pretty silly to be fair. One guy is comparing it to a transistor amp and says even that gets better tones... and then comparisons of it to Chinese Peavey amps... this is an NL made amp, it doesn't come with Chinese made transformers etc, likely. Besides, the clean did sound nice and that camera is crap, and I'm unsure on his guitar either.

Looking on the spec sheet, the Koch is pretty much similar to a Fender SuperSonic 60 head, which is one of my amps. I mean, two 6L6 tubes, some 12AX7s etc etc. Really, it's in an entirely different league than the Spider, and if you compared the Spider to say X or Y good tube amp, it WILL perform like crap.

Doesn't have to be Koch, it's just what I came across on Reverb at that moment. Hell I didn't even know much about Koch amps until that point, but if you go read some written reviews on Sweetwater and such, people say it's a really good amp head. I can look for something with a more well known brand name to it, and still, you can seriously do better than a Line 6 Spider for a 1500 people concert.

If I'm not wrong, from what I just looked up, the combo comes with Koch speakers. They ain't gonna sound as good as a well regarded in past cab such as the Marshall 1960, and the comments there are pretty silly to be fair. One guy is comparing it to a transistor amp and says even that gets better tones... and then comparisons of it to Chinese Peavey amps... this is an NL made amp, it doesn't come with Chinese made transformers etc, likely. Besides, the clean did sound nice and that camera is crap, and I'm unsure on his guitar either.

 

Looking on the spec sheet, the Koch is pretty much similar to a Fender SuperSonic 60 head, which is one of my amps. I mean, two 6L6 tubes, some 12AX7s etc etc. Really, it's in an entirely different league than the Spider, and if you compared the Spider to say X or Y good tube amp, it WILL perform like crap.

 

Doesn't have to be Koch, it's just what I came across on Reverb at that moment. Hell I didn't even know much about Koch amps until that point, but if you go read some written reviews on Sweetwater and such, people say it's a really good amp head. I can look for something with a more well known brand name to it, and still, you can seriously do better than a Line 6 Spider for a 1500 people concert.

 

 

I was just honestly thinking about upping my budget to get the peavey 6505 and probably a matching cab and some pedals, Im just going to ask work to give me more hours (Which im not sure if they would do but its worth a try) But im pretty sure thats a damn good amp.

@@Puddle Of Mudd I'm curious to know how you qualify a good sounding amp. Could you give me some precise information on how you judge it without playing it?

 

I was just honestly thinking about upping my budget to get the peavey 6505 and probably a matching cab and some pedals, Im just going to ask work to give me more hours (Which im not sure if they would do but its worth a try) But im pretty sure thats a damn good amp.

 

Yes, the 6505 (and the 5150) are certainly way superior choices to the Spider, some don't like them due to some quality bits, but they're decent amps. Just make sure it's not used too much, as those are aged amps.
 

@@Puddle Of Mudd I'm curious to know how you qualify a good sounding amp. Could you give me some precise information on how you judge it without playing it?

Info on the Internet? You don't have to play something to qualify it is good. Take the Bogner XTC for example, that's a sick amp. Why should I need to play something that has everything one can ask for out of an amp?

You don't drive a Ferrari to know it's fast. You know it's fast from the ground up, it's common sense and some thinking...

 

 

 

I was just honestly thinking about upping my budget to get the peavey 6505 and probably a matching cab and some pedals, Im just going to ask work to give me more hours (Which im not sure if they would do but its worth a try) But im pretty sure thats a damn good amp.

 

Yes, the 6505 (and the 5150) are certainly way superior choices to the Spider, some don't like them due to some quality bits, but they're decent amps. Just make sure it's not used too much, as those are aged amps.

 

@@Puddle Of Mudd I'm curious to know how you qualify a good sounding amp. Could you give me some precise information on how you judge it without playing it?

Info on the Internet? You don't have to play something to qualify it is good. Take the Bogner XTC for example, that's a sick amp. Why should I need to play something that has everything one can ask for out of an amp?

 

You don't drive a Ferrari to know it's fast. You know it's fast from the ground up, it's common sense and some thinking...

 

Please explain "Aged", Should i only use the amp for gigging then?

 

Edit: on a second thought aswell, Ive also looked at some Orange amps that seemed to be nice

"Aged" means old / older. When an amp is aged, so are its caps, rectifier stage / stages etc etc. That doesn't mean you should use the amp only for gigging, what I meant was, not buying an amp that is beaten up.

Yes the Orange Rocker/Thunderverbs are also great choices, better than the Peavey IMO, but certainly more expensive also.

@@Puddle Of Mudd Except that for a car, the top speed is something that is part of the technical specification. While sound is something really subjective, everyone loves different sound and there's a big difference of sound between a Marshall JCM200 and a Triple Rectifier from Mesa or even an Orange tiny terror. Any of these would be qualified as good on the internet but you don't use a Triple Rectifier if you intend to get a bluesy fender-ish kind of sound...

 

That's why i prefer to avoid review from the internet cause i don't know the guy that did the review and i have no fucking clue what kind of sound he like or was searching for when trying the amp/head and if he was looking for something completely different than what i want, i'll end up being deceived by what he qualify as "good"...

 

Sure you can choose amp based on the power output (which they never indicate but instead show the power consumption of the amp), option like channel, EQ complexity, etc. but that's not what really makes a "good" sound for you or anyone else...

I didn't mention top speed, I was just trying to give a general idea about what could be a good performer to you using common logic, and no, cars can be subjective too. One might pick a BMW 7-Series over a Mercedes S-Series or the other way around. You're wrong about the Triple Rectifier, I own one and I do get that bluesy Fender-ish sound on the clean channel using tubes on the loose settings. The Triple Rectifier is a more versatile amp than you think it is, it's suited for any form of music. You're just looking at its wattage levels, and the fact of it being used for heavy gain for the most part, and assuming that.

The amps you talk about are from different categories to begin with. The JCM 2000 is more of a mid to high end amp while the Triple Rectifier is bar none a high end class amp. You can clearly tell that from the way the amps are built / their prices and so on. The Tiny Terror is a rather low watt amp and it has nothing to do with the other pair... obviously there ARE going to be differences from a Tiny Terror to a Triple Rectifier... what else do you expect?

The manufacturers do indeed show the power output of an amp. If an amp is 50W, that's its output. It doesn't consume 50W, it consumes more than 50W, no such electrical device is %100 efficient. The things that make an amp good sounding for me, are its tube stages, build quality and so on. I can have a rough idea on what is good and what not, I don't HAVE TO play the amp to tell that. However, yes, playing would indeed give me a better idea but that doesn't mean I can't tell what is good and what not, in this case, for the OP, not by playing the amp in question.

to know it's fast.

Maybe i didn't read it correctly then... Sorry!

 

Yes cars can be subjective too because there's the outside looks, how the inside are comfortable to you and many other parameter but if you are looking for a powerful car, there's obvious parameters to look for like horsepower, weight, etc. while you don't really have those criteria for a "good sounding amp".

 

True that Triple Rectifier does have cool sound in the clean channel but it's not the fender-ish sound, bluesy maybe, but not that fender style. But i get that it's debatable.

 

Yes those amp are from different price category and wattage level but most of the internet agree that all three "sounds good" so which one do you choose? The one you prefer but you can't correctly qualify that over the internet and certainly not over simple review with gear you probably don't have yet... So my question seems to stay unanswered.

 

yeah i did a partial mistake here, manufacturer do not show input power, they show the power output that can come out of the amplification chain, not the power that get out of the speaker, it's a good comparison for head only but once you put a cab in there, things get fucked pretty well as speaker are bad watt to db converter.

 

good sounding for me, are its tube stages, build quality and so on

But how do you know that? I doubt there's a lot of manufacturer that let you know how their pre-amp and amplification stage are actually built with which component... So you have no idea how good they are is what you are saying here or am i missing something?

 

On a side note, i doubt many guitarist would actually be able to decipher an electronic schematics of an amplification stage of their own amp too but maybe you do and that's nice.

Fast doesn't only regard to top speed. One would expect a fast car to accelerate fast, turn corners fast due to its aerodynamics and so on. It was just a comparison of an amp being good in "common sense". It was not meant to be all literally taken and head to head compared to an amp being any good.

I don't know what you find to be "Fender style". I have a Super-Sonic 60 and a Triple Recto laying here and I can side by side compare them... the Mesa has more oomph in gain but when set up properly, it can sound like the Fender's Vibrolux clean. That to me, BTW, is pretty much the only good effort of Fender at making an amp as it has a proper gain channel along with its clean. So it is like the best Fender amp you'd compare that Mesa to (if you exclude the 100W Super-Sonic or a few from their 2015 line, also considering that the 2015 models haven't made any noise around guitar communities...)

You CAN select which one of those you want from the Internet alone. The info you need is there. Both the Triple Recto and the JCM 2000 are high watt amps. So if you want something that can output a lot of power, however on the cheaper end, you buy a JCM 2000. If money isn't a concern, you get the Recto. The Orange is not on the same category. You get that as a bedroom amp or so... it's a low wattage amp.

You can tell some about the internal built of an amp as well, I.E, how many of which tubes are used, whether it is hand-made or not and so on... these things aren't actually too hard to understand.

I have a different option for you. Have you considered a Line 6 Helix?  :) 

I know it's not a traditional amp but the Helix floor model is around 1500 dollars and you can connect direct to the PA so no need to carry amps and cabs.


With the new 2.00 Firmware Helix now has Mark IV amp channels, and Snapshots which is like Scenes that Fractal uses but better. The list of amps, effects, cabs, mics and routing options are too many to list here. And you can load any IR's you wish.  :) 



 

Is that something like the Polish Taurus Stomp Box? I mean, a pedal processor-alike amp? If so, I really wouldn't spend $1500 on something that does everything via digital modelling rather than tubes... you can do much better than that for that much money.

It's actually many things in one. It's a digital amp, cab, mic, effects modeller with many routing options and you can use it any way you want with or without an amp direct to the PA. You can get it as a pedalboard or as a rack unit. It has customisable scribble strips, you can assign any pedal you want, rename them, change the ring colours and you know where everything is with just a glance. If you have a pedal that you love you can connect it via the inputs, and use it from the Helix. You can even use it as a sound card for your PC/Mac and record direct to your DAW. There are way too many features to list them here you can check them out by visiting the official website.  :) 


It used to be that digital modelling wasn't that good, but the new units like Line 6 Helix and Fractal AX8 can give tube amps a run for their money. They even react like the real ones when you play. 


For 1500 you will get an amp and cab that are good and you are right. :) But that's only what you get. And let's not forget the size and weight. 

With the Helix you get faithful reproduction of 48 Amps, 30 Cabs (and any IR you wish to load), 91 effects and 16 mics with different placement options for each cab. And they are adding more as time goes by.


If you have the time or mood sometime check out Glenn DeLaune's Helix Presets on Youtube to get an idea. Although it's better to try one if you get a chance, because youtube compresses the sound, it sounds better in real life. Just don't try it with the default patches it's better to make a preset, it takes like 5 minutes from scratch. Yes it's that easy to use. It can be as simple or as complex as you like.


You'll be surprised at how close you can get to the real thing. In a band or a recording situation you can't even hear that it's not a tube amp.  :)

I'm unsure as to how accurate that can be, I've heard some high end rack amps (one from Line 6) on YouTube and such, and they just do not get to that sweet sound spot of a good tube amp.

For $1500 you can get a tube amp, cab plus an effects box. Not just an amp + cab. Sure, you'll have to carry them but that's what bands do. I don't know of any band with a big name to it that records or plays on a stage with transistor based equipment... and there is a reason for that.

Just like how the top-notch hi-fi setups are tube-based, so are guitar gear. Sorry but I'm not inclined to believe in that. Tubes are still the best sound tech, period.

Actually you'll be surprised by how many big bands and really good guitar players use an Axe Fx, Kemper and Helix as an amp, effects unit or both, on stage or for recording.  :) 

Vai, Satriani, Petrucci, The Edge, Alex Lifeson and many more have an Axe Fx in their racks and use them one way or another. Helix is the new kid on the block and it is already finding it's way to big stages. Garbage is the latest band to adopt the rack unit, they are completely digital now with no amps and they use it live for guitars and bass.  :) 

I agree with you a tube amp is a tube amp and it's the best sounding. But technology has advanced and the gap right now is so small that in a mix it's really hard to understand which is the tube amp and which is the modeller.  :)