Anyone try the Spider Valve (Line 6) yet?

[vampirefish]

I'm not in the market for one of these, but thought it was interesting.. I knew Line 6 was going to come out with an all tube modeling map (http://line6.com/spidervalve/), just hadn't realized it was already released (end of Nov 07). I can't seem to find many guitar mag reviews on it (online) or user reviews for that matter (except for the Line 6 forums, which of course rave about it ).

I did hear a couple demos, via YouTube that sounded horrific - but I think it was because the guy loved high gain, metalish settings, which is just not for me. If it's tube, baby... I want the smooth butta and clean distortion!

[teletard]

i was excited to try it after hearing and seeing the clips on the line 6 web site. but after playing it, the excitement removed. it sounded nothing like the clips on the site

[trag-o-caster]

I could be wrong, but it just seemed like another big marketing scam to me.

And why would anyone want to spend the extra $$$ on an amp that looks almost exactly like their cheaper Spider combos?

And ANOTHER thing....

The whole point behind tube amp emulation is to get rid of those pesky tubes in the first place. So what are THEY thinking???

Rant over. Thank you very much....

[WhiteWolf]

Originally Posted by trag-o-caster

And ANOTHER thing....

The whole point behind tube amp emulation is to get rid of those pesky tubes in the first place. So what are THEY thinking???

Rant over. Thank you very much....

Prolly because although they (modeling amps) sound really close to a tube amp, they don't have the feel that only a tube amp has....they still feel like yer playing through a solid state.

tubes feel alive

solid state feels dead

[vampirefish]

Yeah... I was really surprised just at how it looks - totally cheesy! I mean.. couldn't they have come up with a cool retro look or something? And WHY did they keep the name 'Spider'? I mean, that was thier crappiest amp!

Guess we'll see.... but there has been absolutely NO hype online (except for Line 6 forums). I myself have owned a Flextone (1st gen) and have never been overly impressed (or happy) with it. But heck, it has all of the effects, etc... no tube of course. Just recently I resorted to using a Presonus TubePre in front of it in hopes of sweetening it up. Worked 'a little'... but not quite.

Also, in playing a VOX Valvetronix... now that has life to it... the way they integrated a tube with thier technology.... very nice indeed. I plan on picking up an AD60VTX tomorrow...sweet! Closest you'll get, in my opinion (for a modeling amp).

... of course I've not heard a new Spider Valve in person or played one..

Anway... it's been interesting...just thought I'd see more widespread excitement about it.

[teletard]

how did they get the video clips from the website to sound so amazing. from those vids, i was sold completely. it seemed like the best off all worlds. from clean, semi clean to over the top bogner. but i should have known, when there was not one preset with a bogner amp on it.

[kovachian]

I haven't tried one but I have no desire to. Nothing against modelling, I used to have a Vetta and that thing was a friggin' monster. I currently use a PODxt and I couldn't be happier with it. Using tubes all of a sudden just seems to go against everything Line 6 has been striving to achieve for roughly 15 years now. It's like they said "Screw it, we give up."

Originally Posted by WhiteWolf

tubes feel alive

solid state feels dead

Pfff don't tell that to BB King, he might have to sell his Lab System L5.

[rootsnblues]

I was given the 1x12 model last week by a guy who could not figure it out. First of all, it is heavy as heck-very hard to move around. Very annoying-when you scroll through the presets, you'll go from a low volume clean patch to something that is so loud, it rips your head off. I don't know why they all can't be the same volume. I took the BFDR model and an actual vintage Fender Deluxe Reverb amp and endlessly switched from A to B trying to match the Line 6 tone with the real amp. The Line 6 tone was boxy, one dimensional and made my ears tired after playing it a while. It lacks the clear highs and lows, complexity and nuance that I love when playing through a real Fender amp.

[Freight Twang]

I played one at Guitard Center, very disappointing, seems like another attempt to get cash out of little kids that could do way better with something else. It was just life-less, all though the effects were o.k., its not my bag.

[trag-o-caster]

I just don't understand how this is supposed to work:

You have this amp modeling technology, that is supposed to sound like various classic tube amplifiers with their output sections being tapped into. This technology is supposed to relieve us of all of those special "quirks" that come with the old fashioned tube technology. One of those quirks being the fact that a tube amps tone will change drastically as it's volume is increased or decreased.

So, you mate this new digital technology with a tube power amp, thus bringing back the quirks of tube technology? And now you're back to square one with having to turn your amp down, and having your tone change again?

I'm just not getting it.

[Rob DiStefano]

Yep, give the Dumb Idea Award to Line 6 for combining a both a tube amp and digital tube amp modeler in the same package. Or maybe Line 6 is just pandering to clueless, dumb customers who "want it all". Yeesh.

[Capel]

We got one at the shop I work at, I've played it and.......
disappointing! Was OK but not an improvement over the non-tube spiders, bass response lacks definition IMO, makes everything a bit "mushy".

I'm in agreement with everyone else - redundant feature having real valves in a line 6, but the clueless punter (the "valves are good" metalheads - watch their faces when you tell them Dimebag's signature Randall amp was 50% solid state!) is hot for these.

[LOTF]

I don't think I want one. I'm essentially doing the same thing running my VOX Tone Lab (the Valvetronix answer to the Pod) through the effects loop on my AC30CC2. Actually, I have to be careful to adjust both the Tone Lab and the amp controls properly or it will sound like crap. The 12AX7 in the Tone Lab can be a bit too much added to the 12AX7s in the AC30's pre-amp.

Actually, where the Tone Lab really shines is when I run it through my old Flextone II. VOX doesn't offer as many speaker or cab models as Line 6 but what they do offer sounds a helluva lot better to my ears. The Tone Lab almost makes my Flextone II sound like a real amp.

[Acephspades]

It kind of seems like a last gasp of air for Line 6's amplifier line in my opinion. Ya all remember 4-7 years ago when modeling amps were all the rage? Line 6 was right there in the forefront with everybody following right behind. Here it is almost 2008 and practically everybody has dropped out of the race and the ones left in the race like Vox have made these as affordable as practice amps. Remember how expensive the first Vox modelers were?

I've never been impressed with Line 6's amps. I've played a few at music stores and my old friend has a Flextone II or III and I thought it sounded pretty lame.

In my opinion for a while Line 6 was like your typical computer manufacturer. It seemed like as soon a new product came out it was obsolete by the end of the week for the newer and more improved version. To me the tube amps seem like they are scrambling a bit for ideas.

[rootsnblues]

Here's a Spider Valve thread with an interesting point of view from Scott Peterson of The Gear Page:

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/sho...t=spider+valve