Along came a SPIDER! (Line 6 Spider III 150 Watt Stereo 2 x 12" Combo)

Member Name: otalgia

Product:	Line 6 Spider III 150 Watt Stereo 2 x 12" Combo
Date:	08/07/08 (527 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Variety of sounds, reasonably priced

Disadvantages: Heavy

Introduction
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The Spider three amplifiers are produced by Los Angeles manufacturer Line6.

Line6 are renowned in the guitar industry for their guitar and amplifier modelling. Amplifier modelling is making an amplifier sound like another amplifier by electronically modifying the sound parameters such as tone, body and acoustics of the amplified sound. This is useful as a guitarist can emulate many of their favourite sounds and only need one amplifier to achieve this, making savings in both space required and the obvious financial savings.

The spider three amplifiers are the third amplifier in the Spider range and features Amplifier Modelling and integrated guitar effects (devices that change the characteristics of your guitar sound). The amplifier also sports hundreds of preset guitar sounds and artist styles, more on these later.

The amp controls and settings
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There are several variants of the Line6 spider three amplifier, the wattage and effects available separating them from each other. I have chosen to review the 150 watt twin speaker combo, as it is the amplifier that I use in my own band.

The first thing you notice about the amplifier is its weight, it is very heavy. It does have a built in single strap handle on its top, but it is still difficult to carry for long distances.

Despite its weight, it is a relatively compact amplifier considering its extremely loud output volume. It's a little over 2 foot wide and less than 2 foot tall and can be fitted comfortably into the boot of an average family car, if you can lift it!

The front of the amplifier houses the control panel, power switch and input jack sockets. There are 10 shiny silver rotary controls -

Amp Selection control - This is used to select the amplifier model required. There are 12 models in total ranging from beautiful clean lush sweeping sounds to harsh and ear shredding distorted models.

Drive Control - Usually referred to as Gain on most amplifiers this increases the input signal in strength and effectively pushes the amplified sound towards a hotter grittier sound.

Bass, Mid and Treble controls - These should be self explanatory. These three controls shape the overall tone of your guitar output.

Channel Volume - The output volume that refers to the settings made. This differs to the master volume. Having several different stored guitar sounds and channel volumes allows you to switch between patches and vary the volume without having to adjust the master volume.

Effects control 1 - On this rotary control you have three effects. Chorus/Flange gives a spatial and fullness to your sound, phaser changes the sound into astral spaceship effects and Tremolo gives a cut out effect that is commonly used in Western film soundtracks. Of these effects you can only use one at a time. Each effect has about 120 degrees of the knobs rotation, increasing in effect. A small red LED light highlights which effect is currently in use.

Effects control 2 - This rotary effect controls three echo effects. The first effect is delay, which repeats the sound you play and decreases in volume after each repeat. This is a similar to shouting in a grand canyon. The second effect is Tape Echo. This effect is similar to the delay effect though the sound distorts and disfigures on each repeat. This type of echo emulates the old tape based echoes used in the seventies. The final effect is the sweep echo that is similar to the tape echo but adds more noise and stereo panning to the effect. This is a sound is often used in reggae dub tracks.
As with control effects 1 only one type of effect on this control can be used at any one time, however a combination of both control knobs is possible. The tempo of the effect can be altered by tapping the speed of the effect required on a small button labelled 'Tap' that is above the effects section.

Effects control 3 - Reverb
This sound creates a reverb sound that adds ambience and space to the sound. If you think of the way that your voice changes when singing in a shower or large hall then you've grasped the concept of reverb!

Master - The output volume of the amplifier. The further right the knob is rotated the more likely your neighbours will come around and hit you! (Assuming you can hear the door bell that is!)

In addition to the rotary knobs there are 4 channel buttons. These buttons can be pushed to instantly access a preset user sound that has been stored earlier. To create a sound you rotate all of the control knobs and effects until you have created your desired sound and then hold one of the 4 buttons down for a few seconds until it flashes. A secondary push and the sound has been stored and can be recalled at any time. What is worth noting is that if you recall a sound using the channel button then all of the current control settings are ignored and overridden.

The final button on the panel is a 4 way D-Pad switch that allows you to scroll through and select a sound from the hundreds of preset sounds from the internal sound banks. Several famous guitarists from bands such as Suede, Razorlight and even Slipknot were involved in creating their recognisable signature sounds and then programming them into the amp. There is also a huge selection of song based templates from the past four decades where the sounds of The Rolling Stones, Police, Pink Floyd and many others are emulated. The selected bank is highlighted in a yellow LCD panel to the right of the button. This LCD is also used to display the inbuilt guitar tuner.

Finally the front panel has two inputs sockets, one output socket and a pedal connector. One socket is the standard input used for your guitar and the second socket is a smaller 3.5mm socket that can be used for plugging in an alternative sound source such as an MP3 player, enabling you to play along with your favourite tunes. The output socket is used to plug in Stereo headphones or to connect directly to a recording desk. The output does not add additional hiss to the sound so is quite useful for recording loud sounding guitar in a quiet environment. Finally the pedal socket allows you to connect and optional foot pedal that enables you to scroll through the user presets with your foot rather than using the buttons on the panel. This is essential for live performances and uninterrupted playing.

The back of the amp is open backed an exposes two Custom 12" Celestion speakers. In addition to this there is a large heat sink (that keeps the amp cool but does get blisteringly hot itself) and two 8 ohms speaker sockets that allow the amp to connect to additional speaker cabinets if required.


What does it sound like?
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So know we know what the amp looks like and its onboard controls the big question is what does it sound like!

The amplifier is a transistor amplifier, as opposed to a Tube amplifier. Tube amplifiers use glass electronic tubes to give body analogue warmth to a sound. To try and match this desired sound the Line6 uses its modelling electronics to try to emulate the sound.

As it would be impossible to review the hundreds of presets programmed into the amp I have decided to choose some of my favourite sounds and comment on them.
For the tests I used a Fender Jaguar guitar, a new set of Ernie ball light gauge strings and a leem guitar lead.

Sound Test One - Slipknot patch-
I chose the default Slipknot patch, though there are a few more included. As soon as this patch was selected the amp was spitting sonic fire at me! Tuning the top string to D instead of E and selecting the neck pickups on the guitar produced a bottom heavy, extremely distorted (yet tunefully audible) guitar sound. The solo guitar riffs sounded akin to agitated bees in a jar. This is undoubtedly a sound used by Slipknot on many of there songs, 'Spit it out' instantly sprung to mind when choosing this. Overall this was a very convincing and useable sound.

Sound Test Two - Another Brick patch -
Presumably this sound was modelled on the Pink Floyd guitar sound from their number one hit. This sound is a million miles away from the Slipknot sound. I selected the bridge pick up on the guitar and strummed a chord. The result was a sharp, clean and echoing guitar. There may have been a dash of reverb too, but this is an extremely bright and clear sound not that dissimilar to the Police's walking on the moon guitar sound. I admit I did have to go onto the web to listen to the original singles guitar sound to compare. Yes there are similarities, maybe not exactly the same but a convincing clone.

Sound Test Three - The Drowners -
I really liked the sound of Suede and Britpop in general. The Drowners was one of Suede's more anthemic numbers and Butlers (guitarist) sound distinct. So I set the guitar to its middle pick up and strummed and finger picked a few notes in true Butler style. The result was a clear guitar sound that was slightly overloaded and distortion bubbling underneath. Initially I wasn't convinced by this sound and didn't recognise it as being the Suede sound at all. It was only after cranking the amp main volume halfway that the sound suddenly changed and became much more authentic. I was pleased with this sound.

Sound test four - Riggs
I am unsure what this preset represents (I have lost the manual!) however this is probably the sound that I have most used since purchasing the amp. The sound is akin to a Marshall Guitar stack used in most rock tracks. It provides a distorted guitar sound that is both sharp and pronounced and sustains forever. If you think of the Darkness hit 'I believe in a thing called love' then that is this sound. Testosterone fuelled spandex trouser rocking fun!

So the four sounds I chose were all excellent and useable. If you were to scroll through the plethora of sounds then I am sure there is a sound in there to suit every guitarist of every genre of music.

The effects are extremely useable too, though maybe a gimmick rather than a necessity on this amp. Of the effects, the reverb is a little one dimensional and adds a swamp like sound to your playing. The chorus is maybe a little overpowering and the phaser is fine if you want to play in a space rock type band. The tremolo is an effect that I seldom use, but for that Cramps or Pulp Fiction sound it can be useful. The delays however are much more controllable and sensible.

Another thing to consider is that this is a LOUD amplifier and can shake the walls when you turn it up. In fact at three quarters of the volume our drummer was noticeably getting drowned out from the sound.


Conclusion
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Considering its reasonable pricing point and overall variety of sounds then you are definitely purchasing a lot of power for your money. The modelling seems quite authentic; in fact it replicated an old fender amplifier I had once owned very realistically. The artists signature sounds are good, though I would expect that you would require a similar guitar as used by the artist to emulate the sound truthfully.

Being a transistor amp it is noticeably not as 'warm' in its tones as a tube amp and this area of tone is difficult to emulate regardless of the amount of processing and electronic wizardry.

It may not be a Marshall Tube Stack from the seventies; however it is a very useable amp both in the home and studio environment and is a great first buy for the budding Hendrix.

Price and Availability
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The amplifier was available for £265.99 from www.amazon.co.uk at the time of writing.

Copyright Otalgia (M Jones) 2008

Summary: A great amplifier for the budding Hendrix in your life