[Closed] New Guitar Amp - Line 6 Spider IV

Go with the Boss - I’ve not played one but they seem to be widely regarded, especially if compared to the spider.

What’s your budget? is this for home practice or will you play out? What sort of music do you want to play?

I am only concerned with playing at home, my talents are a long way from venturing out. The Line 6 amp was second hand so was only £70 compared to £180 for the boss. I tend towards guitar rock and funky music. Nothing very heavy but some Muse Esque distortion would be nice in the future.

My two-pennorth as a drummer who dabbles with guitar & bass: buy an amp that doesn’t do modelling, if you can find one in your budget - it’s likely to be a better spec than a modelling amp at the same price.

Then buy FX pedals as you need / desire them. Zoom do some ok multi-FX pedals for a reasonable budget

Modelling amps etc so fine at low volumes.
It is larger valve amps that need to be at a good volume to sound right.

Spider IV will be fine, and if you don't like you not lose much selling.
Will let you learn which amp tones and effects you like

Tbh I’d go with your guitarhero’s recommendation in that case. Especially if budget is a concern.
It’s very easy to go OTT...

I've just put my Katana 50 (less than 3mths old, little use) on ebay.

I'm picking up a Nextone 40 tomorrow 😍👻

Bikeboy, what sort of offer would you accept.

Oh... erm.. I’m looking for £135. They’re £190 new..

I find amps to be more important than guitars in many respects, but then I have a ridiculous amount of money in gear

That's said for the money KAt 50 or Line 6 is fine for playing at home

BikeBoy - I'd be interested in how you find the nextone and perhaps why you went for that over the Katana artist

This is just an excuse to post this picture again

I'm mostly using the Tiny Terror at 7W though.

^^#Rig 👻

BikeBoy – I’d be interested in how you find the nextone and perhaps why you went for that over the Katana artist

Well, the Nextone has 4 AMP "valve" settings, since I only play clean funky tones I was looking for something very simple that would play at low volume yet produce the same tone really quietly. A lot of Amps don't really come into their own until you start turing them up to louder than music stereo volume. The Katana 50 is a great Amp for low volume and plenty of pre-sets, yet I use very little pre-sets.. just some 70's funk or very clean "bell" chime sounds or some George Benson rip off mellow. The Artist has too many settings and pre-sets and is more a gigging amp, since I'm never going to gig anywhere it seemed a little excessive.

The Nextone, well it's a simple Amp. Plenty of downloaded pre-sets off the Tone Central (same as the katana 50 BTW) and I can dial in some tone easy enough. How can I put this.. it's sort of the "atmosphere" I'm after, that low volume space and tone, if you understand that.. a bit of depth without slamming reverb and delay all over it.

I looked at Fender Twins, Vox AC's and Blackstars and Marshall (the Marshall small combos were absolutely NOT what I was looking for at all) the Vox's need louder volume to bring the tone out, the Blackstars are solid Amps, but designed with more overdrive/gain built in as standard, dealing that out meant higher volume again. Fender Twins were very close, but again for the price I can get the Nextone with the same tone at lower volume.

Then of course I could go down the boutique route, that I haven't dismissed but the cost and tones I've yet to explore.. the Nextone allows a simple setup for the playing style I enjoy.. bit of Plug n Play if you will.

I've a Tele with a Hot Rod in the neck and never use the bridge, thats pretty awesome and very very lovely.. then I recently bought a Duesenburg Paloma that is astonishing, man that thing has a tone all of it's own and I'm smitten so much I'm thinking of buying another Duesy... the Julia.. jeeze ...

I'm collecting the Nextone later today, once I've plugged it in at home I'll let you know my thoughts.

Sorry for the thread hijack, but the information is relevant to the OP's requirements and I think most folks will gain something from what I've written.

🤓

Also just picked up my guitar after a 15 year hiatus. Found an orange 12 crush on Facebook market place for £10, guy had bought it used it once and couldn't be arsed anymore and wanted rid of it. Went and tested it and was lovely for what I wanted...little lad loves watching me play and sits on the amp, its currently a good size for him and its been that long since I've done any serious guitaring that it sounds reasonable to me.

That Dusenberg looks very nice. I'd quite like a semi hollow/thinline as my next guitar. The Gibson Midtowns were nice, but the Jackson Surfcaster has always called out

Well I picked up my New and Shiny Nextone, it's called the Stage (the smaller 40watt one) and eyyybyyyygummm.. it's astonishing. Super clean and funky channels and plenty of options to add gain or crunch if I want too (hmmm... probably not) In some ways it's a Twin Reverb/Princeton/Morgan/Freedman tone tastic box of tricks.

My Duesy I took along to try it out (and tried the Duesy Julia out too, more of that later) and blinking ek.. it sounded funky right out of the box. Single coil funk, neck/middle pickup rounded hollowed out mellow.. just great, exactly what I've been looking for.

Played for 3hrs after picking it up.. That says a lot IMO.

The Duesy Julia, well.. well.... well...... I'm awe-struck. I love my Paloma, but the Julia is stunning, different to the Paloma and going to be bought in a  couple of months.. They really shouldn't have taken it out of it's case should they.

Picks for those interested in Guitar Pron...

Approve

I've used Fender, Cube, Vox and Line 6 modelling amps and rate them in that order (just my preference, if I were a metal head I'd buy a Cube, if I were a VOx AC 30 fan I'd buy a VOX). I've not used the Boss. The speaker emulations in the Fender work pretty well in that if you use the Vintage 30 or Greenback cab simulators they sound remarkably like my Vintage 30 and Greenback cabs but at very low volume levels. The best models in the Fenders are the "Bassman" and "57 Deluxe", surprise, surprise. I reckon my Fender Mustangs on the "British 80s" setting sound better than my Marshall JCM 2000 TSL head through 4x12 Greenbacks up to the volume I'm starting to think "this can't be good for my ears".

This thread has provoked an existentialist question, why would anyone with a tele not use the bridge pickup? A tele is the bridge pickup! 😉

I was being horribly tempted by a Katana Air earlier today... but the Fender's look good too. I am another lapsed player, but all my old gear is LOUD and doesn't mix with a young family (so a revalve of the Boogie isn't really an option).

Just watching with interest 😉

why would anyone with a tele not use the bridge pickup? A tele is the bridge pickup!

Weeeelll, apart from being weird ... 🤪 most funk players use a Tele in the neck pickup, Sly from “the family stone” and early Nils, and hey a billion other funk masters...

And me.

And it sounds funky.. 🤩🕺🕴

Is that an Explorer I see in YGH’s pic? 🚶‍♂️🚶‍♂️

Really,

6:35 on for a close up

Its an 1983 Dean Z, with Pearly Gates pickups.
Very ZZ

Its an 1983 Dean Z, with Pearly Gates pickups.

Ohh.. awesome 👍👍

Clearly someone doesn’t know SatFS...

But that’s fine, we all like different types of music.

A small, cheap, Chinese valve amp can sound great.
I've got a Fender Champ 600 reissue and it's just about perfect for home use. Nice tone, loud enough, responds well to pedals, simple.

I've also got a Vox AD50 modelling amp which is perfect for small rooms with a drummer, rehearsals etc.
It sounds fine, really pleasant.

But the £99 5W valve amp sounds better.

Thanks all for your input, some interesting reading. I picked up the line 6 spider last night for £60 and really like it. I am sure there are better amps out there, but this will help me massively to find my style and sound which other than getting much better at playing the guitar is what I need. I can also sell it for close to what I bought it for and buy something else. It's a massive benefit being able to play after the kids are in bed with or without head phones on and not having to listen to a really loud buzzing. Thanks again for your advice but don't let this stop an interesting thread.

As you say at that price you'll get your money back when you've got half a dozen other amps and find you're not using much anymore. 😉

with Pearly Gates pickups. Very ZZ

I've got some of those in Zebra in a Blacktop Tele, a sort of Tele Les Paul. They're the cleanest/clearest humbuckers I've used. Clean enough to do chordy/strummy things like Greenday.

I picked up the line 6 spider last night for £60 and really like it.

👍👍🎸🎸

Not long before you start asking about pedals n stuff 🤣😜

My gilet jaune friend got in touch to record some lyrics he'd written to an Vanessa Paradis song. I started with my tele and a little amp - too loud. Had a go with an acoustic - a bit loud. Had a go with my really soft sounding Ibanez - nearly there. I put down the pick and played really light with a finger and thumb. With only 14 hits it doesn't look like it's going viral.

A word of warning about headphones, if anyone here needs them to remain married or housed: I bought my first set of proper pro audio ones today and they've just made me realise how crap my guitar amp sounds 😂

I bought my first set of proper pro audio ones today and they’ve just made me realise how crap my guitar amp sound

Ot maybe just how crap the headphone out sounds, how good the amp simulation is etc,. If solely using headphones (which I do as I find having an amp on a very low volume is not worth bothering and can't have it loud due to small house) it is worth getting a better headphone solution rather than a big amp with a headphone out bolted on as an afterthought (which a lot will as it is not the main purpose of the amp)

I stay in hotels during the week, quite often, so have to take my guitar along to play during the evening.. So I bought one of these back in October... I bought it because it's similar in effects to the Katana50, so easy to scroll through pre-sets and find a tone you are happy with.. and it's programmable if you fancy dialling in/out tones too.. and it has headphone jack which is why I bought it mainly. SO I have the same tones, headphones and plug my iPad or iPhone into it and funk along all night in near silence..

Cheap too (IMO)

I use a Vox Amplug when travelling, 15e second hand.

Ot maybe just how crap the headphone out sounds, how good the amp simulation is etc,.

That's pretty much what I meant, seeming as the amp only does amp sim, with a headphone out socket "bolted on". It's also unlikely the headphone socket has a cab sim built in.

As the others above have suggested, I may get a multifx unit that has a headphone socket and use that instead of an amp. Something like the Zoom G3n (at the budget end) or the Amplifire 6 (at the more expensive end).

I am enjoying this thread

Some good choices of amps above.

Does anyone know of a similar type of amp which allows for an effects loop - for looper use?

I have a Vox VTX20, same sort of deal - modelling amp so lots of built in amp models and effects.

One thing I would like to do though it hook up the Boss RC-3 Looper pedal that I recieved as a Christmas present into the effects loop, so each recorded layer can have a different tone - but the Vox does not have one. I like all of the onboard effects so don't want to go down the straightforward amp plus pedals route.

So far, I've used the looper in two ways
1. Pedal between the guitar and amp hence the amp settings apply to every layer
2. Guitar straight into amp, Pedal connected to the amp headphone out (via pedal "line in") and then output of the pedal into another amp/speaker/hifi (a portable speaker in my case). This works and the recorded quality is pretty good, but there is quite a bit of electrical noise through the speaker while playing.

@markwsf

I have the same problem. As far as I am aware there isn't a way to do it, other than the options you mention. The only real way to do it is to buy separate pedals (or a multifx pedal) and put the looper in the chain between last pedal and amp.

@Bikebouy - thank you for the nextone info and rundown - most interesting

re looing - best sound I have got is to use a splitter and 2 different amps - split one goes to looper and amp - split 2 goes to other amp

otherwise a line 6 hx stomp will easily do it with snap shots and looper - but naturally much more expensive

I think the OP got a good deal - as a long time (since original POD) modeller user, I was looking for a Spider, as a lightweight versatile gigging machine it covers everything pretty well - I have a small practice Vox modeller and prefer the Line 6 versions overall. The 64 AC30 stays in the cupboard in the main in case some goon rests their beer on it.

However then I found a Mesa/Boogie DC-3 nearby for much cheapness, and kind of forgot all my original criteria 😀 .. if it's any comfort the headphone out on that is crap too but OMG that scooped lead .... my neighbours hate me more than ever. Back on the hot glass addiction again ^^