Line 6 spider valve HD100?

A7X

Im on the lookout for a valve amp but im seriously low on funds. I cant even afford this but I can well save up for it! I'd love a Mesa Boogie but I'm after coming across this Line 6 amp which is designed by Bogner. It looks like it may be the bizz and I'm seriously considering getting it but I wont have tried it out ya know? So I was wondering if anyone here has played on one before or what they think about it?

Voodu Child

A7X wrote: »

I'm seriously considering getting it but I wont have tried it out ya know?

They have those in Musicmaker in Dublin if you want to try out. Im sure most Line6 dealers have them, so even if you're not in Dublin it can't be too hard to track a demo of one down. Even if you plan on buying online, i'd suggest you try to get a playtest of one first.

boycey

Reliability and serviceability would be two concerns for me, regardless of how good the tones were. Mixing old school heat producing valves with a all that digital processing equipment could possibly present problems which leads to serviceability- is your local amp tech gonna be of any use if the thing does go kaput outside of warranty?
Admittedly Line 6 and even more so Bogner have excellent and well deserved reputations- but then this is a first for both companies, and indeed for guitar amplification as far as I know. Having said that I'd love to hear one cranked!!

Patricide

Id love to hear one full stop. Heard a load o mixed reviews about them so far. I always thought that the line 6 amps were great to have a fool around with but they always seemed too sterile or somthing for me. The tubes might just fix that problem.

Let me know how it works out if you get around to trying one.

Eoin Madsen

boycey wrote: »

Reliability and serviceability would be two concerns for me, regardless of how good the tones were. Mixing old school heat producing valves with a all that digital processing equipment could possibly present problems which leads to serviceability

I doubt it to be honest. Valves go on top, ICs go inside. There'd be more heat generated inside the chassis of a solidstate amp than a valve amp. You should see the heat sinks they have to put on power transistors to stop them melting down. Very little of the heat generated by valves passes back down into the chassis.

A7X

voodoo_child wrote: »

They have those in Musicmaker in Dublin if you want to try out. Im sure most Line6 dealers have them, so even if you're not in Dublin it can't be too hard to track a demo of one down. Even if you plan on buying online, i'd suggest you try to get a playtest of one first.

REALLY? ill defo try one out so! thanks for all the replies guys! I was wondering is there any valve amp that you guys could recomend? Are the peavy Valve kings any good?

Patricide

Short answer, IMO. NO. Id stear clear of em anyway.

A7X

wat valve amps or Line 6 amps?

Patricide

The valve kings, really dont like those amps and they sound about as tube like as my...well...you get the idea.

A7X

yeah i thot so thats why i never touched one lol

Yakult

Patricide wrote: »

Short answer, IMO. NO. Id stear clear of em anyway.

I beg to differ (only slightly tho). As I do myself dislike the amp quiet abit, as standard tho.

They arent the worst, definally entry level tube amps. With a speaker swap and new tubes they can sound pretty mint. Much better than standard.

But then again, what styles are you playing?

The valve spider would be ideal for a versitile player coming into the tube market.

Eoin Madsen

A7X wrote: »

yeah i thot so thats why i never touched one lol

Just go play one. Very few people have the same taste in amps. Half the guys who go on about the magic of valve amps play hybridised amps like JCM900/2000s. I mean, I know quite a lot of tube snobs who wouldn't touch a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier with a 50 foot pole. Personally, I quite like them as long as you're going for a certain sound.

A7X

I just find tht my set up now is lacking something and i feel that a valve amp may solve this! I plan on goin out and trying one soon anyways! But that doesnt mean ive never played a valve amp! I have played loads!

Eoin Madsen

I'm sure you have, but any two valve amps can sounds as different from each other as any given valve amp sounds to a solidstate or digital amp.

A7X

yeah i know! its finding tht right one thts annoyin lol! ive only played on fender,marshall and laney valve amps i think.

Yakult

Eoin Madsen wrote: »

Half the guys who go on about the magic of valve amps play hybridised amps like JCM900/2000s.

What do you mean by Hybridised?

Eoin Madsen wrote: »

I mean, I know quite a lot of tube snobs who wouldn't touch a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier with a 50 foot pole.

Eoin Madsen wrote: »

Personally, I quite like them as long as you're going for a certain sound.

How are they tone snobs? You just stated the reason why people wont go for an amp.

Eoin Madsen

R_H_C_P wrote: »

What do you mean by Hybridised?

Transistors in the signal path, and diode clipping used to create distortion in the preamp.

R_H_C_P wrote: »

How are they tone snobs? You just stated the reason why people wont go for an amp.

Because they claim that it has no tone, not that they don't like the tone. A tone snob is someone who thinks tone is something that actually exists outside of one's mind.

Yakult

^Ah right, Im not gonna argue that because Im not as knowledgable

Thats true I guess haha, ah how bad tho. Each to their own when it comes to tone.

A7X

yeah each to their own but many ppl just claim it doesnt have a good tone wen it just doeasnt suit them