Line 6 Review: Spider II

History:

Purchase: Purchased at Sam Ash Raleigh, NC. I have recently purchased the 75w 1-12" amp $299 and the 150w 2-12" amp $499. One for rehearsals and one for live gigs.

What I Like About This Line 6 Spider II: I am a part time professional and have been playing guitar for years now and as a guitar player you're always in search for the "Holy Grail" of sound for your style of playing. I now own and have owned many types of amps including Peavey 5150 amps to the "Evil" Fender Twin amp. I am very impressed with these amps. They are amazing! The built in amp models gives you a good amp sound model to begin tweaking to your own style of playing. And since these amps are all Solid State, their lightweight compared to Tube style amps is wonderful. It's like being on a diet and have lost a few pounds.

What I Do NOT Like About The Line 6 Spider II: The click buttons on the FBV Shortboard are kind of loud when changing your stored presets and effects. I guess it's because the entire thing is made of metal so it just sounds that way. Maybe after it's broken in a bit, it will be a little quieter.

Line 6 Spider II Quality Rating: I have to say that I noticed the quality of this pedal board right away as soon as I unboxed it. It is appears to be of professional craftsmanship. It also gives you a feeling of using "Pro" level gear and seems like it will hold up well under any given situation.

Review Summary: I have always used various types of floor pedals and stomp boxes such as Boss and others. It is such a hassle trying to run the power supply to all of them with wires all over the place.I have been using an SKB pedal board with the velcro to hold all of the pedals in place. Before, I had 2 guitar cables running from my SKB's effects loop to my amps effects loop plus another guitar cable running from the amp's out to the SKB in and then another cable from my guitar to the SKB. Then you have that little "Wall Wart" Boss power adapter to connect to all your pedals and a separate power strip to power it all up with. What a hassle! But now, with the Line 6 Shortboard, there's only just the CAT5 cable to worry with. And since it's a standard CAT5 cable, you can have your choice of different lengths depending on your stage setup. The Spider II amp powers the Line 6 Shortboard through the CAT5 cable and that's it. Just one cable on the floor. No cables to trip over or to have to duct tape down on the floor. Pretty cool! As you may know, you only get 4 stored presets on the amp face on the Spider II amp itself. But, with the FBV Shortboard, you now can get 36 stored presets. Wow! Plus you have full control over the amp by accessing the multi individual controls buttons. This allows you to keep your hands on the guitar and lets your feet take control instead. You also get to create a cool name for each pattern that is stored. I have to admit...the price of this pedal board was almost out of reach for me and will be for most others I am sure, but when you consider the many features that it has to offer, it almost makes it seem within reason. The wah pedal is pretty cool and it also doubles as a volume pedal which I have also been wanting to buy but just never done so. The built in guitar tuner is amazingly accurate and makes for not having to carry around a tuner otherwise. Another neat thing is that it has a "Stomp" button feature on it that gives you a boost in your gain for solo's. You can have the Spider II amp and Shortboard set up and ready to perform in just minutes. And at the end of the gig, tear down is a breeze also which means you’ll be all packed up and ready to go in no time and still have time to chat with your buds before closing time. Over all I have to say that I have been deeply impressed with the Line 6 products and I will continue to use Line 6 for as long as they are around which I feel will be a very long time. I am addicted! Thanks Line 6!

Rating of this Line 6 product: 5

This Line 6 Spider II Guitar Amplifiers Review Submitted By: "Rocking Rod"

Review Date: 2004-03-28