Line 6 Spider Jam

[Spunky]

Does anyone have any experience with this amp?

My friend just bought one and he spent the night playing the backing tracks and just listening.
He is a beginner and will have Fender CV Tele on Friday.
He said the amp sounded great and it seems to have all the usable bells and whistles.
The process is to use the Bass and Drum backing track and add a rhythm track with the looping recorder feature and then play lead over the top.
I recommended it based on the reputation of Line 6 my experience with Line 6 and the features this amp has for a learning guitarist, especially the backing tracks, built in tuner and headphone out.
I couldn't find any tube amps with these features for under $500.00 which was his budget. With the extra, he got strings, strap and a stand. Case is next. You can output the jam track with looped recorded rhythm to a stereo with the RCA out so only your guitar is using the amp speaker too.

Short list of features
100 + Endless Jams created by pro rhythm sections
Looping recorder with 14 minutes of capture capacity
Guitar and Aux instrument inputs
Microphone input with trim control and dedicated effects
12 distinct amp and cabinet models
7 Smart Control FX models including Tape Echo, Multi-Tap, Sweep Echo, Flanger/Chorus, Phaser, Tremolo and Reverb
250 artist-created tones
36 programmable presets
75-watt power section
12" Custom Celestion® speaker
2" tweeter for full range audio on jam tracks
On-board tuner
CD/MP3 Input jack
Stereo 1/4" and headphone jack outputs

 

[Miqueas92]

WoW!

Sounds cool

 

[oldrockfan]

I checked it out when they first came out. Alot of cool features but only luke warm on the tone. Should be a great learning tool though.

 

[Spunky]

Thanks oldrockfan,

He gets the guitar tomorrow and he is local so I might be the good shepard and make sure everything is working properly.

I know the tone of my Flextone III with a particular Dumble patch...I'll see if his can approach the same level...

I agree....good learning tool and he is very smart. I expect since he was a keyboard player to start his ability to use this is ample.

 

[oldrockfan]

Your flex 3 is going to give alot better dumble tone imho. The jam I messed with seemed to be more at home duign rectifier type stuff. It will be a great learning tool and in a pinch, he could use it playing gigs. I just think the jam is much better suited as a practice amp than a playing live amp unless you are doing solo coffee shop stuff which I actually think the spider jam would be very well suited for since you have alot of control over the drums and bass programs.

 

[Zeppelin Rules]

Of all the amps on the market I'd say that the Spider series are the worst modelers. Unfortunately most of the bands I end up playing gigs with think they're the best thing since sliced bread and that shrill thin tone is something to aspire towards.

 

[Spunky]

Zep,

I do understand that the amp is geared more towards high gain amps but I figured the 12" speaker and a tone control on the guitar could allow for a nice tone. My Flextone III is the flagship so I know it has some real nice features but I really liked the backing tracks, looper, modeling, effects that this has.
Are you sure the sounds you heard were the crappy over modulated shrill crap and there was nothing else?
I can't wait to check it out and I'm going to bring my amp to the party to do an AB.
Thanks for the negative viewpoint as that was a positive review in my opinion...not positive for Line 6 but positive for guitar players. We need to know the good, the bad and the Ugly....

 

[Zeppelin Rules]

To be honest I'd say the lower gain models sound even worse than the high gain. Really stiff and sterile.

 

[RightTurn]

third attempt at responding...keep getting redirected to a piano lesson site when i hit post.

GREAT amp. I put an alnico blue in mine and couldnt be happier. Even own a tube amp that costs over three times as much as this and i use the Line6 all the time. The metal tones are really good btw.