Hey guys, I had some questions and help needed in me getting some new gear. Now first the amp im looking into is the line 6 spider amps, and i know theres a thread on it, and it seems to be getting negative responces but I figure opinions should differ based on different players, style, and the sound you would want to achieve.

Now with that said maybe a little background on what i want to get out of my sound, and a little info on me, first Ive been playing for about 9 years and for 7 of thoes years i had the same guitar and amp, I still have my original amp, a small fender amp, that has served me well, but Im in a band and we play, rock/metal. I invested in an LTD EC-1000, there is a teacher on the site that has the same one, great guitar. So the kind of sound I want is take Testament, Megadeth, and Slash roll it into a ball, and thats my style I guess and what I want to sound somewhat like. (I want to sound like me, not them, you know what I mean) I have never been to big a gear head so I really dont know what I should be looking for.

In guitar world magazine I saw the Line6 SpiderValve and fell in love with it, mainly because I want some effects but cant seem to spend the money on effects pedals, now at the moment im caught between two Line6 options, one is the Spidervalve 212, and the Spider III HD150. One question about the HD150 and its probably a very very stupid question, but does it come as just the head, or does it come with the stack too? I only ask because looking at musicians friend it shows pics with the stack but for the price it doesnt make sence. So I guess My main concern is which way should I go between the two, and if its a really bad idea to go with the Line6 what would be my best option to look at, I dont want to spend too much over $1000, but my budget is as high as $1500 for it.

Now with that, I was looking at a Boss ME-50, the huge effects pedal that seems to be getting good reviews and is something Id like to play around with, now if I was to get this would it be a waste to have gotten the line6 amp? would I be better off with a solid tube amp and the Boss pedal? Overall its really confusing and, I dont want to spend $1500 and regret it.

So any help is greatly appreciated, i'll attach some links to the gear I was looking at, in case you guys need to see the specs on them or whatever.

Thanks

Spider III HD150

SpiderValve 212

Boss ME-50

First of all: it is just the head and you have to buy a cab too.
If you really want to go for a line6 amp then there will be no need for effect-pedals because both amps have almost every effect built in. Save your money and go for a wahwah instead of the multifx and you'll be prepared for everything.

Make sure you try the amps before you buy them because you may not like the digital sound that modelling amps have. The line6 may have a huge variety of tones but it would make sense to look at a high gain tube amp for the music you're playing.

It does not come with a stack..

Do you really need these modeling amps ? You can check some tube marshal amps or other brands too..Choice is wide..I would not buy the modeling amp just because I want to mess with effects..Also that boss me-50 is cool.But maybe you would want to make a pedalboard ? Its not like you need a lot of effects? Pedals effects are great (boss ones especially)..

Thanks for the input guys,

Im not set on the Line6, but Ive never used any pedals in 9 years of playing, So Ive always wanted to mess around with all the effects to see which ones I like and where they might fit with my band.

So Would it be a better choice to get a regular tube amp, and then buy whatever pedals or the ME-50 and go from there.

well what Amps would you guys suggest I look at.

(Sorry for not using questions marks, i cant seem to figure out why when I hit the question mark on my keyboard i get this...É )

Definily better choice to go with a regular tube amp first..

Something like this - Marshall DSL401 40W Dual Super Lead Valve 1x12

Effects wise, I would suggest to buy for example a Wah wah pedal..When you actually think of effects the most used ones is not so long..You have on it : wah, chorus, delay , overdrive/dist ...Than later if you really need others look at some reverb , eq,compressor , flanger onces..



This post has been edited by Bogdan Radovic: Apr 14 2008, 01:18 AM

Truer words have never been spoken.

Hey man, I said this in another thread, but Line 6 stuff IMO don't do high gain well. It is also pretty hard to get a good dry high gain sound like Testament, and Slash. There are just so many effects and variables that finding a good metal sound can take a while.

I forget the thread, but there was a great thread with a really long, good video on how to record a good metal sound. And the dude in it said that Line 6 amps will get your sound about 80% there. I totally agree, there always just seems to be something missing from Line6's metal sound. But thier clean, crunch, and mid gain stuff is great. Now I would recommend Line6 stuff for recording and home use, but if you're gonna jam with a band and play live I wouldn't reccomend it.

I would reccomend you the ValveKing, because I own one Valveking
Great amp, good cleans, crunch, and classic rock sound, high gain stuff is pretty good too. But if you want crazy gain, the amp alone won't do it, but it accpets pedals very well, so you could run an overdrive or distortion through it and it'll sound good. Great price aswell.

B-52 is another brand that has cheap tube amps, I think they are made in America. I've heard they are good, but I have no real expirience with them.

Bugera also makes cheap tube amps, they sound great, but are not very well put together, and almost all the people I knew that bought them had them break on them.

I woudl recommend high gain tube amp and pedals. Anything else is not worth it imo, specially for you if you are playing 9 years now and play in a band. You simply NEED a tube amp and pedals for live gigs.

Try Marshall JCM2000 series, specially DSL401 combo DSL50 head or TSL100 combo if you have the money.

As for pedals you don't need anything speciall, only wah and delay, and maybe some EQ but first these too.