Tweaking a Line 6 Spider amp to work with guitar pedals

In this video I take a totally different departure... what happens when you use high end (or as some call.. "Boutique") pedals with an inexpensive Line 6 Spider 30 amp? Many times, not very good results. I'll show you how I set up the Line 6 to get a decent clean tone for pedals and also a trick at the end for connecting it to an external cabinet.

[ricebowlranch]

The trick is obviously to go to the insane channel and turn all knobs to 10. I'm disappointed that you didn't mention this.

[skotrock]

I guess what I got from this video is 1: use your ears and not your eyes to adjust the settings. 2: Don't trust the presets. 3: Don't judge any amp based on what other people say ( watch Johan Segeborn's videos) 4: a real speaker can make an amp sound better than you thought it capable of. I really like these videos- thanks Brian!

[cardideoz]

It is impressive how the sound of cheap combos is so much better by simply running their power amp into an external cab!

[JRGladwill]

thanks again brian i always enjoy your presentations, the way you approach the simple truth, that you can take what is at hand, and make the most of it.

[scottbechdolt]

Thank you so much for making this video because I had all but given up on my line 6 amp

[drownthepoor]

This was my first guitar amp. I had always been a bass player, and had semi-pro bass equipment as I was in several bands. I had a 220w Crate head going into a Crate 4x10". After I bought my first Telecaster I knew I needed an amp, but was on a budget.
I knew the Spider series had a lot of features so I got the 100w or 120w combo used and then splurged on the big Line-6 "controller" pedal.
Some people hate on this, but it's a pretty capable system if you tune it.
It doesn't quite have the sound I want though.
I currently still use it though, and I have an MXR dist pedal and a BOSS PS-6( Pretty weird pedal that has 1 & 3 voice chorus in minor/major, a detuned chorus, and a adjustable WIDE pitch shifter with rise/fall) You really do need to tweak it just right to use those pedals, but it can be done. I'd advise you learn how to save a preset just for that so you can save the time.

[harveyterry]

I love my line 6 equipment gig with it every night, well used to before Corona left me unemployed

[kenny]

Thank you so much for sharing this!! I've been trying to figure this out for about a year! YOU ARE THE BEST! So happy I can use my David Gilmour pedal board now!

[johnnymoreira]

Man, I cannot be thankfull own this model amp and i'm struggling to make it sound louder actually....rehearsing or live, I was wondering few weeks ago, "how can i make it sound louder?" And that was my answer...Huge thanks, from Brazil!

[oscargarciahinde]

Devin Townsend also uses this amp in his practise rig, so it can't be as bad as everyone says.

[hoosierdaddy]

God that pedal sounds killer. It's so good that even with that cheaper amp it still sounds outstanding. Very very cool...

[dmthandmade]

I hooked an old HiFi speaker up to one of those little Orange battery amps when I was early in my guitar journey. It was surprising how good it sounded (Obviously nothing amazing but certainly decent at home), and the nice thing about those amps is they clean up with the guitar volume knob. I keep meaning to build a cabinet for that little amp and put a proper speaker on it.

[BrendanMacsMusic]

Great vid. I use a pod-xt for practice and demo/YT video recording because my son is autistic and has a savage noise aversion problem. This creates a major problem for me and my DSL100 with a 4x12. SO, I use my O/D pedal into a carefully tweaked VOX based model and it sounds BRILLIANT! Gives me that sound/response im looking for to practice without annoying the bejesus out of my son. Trial and error is one thing but restraint with the digital models is key to getting a pedal/s to work with it without it sounding shit.

[idanshahar]

I think the spiders sound great if you hook them up to a real cab and just set them up just right.
My bandmate used a Spider 3 head before buying a Helix and I couldn't complain about the Spider's tone.

[johnnorth]

A very intelligent dialling in of the settings shows that a goodish sound can be achieved and only the lazy will be disappointed. A huge difference can be had with a different speaker cab with some quality speaker units. In the end you get what you pay for but please remember this is a practice amp.

[orionktulu]

You can also bypass the preamps and effects by running pedals or other modelers into the mp3/cd input, it works the same as the return side of an fx loop. There's no send, but so what.

[DirtyAncom]

Your face when you played through the non-altered sounds were priceless

[Nano_Noodles]

I recently plugged a Boss DS-1 pedal into my spider after playing on insane setting for about 5 months. And it sounded like absolute crap. Watched this video and managed to get a better sound. Thanks man!

[stephenfell]

After reading your comments i have a line 6 valve all Tube) Reinhold Bognor 40watt designed by Reinhold Bognor Those of you who know who he is will appreciate what i am saying he is a famed Amp designer, I am sure Brian does. It is a amp you have to tweek (adjust) the Eq to taste not plug &play getting a true Plexi sound direct from it is easy (if you like that sound, ) infact its a pre set and perfect, if you want the tube screamer sound the one that Brian refers to its also there perfect EQ s the trick, so easy. No need for extra cabinets it got 12" celestian vintage speaker fitted Britains best. but if you just want a plexi sound go and buy a Marshall Plexi, loads for sale in England. Sorry Brian i dont mean to decry your pedal, but the US viewers are propably not aware of the line 6 valve Bognor be good for you to demo it with your non distorted pedals, as you usually use Fender." Good for me as i live to far away from a dealer to buy.
Keep on rockin"

[jfury]

I always appreciate when someone approaches the "make the cheap stuff sound better" topic. I have never had a Line 6, but have played them and prefer the Peavey Vypyr line of amps which (until the release of the Pro) are also in the same price range. They seem to take pedals pretty well through the front. I started putting effects loops in those amps with pretty good tonal success. Do you think the cheaper Line 6 stuff would do well with an effects loop added in?