Guitar Gear Forum

Found a MKII Spider Valve head for $315 at GC, and just couldn't say no. Apparently there are PC level editing features on this that aren't on the MKI version? Gonna have to check that out this weekend.

Holy balls it gets loud in a hurry. Not sure how old the set of tubes are, but there was a considerable amount of dust covering just about everything. Master Vol and Presence knobs were wonky, but DeOxit took care of most of the scratchyness and internal level shifting - may have to just replace the pots eventually. Jammed it with my kid last night through a V30 loaded 2x12 cab and it wasn't the worst with just using the factory presets (just high gain stuff). Heard these a few times at gigs and always thought they sounded better than they should have.

These amps actually sound good. The power section is very strong and punchy.
I think Line6 dropped the ball by calling it a "Spider" because the name is associated with their budget amps. I think more players would have adopted them if they were called something else

I never played one.... but the idea was solid...

GuitarBilly wrote:These amps actually sound good. The power section is very strong and punchy.
I think Line6 dropped the ball by calling it a "Spider" because the name is associated with their budget amps. I think more players would have adopted them if they were called something else

Agreed, but it's literally a Spider IV with a tube section (MkI was a Spider III), so I guess their hands were tied in the naming department.

This thing chugs. \m/

id rock one of these, id buy a helixvavle too if they ever made one

I always was able to get great tones out of these, but never bought one because the Internet told me my ears were broken. Now I know better. Congrats!

RaceU4her wrote:id rock one of these, id buy a helixvavle too if they ever made one

Same my helix with a power amp held it's own against my vht and my triaxis. I even had a tube only guitar player friend confirm that observation.

ive liekd everyone i have ever played. the pcb boards in the mk1 are prone to failure, so I always kind of shy away from them. You should be good wit an mk2, if you really like and plan on keeping id grab a spare pcb board to have on hand.

I've considered these amps many times. Saw a band with one (mki or ii not sure) and they sounded great. I had the spider ii head and had no problem dialing in good tones. Do you have a foot controller? Even the small fbv is incredibly useful.

JSutter wrote:I've considered these amps many times. Saw a band with one (mki or ii not sure) and they sounded great. I had the spider ii head and had no problem dialing in good tones. Do you have a foot controller? Even the small fbv is incredibly useful.

I have a couple FBV foot switches that are compatible with the MkI but not sure about the Mk2 - cross compatibility with some and not with others.

RaceU4her wrote:id rock one of these, id buy a helixvavle too if they ever made one

Same. I really liked my Spidervalve and my Helix through tube power amps. If they put together a similarly designed package that’d be great and I’d definitely snag one if they got it right.

Never understood why Bogner would want his name associated with the Spider line.

Tortuga wrote:Never understood why Bogner would want his name associated with the Spider line.

Must have been lucrative I guess. Also was sort of a handshake deal where he'd design the tube circuit for the SV line, and had Line 6 manufacture/mass produce the Alchemist for him - which probably gave Reinhold more brand awareness in the amp market.

Yeah I was still at Line6 when that deal was done. It was a very lucrative deal for both sides.

Line 6 sells a LOT of amps. Back when I left the company ('06) they had 80% of the small/medium amp market and almost exclusively due to the Spider line.