If you are already thinking “where are the preset settings” on the Line 6 Spider III, then don’t leave, just keep reading.
After buying my Spider III as a part of a mid-life crisis ( it was cheaper than a motorbike ), I thought… “This is a top piece of kit, pity the Pilot’s Guide doesn’t give more technical information about the settings, or indeed catalogue the built-in presets. Perhaps I may compile my private this weekend.” That was in November ’07, I measured the final preset in March ’08, at least now I will get on with my crisis and learn how to essentially play the guitar.
This is an off-the-cuff attempt to catalogue the 403 preset values which can be selected on the Spider III Combo 75 and above, comprised of 246 Artists + 156 Songs + 1 phantom preset, 05C. It’s likely to contain many minor errors and probably two giant ones for extra effect.
READING THE PRESETS TABLES
The Bank name and Preset name are given as shown on the display of the amp.
The Amp model is represented by it’s friendly name, followed by a single digit and a colour letter. Eg “Twin Twang 2G” indicating the 2nd amp model with a green LED setting.
The values for Drive / Treble / Mid / Bass / Ch Vol / Reverb are in the range 00-99, they can be said to be a %age of the total range, reasonably easy to interpret since the controls are marked in 11 radial positions which can be taken as 00 to ten. A table value of “50″ would be 5.0, top dead centre.
These values were derived using the “Comparison” feature of the amp, and are likely correct to + / – 2%, however values at the top end ( 90 – 99 ) have less definition, and may be less correct.
keep reading the remainder of Spider III Presets.
The Line 6 Spider 3 15 is the least dear amp Line 6 makes. It has some of the great tones found in their bigger amps but in a much smaller package. It includes the same DSP based processing system as found in the model thirty and HD75 but only puts out 15 watts in to an eight in. speaker. There’s also an MP3 / CD input jack which is an one / 8 in. stereo jack as well as a headphone / direct output.
It comes with four presets ( channels ) in which each preset has one of their favourite artist’s guitar tones which have been based upon : Clean, Crunch, Metal, and mad amp models. You can change each of these with your own preset by taking a ‘snapshot’ of the present amps settings ( except the master volume ). The four amp models descriptions :
The Clean model is great for jazz, country, or anything where a crisp clean tone is required. You can get sparkling highs and enough lows for all types of playing. The Crunch model is based on a 1968 Marshall one hundred watt Plexi. When this model was made it was regarded as having a variac and the guitar was connected into both input channels to make the famous brown sound. The Metal amp model is really fun and is based upon a Mesa bop Dual Rectifier. It’s a good example with a punchy and aggressive high gain metal tone. The Insane model is ‘dialed in for shredding’ as it where. It’s based on the twin Rectifier through the RED channel. It’s got a extremely high gain tone with lots of midrange and is terribly intense.
The main guitar controls are Drive, Bass, Middle, Treble, and Channel Volume. Drive determines how much distortion is present. The Channel Volume is excellent in that it permits you to match the volume levels of each preset. You may also make the preset ( s ) louder or softer than the others and then save them. This way when you change tones there are any enormous volume changes. Click Here to Continue reading the rest of this review….
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There are 2 basic types of Spider III amps : Type one and Type 2
The Line 6 Series amps are DSP digital emulations based upon forty years of guitar amplifier design. Because of this you can instantly select sound at a hint of button. Plenty of the sounds in these amps have been recreated to sound like tones used in certain songs for that matter. Line 6 had a number of popular guitarists create their own sounds using their amplifiers and store them in presets.
There are 2 basic kinds of Line 6 Spider III amps. The 1st type is present in the models seventy five, 120, 150 and HD150. These amps feature 12 basic amp models, seven effects, headphone output, CD / MP3 input, built-in tuner, 250 artist’s presets, 150 song presets, and 36 user presets. The tune presets are primarily based on some of the hottest songs. The user presets are access via banks of nine banks of four presets ( A, B, C, & D ). Some of the more popular presets are the ‘back in black’, ‘red house’, and ‘meshuggah’. There are several popular guitarists who have created their own presets for this amp series. The song based presets are from the top two hundred guitar rock songs of all time and are organized into banks by genre.
The second type consists of the amp models 15,30, & HD75 which feature four basic amp models, six effects, headphone / direct output, CD / MP3 jack, and four basic presets. These amps sound just as good as the first type without as many presets and effects.
More info on the effects : although the Spider III series models seventy five, 120, 150, and HD150 have seven different effects they can only playback three effects plus a noise gate at the same time. They are controlled using three knobs : Smart FX A, Smart FX B, and Reverb. The Smart FX A knob selects the modulation based effects like chorus / flange, phase, and tremolo. Smart FX B selects delay type effects like echo, tape echo, and sweep echo. There is a dedicated reverb knob. On models fifteen, thirty, and HD75 there are 6 basic consequences of which two can be played back at the same time. They are accessed thru 2 knobs : Smart FX A which controls the modulation based effects, ie. Chorus, phase, tremolo, and Smart FX B which controls the time based effects, like delay and reverb. Each one of the effect knobs varies how intense the effect is from mild to extraordinarily forceful.
The noise gate is enabled / disabled by holding down the TAP button and then turning the reverb knob. If you go past 12 o’clock on the dial it’s enabled. The noise gate is used to switch off the output when you are not playing your guitar. There doesn’t seem to be a technique to change the threshold but it seems to work just fine for most presets.
There are also three optional foot controllers available but not every Spider III amp can use all three so check the amp specs. The footswitches connect to the amp via an RJ-45 wire which is a moggy five network wire like that found for connecting your PC to your cable modem for instance. If you need a longer cable than the one included then you can simply go purchase one. The footswitch includes a wire. Note that the Line six Floor Board and FB4 foot controllers will not work with Spider III. Continure reading Line 6 Spider III Amps
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