esibanjack

There is no way to download tones into the SV MKI's; MKII's only.

It’s a known issue that the tuners on all the Spider amps are crap, but that’s a pretty minor thing in my book.

Can’t go wrong with he Spider IV 75W. It will have plenty of grunt to keep up with anyone he jams with (provided they have comparable gear and aren’t mic’ing their drums), and he can get just about any tone he wants out of it. Coupled with the 15% off coupon and it’s a no-brainer.

Technically, the Legacy page is showing the MKI’s are no longer available (with a link to the MKII page), but point well taken.....the SpiderValves are DOA.

No inside info here, but I believe the MKII’s are going to be it for the SV line. The MKII’s were released almost two years to the day after the MKI’s, and we have now gone over twice that long without a peep about another version being in the works.

The preamp section of your amp is completely digital, so just leave the China tubes in it. They are not used as “preamp†tubes and do little to effect the tone.

I haven’t experienced this specific issue, but I do know that these amps are very finicky when it comes to low voltage. Since both amps experienced issues, the venue’s voltage is where I would start. Many on the previous board advocated the mandatory use of a power conditioner whenever the SV MKII’s were used to play out.

I haven’t been to the download page in quite a while, but there used to be an entry that allowed you to download the original firmware version. It may be listed as something other than “1.17â€, but if you see anything prior to “1.50†it will be the original version. My HD100 came from the factory with “1.20â€, but after much back & forth with Line6 I was assured there was no difference between it and the other “original†firmware versions out there. You may already be aware, but just a heads-up that if you do roll-back you will not be able to download any patches from the “Customtone†page, and you will not be able save or edit any patches through a computer.

It’s most likely overheating, which appears to be a not-to-uncommon problem with these amps. Aiming a small fan through the back of the amp might take care of the issue, or there are other fixes that can be found on this board if you need something more drastic.

That's my understanding. I have the SV 100HD, and the only issue that I've encountered (knock on wood) is the sound drop when switching channels. I compensate for that by running the clean guitar signal to a second rig (Digitech 2112 w/power amp and separate speaker cabs), which does a pretty good job of filling in the gap.

Sorry if my post came-off as being anti-Line6, but I believe I speak the truth. While I love my Line6 gear (Spider IV 75w and SV100HD), they aren’t pro quality. I don’t have an issue with this because I knew it going in, but I can understand the frustrations of those who purchased the SV line of amps expecting them to perform better than they did when trying to use them live. The sound drop and/or “pops†when switching channels, the super-sensitivity to voltage changes, the overheating, etc., etc., are non-issues for the vast majority of bedroom players, but they make them unsuited to use in live settings. Again, I don’t have any issues with this because you can’t expect to have no compromises with an amp in this price range. If we were talking about a high-dollar Mesa, Marshall, Fender, etc., etc., these issues would be inexcusable (and most likely quickly rectified by the manufacturer). The only real issue I have with Line6 in regard to the SV line of amps was their misleading ads and literature that suggested that they had tubes in the preamp.

This flaw (and a few others) would seem to be inexcusable until you remember who Line6’s target audience is..........the bedroom player. These issues would be deal-breakers for most gigging musicians, but when was the last time you saw anyone live who was using Line6 gear? The bedroom player is by far the largest purchasing demographic of musical equipment (and it’s not even close), and Line6 has done a great job of marketing their products to that sector. I’m sure the flaws with the SV line were unintentional, but why would you expend time and resources to fix them when 99.9% of your customers don’t have an issue with them? It would be like Chevy recalling all 2013 Corvettes because of the one or two guys that are experiencing brake fade at their weekend-warrior racetrack sessions. For what they are and what they are intended to do, Line6 products perform beautifully, and at a very reasonable price. How much would it cost you to get the real Mesa sound that the SV gets 98.5% correct? How much more would it cost you to also get the Marshall, Fender, etc. tones that the SV also does a fantastic job replicating? And all of the effects? $900.00 is a bargain, even with the flaws......IF you are using it for it’s intended purpose. It’s not pro gear, and at their price-point, I don’t think anyone should assume they are trying to complete in that arena.

I’m glad you’re having some success with manually entering the patches, but I think there may be another option for you. If I’m not mistaken, someone manually converted many (if not all) of the artist presets from the Spider IV over to the SV MKII and then uploaded them to the SV page of the “Customtone†section of this site (link is below). Even if you don’t find the specific things you are looking for, it’s still a great resource for tones. I’ve found that a lot of them need to be tweaked before I’m really happy with them, but they are a great starting point if you don’t want to create patches from scratch. http://line6.com/customtone/browse/spidervalvemkii/

From reading the old message board it appears that this issue is a symptom of a problem with the digital side of the amp (it was often referred to as “The Black Bars of Deathâ€). If the reset doesn’t work (or isn’t possible) the only other option is to bring it in for service.

Even if there was a way to do this (and I’m relatively certain there is not), the patches would most likely need MAJOR tweaking before they would sound decent. Heck, just taking a patch that was made on one of the combos and importing it to the HD100 (or vice versa) usually takes a bit of work before it sounds good. The processors are the same, but the platform is completely different.