new to line 6

[sxhawk]

I am new to this forum, and to Line 6 products. I have recently purchased a Spider III HD 150 Half Stack, with the Line 6 4X12 cab. I understand the head is stereo, 75 watts per side. What I am not clear about, is connecting to the cab. Is it possible to get the full 150 watts? Is it possible to run MONO. I read somewhere that you have to connect two cables from the amp to the cab, or risk damaging the amp. Is that true? The online manuals I have found did not address this. Is there somewhere I can access a better users manual?

     Any help y'all can give me about correctly using this AWESOME amp, would be appreciated.

 

Thanks, 

 

SXHAWK

[fflbrgst]

Yes, you need to use two speaker cables between the amp's left and right outputs to the cabinet's left and right inputs.  This will give you the full 150 watts (75 per side).  Most of the sound patches in the amp are mono, the only ones that are stereo are ones that use chorus, flange, reverb or delay FX.

[sxhawk]

Thank you! Thank you! I am VERY new to Line 6. I would not even be an owner, but, I got this amp for a ridiculous price. I do have another concern, though. i hope I can get help from this forum on it. 

     I have read about "firmware updates". One article said the amp began to lose its tone, and the solution was to update the firmware by downloading it. However, they said the only way to get the update was with a foot switch. I don't see me adding a $200 to $300 to this investment. That would represent well over 100% of what I have invested now. 

     Here are my questions: Is my amp gonna get crappy down the road if I'm unable to get new firmware?

                                           Is there an alternative to purchasing the (un-affordable for me) foot switch?

   Thanks again for the info. So far, the amp's tone is amazing. It is a REAL upgrade for me. I've been using a totally "consumer priced" amp. I sincerely hope this amp will be a big part of my  sound for a long time to come. 

 

SXHAWK

[BillBee]

Hey Dude,

 

I don't have a Spider IV (so I can't talk about the "losing tone, etc.") but I think you can use the cheaper FBV Express MKII to do the firmware flashing on that unit. The Express is a lot cheaper and you can probably score a used one for ~ $50. Though to be honest - if you like the amp and you will find yourself wanting to get the bigger floorboard. :) It happens.

 

\m/ B \m/

[fflbrgst]

The Spider 3 does not have computer update capability.   However, the FBV MkII Express is a great tool to have if you use this amp live, as it lets you switch between the 4 patches on the selected patch bank.

[sxhawk]

Wow! I was sure I read about the amp needing a firmware update. BUT...that is really good news to me. At this point, I was only considering the

foot switch for the upgrades. I actually like the tone the amp produces now. I've talked to a couple G/C techs since I posted this. They agreed with me that it would be unlikely that the tone would "go bad" for lack of firmware updates. So, since it can't be updated anyway, I'm even less worried. Obviously, the full foot board or even the short one, would be a great addition to the rig, but, I can make it do what I need it to right now without it. It's good to know I can enjoy it as is and think about the pedal later.

 

Thanks for the help. I'm sure I'll need you guys' expertise again.

 

SXHAWK

[sxhawk]

Ok..my learning curve just took a weird spin. I bought the amp I've been talking about from a band mate who told me it was a 150 watt amp. He is a Marshall snob, so didn't really pay much attention. He got a good deal on the Spider, and passed it on to me.So...it turns out it's a HD75 NOT a 150. Well, I still enjoyed the tone, and I think the price was right. I got the head and the 4X12 cab for $100, so I bought it. 

     So, now I'm wondering, are there more than one type of Spider III (3) HD75 heads? Cause I've read reviews and posts that refer to the "Red" and "Green" channel, and song pre-sets, which I thought were only on the 150. Mine has no LED screen. It has four amp buttons, and two effects knobs. I'm NOT complaining, but I am curious. Did they upgrade the Spider III's while they were in production?

 

     Where can I go to find out how to get the most from this amp. The online Pilots Guide I have found is pretty limited.

 

Thanks again,

 

SXHAWK

[fflbrgst]

Spider 3s are a fairly old model.  I think the only place you are likely to find any more info on them is by doing youtube searches.  You can also try in the 'legacy' section of these forums.   The green and red settings are with the Spider 4, not 3.   The head goes for $100 or less used, so you basically got a free cabinet (or head, depending on how you look at it).

[rednef21]

Hi, I'm new to line 6 also.  I bought the Spider IV 75.  on patch 16 (a,b,c and d) there are no effects.  (I have the shortboard mkII.)  What is the reason for this or is their a problem with my amp?  Thanks 

[fflbrgst]

Not sure what you mean - assume you mean user patch location 16.  I think these may have been left empty in the original factory settings (it's been a long time since I got my Spider IV).  User patch locations 1-16 (a, b, c, d) are locations that you can save your custom patches to.  The pre-loaded patches in the other user locations are copied from the song/artist patches - these are tones for you to 'start' finding what you want for sounds.

[rednef21]

Not sure what you mean - assume you mean user patch location 16.  I think these may have been left empty in the original factory settings (it's been a long time since I got my Spider IV).  User patch locations 1-16 (a, b, c, d) are locations that you can save your custom patches to.  The pre-loaded patches in the other user locations are copied from the song/artist patches - these are tones for you to 'start' finding what you want for sounds.

So I guess patch location 16 (a,b,c,d, empty) can be used to make custom sounds.  Also, can song sounds for 50, 60 70 etc... be accessed from the Shortboard mkII?  I don't think they can, or I haven't figured it out yet.  One more thing.  My boss gt 10 doesn't work well with the Spid IV 75.  I guess it isn't compatible.  Any comment on that?  Thanks  M.

[fflbrgst]

No, you can't use the Shortboard to access the song/artist presets - you need to copy them into a User Patch location first to do that, as you can only access the Patch banks (1-16) using the up/down buttons, and the a,b,c,d locations in each bank.

You can use any of the banks and locations to make your own sounds, or to copy the song/artist sounds to, not just bank 16.

 

generally, you will find that putting two sets of FX on sounds doesn't work well.  You could use a distortion/fuzz sound from the Boss into a clean patch on the Spider, then use phaser/flanger/delay on the Spider (as an example).  Using distortion on both would likely result in a muddy indistinct sound, as would using a time-based effect (phaser for example) on the Boss, then running it through the distortion of the amp.  You'll have to experiment to see what works best for you.