Improved the tone on my Spider IV 15

[BowerR64]

Before with 8" speaker tone

 

After with 4X12 speaker tone... BIG improvement HUGE!

 

 

Built a box for the head and put the chassis, handle and cut down logo on/in the new head like box.

 

I did the same thing to a Spider II 30, and a Spider IV 30

 

Still working on a Spider IV 75

 

I love em, 3-4 hours of wood work and painting really fun stuff

[fflbrgst]

You're powering a 4x12 cabinet from a 15?

[BowerR64]

Well sure, you know you can do that right?

 

I actually put 2 output jacks (in series) on the back of the amp so it can run 2 4X12 cabinets if i wanted to hook it to the amp. For now its just an extra peavey cab that i have

 

 

Thats a Fibson also

[Brazzy]

Well sure, you know you can do that right?

 

I actually put 2 output jacks (in series) on the back of the amp so it can run 2 4X12 cabinets if i wanted to hook it to the amp. For now its just an extra peavey cab that i have

 

line 6 half stack small.jpg

 

Thats a Fibson also

 

Cool, I wonder what it sounds like. 

I was just using my Spider III 15 a couple days ago to play some surfer stuff. Sounded great.

[BowerR64]

Well the 2 30 watt ones sound better speciall the IV 30, thats my favorite one so far. The IV-15 sounds better then using th estock 8" for sure, it sounds more full and just has a better over tone but it is what it is.

 

The clean is usable and depending on the day if i like the crunch or the metal (backed down on the drive) i have the crunch and metal sounding very similar just the midrange sounds slightly different between the 2.

 

My buddy had a Orange dark terror (7/15 watts) he had it hooked to a 4X12 and a 2X12 at the same time the whole time he had it. I know tube watts arnt the same as SS watts but the little 15 watt spider IV has no trouble with the 4X12 at all.

 

You can get Cliff jacks on e-bay for super cheap that have spade lugs on them, all you have to do is unplug the speaker terminals from the speaker and plug it into the clif jack (no soldering requires) and your ready to hook a 1/4"-1/4" speaker wire from the amp to any cabinet. The cool thing is its all reversable, unhook the cliff jack plug the leads back to the stock speaker and your back to the stock combo amp.

 

I just went a little further and made a box for mine so it looks like a little lunchbox head. More for aesthetics then anything and the fun of building a cheap little combo into a cool pro looking amp haha

[Brazzy]

Well the 2 30 watt ones sound better speciall the IV 30, thats my favorite one so far. The IV-15 sounds better then using th estock 8" for sure, it sounds more full and just has a better over tone but it is what it is.

 

The clean is usable and depending on the day if i like the crunch or the metal (backed down on the drive) i have the crunch and metal sounding very similar just the midrange sounds slightly different between the 2.

 

My buddy had a Orange dark terror (7/15 watts) he had it hooked to a 4X12 and a 2X12 at the same time the whole time he had it. I know tube watts arnt the same as SS watts but the little 15 watt spider IV has no trouble with the 4X12 at all.

 

You can get Cliff jacks on e-bay for super cheap that have spade lugs on them, all you have to do is unplug the speaker terminals from the speaker and plug it into the clif jack (no soldering requires) and your ready to hook a 1/4"-1/4" speaker wire from the amp to any cabinet. The cool thing is its all reversable, unhook the cliff jack plug the leads back to the stock speaker and your back to the stock combo amp.

 

I just went a little further and made a box for mine so it looks like a little lunchbox head. More for aesthetics then anything and the fun of building a cheap little combo into a cool pro looking amp haha

 

Thanks for the run down and the tip on the Cliff jacks.

I ran my Pod HD500 into my 15w Spider III. I powered the amp on while holding the tap button and was practicing "Run Like Hell" type playing. Sounded pretty good in the room.

[BowerR64]

What does holding the tap/tempo button in when powering on do again?

 

Does it put the amp in manual mode or something?

[Brazzy]

What does holding the tap/tempo button in when powering on do again?

 

Does it put the amp in manual mode or something?

 

It sounds like it's just the power amp. The master still works while in this mode on my Spider III 15.

 

Re: Connecting a POD HD 500 to a Line6 Spider III combo 150 (How to bypass the amp)

by Nick_Mattocks on 2012-01-24 04:19:54.0480

Hi

With the Spider and Spider Valve series, you have TEST mode which bypasses the DSP and pre-amp section entirely.  It also disables ALL controls including the MASTER VOLUME on the amp.  This is a viable option in terms of achieving an uncoloured sound from your Spider III 150 (I have a Spider III 150 and the TEST mode option definitely works )

Basically to get into TEST mode you hold down the TAP button as you pwer the amp ON.

Beware that having no master volume control from the amp, you need to control your master volume level from the POD's MASTER control or you could blow the roof off LOL.

Set the POD HD AMP/LINE switch to LINE and the output mode to Combo Pwr Amp and you should be good to go.

Nick

 

 

​For the Spider IV 15:

Boost  Press and hold the Tap button as you turn the Drive knob past 12 o’clock. As you do this, Spider IV 15’s Clean Channel LED comes on. This gives the kind of extra â€˜dirt’ that you’d expect from a Distortion pedal with the distortion control set low and the output control set high. It boosts your guitar signal before it reaches the Amp Model, so that you hit the model harder and get a more distorted sound.

Noise Gate  Press and hold TAP as you turn the second SmartFX knob B into the Reverb “swooshâ€. This turns the built in noise gate on and off, which helps to cut down on hiss and noise. When you do this, the â€œInsane†LED comes on to indicate the Gate is on. By default the gate is on for all the amp models , except  Crunch.

Factory Reset  Reset the factory programmed states by holding the Clean Channel button down on power up. Warning: This will erase all your custom sounds, so be sure you want to start fresh before you do it!

Additional Tips  When you select an Amp Model, Spider IV automatically sets its tone controls and effects to match the Amp Model. You can disable the autoFX selection (but not the tone control auto-selection) by powering up with the Insane Channel button held. The auto-selection is re-enabled

 

 

For the Spider III 15:

Tap Button Extra Functions The Tap Delay Time button, in addition to setting the time of your echo effects, also lets you access a Distortion Boost and a built-in Noise Gate.

Distortion Boost Press and hold the Tap Delay Time button as you turn the Drive knob up past twelve o’clock. As you do this, Spider III’s CLEAN Channel light comes on to indicate that the Distortion Boost is on. This gives the kind of extra ‘dirt’ that you’d expect from a Distortion pedal with the distortion control set low and the output control set high. It boosts your guitar signal before it reaches the Amp Model, so that you hit the model harder and get a more distorted sound.

Noise Gate Press and hold the Tap Delay Time button as you turn the echo/reverb FX knob up past twelve o’clock, and you’ll turn on a built-in Noise Gate to help cut down on hiss and noise. As you do this, the INSANE Channel light comes on to indicate the Gate is on.

Special Hidden Functions When you select an Amp Model, Spider III automatically sets its tone controls and effects to match that Amp Model. You can disable the auto-FX selection (but not tone control auto-selection) by powering up Spider III with the INSANE Channel button held. The auto-selection will be re-enabled next time you power up

You can also reset your Spider III’s programmable channels to their factory-programmed states by holding down the CLEAN Channel  button as you turn on the power. Warning: This will erase ALL custom sounds you might have saved. Ask yourself, “Do I really want to do this?†If your answer is yes, then go for it!

Edited August 24, 2017 by Brazzy

[BowerR64]

i reread your post and noticed you had the spider 3 15, for some reason when i first read it i thought it was the IV 15 like i had

 

I tried that on my IV 15 and nothing worked it just seem like it muted the volume

[Brazzy]

i reread your post and noticed you had the spider 3 15, for some reason when i first read it i thought it was the IV 15 like i had

 

I tried that on my IV 15 and nothing worked it just seem like it muted the volume

 

Oh ok. Then you'll use the CD/MP3 and at the same time insert a standard 1/4" jack plug (as a dummy). I would use my headphone 1/4" to 1/8" adapter.

 

Read On:

Re: How do I bypass my Spider IV so that it turns off the amp model function?

by Nick_Mattocks on 2010-02-08 05:18:33.3480

Hi

I may be incorrect, but I don't believe you can turn Amp Modelling off completely on the Spider IV series.  There's no reference to this in either the Spider IV Advanced manual or the product FAQ's on this site, so unless there is an 'Easter Egg' setting (i.e. a hidden option which is made available by using a combination of front panel buttons) that I don't know about, which is of course very possible, I'd say you're out of luck in being able to do this is the most obvious way.

I think what you're really saying you want is a Power Amp only input or an FX loop on the Spider IV so that you could achieve the same thing by using the FX Return - if it existed.  Unfortunately the Spider series amps don't have this feature, but the Spider Valve series amps do, 

You can certailnly put the Spider IV 75 and upwards into Manual Mode with one of the 'clean' amp settings which you could use as a starting point, and I think this is the closest you are going to get with a Spider IV.  You may be better turning off Amp Modelling in your XT and using it as purely an FX module.  I own a Spider III, and Spider IV 150 as well as both an XT Live and X3 Live.  Personally, I wouldn't use either the XT Live or X3 Live with the Spider III/IV as in both instances I'd consider it to be doubling up on both amp modelling and FX modelling, which isn't the same thing as saying you can't plug an XT Live into the front of a Spider IV amp, but the results are likely to be different than you'd expect IMO.

However, there is one other way, which should work: Make up an adapter lead which will convert both the 1/4" outputs from your XT Live to a TRS 1/8" jack plug which you plug into the CD/MP3 socket on the amp - NOTE: you will need to use both outputs from your XT Live to get both sides of the stereo working from your Spider IV 120/150 or 150HD, but if you have a Spider IV 75 or lower then a mono input should work.  you MUST plug a standard 1/4" jack plug in to your Spider IV's normal guitar input to enable the CD/MP3 input or you'll get no sound.

Nick

[BowerR64]

i dont really need to do any of those things, i may try the CD\MP3 in just to see how it sounds but i like the amp modeling on the amps i have (sept the effects) 

 

I was just curious what it did and i was curious how it sounded with everything off, a raw sound?

 

When you put the spider III-15 into this manual mode do the EQ settings work atleast?

 

Im wondering the difference in sound between say this mode and the CD\MP3 input? other then then input jack type?

 

im sure the impedance is different, i doubt it would sound good plugging a guitar into the CD\MP3 input the levels are different, might actually be a good pedal platform if you could get the amp cheap enough

 

Thanks for your replys by the way

[Brazzy]

i dont really need to do any of those things, i may try the CD\MP3 in just to see how it sounds but i like the amp modeling on the amps i have (sept the effects) 

I was just curious what it did and i was curious how it sounded with everything off, a raw sound?

When you put the spider III-15 into this manual mode do the EQ settings work atleast?

Im wondering the difference in sound between say this mode and the CD\MP3 input? other then then input jack type?

im sure the impedance is different, i doubt it would sound good plugging a guitar into the CD\MP3 input the levels are different, might actually be a good pedal platform if you could get the amp cheap enough

Thanks for your replys by the way

 

When I power up that way the only knob that works is the master volume. I use it when I want to plug my HD500 in the amps 1/4" guitar input. I think, it's been a long time, that while I'm in that mode if I press one of the channel buttons it goes onto normal mode but I can't be sure as I haven't fooled around like that in a vey long time.

I'm sure while in power amp mode if I plugged my guitar into the guitar input or CD/MP3 it would be an amplified dry like sound.

You're Welcome for the replies. Neat thread too. I like what you did making it into a head. Thumbs Up!

[fflbrgst]

You don't have to plug a dummy plug into the guitar input on a IV-75 to get the CD/MP3 input to work.  Note that you have to control volume from the device you are plugging in, the master volume does not work for this input.