The Big Marketing "Miss" of Spider V

[01GT]

Here is the thing ... The Spider V is so incredibly functional that the Spider V is a lot closer to being a "baby Helix" than it is to being an "improved Spider IV".  The problem with the Spider V is that it carries the reputation with it of its Spider I-IV predecessors -- including the Spider I-IV's goofy/limited effects controls, bad standard on-board presets, and many digital sound limitations.  Spider V is light years of improvement over the previous Spider IV, being FAR more than a simple evolution of the IV's existing features.  As stated previously, the Spider V has more in common with Helix than it does Spider IV.  Because of the that, the big MISS was made by Line 6 marketing for attaching the "Spider" name to it at all, and not instead attaching "Helix/HX" to it.  Spider V was bitten badly by poor pre-conceived notions by the marketplace.  Spider V being such a jump in technology that it would have warranted the new branding along with establishing a fresh start from the bad reputation of Spider I-IV.  With the new "Catalyst", Line 6 seems to be taking aim at Katana, and maybe a new "Spider VI" will be branded within that Catalyst family.  Regardless, I think it is safe to say that we will see no more branding within the "Spider" line as Line 6 wants to separate itself from it.  Regardless of pre-conceived notions or reputation, the Spider V is an AMAZING amp providing ridiculous amounts of functionality, control and TONE.  The reviews for it are also overwelmingly positive.  To me, personally, I think the Spider V outperforms everything in its pricepoint (yes, even Katana) and would be "almost perfect" as is if it just had an effects loop ...

[gtrman100]

I wholeheartedly agree. I would have kept the Spider name for the 20 and 30 watt versions, and changed the name of the higher powered ones to something else. That said, I really like my Spider V 240. It has a ton of great tones, and with the FBV3 is a fully featured gig/practice rig. Too bad it doesn't get the respect it deserves.

[LoisBlade]

On 2/27/2022 at 3:43 AM, 01GT said:

Here is the thing ... The Spider V is so incredibly functional that the Spider V is a lot closer to being a "baby Helix" than it is to being an "improved Spider IV".  The problem with the Spider V is that it carries the reputation with it of its Spider I-IV predecessors -- including the Spider I-IV's goofy/limited effects controls, bad standard on-board presets, and many digital sound limitations.  Spider V is light years of improvement over the previous Spider IV, being FAR more than a simple evolution of the IV's existing features.  As stated previously, the Spider V has more in common with Helix than it does Spider IV.  Because of the that, the big MISS was made by Line 6 marketing for attaching the "Spider" name to it at all, and not instead attaching "Helix/HX" to it.  Spider V was bitten badly by poor pre-conceived notions by the marketplace.  Spider V being such a jump in technology that it would have warranted the new branding along with establishing a fresh start from the bad reputation of Spider I-IV.  With the new "Catalyst", Line 6 seems to be taking aim at Katana, and maybe a new "Spider VI" will be branded within that Catalyst family.  Regardless, I think it is safe to say that we will see no more branding within the "Spider" line as Line 6 wants to separate itself from it.  Regardless of pre-conceived notions or reputation, the Spider V is an AMAZING amp providing ridiculous amounts of functionality, control and TONE.  The reviews for it are also overwelmingly positive.  To me, personally, I think the Spider V outperforms everything in its pricepoint (yes, even Katana) and would be "almost perfect" as is if it just had an effects loop ...  Totally agree—the Spider V had potential, but the marketing really missed the mark. It’s like they weren’t sure who they were targeting. I’ve seen that kind of disconnect in other industries too. I was reading some dentalqore reviews the other day on their marketing approach for dental practices (random, I know), and it’s clear how important it is to tailor the message to the right audience. When companies try to please everyone, they end up reaching no one. Same thing happened here—cool tech, but unclear messaging made it easy to overlook.

The built-in IRs and amp variety are great, but I never would’ve known that from the marketing materials. It feels like Line 6 kind of buried the lead on what makes this amp stand out. With a bit more clarity and focus in the messaging, it could’ve reached a much wider audience. Still happy with mine, but I almost overlooked it because of that.