This little monster really roars when we give it some meat! Can you imagine mixing one of the best tube amp makers on one side with the modeling leader on the other, stirring well, baking patiently and serving it on a bulletproof table? Well, that’s pretty much what we have on our hands today.

That’s right. Line 6 has jumped into the pool, and now offers us hybrid products that combine the best digital modeling technology with the acoustic purity of tubes. And it does so hand in hand with a legendary tube amplification brand: Bogner.

Who hasn’t played through a Spider modeling amp? What we have in front of us is the result of the collaboration and shoulder-to-shoulder work of these two companies, which represent the antagonism of the two most prized technologies, so far apart chronologically. But who says opposites don’t attract?

Unboxing and First Impressions
The box arrived from distributor Music Mania well packed, and on opening it we find the amp, the power cable and the documentation.

Our guest comes in a 2x12 combo format, with a preamp featuring two 12AX7 tubes, 36 programmable channels (divided into four super-channels, selectable by footswitch or directly from the preamp), a power stage with two 6L6 tubes, 40 W of power, Celestion Vintage 30 speakers, modeling of 12 different amplifiers, gain control, reverb, seven effects, over 300 presets, a tuner... Things are looking good. In the I/O section, meanwhile, we have outputs for connecting auxiliary cabinets and an input for connecting a Pod preamp or amplifier. One thing I liked: an XLR output, very useful for its balanced capabilities.

I was surprised that it doesn’t come with a control pedal included. I understand that, on the one hand, the digital component is tied to the studio and the pedal isn’t as necessary, but on the other hand, tubes are especially appealing live, where you crank them and they saturate the way they should. Besides, we’re talking about 40 W of Class A/B tube power; it’s clear it begs to be used live.

What Line 6 proposes is to buy its FBV pedals as an optional extra.

Finally, it’s worth noting that the amp is well built and finished, and suggests security and reliability for prolonged use, especially if we notice the quality of the components, such as the Sovtek and Ruby tubes or the Sprague Orange Drop capacitors.

Getting Started: Features and Sound
With amplifiers of this type, it’s hard to see where to begin. In our case, we chose to start from scratch and select each amp model in turn, combining it with the different effects and EQ settings. My mouth is watering, because having tried the transistor-based modeling from the same brand, I’m burning to feel the difference. DSP + tubes? Let’s flip the Standby.

Setting Up Presets
With a display with a multidirectional button, EQ, gain and volume knobs and an amp model selector, preset setup is actually quite intuitive and very easy to control, especially if you know the previous-generation Spiders. This pleased me quite a bit, since I have used modeling amps that gave me more than one headache to set up. Our guest, however, is docile and lets itself be influenced.

The presence of a graphic tuner is appreciated. After tuning and adjusting our guitars, we select a channel and start designing a preset, with the first amp model: Clean.

Sound: The DSP Section
Here it is imperative to mention that the tests were carried out with two different guitars, one Explorer®-style and one Strat®-style. This will guide us in determining the amp’s level of versatility.

Like the solid-state Spiders, each amp model has two flavors, identified by two colors on the LEDs next to the knob: yellow and blue.

The yellow Clean. The sound is very warm, strong in the lows and light on sparkle. A dense tone that goes very well with the thickness of the humbuckers. Add a little chorus and delay and nothing more needs to be said.

As for the blue Clean, it reminded me more of the British sound of the mid-to-late ’60s, with more sparkle and more suited to the Strat®. Still, compared with other tube amps, I think the tone for piercing sounds isn’t as well achieved on this model, favoring instead the character of darker, thicker guitars. The reverb and chorus effects put the icing on this mode.

Next, we have a more crystalline tone, based on ’60s Fender® amps: the yellow tweed. Here the Strat® finds, in my view, its optimal modeling match in this amp, especially when combined with reverb and tremolo.

That said, when we switch to the blue tweed and raise the gain slightly, we get that dynamic, rocking ’50s tone, so typical of classic saturation. It combines perfectly with both the bite of single coils and humbuckers.

Next, we tried the yellow blues model, which gives a very smooth, mellow tone, perfect for electric blues. When raising the gain, the saturated, dark sound was especially appealing to me with the humbuckers.

As for the blue blues, we drift toward a more British, “sixties” sound. I would associate it with a Vox®, crunchier, with quite a well-achieved vintage saturation.

The next amp model offers a lot of play: crunch, in yellow mode. I think two words could sum up what this model aims to offer: British Plexi. By combining EQ and gain, we can get most of the rock sounds of the ’70s and early ’80s. To give you an idea, it recalls the sound of early Judas Priest and Iron Maiden.

The blue crunch mode delivers what we know as the brown sound, with a more powerful Plexi tone. Here, the combined phaser and delay effects produce an exquisite cocktail for getting those crunchy rock sounds that mark the mid-’70s.

Yellow metal. It gives us the definition of ’80s metal. High gain, a piercing, compressed sound. It’s appealing for developing powerful solos and riffs, complemented by delay/reverb and flanger effects, respectively.

Blue metal. We move into a very aggressive sound that, as I perceived it, yields a great variety of saturated tones depending on how we vary the midrange, making almost any metal-derived style accessible with this model. With a flat EQ you capture the idea of a modern amp type (did I say Dual Rectifier?), especially when increasing gain and presence, which delivers those dense, heavy sounds with strong lows and highs. However, by reducing the gain and increasing the mids, we get a smoother sound that lends itself to aggressive riffs and solos, but with color. Versatility is served.

Insane mode teleports us to the world of the most powerful, savage metal, hence the name. The yellow mode has a higher level of mids and highs than metal, but with more “punch” and saturation, especially when raising the presence level. As for the blue, we could define it as the result of trying to saturate as much as possible without the amp blowing up. Excellent for heavy, modern styles close to nu metal, which demand that density, gain and power.

I’m quite satisfied with the results, especially with the range of distortions achieved, and this is where this amp has its greatest strength. The tubes take care of maintaining that warmth so prized in this type of amplifier, and the analog feel under my fingers crosses paths with the versatility of digital modeling. Not bad.

Effects
The Smart Control FX effects control is a bit strange. It is divided into three knobs: chorus/flanger, phaser and tremolo variation (it reminds me of Marshall®’s MG series); tape echo, sweep echo and delay variation; and reverb. This type of cyclical design prevents using simultaneously the effects tied to the same knob. What you can do is combine one of the effects from each knob, so we get a maximum of three.

Let’s say that varying a control at one extreme gives rise to another. Take the flanger as an example. As we turn the knob clockwise, the effect becomes progressively less pronounced, with a lower rate and a less “swirling” perception of the sound, until it becomes a chorus effect. From there, if we keep turning, the effect becomes faster and more emphasized.

The tap-tempo delays and reverbs we can get are, in my judgment, the most noteworthy effects I found on this amp.

Power
The good design of the power stage is worth noting, something to be expected from Bogner. Those two 6L6s in Class A/B amplification deliver 40 W that certainly go a long way (I don’t even want to imagine what the 100 W head version could do). Add the two Celestion Vintage 30s and that says it all. I found it a wise choice of speakers, given their warmth of sound, definition and, above all, the color they bring to saturated sounds (let’s not forget that this amp excels when it comes to distortion).

It could be used live in small or medium-sized venues without any problem, because this little monster really roars when we give it some meat.

Input/Output Section
This section is quite simple and supports basic functions. For starters, we have a jack input for the power stage. This means we can take advantage of a separate modeling system (for example the X3 Live), which will replace the built-in one while keeping the preamp and tube power stage. This allows greater customization of the rig, especially when it comes to pedalboard use.

We also have a preamp output, so it can be connected to a separate power amp.

As you may be thinking, these two connections allow, respectively, an effects send and return, that is, it works as a loop in case we need to connect additional effects pedals.

Also, as mentioned, Line 6 hasn’t abandoned its great efficiency in recording and has given the Spider Valve an XLR output for connecting to an interface, monitors, and so on.

The input for Line 6 FBV pedals. This input allows connecting FBV pedals to control channel switching, tap tempo, effect activation, access to 32 more channels, wah-wah, and so on. Depending on the model, the possibilities vary. Of course, with our little guy it is offered as an option.

Finally, the amp offers us multiple speaker outputs, depending on how we play with impedance: we can connect a 16 Ohm cabinet (output A), a 16 Ohm cabinet or else two 8 Ohm ones (output B), and another 8 Ohm one or else two 4 Ohm ones (output C). I liked such versatility, since if we have the gear, we can connect up to five additional cabinets! Still, the 16 Ohm case is falling out of use, and it is increasingly hard to find cabinets designed with that output impedance.

Conclusion
At this price, the amp seems to me a truly interesting option. We’re talking about 40 W, tubes with a power stage designed by Bogner, Celestion® speakers, the flexibility offered by the variety of amps and effects and, above all, the storage capacity (36 memory slots, four of them directly accessible). And that’s without mentioning how useful it can be to have a bank of 300 presets, with the typical settings of many famous bands, which saves time if we intend to sound like a specific player, especially if we play in a cover band.

So, in short, what do we have? A powerful, versatile amp, especially aimed at the rock crowd. Nonetheless, the clean tones sound rounder and with more color than on the solid-state Spiders. That “plasticky” feel when playing and sounding, which is generally the biggest drawback of modeling amps, has been noticeably minimized.

All in all: power, versatility, total reliability when recording in the studio with the balanced XLR output, price, and the guarantee of two leading manufacturers. What more can you ask for in a revolutionary product?

It combines tube technology plus DSP. It’s the answer to the demand for a digital modeling product with the feel and warmth of tubes. This is the first rung the company has climbed, and honestly it hasn’t let us down in any way. That said, my mouth waters thinking about what else Line 6 has in mind to further this hybrid technology which, it seems, is catching on big.

We can say without blinking that Line 6, once again, has outdone itself with its spider; this time, dyed a revolutionary color. What will be next?