Tried of my Marshall 8100 Thinking of a getting a modeling amp/head

[Rich#6]

I have had my Marshall 8100 head since the early 90's. Pretty tied of it , I usually use my line 6 uber pedal infront of it on the clean channel. I only like the middle channel on the pedal too.
I have never tried a modeling amp and wondered what you guys think of the spider III 150 head.
I don't play in a band so anything that line6 has with all the goodies is overkill, but I want all the toys
Not looking to spend a lot either. Just what I could sell the marshall head and my pedals for.
I don't want to go with something small too because they all sound like a tin can. ala my small 15w fender, kinda good sound but the speaker is too small.
My cabinet I use with the Marshall is a 1966b with 2 celestion 75w g12ts( I think)
I like anything from 70's to some of the current metal(minus most of the vocals). Mostly an 80's guy.

[chrisolson]

The Spider III isn't a bad amp - cheap too, and effects that are semi-usable. As long as all you want to use is delay, you'll be fine. The modulation effects are weak.

I put an OD in front of the "crunch" models on my SpiderValve, and it was AWESOME. Not sure if it'll do the same on the III, but it's worth a try. The high gain models are cool, but you may find that you'll get a little tired of them.

[emperor_black]

Actually, I got myself a lil spider III 15 watter to sit in the living room. I like it so far. Its got the right sizzle that I always look for. I have often wondered about the spider III head too. I am in a band and my current rig is an uber metal -> BBE SS -> carvin TS100 -> 4x12.

That said, the only thing I'm worried about the spider is the reliability. The lil spider sounds excellent at low volumes. but turn it up a little and it start crapping out. Also, in the guitar store one guy was saying that his friend's spider III freezes up once in a while. Not sure if he was talking about a lil spider or the head.

[chrisolson]

I don't know that I'd gig with one. If I gigged...

[Tim]

If you just want something to play around with at home, save yourself some money and buy the 30 watt Spider combo (Or whichever's the cheapest that still has a 12 inch speaker... anything smaller and the Spider sounds even worse). The head is just a waste of money if you're only playing at home.

In fact it's a waste of money if you're gigging too.

Might I suggest looking at a Roland cube 60 instead? Much nicer sounding amps than the Spiders IMO.

[Spivonious]

Spider III sounds fantastic at house volumes, but once it's turned up in a band situation it gets a bit muddy. The other guitarist in my band has one. I believe it's the stereo combo (75Wx2).

The effects are all pretty cheesy sounding, but they're fun to mess around with.

Try out a Flextone if it's in your budget. Otherwise, compare the Spiders with the Vox Valvetronix line.

[MikeStrat]

Might I suggest looking at a Roland cube 60 instead? Much nicer sounding amps than the Spiders IMO.

I got one of these about a month ago. I got it for band rehersal. I wanted something easy to move with decent sound. I have to say it's one of the best gear purchases I ever made. Sounds great, easily hangs with a band, easy to move and worth the money.

[toejam]

Any of the Tech 21 Trademark amps. http://www.tech21nyc.com/guitar_intro.html

I've actually got the Trademark 300 head and love it. I've also got the Tri-A.C. pedal which is almost the same thing, just in a preamp/pedal form.

[Rich#6]

thanks for the responses guys.
I was thinking of the 75watt ones and up only becuase they have all the preset artist and song setups. I want to have some fun experimenting with a lot of different distortions.
Do they make any modeling pedals with artist and song resets?
I should just see if I can get my old Marshall Master reverb 30 fixed. Now that was a great amp. It's a real marshall too ,not made in china

[emperor_black]

Do they make any modeling pedals with artist and song resets?

yup. there's the digitech dan donegan distortion pedal and then there;s the metal master. Also, I'm using the Line6 Uber metal pedal which has three gain structures, metal, pulverize (my fav) and the Insane. Its pretty much the spider distortions in a pedal.

[Rich#6]

Also, I'm using the Line6 Uber metal pedal which has three gain structures, metal, pulverize (my fav) and the Insane. Its pretty much the spider distortions in a pedal.

That's what I am using now. pulverize is my favorite too.