Line 6 Spider IV HD150 150W and 4x12 Guitar Half Stack  

I would give the features of the Spider IV a solid 10. it is a solid head, with great effects. All of the presets for the songs, and artists sounds spot on. If you are looking to have a decent array of effects and amp models with out paying a lot of money I recommend this head highly. I have done a lot of reasearch and I concluded that the head is a solid 10, but the cabinet is hardly a 4. This amp is great however to bring out the maximum potential you need to have the FBV footswitch, that Line 6 makes. It is a bit unfortunate it doesn't have an effects loop- but I don't have any other gear to add to it anyways so it isn't a big deal to me.

The head is quality, but the cabinet it comes with is severely lacking. I have only had mine for a week and all ready I have to take it into the repair shop because the connector for the speaker cables on the cabinet have all ready broken. I am very careful with my gear because I am poor and I can not afford to buy new gear if the stuff I have breaks, however this cabinet just can't hold up to basic regular use. I took the speaker cables out of the back the cabinet when I finished using it one day so I could put the cover back on it, and the connector on the back just came out. Now it has a hissing and popping noise that is just terrible.

With so many great sounding effects and amp models- this is great for anyone looking to get a lot of bang for your buck. The only draw back to the value is that you have to have the FBV foot switch in order to use everything this great amp has to offer.

This is a great product, but I reccomend just buying the head and a different cabinet. I have seen too many reviews on the cabinet that are low, and I just couldn't believe that it was true for some reason- but it is. The head is great.

I had some very serious doubts about this amp before trying it out. I was extremely spoiled by my tube amps, and my older modeling amp from a company now out of business which had really set the bar exceedingly high for line 6 or any other company to try modeling. Modeling became so popular in the late 90s that even Marshall, Randall, and Fender, as well as others, tried their hands at amps like this and all fell flat on their face with it. Wasn't a big fan of line 6 in the past because of the muddy sound typical of solid state amps using hi gain. Over the past few years though they have made leaps and bounds with this tech and have moved to the top of the mountain in modeling. Straight up, this amp is freakin awsome. I can get almost any tone out of it. You can literally pull everything from super clean country twang or pop, bluesy warm overdrive, jazzy sparkling chinks, to full blown hellish death metal out of this bad boy. And did I mention this amp is EXTREMELY LOUD?

The quality of the modeling section and effects is very good. The models are great, and the effects are all as good as most of the rack units you would ever use. The actual construction of the amp and cab is a little cheap tho, hence my rateing of 7. Theres a lot of plastic on the head and the wood is pressed pulp and what appears to be heavy pressed plywood from the inside of the cab. however,it is very hard and sturdy, and if you take care it is gig worthy and will hold up to regular moving about. Don't go dropping the head or cab on cement though..... And I hate that the cab has no wheels....

Value is above and beyond. I've seen nothing on the market except the Line 6 tube amps that can even compare to bang for your buck here. Not to mention the fact of completly eliminating your rack and plethera of pedals to have to haul about. With this you grab your amp, cab, footpedal and guitar throw em in your car and bolt.

  I give this amp an overall of 9 because of the value, the features, and the enourmous amount of sounds you can get with it. The hard details follow.....

PROS: great price, tons of effects, tons of sounds,  a perfect amplifier for anybody that plays many different styles or uses a lot of different sounds in their set/sessions.

CONS: my BIGGEST problem with this amp is there is NO EFFECTS LOOP. This is a BIG problem for anyone playing any of the really modern metal music, as this amp has virtually no equalizer patches available, and as a solid state, once you hit the hi gain models they seem to be seriously lacking any way to get any hi end out of the tones. Bigtime missing bite and the treble end of sonics. Why they didnt have EQs in the effects or an FXLoop is IMO a very big mistake. If you are a metal lead player youre going to be missing that hi end bite.

16 solid amp models and as of the Spider FX Infusion 2.0 update, 69 smart fx, 4 of which can be run simultaneously as well as 8 wah models. Built in gate and nr functionality only go to extend the usefulness of this beauty. This thing packs a lot of versatility into a single product and offers it at a wonderful price point. Granted, this isn't going to respond like an expensive tube amp, but for anyone from the amateur or hobby player to the solid live gigging musician this will provide a solid punch performance wise for you. Use a little wisdom in the levels you set for amp tone and fx saturation and this little beauty will carry you a long way. Make sure when you make your purchase to pick up an FBV Express MKII or an FBV Shortboard MKII (my personal preference) as this will make navigating your presets (and in the case of the shortboard managing your smart fx) much easier as well as giving you access to the Spider FX Infusion firmware updates and Spider IV edit for creating, editing, backing up and sharing of your presets as well as trying out presets other guitarist have shared via the line6 online community.

From what I've put it through so far, the Spider IV half-stack seems solidly constructed and would like survive some fairly harsh treatment. My only 2 gripes, and they certainly aren't deal breakers, are this. 1) The speaker cabinet does not have casters, but that can easily be remedied by an inexpensive set from a hardware store (make sure you get locking casters since this is a hefty cab and would probably pick up some momentum pretty quickly if it were rolling away on an uneven surface). 2) While the Celestion speakers in the cabinet are wonderful, they're not top shelf speakers, but they're certainly solid and can easily keep up with the versatile sounds created by the amp head.

For this price range, it's almost a steal. I'm very pleased with what I got for what I paid for it. Assembling all the amplifiers and effects units that inspired the sounds contained in the Spider IV would take a fortune and nearly a lifetime to find them all, and in my humble opinion only offer a modest (at best) difference in sound.

Overall I'm thrilled with this half-stack. While it will never respond like a tube, the cabinet lacks casters, and the speakers are not the absolute best of the best ... this half-stack will please many guitarists from beginners to reasonably discriminating advanced players. Tone snobs need not apply. For this price point it's a solid choice for a guitarist that doesn't have all the money in the world and doesn't want to pay so much on a half stack that it would be as much as a down payment on a car or a modest house.

I purchased the spider III and fell in love with it. I upgraded to the spider IV after a quick stop by a Mesa Triple Boogie. I use effects on my guitar and could not get them to sound right on the Boogie. The Spider IV HD 150 is all the tone I got from the Boogie and the effects I love and required for my sound rolled up into one amazing package.

Major plus is that while in transit if the knobs are moved it DOES NOT ADJUST THE TONES YOU HAVE CREATED. Those are saved on the hard drive the only knob that will adjust is the master volume which can easily be readjusted.

The FBV short board is a must have with this amp and will give you full access to the features. the loop feature is amazing but hard to use without the short board. the rest is as simple as you want it to be or as tweak happy as you want it to be.

I have never had an issue with the quality of the amp. the ether net cable is great quality and is a necessary addition giving not only the ability to use the pedal but also to upgrade your amp with new features and tones directly from your computer.

I have purchased much more expensive Heads and spent hundreds of dollars on effects to no avail. this amp integrates all the tone and effects I have ever wanted (and some that I had no idea existed) into one unstoppable package.  we play a lot of gigs and this amp is the one thing that I would absolutely guarantee to function properly. I carry two guitars but only one amp I have never had as much as a hiccup from it. Well done Line 6

The best Amp purchase I have ever made I am a line 6 user for life bar non.

It has 13 knobs. Thats alot of knobs. But for real, I gig around with both of my bands all the time, and this amp has yet to fail me. In one band, i rip out crazy metal licks and kick ass solos. As for the effects, there's something like 60 or whatever, i honestly only use the reverb, tape echo delay and flange, and those 3 work great, no matter what other people say.

I also study jazz in school, and this amp has pretty sparkling cleans. I actually prefer the cleans on this amp to those on any hi-gain tube amp i've played thus far.

Complaining time: 1) The volume doesnt really keep going up past 12 o'clock (mind you i'm quite possibly too deaf to distinguish that, I've never taken a decibel meter to it.

2) The knobs are too shiny for my liking.

3) The FBV shortboard MKII or whatever uses an ethernet cable. For me, the giggin musician, thats not completely ideal, because if i step on it the wrong way, i'm out buying another one. It also doesn't coil easily.

4) Sometimes when you turn it on, the channel isn't oomphy enough, like the gain isnt there. Going to another channel then back fixes it, and it's only sometimes when you first turn it on.

5) THE FBV THING randomly turns on the looper at times. It's probably me doing it somehow but i'm not sure how to stop doing it.

It's worth it, i mean you get what you pay for right?

Tis a good purchase. If this is your first half-stack, its a great choice. If you gig around alot and want something that's perfect, this is a GREAT backup.