Line 6’s first Spider digital modeling amplifiers helped make amp modeling accessible to the masses. With a few twists of a knob, a beginner could conjure a convincing (for the time) Boogie-style tone, the bark of an AC30, or a smooth blackface Twin Reverb sound. Those early Spider amps were a revelation for many. And the Spider V 120 may set a new standard—yet again—for amp-modeling bang for the buck. But to think of the Spider V 120 exclusively as a modeling amp would be a disservice. It’s packed to the gills with features that aid composition and recording, too.
More Here Than Meets the Eye
Behind the amp’s sleek black and silver grille cloth hides a bi-amped full-range speaker system comprised of a 12" and a tweeter, which serve many of the same functions as flat-response monitor speakers. Most of the “speaker” coloration you hear from the Spider comes from the models themselves. Unconventional speaker arrays are also a feature of Line 6’s more expensive Firehawk 1500 and AMPLIFi products. And though the concept is probably counterintuitive to players that fret over differences between regular guitar speaker types, it is key to Spider’s ability to reproduce everything from acoustic-electric guitar sounds to thick bass tones.
In the more relaxed environs of your home or studio, you can also take advantage of the free Spider Remote app (available for iOS and Android) for your smartphone or tablet device. You just plug your phone or tablet into the back of the amp, open the app, and tweak away via the easy-to-use interface. The app makes several of Spider V’s best features, like switching effects order and saving presets, much easier. You can also use the app to share presets and settings with other Spider users.
Another way to record ideas is by utilizing the Spider V’s “quick looper” function. A single button allows you to loop your ideas, play them back, overdub, and erase. You can also use it with a Line 6 FBV 3 foot controller (sold separately) for on-the-fly changes.
Speaking of the FBV 3, I definitely recommend picking one up to unlock the full potential of this amp. The pedal can instantly access your favorite presets—32 banks of four presets each to be exact—and still be able to engage and bypass each effect individually. The expression treadle and footswitches are durable, and have color-coded LEDs that make navigating your tonal changes a cinch on dark stages. The Spider V 120 is wireless-ready and can be used with Line 6’s Relay G10T wireless transmitter (also sold separately).
Ratings
Pros:
Tones far surpass previous Spider amps. Easy-to-use Spider Remote app for editing sounds. Full-range speakers are great for a wide variety of instruments. Cubase LE conveniently bundled in.
Cons:
Traces of digital modeling become apparent and affect amp response at performance volume. Editing sounds from front panel can be challenging.
Tones:
Ease of Use:
Build/Design:
Value:
Street:
$399
Line 6 Spider V 120
line6.com
It’s good practice to never judge the capabilities of digital gear based on factory presets. But the sounds I got right out of the box—and at moderate practice volumes—bucked that logic. The breakup in an old-school Marshall preset was very convincing. A model called “1964 Blackface ’Lux” (I’ll let you sort out the inspiration) responds with a quick and sparkling top, and, even better, some of the touch-responsive sag of a real tube amp. Digital high-gain sounds in affordable modelers can inspire dread, but many of them sounded spot-on here at moderate volumes.
There are many excellent effect simulations, too. The classic distortion, based on a Pro Co Rat, was perfect for fattening up a gritty amp tone. The Phase 90 model swooshed with an appropriate amount of modulation, and changing the cabinet and microphone models not only nailed the characteristics of each piece of gear, but changed the amp’s responsiveness in ways that felt authentic.
Many of the Spider’s sounds are effective in loud live settings.I used the amp on a full-band gig (although I ran direct to the board rather than exploring the limits of the full-frequency speakers). For the show, I pulled up the amp’s 1967 AC30 Top Boost-style model, and placed the Rat-style classic overdrive, a DynaComp-type compressor, a Memory Man-style modulated analog delay, and a thick hall reverb in the signal chain. The amp handled everything without a hitch, eliciting compliments on tone from the other musicians onstage. If there are any complaints to be leveled against the Spider V 120 in the gigging context, it’s that I started to hear discernibly less of the headroom and open, airy top-end that I hear in my tube amplifiers as volume increased. Most of this nuance will be lost on the average listener. For some players, though, the differences in dynamics and sensitivity at volume might affect their overall playing approach.
The Verdict
The Spider V 120 combo amp is so full-featured that I can only profile a fraction of its capabilities in this review. Though there are some minor shortcomings at performance volumes, there are few tones the amp can’t approximate, and most sound pretty terrific—especially given the wallet-friendly price of this amp. Factor in the ease with which you can customize, save, and record sounds, and the Spider V 120 represents a real modeling value.
Watch the Review Demo:
Duane Denison of the Jesus Lizard, EGC Chessie in hands, coaxing some nasty tones from his Hiwatt.
The Jesus Lizard’s sixth album, Blue, served as the band’s final statement from the frontlines of noisy rock for the next 26 years. By the time of their dissolution in 1999, they’d earned a reputation for extreme performances chock full of hard-hitting, machine-like grooves delivered by bassist David Wm. Sims and, at their conclusion, drummer Mac McNeilly, at times aided and at other times punctured by the frontline of guitarist Duane Denison’s incisive, dissonant riffing, and presided over by the cantankerous howl of vocalist David Yow. In the years since, performative, thrilling bands such as Pissed Jeans, METZ, and Idles have built upon the Lizard’s musical foundation.
Denison has kept himself plenty busy over the last couple decades, forming the avant-rock supergroup Tomahawk—with vocalist Mike Patton, bassist Trevor Dunn (both from Mr. Bungle), and drummer John Stanier of Helmet—and alongside various other projects including Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers and Hank Williams III. The Jesus Lizard eventually reunited, but until now have only celebrated their catalog, never releasing new jams.
The Jesus Lizard, from left: bassist David Wm. Sims, singer David Yow, drummer Mac McNeilly, and guitarist Duane Denison.
Photo by Joshua Black Wilkins
Back in 2018, Denison, hanging in a hotel room with Yow, played a riff on his unplugged electric guitar that caught the singer’s ear. That song, called “West Side,” will remain unreleased for now, but Denison explains: “He said, ‘Wow, that’s really good. What is that?’ And I said, ‘It’s just some new thing. Why don’t we do an album?’” From those unassuming beginnings, the Jesus Lizard’s creative juices started flowing.
So, how does a band—especially one who so indelibly captured the ineffable energy of live rock performance—prepare to get a new record together 26 years after their last? Back in their earlier days, the members all lived together in a band house, collectively tending to the creative fire when inspiration struck. All these years later, they reside in different cities, so their process requires sending files back and forth and only meeting up for occasional demo sessions over the course of “three or four years.”
“When the time comes to get more in performance mode, I have a practice space. I go there by myself and crank it up. I turn that amp up and turn the metronome up and play loud.” —Duane Denison
the Jesus Lizard "Alexis Feels Sick"
Distance creates an obstacle to striking while the proverbial iron is hot, but Denison has a method to keep things energized: “Practice loud.” The guitarist professes the importance of practice, in general, and especially with a metronome. “We keep very detailed records of what the beats per minute of these songs are,” he explains. “To me, the way to do it is to run it to a Bluetooth speaker and crank it, and then crank your amp. I play a little at home, but when the time comes to get more in performance mode, I have a practice space. I go there by myself and crank it up. I turn that amp up and turn the metronome up and play loud.”
It’s a proven solution. On Rack—recorded at Patrick Carney’s Audio Eagle studio with producer Paul Allen—the band sound as vigorous as ever, proving they’ve not only remained in step with their younger selves, but they may have surpassed it with faders cranked. “Duane’s approach, both as a guitarist and writer, has an angular and menacing fingerprint that is his own unique style,” explains Allen. “The conviction in his playing that he is known for from his recordings in the ’80s and ’90s is still 100-percent intact and still driving full throttle today.”
“I try to be really, really precise,” he says. “I think we all do when it comes to the basic tracks, especially the rhythm parts. The band has always been this machine-like thing.” Together, they build a tension with Yow’s careening voice. “The vocals tend to be all over the place—in and out of tune, in and out of time,” he points out. “You’ve got this very free thing moving around in the foreground, and then you’ve got this very precise, detailed band playing behind it. That’s why it works.”
Before Rack, the Jesus Lizard hadn’t released a new record since 1998’s Blue.
Denison’s guitar also serves as the foreground foil to Yow’s unhinged raving, as on “Alexis Feels Sick,” where they form a demented harmony, or on the midnight creep of “What If,” where his vibrato-laden melodies bolster the singer’s unsettled, maniacal display. As precise as his riffs might be, his playing doesn’t stay strictly on the grid. On the slow, skulking “Armistice Day,” his percussive chording goes off the rails, giving way to a solo that slices that groove like a chef’s knife through warm butter as he reorganizes rock ’n’ roll histrionics into his own cut-up vocabulary.
“During recording sessions, his first solo takes are usually what we decide to keep,” explains Allen. “Listen to Duane’s guitar solos on Jack White’s ‘Morning, Noon, and Night,’ Tomahawk’s ‘Fatback,’ and ‘Grind’ off Rack. There’s a common ‘contained chaos’ thread among them that sounds like a harmonic Rubik’s cube that could only be solved by Duane.”
“Duane’s approach, both as a guitarist and writer, has an angular and menacing fingerprint that is his own unique style.” —Rack producer Paul Allen
To encapsulate just the right amount of intensity, “I don’t over practice everything,” the guitarist says. Instead, once he’s created a part, “I set it aside and don’t wear it out.” On Rack, it’s obvious not a single kilowatt of musical energy was lost in the rehearsal process.
Denison issues his noisy masterclass with assertive, overdriven tones supporting his dissonant voicings like barbed wire on top of an electric fence. The occasional application of slapback delay adds a threatening aura to his exacting riffage. His tones were just as carefully crafted as the parts he plays, and he relied mostly on his signature Electrical Guitar Company Chessie for the sessions, though a Fender Uptown Strat also appears, as well as a Taylor T5Z, which he chose for its “cleaner, hyper-articulated sound” on “Swan the Dog.” Though he’s been spotted at recent Jesus Lizard shows with a brand-new Powers Electric—he points out he played a demo model and says, “I just couldn’t let go of it,” so he ordered his own—that wasn’t until tracking was complete.
Duane Denison's Gear
Denison wields his Powers Electric at the Blue Room in Nashville last June.
Photo by Doug Coombe
Guitars
- Electrical Guitar Company Chessie
- Fender Uptown Strat
- Taylor T5Z
- Gibson ES-135
- Powers Electric
Amps
- Hiwatt Little J
- Hiwatt 2x12 cab with Fane F75 speakers
- Fender Super-Sonic combo
- Early ’60s Fender Bassman
- Marshall 1987X Plexi Reissue
- Victory Super Sheriff head
- Blackstar HT Stage 60—2 combos in stereo with Celestion Neo Creamback speakers and Mullard tubes
Effects
- Line 6 Helix
- Mantic Flex Pro
- TC Electronic G-Force
- Menatone Red Snapper
Strings and Picks
- Stringjoy Orbiters .0105 and .011 sets
- Dunlop celluloid white medium
- Sun Studios yellow picks
He ran through various amps—Marshalls, a Fender Bassman, two Fender Super-Sonic combos, and a Hiwatt Little J—at Audio Eagle. Live, if he’s not on backline gear, you’ll catch him mostly using 60-watt Blackstar HT Stage 60s loaded with Celestion Neo Creambacks. And while some boxes were stomped, he got most of his effects from a Line 6 Helix. “All of those sounds [in the Helix] are modeled on analog sounds, and you can tweak them endlessly,” he explains. “It’s just so practical and easy.”
The tools have only changed slightly since the band’s earlier days, when he favored Travis Beans and Hiwatts. Though he’s started to prefer higher gain sounds, Allen points out that “his guitar sound has always had teeth with a slightly bright sheen, and still does.”
“Honestly, I don’t think my tone has changed much over the past 30-something years,” Denison says. “I tend to favor a brighter, sharper sound with articulation. Someone sent me a video I had never seen of myself playing in the ’80s. I had a band called Cargo Cult in Austin, Texas. What struck me about it is it didn’t sound terribly different than what I sound like right now as far as the guitar sound and the approach. I don’t know what that tells you—I’m consistent?”
YouTube It
The Jesus Lizard take off at Nashville’s Blue Room this past June with “Hide & Seek” from Rack.