Help choose Between Fender Frontman VS Line 6 Spider III

[klandestino]

Hi all, i am about to buy a new amp and short on money (and here in portugal these guns are a lot more expensive than in USA) so i decided to call for help on this.

I am Considering these three options:

-Fender Frontman 25R - 120€ (euro) +/- $175,48 (US Dollar)
-Fender Frontman 65R - 235€ (euro) +/- $343,64 (US Dollar)
-Line 6 Spider III 30 Watts - 218€ (euro) +/- $318,78 (US Dollar)

What i am looking for is some good sound tone and not so concerned for power, now i have an old marshal valvestate 8010 (10wrms) and it is almost enough in power, i play only for myself and once a month or even less i play with a friend drummer and the 10watts do the trick for us....

My questions are:

1. Is there a significant difference between this two fender or just the power?

2. The line 6 emulation of various known amps makes me wonder if it's worthy the $$, can it do a reasonable aproach to the clean fender tone???

3. And in case i choose for fender, the power justify the $$$ diference between those two models (considering my use of it) ?

4. Am i missing something on choosing? any help will be appreciated!!

Thanks all!

[drlowlow]

some considerations

There are alot of elements here that are subjective. The first thing that should be addressed that power ratings are often different from manufactuer to manufactuer so the line 6 thirty watts might be different than what fender would label as thirty watts. To compound that speaker efficiency can be radically different so the actual volume output can't be taken for granted to directly correspond to the advertised power.

1)The difference between the two fenders can be checked out on the fender website. Really you have to question what features do you really want. Somepeople like having channel switching but there are some that would prefer to have a single channel amp that sounds very good on that one channel.


2)I have seen the Line 6 get good reviews but I haven't had any personal experience with them and the only way you will know for sure if you like it will be to go to a shop that has it and give it a good testdrive.

3)this again is subjective. If I was playing with a drummer though I would want some serious power so I could have some headroom.

4)You can look for sound clips but I doubt you will find them for those fenders. You can find a dealer that carrys the models and test them. The real question you need to ask is what features do you need and how loud do you need to be. You might want to try some other models and might even consider some of the all valve amps on the market that are around the same price. You might be surprised that they make more volume than a solid state amp with a similiar power rating. Of course you like what you like so maybe you wont like it but I think most people would agree that it is so much more pleasurable to enjoy the dynamic response of a tube amp, and for that price you could easy come into grasp of a valve junior or a blackhearts amp.

[FOtM]

Owner of both

I own both amps personally. The Fender I bought used from my local music store, and the Line 6 I got new. I like the Line 6 for its effects and models, but it has a weird sound. Like it has some type of subtle wah on when it is on the clean setting. The Fender has great sound. It is amazingly clear for an old amp. It's what you would expect from Fender. It all depends which you value more built in effect options or great sound and tone.

[defaced]

2. The line 6 emulation of various known amps makes me wonder if it's worthy the $$, can it do a reasonable aproach to the clean fender tone???

I might be able to help with that. I have an XT Live, and if you let me know what amp, settings, cab, and mic you want to hear, I can get you a quick recording of it. It won't be identical to what you'll get out of the Spider III, but it'll get you an idea of how close it is.

I've had the opportunity to play many Line 6 products, and some are clearly better than others. I would not consider the Spider series to be one of their better products. My dissatisfaction with them is while they sound pretty good, they don't feel the same as a good tube amp when you play them, this was even the case with the Spider Valve. Mind you, I had just finished playing a VHT Deliverance 120, which is an incredibly dynamic amp, before checking out the Spider Valve, so my judgment was likely very biased.

Of the amps you listed, I'd seriously consider the 65w Fender, if it'll get you the sound you want, because of headroom. It'll be around 6-7bd louder than your current amp assuming all other things equal (speaker efficiency for example)