| Test drove the setup yesterday. So I retrieved my 5150 last night and painstakingly set up this rig with both amps, both cabs and the SKB Pedal board and the A/B switch. Really not happy with the spider, even the clean. So again I am thinking that the 5150 is the better rig no matter what. Just can't replace tubes, no matter how advanced Line6 is. Don't get me wrong the Line6 setup is kicking for recording, can't shake a stick at it. There is no way that I can beat the ease of recording a Line6 product vs a traditional set up. If I want to record the 5150 (with the available equipment I currently own), it would require a mic, a cab, a quiet area, etc...... If I want to record with the Line6 products (Pod XtLive or the Spider III) all I have to do is plug the damn thing into a recording device. The Pod is so easy to record with its set up the most difficult part about recording it is actually playing the guitar. But in a live world it does not matter what tube amp your using, Laney, Ampeg, Mesa, Peavey, Marshall or Vox to name a few; you just can not replace the tube. Previously I was all fired up about using the Spider III for the clean sounds and while it does have a nice clean sound I am seriously leaning toward what a few have said here. Is it worth the extra weight and small real estate on most stages locally. I am saying no right now. I totally forgot about a few settings on the 5150 because I have not used it the way it was designed since 02 when I lived in Ct. While I lived there in "Smoke and Mirrors" as the Lead Gtr I used to be all glass for distortion. I moved back to Ms in 03 and did not start playing Gtr again till around late 04 early 05 and the band I was in really didn't like the 5150 for reasons unknown to me. I then purchased the Pod XtLive after Katrina when we got back together after the storm and basically used the 5150 as a power amp through the clean channel. It was cool but I started following down a seady path of more and more ear candy. Bert can attest to that the many times we played together, I had issues with volume level, guitar hidden under all the effects etc. Bert is really good at what he does and he got me started on the "Less is More" kick again but I still held on to using the XtLive. The band fell apart due to distance we had to travel and a drummer who fell in love with a huge woman, he had no job and just could not afford the traveling. Then I met Aaron around that time period after going through the many Chris bass players. Aaron got me even further into the need for glass in a amp with his setup. I purchased the Spider III because I was spending more time trying to program the XtLive. I saw the Spider III as a easy fix with a easy setup spending more time playing vs programing. I am using the factory setups and no lie that sound great but its a killer sound but its missing something. If you have never ran through a tube amp; its likely you will not understand that statement. With a tube amp you can vary the distortion with the preamp; which you can do with all amps. The difference is when you back off the volume on the gtr while plugged into a tube amp the distortion will also back off and you will get a cleaner sound. On a transistor or digital amp when you back off the volume on your gtr you still have the same level of distortion just at a less volume. So after playing the set up and running the 5150 for a few hours by itself I have decided to us the 5150 with a few older Boss/DOD foot pedals and my crybaby.
In closing I had forgotten how great a tube amp the 5150 is, and how great all tube amps really sound. So if I get on the digital amp with shit loads of effects band wagon again someone please remind me how "Less is More"...
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Jocko
08 Ibanez RG770DX RR, call her "Candy"
06 Ibanez SA with Amber Curly Maple Top
06 Line6 Variax
06 Fender/Squire Hello Kitty Strat (long story, used to belong to my daughter)
05 Wine Red Les Paul with Gold
03 Ibanez Strat Copy
03 Ibanez 4 String Bass
95 Ibanez Iceman
90 Ibanez RG 550
79 Yamaha 335 Acoustic | 
