GuitarBizarre

The spider III isn't a BAD amp persay, but it is a cheap one, and that will show. Especially if its one of the smaller 15 Watt models, since those use smaller speakers and as such don't sound too brilliant compared to other models.

The Vox Valvetronix series of amps are surprisingly good for the money, and the great thing is they have an attenuator built in on the back, so you can run the amp section flat out, without shaking the house down. I have the 30 Watt Model, but to be honest, I regretted not getting the 50 Watt model, since the 30 can only barely be heard over drums, and has a 10" speaker as opposed to 12" (This makes a big difference in tone)

The letdowns on that particular series for me though, were that when it comes to recording things, it has noticable buzz. Also, the jack socket isn't particularly robust, and I've broken mine once or twice. (Luckily you can fix it yourself with nothing more than a screwdriver and the gumption to take the thing apart. Amplifiers are simple beasts and there really isn't anything to get wrong.)

As a note, thats the standard AD30VT I'm talking about there. There IS a version with 'XL' in the model name. I wouldn't recommend that one, its made for metalheads, and I didn't find it particularly great sounding.


Other than that, Dave is absolutely right. The ibanez is the better guitar out of those two, and changing the amp will likely make for a much better upgrade in the long run than the guitar will. I personally collect guitars like most people collect odd socks, there are always more to buy for different sounds/tones etc, but I've generally only ever used one amp at a time.

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