® Pilot’s Handbook Manuel de pilotage Pilotenhandbuch Pilotenhandboek Manual del Piloto An in-depth exploration of the advanced technologies and pulsing tonal pleasures of Spider Jam. 40-00-0134 Electrophonic Limited Edition available @ www.line6.
WARNING: To reduce the risk of fire or electric shock, do not expose this appliance to rain or moisture. CAUTION: To reduce the risk of fire or electric shock, do not remove screws. No user-serviceable parts inside. Refer servicing to qualified service personnel. NOTICE: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device pursuant to Part 15 of FCC Rules.
You should read these Important Safety Instructions Keep these instructions in a safe place Before using your Spider Jam, carefully read the applicable items of these operating instructions and the safety suggestions. 1. Obey all warnings on the amp and in the Spider Jam Manual. 2. Connect only to AC power outlets rated 100-120V or 200-240V 47-63Hz (depending on voltage range of the power supply; refer to label on the unit). 3.
Table of Contents Tutorials................................................................................... 1•1 Tutorial 1 – Jam with a Song.......................................................................... 1•1 Tutorial 2 – Record & Overdub with Drums.................................................. 1•2 Tutorial 3 – Record & Play with FBV Foot Controller.................................. 1•4 Tutorial 4 – Connect a Mic to the XLR Input...............................................
Setting the Band/Drum Playback Level......................................................... 4•3 Changing the Speed/Pitch of a Song or Drum Groove.................................. 4•3 Setting Guitar Tones with Songs.................................................................... 4•4 Output Routing for RCA Jacks....................................................................... 4•4 Setting the FBV Mode....................................................................................
Tutorials Tutorials Tutorial 1 – Jam with a Song CLIP /MP3 You can also jam with Drums.
Tutorials Tutorial 2 – Record & Overdub with Drums CLIP 1•2 /MP3
Tutorials 1•3
Tutorials Tutorial 3 – Record & Play with FBV Foot Controller 1•4
Tutorials 1•5
Tutorials Tutorial 4 – Connect a Mic to the XLR Input 1•6 Pop quiz: Follow the steps for recording as described earlier and create your first ever vocal harmony loop.
Tutorials Tutorial 5 – Using the Aux Input 1•7 LEVEL AUX CD/
Controls & Connections Controls & Connections 2•1 1 Guitar In FX processing. – Plug your guitar in here. The Guitar input has dedicated Amp and 2 Mic In and Trim – Connect a microphone to this XLR input and use the Trim knob to adjust its gain. The Mic input has its own independent EQ, Reverb, Delay and Compressor FX processing. 3 Aux In – This 1/4-inch input can be used for a second guitar, mic or just about any other audio source.
Controls & Connections 7 Tone Controls – Drive is like the volume or gain knob on other amps; controls how much “dirt” you get in your sound. Bass, Mid, and Treble controls are customized for each Amp Model to give you optimal tonal control. When you turn any of these knobs, the Display will briefly show the currently-loaded Amp Model name, along with the current settings of the Drive, Bass, Mid, Treble, and Chan Vol knobs.
Controls & Connections 11 Master Volume – You can choose the overall volume of the amplifier, without affecting your tone. The current setting is shown on the Display when you turn this knob, too. 12 Tap / Hold for Tuner – Tap on the Tap button a few times to set the delay time. The Display will briefly show the delay time you tapped in BPM (beats per minute). Hold the Tap button for 3 seconds to activate the built-in chromatic tuner.
Controls & Connections 19 Transport Controls – These buttons control the built-in jam and recording functions: • Rec/Overdub – Press to start recording or overdubbing. • Play/Stop – Press to start and stop the loaded Song, Drum Loop or Recording. 2•4 • Undo/Hold to Clear – After recording, press to undo (delete) your last recorded section or hold for 3 seconds to erase the entire recording. 20 Record Select Button and LEDs – Press this button to select an input for recording, either Guitar or Mic/Aux.
Controls & Connections • Recorder Overdub Level • Aux Input Routing 23 Tone / Settings – A first press of this button gives you: • Artist Presets • Style Presets • User Presets • A second press gives you: • Mic Presets • Mic/Aux EQ • Mic/Aux Reverb & Delay • Mic/Aux Compressor • FBV Mode • Gate On/Off • Boost On/Off • FX Auto Select • Songs Set Guitar Tone • Songs Set Mic FX • Output Routing 24 Save – Pressing this button allows you to: • Save Recording • Save Guitar Tone • Erase Recordings • Upgrade f
Controls & Connections 2•6 25 Direct/Recording Out – This pair of RCA jacks is perfect for connecting Spider Jam to an external recorder or computer to capture your jams. Or, connect them to your sound system to hear Spider Jam through it. 26 SD Card Slot controls your Spider Jam. – This slot is used at our factory to install the firmware that 27 Power Connector & Fuse – The included power cable connects here. See the rear panel markings for fuse information.
Spider Jam the Amp Spider Jam the Amp Recalling Amp Presets Your new Spider Jam amplifier is loaded with over 300 amp-and-effect presets to cover a wide range of tones and styles. Many presets have been dialed-in by some of today’s influential artists! Of these presets, there are 36 User preset locations that you can use to store your own custom tones. With so many presets, we had to come up with a convenient way for you to browse through them all.
Spider Jam the Amp knob to see the available folders. • When you get to the one you want, press Right on the 4-way button to enter that folder, and turn the Select knob to select from those presets. Saving Presets You can store your current settings to one of the 36 User preset locations as follows: 3•2 • Press the Save button. • Turn the Select knob to highlight Save Guitar Tone. • Press Right on the 4-way button. If you’ve modified a User preset, you’ll be taken to that User preset location.
Spider Jam the Amp Aux Input Assign The Aux input can be used for a second guitar or any other audio source. This input can either share the Amp and FX processing with the Guitar input, or share the Microphone input’s EQ, Reverb, Delay and Compressor FX. You get to decide. If you’re connecting a second guitar, you’ll want to share the Guitar processing. For just about everything else, you’ll want to share the Microphone processing.
Spider Jam the Amp Guitar Distortion Boost There’s also a Distortion Boost available. This gives the kind of extra ‘dirt’ that you’d expect from a Distortion pedal with the distortion control set low and the output control set high. It boosts your guitar signal before it reaches the Amp Model, so that you hit the model harder and get a more distorted sound. Enabling this is the same as kicking on Stomp on the FBV Shortboard. 3•4 • Press the Tone / Settings button twice to show additional functions.
Spider Jam the Amp Microphone Trim Knob The first step after connecting a microphone is to set this knob: • Sing into your microphone at maximum volume and turn this knob until the Clip light starts to light slightly. • Turn the knob back down slightly so clipping won’t occur. Microphone, Aux, and CD/MP3 Input Levels Before using the Mic, Aux and CD/MP3 inputs, set their levels as follows: • Press the Level / Inputs button to show the Levels Page.
Spider Jam the Amp Mic/Aux FX Presets The Microphone input has its own FX. If you’ve chosen to mix the Aux input with the Microphone input (see page 3•3), the Aux input will share this processing, too. To select a preset for these FX: 3•6 • Press the Tone / Settings button twice to show additional functions. • Turn the Select knob to highlight Mic FX. • Press Right on the 4-way button to see the available presets. • Turn the Select knob to select from the presets.
Spider Jam the Amp Mic/Aux Reverb & Delay If you’d like to customize the Mic/Aux Reverb & Delay: • Press the Tone / Settings button twice to show additional functions. • Turn the Select knob to highlight Mic/Aux Reverb & Delay. • Press Right on the 4-way button. • Press Left/Right on the 4-way button to select Reverb Level, Delay Level, or Delay Time. • Turn the Select knob to adjust what you’ve selected.
Jamming with Spider Jam Jamming with Spider Jam Spider Jam is always ready to back you with over 100 built-in Songs and Drum Grooves laid down by top L.A. session aces. No MIDI here! From country to funk, and blues to punk, these authentic backing tracks are the perfect accompaniment and inspiration for practicing, composing or simply having fun playing guitar. Loading Drum Grooves To load a drum groove: • Press the Song / Drums button to show the Song/Drums Page.
Jamming with Spider Jam • When you get to the one you want, press the Play button to play the Song and remain in the list. Or, press Right on the 4-way button to play the Song and exit the list. • Press the Play / Stop button to stop and start the Song. If Endless Play is set to on, the Song will play in a continuous loop. If Endless Play is set to off, the Song will play from beginning to end, then stop.
Jamming with Spider Jam Setting the Band/Drum Playback Level • Press the Level / Inputs button to show the Levels Page. • Press Left/Right on the 4-way button to select Band/Drum. • Turn the Select knob up or down to set the playback level. 4•3 Changing the Speed/Pitch of a Song or Drum Groove You can change the tempo of the currently-loaded Song or Drum Groove as follows: • Press the Song / Drums button twice to show the additional functions. • Turn the Select knob to highlight Speed/Pitch.
Jamming with Spider Jam Setting Guitar Tones with Songs By default, loading a Song will automatically load a custom-crafted guitar tone, too. You can choose whether you want a Song to automatically set the guitar tone: • Press the Song / Drums button twice to show the additional functions. • Turn the Select knob to highlight Songs Set Guitar Tone. • Press Right on the 4-way button. 4•4 • Turn the Select knob to select On or Off.
Jamming with Spider Jam FBV Footswitch Normal Mode Jam Control Mode A Tone A Rec/Overdub B Tone B Play/Stop C Tone C Undo D Tone D Half Speed UP Tone Bank Up DN Tone Bank Down LOOP N/A TAP Delay Time STOMP (STOMP 1) Dist Boost MOD Mod FX On/Off DELAY Delay On/Off REVERB Reverb On/Off STOMP 2 unassigned STOMP 3 unassigned AMP 1 unassigned AMP 2 unassigned PITCH/TREMOLO unassigned FAVORITE CHANNEL unassigned To change the FBV mode, do the following: • Press the Tone
Loop Recording with Spider Jam Loop Recording with Spider Jam Loop Recording 101 Spider Jam’s on-board loop recorder allows you to record your guitar (or any other input), automatically loop that recording, and overdub into that recorded loop. You can also think of it graphically: ��������������� �������������������� ���������������������� ������������� �������������� 5•1 ������������� With Spider Jam, you can also loop record with or without a Song or Drum Loop.
Loop Recording with Spider Jam Recording without a Song or Drum Groove To record without a Song or Drum Groove: • Press the Song / Drums button to show the Song/Drums page. • Press Right on the 4-way button to select Rec. • Make sure your sources are connected and your levels are set as described in Chapters 3 and 4. • Press the Record Select button to choose Guitar or Mic/Aux as your recording source.
Loop Recording with Spider Jam begins at beat 1 of the next bar. This will also set the loop start point. • Play or sing. • Press the Rec / Overdub button to set the loop end point, loop back to the loop start point, and immediately begin overdubbing. • Or, press the Play / Stop button to set the loop end point and loop back to the loop start point in Play mode. • Or, press the Play / Stop button twice to stop recording.
Loop Recording with Spider Jam • Turn the Select knob to select the location you want to save to. • Press Right on the 4-way button. • If you want to rename the new recording, press Left/Right on the 4-way button to pick a character and the Select knob to change that character. • Press Down on the 4-way button to save, or press the Song, Level, or Tone buttons to cancel. Loading Recordings To load a recording: • Press the Song / Drums button to show the Song/Drums Page.
Loop Recording with Spider Jam Setting the Recorder Overdub Level You can choose how loud you want previously recorded material to be when you’re overdubbing: • Press the Level / Inputs button twice to show the additional functions. • Turn the Select knob to highlight Recorder Overdub, then press Right on the 4-way button. • Turn the Select knob to set the level. 5•5 Erasing Recordings To erase a recording, do the following: • Press the Save button. • Turn the Select knob to highlight Erase Recording.
Appendix A: Modeled Amps Appendix A: Modeled Amps Which Amps Are Modeled? There are 12 Amp Models living within your Spider Jam. Clean Red LED: “Clean”. Select this Amp Model and adjust the tone controls to get crisp, amazing clean tones, great warm jazz tones, and all the high-end shimmer you’ll need with a generous amount of bottom end to boot. Then dial up a little chorus and delay to get the ultimate clean sound! Green LED: “Glassy”.
Appendix A: Modeled Amps Green LED: “Class A”. Ready, steady....GO! This Amp Model is based on a fawn Vox® AC-30 amplifier with an updated and expanded tone control circuit. We wanted to capture that early British pop rock tone that the Beatles and the Stones are so well known for. Crunch Red LED: “Crunch”. This sound was crafted during our studies of the ‘68 Marshall® Plexi 50 Watt. This type of Marshall® amp was used by a number of early metal bands.
Appendix A: Modeled Amps distortion as possible short of complete meltdown. You get an obscene helping of distortion, while still retaining tonal definition and character. As a result, you get way more bottom end and cabinet character than other small amps.
Appendix B: Using Your Feet Appendix B: Using Your Feet The FBV series of foot controllers includes the original FBV, the more-compact FBV Shortboard, and the FBV Express. The following pages detail operations with the two most appropriate FBVs for Spider Jam, the FBV Express and FBV Shortboard (note that the “Line 6 Floor Board” and “FB4” foot controllers will not work with Spider Jam). FBV Cable FBV foot controllers come with an included RJ-45 cable.
Appendix B: Using Your Feet FBV Express B•2 1. Channel A, B, C & D: See page 4•5. In Normal FBV Mode, these select presets and you can tap on the lit switch to set Delay Time. In Jam Control Mode, these control recorder/song/drum playback and recording. 2. FBV Pedal: Press the pedal forward to click the toe-switch, turning the pedal from Volume to Wah. 3. Wah and Volume Lights: These light to show that a pedal is ready to control Wah or Volume.
Appendix B: Using Your Feet Using your FBV Express Tuner B•3
Appendix B: Using Your Feet FBV Shortboard B•4 1. Channel A, B, C & D: See page 4•5. In Normal FBV Mode, these select presets and you can tap on the lit switch to set Delay Time. In Jam Control Mode, these control recorder/song/drum playback and recording. 2. Bank Up - Bank Down: Select any of the 9 Banks of User presets. 3. Stomp/Mod/Delay/Reverb: You guessed it! These switch the Spider Jam effects Mod, Delay and Reverb on and off kinda like they were stomp boxes on a pedal board.
Appendix B: Using Your Feet while the Shortboard pedal controls Wah only. 7. FBV Pedal: Press the pedal forward to click the toe-switch, turning the pedal from Volume to Wah. 8. FX Loop: Turns Spider Jam’s built-in Noise Gate on and off.
