Just to update. We had our first rehearsal with the spyder last night. Played a groundwound loaded Jazz bass into an Eden 4x10. I was worried at how much quieter the spyder seemed at home playing than my ABM400. However, once i had my sound dialed in - none of the shift buttons engaged, bass and treble boosted slightly and mids rolled off a little - and the jazz to 100% neck pickup, 25% bridge pickup and tone rolled off a little bit, it was glorious. Ive set the amp with the gain at around 75% and the volume at 12 oclock and it was nice, even, slightly growly and very beefy. Currently in its belly is a Tung Sol 12AX7 in v1 and a Sovtek 12AX7B in V2. As mentioned before these dont really do full on grit even with the gain maxed but it does have a lovely warm sound and IMHO a much clearer tone than the ABM