View the full lesson at Beginner Guitar Amp Buyers Guide | JustinGuitar
Would love to know what you think of the Positive Grid Spark Amps and the effects that are available though their app.
My view, first and foremost, is that they have been massively overhyped, largely through sponsored Youtube “reviews”.
They are decent enough practice amps and pretty good value for money. But they aren’t as good, nor as “revolutionary” as the Internet hype makes out.
Comparing 3 amps I own, or have owned recently, that are in or around the same price bracket and with similar capabilities:
1. Boss Katana - I would say, if you have the space you should get this over the Spark. It’s a far more capable and better sounding amp. It lacks the “pretending to be other amps” element but, in my view, that’s actually a good thing. There’s also far more effects and effects options. The Katana’s are great sounding and very versatile amps and the Katana 50 is about the same price as the Spark and you get much more bang for your buck.
You don’t get Bluetooth control or streaming, but there is a very good PC app for creating sounds (far more capable than the Spark one) and you can get a Bluetooth streaming adapter for around $20. There’s also some decent online patch libraries that are, in general, far better curated than the Spark one.
Also look at the Line 6 Catalyst and Fender Mustang ranges (I’ve not owned these so I can’t comment).
2. Yamaha THR 10ii - This would be my second choice if you need something more portable or physically smaller, and don’t need something that will work for gigging or rehearsals. The THR’s look great, sound great, and have a decent range of sounds and effects. Like the Spark it has Bluetooth streaming and a control app. Again, the THRs don’t overtly try to pretend to be other amps, but they do come with several models that are based off well known amp styles and it’s possible to approximate most amps.
3- Spark 40 - I would put this amp well behind either the Katana or the THR. Roughly speaking, it has similar form factor and capabilities to the THR, but the audio quality from the speaker isn’t as good IMO (and in the opinion of most unsponsored reviews). The onboard speaker sounds quite “woolly” and bass-heavy at times, although if you actually use it with a bass guitar, it struggles to cope at louder volumes. You can use an EQ pedal to fix this to a degree, but doing this then prevents you using a modulation effect. It does have the promise of emulations of real world amps and some of these are quite nice, but I think it’s generally a bit hit and miss in this respect. None of the models are horrible though, and all sound decent through the USB output (which is what you will be hearing from most of the Youtube videos).
All of the clever library, cloud, auto-accompaniment stuff they promise is all app based and, IMO, is a bit rubbish. I doubt you would still be using this stuff after a few months. It is, specifically, a practice amp (as is the THR) so you won’t be able to use this practically for rehearsals with a band, or gigging. If you think you might want that at some point, get a Katana.
It’s a decent enough small practice amp but there are better IMO. If you really want the ability to model specific amps then I guess it’s worth considering this over the THR. Personally I would get the THR every time.
Cheers,
Keith
2 Likes
As an owner of the Spark 40, I have found it lacking. It seemed to hit all my initial desires, but the reality is that it doesn’t. It is my only guitar amp, and I use it daily, but I am also planning to replace it for Christmas. It just isn’t quite enough anymore, but at least I have a far better idea of what I want now.
- the sound is ok. Not awesome, but acceptable for home practice
- models are ok. Noticeably not as good as my Helix LT, and I rarely use anything now except the cleanest amp model with nothing before or after it. I use the Helix for any modeling now.
- the order of the effects are fixed, and you cannot double any of them
- There was no foot switch - now there is, but it is expensive for what you get.
- There is no effects loop. you can only put external effects on the input
- I have doubts about the 4-inch speaker. It seems to be ok until you compare it to a purpose-built guitar amp or cabinet with a 10 or 12 inch speaker
- the web-based features are not reliably engineered. The chord guessing algorithm is laughable.
- backups require dropbox or publicly sharing on the Positive Grid cloud.
on the good side, it is very portable. I took it on a vacation last year, and with the natural reverb in the hotel room, it sounded pretty nice. It stuffed into a bag without any trouble, and sat unobtrusively in the hotel room.
If I were in the market for a small modeling amp today, I’d give the Yamaha a better look than I did before. I already would have the Katana at the top of my list.
I prefer lots of options, so the Helix makes sense for me. Maybe a small amp head and cabinet with a handful of pedals might make sense for you, so don’t forget that idea as well.
1 Like
Boss Katana Gen 3 coming soon.
1 Like
It needs it, things have moved on a lot.
We’re in a great time for having so many excellent accessible options
1 Like
You’re referring to this, I assume:
Personally, I’m quite excited. I had a Mk1 Katana 100 and loved it, and have recently used a mk2. They are great amps, but they do need a refresh.
Things I would like to see:
- Bluetooth (probably a pluggable option with the BT-DUEL, I’m fine with that) for audio streaming and app
- Stereo line out
- Stereo speaker option on the 100 2x12? Possibly. Personally, I wouldn’t use it. I find the stereo on all of these units, like the Blackstars, to be underwhelming, but YMMV. And I’m unlikely to get a 2x12.
- USB output to speaker (why they mute this is beyond me)
- FX Loop on the 50W model, to compete with the Catalyst and others
- More flexible routing of FX, although even the Mk1 is head and shoulders over stuff like the Spark and Catalyst
- Shimmer-style Reverb
- Possibly a minimal on-board looper, although I’m not that bothered about that, especially if they have an FX loop on the 50W. But they have it on some of their acoustic amps, so why not.
- More amp styles? Maybe. Personally, I’m pretty happy with the ones on the Mk2.
- More cabinet resonance profiles - more tonal options is a good thing
Things I don’t want to see:
- Onboard screen - one of the great things about the Katana is it’s not complicated to use and there’s no “menu diving”. It basically works very similar to a conventional non-modelling amp, except it’s a a lot more flexible. Yes, you can get loads more from it using BTS, but a lot of people don’t need that. If you want a screen, use a phone and a phone app
- Wifi - I think that’s mostly pointless for a guitar amp, and a point of potential security issues
- Amp emulations - whilst some more tonal options might be nice, I think the whole thing of trying to sound like specific amps is largely nonsense and a distraction.
In my experience, even all-analogue amps which claim to sound like specific amps often don’t really. Yes, for multi-fx and plugins for recording use, it makes a lot of sense, but as soon as you factor in a physical speaker and physical cabinet in a physical room, these things fall apart. I think it’s mostly a marketing ploy feeding off people’s inexperience and desire for quick fixes.
For the same reason:
- Impulse Response cabinet/speaker modelling
I think this has its place in multi-fx modellers and plugins for recordings, but I really don’t think it suits a physical amp. I think the strength of the Katana is that it has an analogue class-A power amp section and a speaker and cabinet which has it’s own voicing. Trying to turn that into a FRFR with IRs is, IMO, the wrong thing to do.
Cheers,
Keith
2 Likes
I’ve got a Mk2 50W… things that would make me consider an upgrade
FX loop in the 50W model
Built in Bluetooth for streaming audio from a phone, essential as headphone jacks on phones are so rare now (yes you can buy a dongle but it’s one more thing to deal with)
A built-in tuner - could be visualised either by LEDs or a simple screen like the Katana Go has
All models should be controllable from the phone app (shouldn’t need a computer for Tone Studio) while retaining physical buttons to access the core features (as with the mk2)
The Boss foot switch should be compatible with all models
I’d like to see them cut the range down to 2 or 3 models, basically the 50, 100 and a travel model, all with feature parity. I realise this is probably unrealistic but having to buy the 100 to get useful stuff like the FX loop is plain bad.
Yes, decent idea although, again, I’m not too worried because clip on tuners are cheap. They should have a tuner in the app though, as they do with pretty much any other Boss product which has an app/Tone Studio capability.
Personally, I’m happy with the main range being 50W, 100W 1x12 and 100W 2x12 plus Head. There are people, I assume, who would want the 2x12 version and I, personally, would consider getting the head version next time around.
I agree, and I think the majority of home users would be more than happy with the 50W. Although if they included a basic onboard looper capability, controllable with the GA-FC foot controller, I wouldn’t be that bothered about the 50W not having an FX loop as I think loopers are really the only solid reason for wanting one.
Cheers,
Keith
1 Like
Fair comment, was forgetting about these variants.
50W is more than I’ll ever need but no FX loop, no sale for me
Cheers,
Keith
1 Like
I look forward to your in depth review Keith 
I don’t think I’ll be buying one immediately. Maybe in a few months, if they’ve done a good job.
I will certainly give my views on the published capabilities.
Cheers,
Keith
Maybe you could blag a free one for a review for the Justin Guitar Community 
1 Like
That would be nice, but I doubt Boss would do that, even if I knew how to get in touch with them.
It’s more likely they would send one to Justin, who would do a much better review than I.
I’m expecting a flurry of reviews on YouTube from the usual suspects.
Cheers,
Keith
It’s here:
Cheers,
Keith
1 Like
The gen 3 Katana 50 still has no fx loop and the Bluetooth facility is an add on you pay extra for! So none of my issues have been resolved with this new version. 
Wait whut
Yes, the lack of FX loop sucks. Even the new 50 EX doesn’t have it 
.
The optional BT-DUAL doesn’t bother me. Some people won’t want Bluetooth and, from what I’ve been told by others, the BT-DUAL is a lot more stable than the BT in a lot of other systems.
And if there’s ever an upgraded capability, it’s easy to swap the module.
Cheers,
Keith
1 Like