I got mine back in Oct 21. I am not has impressed with it as i would have hoped. I am starting to experiment with the app. seems like you need the app to get more tones. I may be happier after a experiment more.
I use the Justin App paired Bluetooth to the spark and jam to the backing tracks. Small size and weight is a plus. doubles has a bluetooth speaker. For a starter amp i think it is a good deal.
Iām looking to replace with the fender mustang GTX. GTX is more money but may be a better value in the long run. will see how it goes. There are so many option out there it can get confusing. If you stick with learning and playing you willl more than likely upgrade in the future.
I think itās the same engine, but itās not quite the same tones: the Spark is more restricted, for instance, in the number of different effects supported, and the effect chain is pre-set, quite basic, and cannot be changed.
The other thing that people find a bit disappointing (myself included) is probably more to do with the hardware: the audio quality from the Spark speaker is not always that good. The whole thing is rather too bassy (even with the tone controls adjusted) and I find it doesnāt handle higher volumes that well. Oddly, it works better as a Bluetooth speaker in that respect.
Note that through the USB, the audio is generally much better. When you hear demonstrations on Youtube, a lot of the time itās being recorded via the USB.
The other thing that is overhyped (IMO) is the app. They make all this fuss about the Spark having all of these clever facilities, but none of them are on the amp itself. They are all on a companion app and just streamed to the amp via Bluetooth.
Frankly, aside from the tone editor, which is OK, the app isnāt that great and most of the capabilities it provides either donāt work that well, or (again IMO) you will grow out of quite quickly.
If you ignore the hype and treat it as a pretty decent (but not significantly better than anything else) portable practice amp and Bluetooth speaker, thatās not bad value for money, then you would have the right idea (especially when comparing it to other options).
I guess it may make it a bit better. Frankly, I canāt be bothered trying to tweak it to fix the inherent issues it has. Iām keeping mine simply because itās handy to have around and I canāt be bothered getting rid of it.
If I knew what I know now back in March 2020, I wouldnāt have purchased it.
I should point out I tend to hoard kit. I have a bunch of amps around that I should sell, but havenāt because I think I might eventually use them.
The only amps Iāve ever sold were a Line 6 Amplifi TT and a Laney Tommy Iommi 15W Tube amp which I got along with a bunch of other kit from a friend.
I got the Amplifi when I was travelling. In some ways it did many of the things that the Spark promises, but better (Tone Cloud, better editing, etc.). The main issue I had with the Amplifi was the Bluetooth was rubbish, so I part Exchanged it along with a bunch of other kit when I bought my Katana 100.
The Laney was a great amp, but it was taking up a lot of space and it didnāt suit any of the sort of music I would normally play so, after holding onto it for a year, I decided I should sell it.
I had the chance to plug my acoustic amp into a Positive Grid Spark today owned by a friend. I really liked it but was surprised there was no capability to amplify vocals at the same time. Has anyone been able to use another device (like some form of splitter box?) to put acoustic guitar and vocals through the Spark?
IMO itās not the right type of device for that. And, frankly, thatās the same for most guitar amps.
The problem you will have trying to combine the mic and guitar is that you will need a mixer to do that, and the output from a mixer is not really compatible with the guitar input for the amp. Additionally, any effects (including distortion) that you apply to the guitar will colour the vocals as well.
Your best bet if you want to āhackā the Spark (or most other guitar amps) to use a microphone with them is to connect a mic via an external mixer into the aux input. But it is a hack and not really ideal.
If you want to amplify vocals as well, and havenāt yet bought an amp, you are best to look for an amp which is designed with that in mind. Thereās acoustic amps like the Boss Acoustic Singer Pro and Fishman Loudbox Performer which have a mic channel in addition to the guitar input.
Thereās also the new Vox Mini Go which looks like a pretty awesome amp for the aspiring singer-songwriter.
The only downside (for me) is it doesnāt have Bluetooth, although it has an Aux input so you could connect a bluetooth streaming adapter.
You probably want something like a buskers amp for that. I have a Laney Alfresco which has two channelsā¦so you can use one for guitar and the other for vocals. There are plenty of other similar options on the market.
Indeed; I use a Roland Street Cube for that. As the name suggests, it is iseal for busking.
I use it at home for clean vocal amplification with some reverb and I already busked with it several times. The overdrive/dist sounds on it are meh but as clean platform with an occasional mild drive pedal in front of it, it works great! Batteries last long as well.
I hav a Positive Grid programmable distortion pedal.
Programmable like a spark amp but only overdrives and distortions.
I donāt use it anymore since I have a MOD Devices Dwarf
The dwarf is more fiddly when it comes to creating tones but it does a lot more, it can host midi controllers, patching is a lot more versatile, you can play, record and loop on it, you can assign the buttons to what you want and the company is real and reachable.
Iāve got a high end AER amp that provides 4 channels. I donāt use any of the reverb / delay effects, just clean acoustic sound. Was looking for some way to do similar with the Spark. Itās smaller and cheaper. Thanks for the advice.
I have the THR30II model and can also recommend the THR series. Important feature for me is that the volume can be very low and it will still sound nice with either overdriven or distorted tones. This helps a lot with practice at night if you donāt want to use headphones.
I never played Spark though, so canāt compare to that. Iāve heard lots of good things about it though.
