One advantage of modellers with cloud tones is you can quickly grab âthe toneâ for the track your trying and not have to worry about settings
I got Spark a couple months ago and I find myself practicing a lot more because of the features. There are enough presets that you donât need to spend much time setting it up.
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Yes, I agree. That is why I bought a very basic amp when I started with electric guitar. Really, you have more than enough to think about just learning how to make a nice clean, consistently good sound (and I still have a long way to go on that yet). Once you feel like you have learned how to make one good tone then maybe look at amps that give you other options.
When I first got the guitar I thought âwow, this is easyâ because the sound just leaps out, but you soon learn it needs a whole other level of control and nuance. To me, it is more like playing violin.
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The amp itself is just a Bluetooth practice amp, and a fairly average one at that. All of the âcleverâ stuff is in an app.
Personally, I found the app gimmicky and not particularly effective with all of the âpractice toolsâ. Many I could achieve better in other ways using other apps which would work on other amps.
Thatâs just me, and other may find them useful.
They were super-hyped by YouTubers who were being paid by Positive Gris when they first came out and many people, including me, pre-ordered them.
Mine took nearly a year for them to fulfil the pre-order, and I needed something for my travels, so I bought a Yamaha THR10ii in the meantime
When it eventually arrived I was excited to try it but found it didnât live up to the hype, and I preferred my Katana and THR over it most of the time, so I got rid.
Cheers,
Keith
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The first 2 weeks I had my Spark40, I absolutely HATED it. No matter what I tried, I just couldnât get a sound I liked. The bass was killing me, even when dialed completely back. I was steamed.
Being in my 60s, Iâm an app-adverse sort of person. I wanted the amp to work like my other amps, and let me dial in sounds without resorting to the app. Once I joined a Spark group on Facebook and put forth my dilemma, I got responses that led me to suck it up, use the app, find and use the EQ, and BOOM, it was love at first note.
I have loved it every day since then.
For reference, my other amps are a 1963 Fender Princeton (was my dadâs), a 3Monkeys Orangutan Jr, a 3Monkeys Sock Monkey, and a Fender Mustang LT25.
The Spark40 is head and shoulders above them all as a practice amp. There are still so many features Iâve yet to delve into, and I look forward to doing so.
Definitely the best guitar-related investment Iâve made in 50 years.
Buy it, put all the packaging and shipping box safely aside, and use it. If you donât love it, Iâll buy it from you and gift it to a friend.
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I wrote an answer to a similar thread in the link below. I think I have seen similar questions to this thread before as well. Nothing new I know of is on the market in this category since that was written.
Iâm linking in Keithâs response, and then mine is just below.
Also⊠There will always be haters, no matter the product. Usually people who havenât learned how to properly use something. Ignore their noise, and reach your own conclusions
I have many different types of guitars, and with the Spark40, I have many different types of amps. I have also purchased the Spark MINI, the Spark GO, and in December, my Spark CAB will arrive.
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That is true.
But thereâs also people who do know what they are doing and who have experienced lots of other similar kit, and know how to dial in a tone on kit.
For my part, Iâve owned and used various amps and modelling kit from Boss, Zoom, Line 6, Digitech, Yamaha, and Nux as well as more conventional amps from Roland, Vox, and Bugera.
Iâve used tube amps including a 100W Marshall and a 50W Fender I used to play regularly, as well as some Laneyâs and Blackstars. Currently, I frequently do jam sessions with a 50W Blackstar and, occasionally, a 50W Orange amp.
I tend to hoard kit, and I donât tend to get rid of stuff unless it really doesnât gel with me or unless itâs taking up space or I think someone else would get better use from it.
It was with a heavy heart I sold my Katana Mk1 100W about 2 years ago, but I knew it was something I just couldnât justify keeping for the foreseeable future. If the circumstances change, I will buy another without hesitation.
I gave the Spark 40 away and was glad to get rid of it.
I spent most of two years trying to make it work for me. I got some decent tones, but nothing that blew me out of the water and, except for the Jimi Hendrix pack (which I did buy) which was pretty nice, there was nothing in the Spark 40 for me that I couldnât get from other amps I own.
And things like the bass-heavy response bugged me. And, because I actually do know how to use EQ, when they eventually introduced an EQ it was a good thing, except you couldnât use it when using a modulation pedal, which was lame.
In my experience, the THR10 is a better sounding and easier to use, and better made desktop amp. It doesnât have quite the range of tones of the Spark 40, but thatâs more than made up for (for me) by the better sound quality.
In my experience, if you have room for a full-sized Katana, for a similar price, a 50W Katana is a far better buy than a Spark 40: it sounds better, has a far wider range of tones and effects, is more versatile in general, and sounds good from bedroom volumes to full stage performances.
Keith
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I have a Fender Champion 2. It is great for using at home with or without headphones. It doesnt come with as many features as other beginner amps,byt is does the Fender modelling very well. Its not perfect ,I bought an overdrive pedal to use ,but Im very happy with it.
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Thanks for the feedback.
I bought a Squire Affinity Stratocaster a year or two ago. I started with a small practice amp, a Vox Pathfinder 10, and later purchased a Boss Katana 50 MKII which is bigger with many effects. The Vox Pathfinder is a great small practice amp for less than $100. Only effect is overdrive.
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All the amps youâre looking at are good. I would add a recommendation to look at something slightly larger / more powerful, like Boss Katana 50. The amps youâre looking for with small 8" speakers are, imo, purely for at-home practice, while a Katana 50 is both great for at home practice with the 0.5W setting but also can get loud enough to play with a drummer should you want to jam with other musicians.
The Katana is also far more versatile in terms of the tones you can get from it and the included effects, while still being small and light enough that itâs pretty easy to carry and transport. I know itâs almost clichĂ© at this point to recommend the Boss Katana, but itâs really a terrific amp.
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Thatâs the one I am using too. Seems a decent introductory amp for a beginner. I didnât suggest it because OP said they wanted an aux input for backing tracks and it doesnât have that.
I have a fender mustang and itâs a good starter amp with plenty of available effects.
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Hey,
I just bought this one, small compact and has a slot for headphones.
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Canât go wrong with the LT25. Itâs cheap, easy to use and has loads of tone options.
I started with one. I think itâs also better than the other ones youâve listed.
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I have a BOSS Katana 50 EX, and have only positive things to say about it. Of course it might be a bit less compact and more expensive, but it has a lot of room to grow in terms of features. If you think that you might want to record stuff or go to a band practice for example in the future with it, I think its a great choice (for the EX version, you can get a GA-FC foot controller and switch between 8 sounds live, which is very nice).
For pure practicing, I am currently using a Mustang Micro as well. It is just a headphone amp, but you can send backing tracks to it through Bluetooth, and it has quite nice sounds imho (for practicing it is certainly enogh).
I am currently very pleased with this setup, between a tiny and very convenient, and a more fully featured guitar amp. Of course this might not be for everyone (the Katana is actually not that small, if you want to always carry it around the house it might be too big for you), but I wanted to share, in case anyone is interested in these devices.
Good luck with your guitar learning!
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Of those the one that stands out to me is the Orange Crush, but I would stretch the budget a bit and go for the 35 RT, itâs got a 10â speaker and an FX loop which make a big difference over the 20RT which has an 8â speaker and no FX loop.
The 10â speaker will definitely sound better and the FX loop helps a lot when you decide to add effects pedals, especially a looper pedal, no FX loop means the sound on a loop will include any effects (eg Distortion) which you probably wonât want! The other thing is that modulation effects are best added after the Pre amp. The looper pedal would be included in the Fax loop chain.
This diagram shows the typical setup:
Thanks, love all the responses and still looking at all the choices. Appreciate more feedback as Iâm still learning. Thanks!
Thanks for the chart and reccommendations!