I need some help.
I’m looking at the second hand market for a small amp and I found two interesting amps.
The first one is a Positive grid spark 40 for approx. 190 €.
The second one is a Boss Katana Air including a Xsonic airstep for approx. 240 €.
I read a ton of exited (and probably exaggerated) reviews of the spark which tells me the have av good marketing department…
The only amp I have is a Fender Mustang Micro so I don’t have so much to compare with. The Micro works great for me with headphones, but I would like to have an amp to use without them as well.
The Spark 2 will be released on August 1st so you may want to check a few videos to see if you are interested in the new features. For instance, built-in looper, improved tone …
They flooded Youtube and Facebook with sponsored influencer reviews which were all breathless and glowing. A couple of years on, I know of at least one of those reviewers who is now saying it’s not that great.
It’s a decent enough practice amp but it’s quite muddy sounding and I found it hard to dial in decent sound without the app. It also lacks dynamics IMO, and there’s some limitations with the effects (for example, if you place an EQ to try to fix the muddy sound, you then cannot use a modulation effect).
I was an early buyer of the Spark 40. When it arrived, I wasn’t that impressed. In the end I gave mine away.
I’ve never used or heard a Katana Air and have heard mixed reviews. What I would say is that the Katana Air comes with a wireless transmitter and a footswitch is useful for any amp. The Katana BTS app isn’t as pretty as the Spark one (which, IMO, is built for publicity photos) but I find the BTS app to be easier to use.
Between those choices, I would, personally, go with the Katana Air.
On the other hand, the Spark 2 does look interesting if they have fixed some of the issues with he 1st gen.
The paid reviewers all say that they fixed every problems from the Spark 40 in the Spark 2, but I definitely want to watch some unpaid reviews once it is released. Cause they seem a little biased.
I just never had luck with the Spark and ended up giving it away for free. The sound constantly bagged out and had to endlessly mess with the patch gates. Customer service was no help. The Katana Air worked flawlessly. The only foibles are 1) you can’t use lap or desktop to dial in tones; 2) of the deep library of Boss patches, only a small # work on Air.
A small update: In the end I didn’t buy any of them.
I bought a pre-owned Yamaha THR10II (not wireless) instead.
I’ve read a lot about them, and I think that it’ll fill my needs at this level that I’m currently on and a plus is that it look cool. Now I just have to figure out how to make it sound nice together with my guitar (and my level of playing technique).
