· amps · 4 min read
Postive Grid Spark Amps
I own the Spark 40, Spark GO, and the Spark Cabinet. The cabinet is total overkill if you are only looking for a practice amp.
I own the Spark 40, Spark GO, and the Spark Cabinet. The cabinet is total overkill if you are only looking for a practice amp. Pictured with my favorite couch guitar. Why because it is lightweight and sounds great. Daves Guitar in Wisconsin routinely has great deals on PRS SE guitars.
Ok, back to the Spark. Positive Grid has made a huge name for itself in the learn-how-to-play practice amp market. The #1 strength of the Spark family is the app that is used in conjunction with the Spark amp of your choice. Screenshots below. This ecosystem makes jamming and learning new songs a lot of fun. Play to songs, jam tracks, virtual artists and more.
There are plenty of reviews 1000 times better than this. This is just my quick take on what I own.
What I Own:
Spark 40 with a 3rd party battery to make it portable Spark Go tiny amp that I take on the road and sometimes use around the house Spark Cab - Because I wanted to try it XSonic Airstep Spark Edition Pedal - Positive Grid now offers 2 different pedals for the Spark line
Spark 40 - Pros -
Great practice amp. You want to jam to lots of songs, play with lots of different tones and settings. Especially if you are new to electric guitar. You have a small space and want or have to play at lower volumes.
Great app! (See below)
Affordable - Especially when there is a sale
Cons -
The actual sounds coming out of the amp. They are bass-heavy and muddy. You can add an EQ pedal to any tone to help with this but it takes away being able to use a modulation pedal.
Why buy it? You want a small practice amp that is affordable and fun to mess with. Why skip it? You are someone who knows what a good amp sounds like. This isn’t it. I still like it for the ease of use and app.
Spark Cabinet -
Pros: You only own a Spark and want to jam with your band. The Cabinet allows you to do this. You can plug a microphone in and sing. There is no reverb or other adjustments. The Spark Live or other amps are better suited for this. For example the Fishman Loudbox.
You can use it as a large Bluetooth speaker to only stream music.
Cons: It has a very annoying hiss. The controls are on the back of the cabinet. Making it less convenient to adjust. You can use the volume control on the Spark 40 to make adjustments.
I don’t recommend the Spark Cab. I could have returned it but decided to keep it.
Spark Go -
It’s a fun little portable app that makes it much more fun to play an electric guitar with some tones vs unplugged. If you want it to sound better plug in a set of headphones.
The App:
You can visualize the amp and pedals you are using along with adjusting the settings.
Visual tone display. It shows the amp you are using along with any effects. Dim pedals are off.
Control the effect pedals from the app. You can turn them on and off and change the settings
Jam to songs from YouTube. AI does a good job deciphering the chords. While not perfect it is usually very close
Final Verdict:
The Spark Go and Spark 40 are a lot of fun to use. They won’t win any tone awards but they are great to try lots of different things and jam to lots of different tunes. They make playing fun and that is key! The amp models and effects sound much better through headphones and can work well when recording. While I think the Nux Audio products are better tone wise the companion app to control the Nux devices has a lot let eye candy and maybe a bit harder for people to use. Especially when it comes to finding tones. More about that when I do a write up on my future Nux Mighty Space amp.
