Spark amp

[Jeff29361]

This keeps on popping up on my Facebook feed, looks really decent, claims you can use it for bass and guitar, any used one or have any thoughts?

 

https://www.positivegrid.com/spark?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=PG&utm_campaign=spark_en&utm_content=KOL-Rabea+Massaad&fbclid=IwAR0wl3pyayEz4isZZZRwpVyxeBCM-LMJxe8sIFqXbpe03F147LLPKBvoljk

[NancyJohnson]

I've seen this a lot in the last few days.  So far a lot of positivity, but you're always going to get a handful of people who are just going to post negative comments sight unseen.

Interesting.  Apparently works with basses as well.

[songofthewind]

Anybody seen and heard one in the flesh?

 

[Woodinblack]

I bought one. Still waiting. I think I am going to be waiting for a while yet:

But yes, I want something I can use for guitar or bass. Clearly it is good for guitar, but there are presets for bass, and if it is as good as AMP, which I am assuming it should be, it will be great.

 

 

 

[Jeff29361]

Let me know how you get on, I bought a Mustang GT 40 for the time being which is really good but doesn't do bass

[Russ]

I should have mine next week, apparently.

I'll let you know what I think when it arrives. I've been after something that's similar to the little Boss Katana thingies, but for bass, so I'm definitely curious to see how well it works. 

 

[dave_bass5]

A lot of complaints on the PG forum about long delays. Other than that these look cool.

[Woodinblack]

20 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

A lot of complaints on the PG forum about long delays. Other than that these look cool.

Yeh, and there are comments from the MD on the page appologising for the delays, so I think they messed up a bit with that and if there are that many delays, maybe holding off the heavy advertising until the were ready would have been a better idea? Still, early reviews seem pretty good.

I figured that I can put the bass through my Bose S1 and play, which is just reverb, but there isn't much for the guitars, so if I had something small that could do both, it would be a win win.

[dave_bass5]

Personally ill have nothing to do with this company. Been let down over their CS, although this has not to do with the amp side of things. 

[stewblack]

21 hours ago, Russ said:

I should have mine next week, apparently.

I'll let you know what I think when it arrives. I've been after something that's similar to the little Boss Katana thingies, but for bass, so I'm definitely curious to see how well it works. 

 

Look forward to your review. 

[thodrik]

I am also interested. I play guitar and bass and having a decent little practice amp in the house that would cover both in a small footprint would be great. 

I quite like the actual BIAS FX and AMP FX products, though the amp sounds to me are not as nice as the Amplitube equivalents. I find the BIAS software decent and very user friendly though and frankly it is more fun to use than Amplitube in my opinion. 

Ultimately though, it seems to me that Positive Grid focus so much on marketing and cleverly tiered pricing and separation of certain product features into different packages. As a result, I can't say that I am a massive fan of how they do business. However, irrespective of that if the product works I will consider buying it

[Russ]

So I got my Spark today.

As long as you temper your expectations, it's actually pretty bloody good, and quite clever. 

Firstly, it doesn't put out a load of bottom end. It's only got two 4" speakers and a small port behind the cloth on the front, so there's not much thump, but it is nice and clear, and only bottoms out if you play below E on a 5-string (I ran my Bongo 5 - which has a famously hot output - into it and it just about handled it without crapping out). It's got a nice midrange burp, so bridge-pickup fingerstyle sounds good, and it pops nicely if you slap or dig in with a pick.

Over and above the hardware, it's the software that impresses the most. It has several dedicated bass amp models (from what I can tell, there's two GK models, an Ampeg, and an Eden) and, if you add effects, they work nicely and don't thin the sound out. Nice crisp, wide stereo reverbs, decent (if not very versatile) delays, good chorus, flanger and tremolo, and a chunky, buzzy, Darkglass-esque distortion. 

It comes with lots of fun playalongs for you to jam with (complete with on-screen tabs and chord charts for some of it), and the app is nicely integrated with Spotify and Apple Music (if you're running it on an Apple device like me) so it's easy to load up your playlists and play along. There's also the Smart Jam features that 'listen' to what you're playing and provide a backing track, but I haven't really played with that yet. It also functions well as a regular stereo Bluetooth speaker. 

You can tell it was primarily designed for guitar though, because the guitar tones are very, very good. I plugged in my Sterling JP 7-string, and it authentically chucked out everything from a smooth, valvey blues tone to a great full-on shreddy, djenty metal tone, with well-modelled dynamics. The low B on the 7-string came across thick and clear too. 

Overall, based on the few hours I've spent with it, it's a fun little box of tricks, with some decent, usable sounds in it, and it seems like it's going to be a great tool for neighbour-friendly practice. There's more to dig into with it yet though, especially the Smart Jam stuff, so I'll report back once I've messed with it some more. 

It'd be nice if the next iteration had a looper and possibly a built-in wireless system like the Boss Katana Air, but, for now, I think I'm happy. 

Edited July 29, 2020 by Russ

[songofthewind]

Cool! Thanks for the review. How does it perform as a wireless music speaker? Does it connect to your Wi-fi for streaming?

[NancyJohnson]

I own an old Line6 Spider IV that has served well enough for home demos, but the Spark has (warning, BBC-esque pun incoming) ignited my interest in amp modelling.

The fear here for me here is more a case of just wanting rather than owning; I'd probably just dial in my desired tone and it would be unlikely I'd move from that.  I get that tone from the Spider already.

[adamg67]

For me it seems better to have an iPad and an iRig and run it through my existing amp (it does power amp only which is handy) and FRFR speaker - but then I've already got the iPad and the amp and speaker so it's maybe not a fair comparison - and then I can use whatever apps are available. Sounds like the spark app does quite a lot to be fair, but it's not going to have backing tracks for the originals projects I'm into at the mo and I've got cubasis and amplitube on the iPad.

I kind of get that they want to turn it into a single "device" and that's nice, but you're also into the land of bugs and software releases and upgrades. Does it come with all their models or are they trying to get you to buy add ons afterwards?

[Woodinblack]

13 minutes ago, adamg67 said:

For me it seems better to have an iPad and an iRig and run it through my existing amp (it does power amp only which is handy) and FRFR speaker - but then I've already got the iPad and the amp and speaker so it's maybe not a fair comparison

Yep, i have all that too.

And certainly if you are one of the people who can be bothered to set that all up for a quick 2 minute noodle, that is a better idea.

Its one of the ways I play things, but by the time I have set that lot up, I have lost some of the enthusiasm.

I want a spark so I can plug in and play it.

 

13 minutes ago, adamg67 said:

- and then I can use whatever apps are available. Sounds like the spark app does quite a lot to be fair, but it's not going to have backing tracks for the originals projects I'm into at the mo and I've got cubasis and amplitube on the iPad.

You cna make your own.

13 minutes ago, adamg67 said:

I kind of get that they want to turn it into a single "device" and that's nice, but you're also into the land of bugs and software releases and upgrades. Does it come with all their models or are they trying to get you to buy add ons afterwards?

 

It has what is in the Positive Grid amp apps, which is already pretty damn good. So you can make your own models.

 

[Russ]

On 29/07/2020 at 02:39, songofthewind said:

Cool! Thanks for the review. How does it perform as a wireless music speaker? Does it connect to your Wi-fi for streaming?

It's not bad. I like it more than I liked the roughly equally sized Marshall Stanmore speaker, which I thought was loud bit a bit flat. There's a bit more bass and treble extension with the Spark. I have a Marshall bass practice amp that sounds better having music played through it than the Stanmore. 

It streams over Bluetooth, not wifi, alas, but it works pretty well. 

Edited July 30, 2020 by Russ

[Woodinblack]

Ooh, I just got an email that my spark has shipped, which as I posted up there was supposed to be 17-20th august. So i might have that soonish!

[adamg67]

On 29/07/2020 at 13:53, Woodinblack said:

And certainly if you are one of the people who can be bothered to set that all up for a quick 2 minute noodle, that is a better idea.

It's actually the only rig I have for guitar now (though typically I don't play much guitar at the mo) and it's nice that it has the same models I have in amplitube in my DAW (that's why I went that really).

I do rate the positive grid amps as well, but I think you have to pick one, getting to know both amplitube and bias is a lot of effort.

For bass I still like my Markbass multiamp best for the amp models.

[Chopthebass]

On ‎25‎/‎07‎/‎2020 at 04:31, Woodinblack said:

I bought one. Still waiting. I think I am going to be waiting for a while yet:

But yes, I want something I can use for guitar or bass. Clearly it is good for guitar, but there are presets for bass, and if it is as good as AMP, which I am assuming it should be, it will be great.

 

 

 

If she played her cards right, she could have me.

[dave_bass5]

56 minutes ago, Chopthebass said:

If she played her cards right, she could have me.

Poor girl doesn’t know what she is missing out on 😂

[Woodinblack]

Mine turned up today so I just unboxed it. Seems nicely made, will give it a spin tonight

[NancyJohnson]

Over on another group I follow the Spark is being offered with $40 (yes, dollars) off the price.  I don't know whether this will work for UK purchases (I guess is all sales are in $, then you'll get the Dollar price). but there's an offer code of REFERRAL40 that you can use at checkout.

[Woodinblack]

On 29/07/2020 at 13:53, Woodinblack said:

It has what is in the Positive Grid amp apps, which is already pretty damn good. So you can make your own models.

Turns out I was wrong on that, you can't make your own models like Amp, but you can select rigs like Jam Up. Which is a shame as amp is very impressive, I guess you have to get their proper amps for that.

Overall, the amp is good. It is fantastic for guitar, it is not really got much low end for bass, so at volume it would certainly struggle. With headphones it is obviously fine - shame it doesn't have a line out, might modify mine at some point to make one.

The software is fantastic. When I first had it it would have trouble connecting, but thet seems to have stopped, probably one of the updates I did.

So you turn the iPad on, you get the spark amp which lets you pick the model you want, and the effects etc and store them in the amp (it has a load of knobs on the top which you can adjust stand alone). Then it has a play section where you can select pretty well any song, it analyses it and gives you the guitar chords automatically. It either knows them instantly or it takes 30 seconds or so to analyse them, and it does it really well. As a guitar teaching tool, its second to none. But it is still handy on the bass. There are several different amp types and a load of effects, they work fine.

Then you can play along with whatever you are playing on the iPad.

There are some other lesson things, there is a section for bass where it plays chords and you do a baseline which is pretty useful, 'bass in the style of' with what is supposed to be generic music in a style for you to bass with but is actually pretty well a song from that style with no bass.

Clearly this is a guitar tool and as it is, it is pretty fantastic. As a bass tool it is less focused and not as good, but still well worth having. As a bass amp it isn't great, and it isn't necessarily about size as it isn't much different to the Bose S1 that I use as my normal practice amp (obviously the Bose is twice the price) which handles bass with no issue. If I could have one change it would be a line out that I could plug into an amp, or maybe even just a speaker out (now there is a mod I might do) that I could plug into a proper speaker, as I am sure it is more a speaker issue than an amp issue. However that gets away from its portability. Also a shame it doesn't run in batteries.

All in all though, I am pretty happy with it and I use it quite a lot.

 

[Nodd]

i've had mine for a few weeks now. The accompanying app matched with the amp form quite a helpful combination, Certainly useful when I had to learn a 24 song set recently.