Positive grid spark amp

DartmoorHedgehog

I don't know what people are expecting from a little practice amp with 4" speakers, but I think it sounds really good (although I do agree with the "too bassy to use as a wireless speaker for listening to music" - but that's not what I bought it for).  The default patches have far too much delay, reverb and chorus but once you turn off all that crap it sounds excellent to me.

adampeter

I have a brand new sealed boxed one for sale in the ads if anyone wants to jump the queue

MildAshers

www said:

Barnezy said:

thought I'd share my initial thoughts. 

It's OK. 

To sounds average and has alot of features that are good for practice. It's probably the most complete practice amp avaliable... just missing a built in looper. 

Overall I'd say it's worth the £200, but I wouldn't pay more. If you're all about tone, this isn't for you, but if you want something convenient for practice, it's a great option. 

I think OK sums it up. I only really played mine for an hour or so but I didn't feel it sounded as good as my Mustang GT40

I have to say its been the opposite for me, I though the GT40 sounded awful. GT100 was much better but I find the Spark beats both on tone.

All depends on the individuals requirements of course.

rossi

I find the Spark brilliant and has some good tones. It  is however a practice amp and buyers should remember that .Its well worth 200 if you want to use it as designed but as a tone queen add a grand or so and buy a proper  amp .

LuttiS

I think it sounds great, lots of people have mentioned though that it sounds better raised off the floor, either wedged up or on a table. 

DartmoorHedgehog

LuttiS said:

 lots of people have mentioned though that it sounds better raised off the floor, either wedged up or on a table. 

Definitely better higher up, or if you can stand further away from it if it's on the floor.  With it sat right by your feet it's not at its best.

aspnet

LuttiS said:

I think it sounds great, lots of people have mentioned though that it sounds better raised off the floor, either wedged up or on a table. 

I definitely prefer it next to me on a small table rather than on the floor, but finding it heavy on the bass compared to both the Yamaha THR and Vox Mini 5 that I've also had recently. It also doesn't play nice with a Boss WL20 I've tried.

That said, I'm playing to backing tracks far more than I have for ages thanks to the convenience of the app so it's helping me practice in different ways which is good. And I've barely scratched the surface on the tones available after finding a Brian May-a-like which has been fun to use recently. Happy overall with the purchase and keen to see if there is more functionality to come with app updates etc

MildAshers

DartmoorHedgehog said:

LuttiS said:

 lots of people have mentioned though that it sounds better raised off the floor, either wedged up or on a table. 

Definitely better higher up, or if you can stand further away from it if it's on the floor.  With it sat right by your feet it's not at its best.

Yeah I have it on a desk in the corner of my living room and use a £30 wireless system so I can move away from it or sit on the sofa and I have no complaints about extra bass or noise or anything. 

roberty

What's the current lead time on these?  I am hovering but I am moving house soonish.  The REFER40 discount ends today so it's either now or after I move I guess

Bluesboy82

From when I placed my order to delivery it took 11 days. 

Might be a bit longer or shorter but a couple of weeks would be a good estimate. 

JerkMoans

Yeah: I also ordered on 23/8 and it arrived on 3/9, so 11 days.

roberty

Thanks @Bluesboy82 and @JerkMoans I have pulled the trigger. It's nice to have a forum of friendly enablers

I love my THR10 but the chord learning mode on the Spark looks amazing for working on improvisation, so simple and convenient. And the native VSP for Spotify looks great too. I can keep the THR by my soldering stuff in the other room

The Honey chrome extension found the $40 Spark discount on its own btw, worth installing it if you're thinking of buying

McToot

Order times are all over the place - presumably depending on the ebb and flow of available stock or disturbances in THE FORCE. I ordered on 18th August and haven't received yet. It's in Germany though so I expect to get it in the next few working days. 

Switch625

Mine took 20 days from order to delivery. The tracking sat at being entered in the system but not handed over to GLS for a week. Once it was handed over it was here in 3 days. Hope you get yours soon.

roberty

Downloaded and started using the app yesterday. To be honest that's the selling feature for me, I'd be happy with just the app and my current practice amp. The transcriptions seem to be all over the place but perhaps that will improve with time. Overall it's an amazing practice tool

Switch625

Looks like mine has the hum issue too, hadn't noticed as I was using the clean channel mostly. But on the distorted ones it's very obvious and disappears when plugging in to a laptop. Off to their support section I go...

Edit - I’ve read that any laptop power supply will work if it has the same input and a minimum of 2.5A. I have a Toshiba one that fits the port and is rated 3.42A - is it safe to use or will it blow my amp up?

McToot

Mine's just arrived. But I have a 10-week old puppy and it's more pressing that I teach her not to piss and shite all over the house than make sweet beautiful music with my new toy...

  

DartmoorHedgehog

switch625 said:

Edit - I’ve read that any laptop power supply will work if it has the same input and a minimum of 2.5A. I have a Toshiba one that fits the port and is rated 3.42A - is it safe to use or will it blow my amp up?

If it's the right voltage and polarity then it'll be fine. 

I don't think it's a "some hum and some don't" situation, I think it's more down to "some people are annoyed by it and some aren't".  It's certainly more noticeable on high-gain sounds, which I rarely use, but I'm tempted to try another PSU sometime just out of interest - don't know if I can be bothered to claim one from PG or not, but it is a bit pants that they supplied such a poor one as standard.  It would be a nice gesture if they sent everybody a new PSU, but I don't expect them to do that as it would cost them a considerable amount and the supplied PSU does work, albeit not as well as it could.

chickenchaser

I've just borrowed a Spark off a mate who is away for a week. Comparing it directly to the Vox Adio, it's louder, has more bottom end and more options to tailor the tone. The cleans sound great, better than the Vox. I'm still trying to find a edge of breakup tone that I like but the app works well and it looks far better than the handbag. It does sound a bit boxy when turned up with gain but there has to be a limit to a practicing tool.  It's certainly loud enough for home use.
Sounds decent through headphones too. 

Switch625

DartmoorHedgehog said:

If it's the right voltage and polarity then it'll be fine. 

I don't think it's a "some hum and some don't" situation, I think it's more down to "some people are annoyed by it and some aren't".  It's certainly more noticeable on high-gain sounds, which I rarely use, but I'm tempted to try another PSU sometime just out of interest - don't know if I can be bothered to claim one from PG or not, but it is a bit pants that they supplied such a poor one as standard.  It would be a nice gesture if they sent everybody a new PSU, but I don't expect them to do that as it would cost them a considerable amount and the supplied PSU does work, albeit not as well as it could.

I didn't really notice it much as I was mostly using the clean channels at low volumes. But once you notice it, it's very annoying. Even on the clean channel when the volume is up about 25%. I did the "plug the USB into a laptop" test and the hum disappeared instantly. I've raised a support request with them and they asked me to send a video, which I've done. Hope they can send out a decent replacement power supply,