Maybe a NAD… maybe not

[Iron1]

Picked up a Positive Grid Spark 40 this morning, mainly just to have something in the living room I could plunk on when watching TV.

Had high hopes for it after watching some vids and reading Alex’s post on the mini.

Was also very intrigued by the ability to use it for both guitar and bass.

So far, the only high gain tone I can seem to get out of it that doesn’t turn me off is using the wannabe 6505 sim. The SLO, Treadplate and the few others Ive tried are disappointing.

For bass, it’s not bad at all. So much so I think it inspired a new riff for a new song.

Overall, my brain is comparing it to my Fender GTX50 and for tones, I don’t think the Spark keeps up. Granted the Fender has a 12” Celestion in it and the Spark has whatever these transistor radio sized things are, so it’s not a fair comparison.

It does have a lot of cool bells and whistles, and some really sweet clean tones, but since I mostly play high gain stuff, Im not sure only being able to have one “flavor” from an amp that claims to offer unlimited choices is going to keep me from returning it.

So… maybe…

 

[FuzzyAce]

Had high hopes for it after watching some vids and reading Alex’s post on the mini.

You mean you read that WHOLE post?

 

[Iron1]

Ok, as weird as this gonna seem (yes, before you ask, I am a little crazy), I had the Spark sitting on a plastic chair before. Took it off the chair, put it on the floor against a wall (works for open back cabs, which this is not…) and turned it up on end and it sounds way better.

Once I got that where I liked it, I fine tuned the eq and now I love it. So, apparently it can never move again…

Then when I was done being a lunatic, I dialed in a really cool clean tone too. So, I think … Im gonna keep it.

At least until 30 seconds after the return window closes, then I’ll decide I don’t like it and lose money trading it in on the next squirrel that runs through my soundscape.

 

[Iron1]

Sat here tonight while watching the Texans game and have run the Phoenix (Fishman Modern), Solar A2.6 (Elysian Trident II) and Solar A2.7 (Duncan Solar +) thru the Spark and it handles them all really well. Had to mess with the EQ a bit on the 7-string as it was initially very muddy, but a quick tweak and this little thing sounds surprisingly good.

As much as I dig my GTX50, Im tempted to sell it and buy another Spark.

 

[Life Eats Life]

Sat here tonight while watching the Texans game and have run the Phoenix (Fishman Modern), Solar A2.6 (Elysian Trident II) and Solar A2.7 (Duncan Solar +) thru the Spark and it handles them all really well. Had to mess with the EQ a bit on the 7-string as it was initially very muddy, but a quick tweak and this little thing sounds surprisingly good.

As much as I dig my GTX50, Im tempted to sell it and buy another Spark.

I think you’re wrestling with the fact that this unit is nothing more then a “transponder unit”
-yes, I’m talkin’ Mandalorian shop here
He got busted cheating’ the system using the transponder unit against the Gold Leader X-Wing pilots.
And in the end where did that leave him & the creature?
Bingo..sorta new amp day??

 

[MatrixClaw]

I bought one of these for my dad for Father's Day and was super impressed by it. I've heard a lot of people having issues getting tones they like out of it but I just used the models however they were setup by the previous owner and really liked it. One thing that I thought was super strange was how quiet the amp was. I'm used to a little hum on the speakers from my tube amps but that thing was dead silent, I had to check to make sure it was even on at first I almost bought one locally the other day for myself but the guy never messaged me back and then marked it sold the next day. Oh well.

 

[Iron1]

I bought one of these for my dad for Father's Day and was super impressed by it. I've heard a lot of people having issues getting tones they like out of it but I just used the models however they were setup by the previous owner and really liked it. One thing that I thought was super strange was how short the amp was. I'm used to a little hum on the speakers from my tube amps but that thing was dead silent, I had to check to make sure it was even on at first I almost bought one locally the other day for myself but the guy never messaged me back and then marked it sold the next day. Oh well.

Yeah, they are eerily quiet when not playing - more than once I've thought I didn't turn it on.

 

[Alex Kenivel]

Cleans and lower gain tones are easier to cop than high gain tones out of my Spark Go. The 6505 is what I settled on.

It's a good little practice/kickaround thing but I'm not dialing in record-ready tones or anything.

You mean you read that WHOLE post?

Grow some scrote and tag me like a real man behind a keyboard!

 

[FuzzyAce]

Cleans and lower gain tones are easier to cop than high gain tones out of my Spark Go. The 6505 is what I settled on.

It's a good little practice/kickaround thing but I'm not dialing in record-ready tones or anything.


Grow some scrote and tag me like a real man behind a keyboard!

Took you long enough! I posted that weeks ago.
Next time I'll tag you.

 

[Iron1]

Decided to really dig into the Spark vs GTX50 deal the last few days. Overall, the GTX50 has an edge with that 12” Celestion. But, it’s not so much better than the Spark that it overcomes the next thing: interface access.

Both units have phone app accessibility that makes dialing in sounds on the fly a breeze.

In the app/amp’s interface, Fender smokes the Spark in available amps, pedals, etc.

But, again, not enough to overcome the actual access issue.

With the Spark, you just turn on the amp, open the app and about 15-30 seconds later you’re all set.

With the Fender, you would think that’s all there is as well. But… no.

In order to connect to the Fender you have to go into the unit Menu on the control panel, then into the Bluetooth/Wifi submenu. Turn the bluetooth on, open the app and about a minute later - if the stars align - it connects.

If not, or if you EVER connected or tried to connect in the past, you have to do the following:

Go into the Bluetooth/Wifi menu. Once there, you have to tell it to “forget paired devices.”

Once it does that, you have to cycle the power, then start over again and hope it connects.

Assuming mine just had some bug that Fender had fixed, I went to the foot of Mt. Google and looked for answers.

What I found was an awful lot of people who described the issue above, followed by “after about a year it just stopped connecting altogether” and “any attempts to get a fix, or even answers, from Fender, get ya nowhere.”

So, this morning another Spark popped up on Marketplace right down the street for about half of what they cost brand new and the GTX got replaced.