Positive Grid Spark Go

[Crusoe]

I'm away from base for a few days and brought my guitar with my, but when I arrived I realised that I'd forgotten my amp. Now, I'm not too far away an it would only be a 40 minute round trip to go and get it, but I have access to an acoustic guitar while I'm here, so I'm not bothered. However, I happened to be scrolling through Facebook yesterday and came across this being advertised NAMM 2023: Positive Grid unveils the Spark Go, a 5-watt modeling amp that fits in your pocket | Guitar World. I decided to take a punt on it, as it's something I can slip into my guitar bag if I am on the move. It doesn't ship until late May, but I'll leave a review after I receive it. It can be used as a Bluetooth speaker too. At the minute it's on an early bird offer for £89 + VAT (£105 in total). After that it will be £129 +VAT.

[randythoades]

That sounds really interesting. I am looking for something along these lines to leave at work for lunchtime noodling. I shall have a look...!

 

[EdwardMarlowe]

Be interested to hear how you get on with that. I'm currently in Beijing for a week with work and by this point 99% of websites I normally use have been banned out here, so I'm doing a lot of online window shopping filling downtime.... Been thinking of a little, pocket-size amp that could be used with a guitar on the go, or as a speaker for my mp3 player (the latter being the more likely use out here, though as the project here flies me business class and thus I can have two hand luggage bags, I'm now having lunatic thoughts about buying a Harley Benton banjolele.....). I spotted one of these amps mentioned in an article on Guitar.com - https://guitar.com/guides/essential-guide/how-to-build-ultimate-portable-vanlife-guitar-rig/ They seem well impressed with it. 

Another contender for me - as I'm a sucker for its looks - is the Fender 57 Mini Twin: 

 

 

This little Fender has it all looks wise and would do what I want for guitar, but might not be so clever for an MP3 speaker. I'm not fussed on blutooth (I prefer a cable connection to save battery life), but I don't know how successful a 3.5mm to 6.3mm jack cable for my mp3 player into this would be.... 

[Crusoe]

I have had this a while now an I have to say I'm impressed with it. Is it the best sounding amp out there? No. Would I replace a practice amp with it no? However, what it is is extremely convenient. I often have to be away at weekends for a couple of days, so instead of lugging my 20W combo (not that it's huge) around, I stick the Go in my gig bag with a cable and that's me. On Wednesday, i had a bit of time to kill, so was able to sit in the car and play. The four built in presets aren't great, although the higher gain ones are better than the clean channel, which is also very quiet, but when you pair it with the app on your computer, tablet or phone there's a huge range of presets and you can change the settings on them. You can use the app to play along with songs, or use the smart jam facility to make your own music. It actually sounds rather good through headphones. It also functions as a Bluetooth speaker, which is an added bonus.

Edited October 20, 2023 by Crusoe

[sundayguitar]

Are you still in love with it?

[Crusoe]

14 hours ago, sundayguitar said:

Are you still in love with it?

I wouldn't say I love it, but I do really like it. For me, it's the portability. I have a guitar lesson after work once a week and can sit in the car for half an hour beforehand and practise. It sounds decent enough too. Obviously it's not going to be as loud or full sounding as a larger amp, but it's good enough for my needs.