The MASSIVE New Amp From Positive Grid....The Spark Mini!

Do good things come in small packages? Oh yeah they do!
If you enjoyed this video, be sure to like and subscribe :)

GEAR IN VIDEO:

DARRELL'S GUITARS & GEAR LIST!

DARRELL'S RECORDING SETUP:

DARRELL'S AMPLIFIERS:

*Links to gear in the video description may contain affiliate links

T-SHIRT STORE:

TAB STORE:
Songs, Lesson Worksheets, and Guitar Techniques!

PATREON:
Become a Patron!

ALBUM:
iTunes:

OTHER FAVOURITE GEAR:

SOLI DEO GLORIA!

[DarrellBraunGuitar]

This thing is genuinely super fun to play, and sounds WAY better than something this small should! Tones at 5:20 Enjoy :)

[GoldtriggerDude]

It's good for what it's designed for: bringing to the park, your front porch, your next-door neighbor's house. Not expecting it to sound like a $1500 dollar amp for recording in a professional studio. I give it 2 thumbs up.

[hughmann]

The direct out sounds great. Now I would really like to hear what the speaker sounds like, as that's probably how most of us would want to use it. Cheers.

[Thenicksamples]

I love the hints of Van Halen's 316 at 5:50

[rayschoch]

Good demo, Darrell, but more useful if we heard more of the tones through the Mini's own speaker.

[X-X-X]

Love my spark 40, sits under my desk and is my day to day amp. I never used the buttons on top, do all changes on my ipad that's on a stand right above it, so won't miss those controls on the mini. I ordered mine this morning, it'll partially be my daughter's practice amp for her room I think, and it'll be the one we take along for vacation. And if it sounds great streaming music, we'll use it for that too.
I've had my spark for quite a while now and I'm still blown away by the versatility, the options in the software, and most importantly, buy it's sound. Have a Mesa Boogie DC3 and a Fender Mustang GTX 50 in the other room, but the spark is my go to. Small and out of the way under my desk, where I spend most of my day.
Supposedly my mini will ship in April, looking forward to it!

[jokermtb]

Why no mention of how it sounds using it’s built-in speakers?

[rocpile]

The sound from the built in speakers sound fantastic

[slo_carry]

If I didn't already have the Spark, then the mini would have been purchased in a heartbeat.

[offidano]

For me, a key question is how does the sound of the Mini compare to that of the bigger brother(sister) Spark 40? I would love to see a comparison video and your comments.

[AxelAlexK]

I have the original and it's been a decent amp. I use it for recording covers for my YouTube channel and it's also my regular practice amp. My experience with it has been mixed. A lot of the app features I thought I'd use I have ended up not. The app is pretty laggy. The Bluetooth connectivity is the greatest part but it is easier and faster to just browse backing tracks on YouTube then actually use the app if I want to jam. When I Tab out covers I've done on my YouTube channel I end up just using chordify instead of the spark app if I need help finding chords. Again, it's just faster and simpler. Also, the app uses just uses YouTube anyway. The Spark's variety of effects is pretty great though, lots of options without having to own a ton of pedals. The other problem is the amp has been pretty buggy for me. Until a recent update I couldn't get the interface to work properly for recording. The guitar sound came out distorted every time. And when I updated it temporarily bricked the amp, fortunately positive grid support was able to email me some files to fix it. I think the amp is a good choice for practicing but looking back I'm not sure I wouldn't have chosen a Yamaha thr or boss Katana instead.

[RapttorX]

reviewing an amp like this without a room mic is like reviewing an electric guitar without plugging it in...

[SteveDave]

Love my Tele FMT HH. Glad you still play yours!

[MS_Vespid]

A demonstration of the sort of volume possible in a room would have been nice

[ipcameraguy]

5:50 a little 'Drop Dead Legs" intro...sweet!

[curlyhoward]

Thanks for a great review. I also liked that you put links to everything you used during the review so we can take a trip to those sites and see the rest of your gear too.

[MashaT]

Were the audio recordings done with a mic? Or through the audio interface? I’m curious if we are getting a close representation to what is heard in the room or whether it went straight into a computer. Because it’s going to sound better through the audio interface when we watch this video if it wasn’t mic’ed. I would really like to hear it from a high quality mic . . . and get a comparison to the larger Spark while it is also connected to a mic. That would give us a better idea about what it sounds like in a room and as compared with its big brother.

[StoneyK]

Makes me wonder if they are also going to make a "big" Spark 100 amp with a single 12" which would be suitable for gigging.

[Russell_Optics]

I agree with Hayley's comment that my original spark just sounds too muddy. I expected a lot more sound from a 40 watt amp. I did not return mine because it was more trouble than I thought it was worth plus I'm hoping they might come out with a download that reduces the flabby bass and increases the mid-range and treble. I do like the convenience of it's size and the effects. I just wish it sounded better.

[couriersec]

Okay but why didn't you mic the thing to show how it sounds in the room?
Anything sounds good direct.