Positive Grid "SPARK" Smart Practice Guitar Amp & App.

Started by admin, December 03, 2019, 09:45:39 PM

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Mrchevy

Steve, you'll get yours before I do I'm sure. Can I borrow your HAZMAT suit when your done with it ;D
Gibson Les Paul Custom
Epi Les Paul Standard
Gibson SG 50's prototype
Squire classic vibe 60's
Epi LP Modern
Epi SG Custom
Martin acoustic

Princeton chorus 210

GT100
GR-55
Helix LT
Waza Air Headphones
Boomerang III

And, a lot of stuff I DON'T need

admin

Quote from: Mrchevy on February 12, 2020, 03:18:04 PM
Steve, you'll get yours before I do I'm sure. Can I borrow your HAZMAT suit when your done with it ;D

I'll let it sit in the box for 2 weeks - supposed to allow active virus to die 
https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/infections/how-long-do-bacteria-and-viruses-live-outside-the-body/

Although my Immune system is now beefed up after surviving the 2020 "NAMMTrax" epidemic  - I was laid up in bed for a week post NAMM 

admin




The Spark Amp Walkthrough | Exploring the Amp and the App | Positive Grid


In this video, Steve Stine shows you how the app works (with screenshots) with the new Spark Amp from Positive Grid, as well as explanations of the features of the amp itself.

Check out the amp HERE:
http://bit.ly/2He0m23

I used the following sounds on the demo:
Intro: Default Channel 1 tone (recorded in stereo)
Crunch: Modern Stone and British Accent presets
Heavy: Heavy Axe and Dual Train presets
Solo: Steve Stine Lead preset
(some of these sounds will need to be downloaded from the ToneCloud, which is part of the app).

admin


(use CC Translate)
Dario Serventi (Italy)

#SPARK by #PositiveGrid is the brand new guitar amp for home playing. You can use it very easily with its app, compatible with smarthphone e tablet.

This amp is a MUST HAVE for anyone who teaches or studies guitar and for those who play mainly in places like home or school

Thanks to SPARK, we won't need to use computers, audio devices, browser, monitor speakers and plugins to play guitar on our favourite songs, or backing track.

With SPARK, all you need is your guitar, your tablet (or smartphone), an internet connection to be ready to play anywhere, anytime, with the fantastic sounds made by Positive Grid.

Video contents:
- 00:03 unboxing
- 4:20 overview of top panel
- 5:49 APP installation
- 7:14 configuration and connection of SPARK with the app
- 8:32 overview of the main functions of the APP
- 12:20 demo of the preset sounds
clean: 13:00
glassy: 19:35
crunch: 22:20
hi-gain: 26:00
metal: 27:53
- 29:56 some sounds from the cloud
- 38:10 how to play with a backing track
- 40:34 can I use it live?
- 42:25 final considerations

Mrchevy

FINALLY A REAL DEMO beyond 15 seconds of cleans and 3 hrs of death metal. Excellent demo.

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Epi Les Paul Standard
Gibson SG 50's prototype
Squire classic vibe 60's
Epi LP Modern
Epi SG Custom
Martin acoustic

Princeton chorus 210

GT100
GR-55
Helix LT
Waza Air Headphones
Boomerang III

And, a lot of stuff I DON'T need

admin

AMPS per manual

Category      Amp Inspired by
Clean
Silver 120- Roland JC120
Black Duo- Fender Twin Reverb
AD Clean- Orange AD 30
MATCH DC- Matchless DC30

Glassy
Tweed Bass- Fender Bassman
AC Boost- Vox AC30
Checkmate Teisco- Checkmate20
Two Stone SP50- Two Rock Studio Pro 50

Crunch
American Deluxe- Fender Deluxe Reverb
Plexiglas Marshall- Super Lead 100
JM45- Marshall JTM45
Lux Verb- Fender Deluxe Reverb

High Gain
RB 101- Bogner Ecstasy 101
British 30- Orange AD30
American High Gain- Mesa Boogie JP-2C
SLO 100- Soldano SLO-100
YJM100- Marshall YJM100 Signature

Metal
Treadplate- Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier
5153 - EVH 5150 III
SwitchAxe- H&K Switch Blade
Rocker V - Orange Rockerverb 50
BE 101- Friedman BE100

Acoustic
Pure Acoustic - PG Original
Fishboy- Fishman Acoustic Amp
Jumbo - PG Original
Flat Acoustic - PG Original

Bass
RB-800 - Gallien-Krueger 800RB
Sunny 3000- Sunn 300T
W600 - Eden WTP600
Hammer 500 - Aguilar Tone Hammer 500

EFFECTS

Category Effect
Gate   Noise Gate
Comp
LA Comp
Sustain Comp
Red Comp
Bass Comp
Optical Comp

Drive
Booster
Tube Drive
Over Drive
Fuzz Face
Black Op
Bass Muff
Guitar Muff
Bassmaster
SAB Driver

Modulation
Tremolo
Chorus
Flanger
Phaser
Vibrato
UniVibe
Cloner Chorus
Classic Vibe
Tremolator
Tremolo Square

Delay
Digital Delay
Echo Filt
Vintage Delay
Reverse Delay
Multi Head
Echo Tape

Reverb
Room Studio A
Chamber
Hall Natural
Plate Short
Hall Ambient
Plate Rich
Hall Medium
Plate Long
Room Studio B

admin


dsmmrm

On Ebay? I guess there will always be people who exploit pre-orders or other limited supply and the enhanced demand that comes with it but it bugs me. Leave scarce commodities to those who actually want them, don't just exploit the opportunity to make a quick buck.

Mrchevy

Thats Capitalism. But at least you have a choice as to whether or not you want to pay it or not. Me, I'll wait.
Gibson Les Paul Custom
Epi Les Paul Standard
Gibson SG 50's prototype
Squire classic vibe 60's
Epi LP Modern
Epi SG Custom
Martin acoustic

Princeton chorus 210

GT100
GR-55
Helix LT
Waza Air Headphones
Boomerang III

And, a lot of stuff I DON'T need

dsmmrm

OK, I have to call BS on Positive Grid's marketing of this amp. On the pre-order site, they list, for instance on the last chance buy, 3544 of 3600. The thing is yesterday it said 34xx of 3500. The other 2 categories with the add-on products have been similarly incrementing the available number. They have been doing this every day since I first looked at it a few weeks ago (other than when I placed my own order in the beginning of November). They are artificially creating a sense of urgency simply by lying about the total available. This, combined with the constant pop ups saying Joe Schmo from Kalamazoo just bought one is about the sleeziest marketing I've seen from a gear company in a very long time.My confidence that they are telling the truth about the shipping estimates is near zero.

admin

^ Nothing new - they are following their playbook
( Must have missed the BIAS Head marketing Hype a few years back)

No doubt a new twist is recent world events and imposed quarantines near portions of their component supply chain have introduced additional new delays

This is impacting many other big name M.I. manufacturers too.

https://www.npr.org/2020/02/14/806155636/coronavirus-is-shuttering-chinese-factories-and-affecting-global-manufacturing
https://glg.it/articles/how-might-the-wuhan-coronavirus-impact-apples-supply-chain/

dsmmrm

Interesting. Had I seen that Bias head hype I probably would not have bought the Spark. Deceptive marketing bugs me on a fundamental level. The fallout from that for me is if they claim a legitimate delay from the Corona virus I not inclined to believe them. Of course, they couldn't care less what I believe anyway so I may as well just STFU and deal with it.

admin













Mrchevy

Nice demo by Steve from Boston, Definitely starting to feel better about ordering this now.
Gibson Les Paul Custom
Epi Les Paul Standard
Gibson SG 50's prototype
Squire classic vibe 60's
Epi LP Modern
Epi SG Custom
Martin acoustic

Princeton chorus 210

GT100
GR-55
Helix LT
Waza Air Headphones
Boomerang III

And, a lot of stuff I DON'T need

dsmmrm

My order number is 3093 placed on or before 11/4 (that's when I was charged, anyway). Seems like it should be coming up soon. Anyone with a similar order date get theirs yet?

admin

Quote from: dsmmrm on February 26, 2020, 07:56:11 AM
My order number is 3093 placed on or before 11/4 (that's when I was charged, anyway). Seems like it should be coming up soon. Anyone with a similar order date get theirs yet?

I ordered Nov 30, 2019 - apparently I'm in the Group #3  "Power Supporter"
Details
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=26872.msg200240#msg200240

These adhere to the "just in time " contract manufacturing paradigm - Positive Grid does not stock all the parts to build these amps, and relies on M.I. Contract manufacturer, and many have been slowed down this past month.

So I now expect another month delay ( April 1) due the corona virus shutting down several supply chain factories, and add the "slow boat from china" delivery to a west coast harbor in USA , then travel to a USA Midwest shipping depot

   

admin

Quote from:  admin on February 27, 2020, 12:53:20 PM
Dear Spark Power Supporter,

You may have heard that many manufacturers are experiencing production delays due to component and assembly shortages over the past month. We are no different. Please rest assured that we are doing everything in our power to increase Spark production to keep up with its massive demand.

Despite these delays, we can report that all Super Early Bird and Early Bird orders have now shipped, and we are receiving overwhelmingly positive reviews from those new Spark owners. We wish we could ship all Spark orders right now, because we can't wait for you to try Spark!

We do not take delays lightly, and we know that you don't either.
Based on the latest information from our production team,
we will be shipping Power Supporter orders throughout March and April. All orders will ship based on when the order was placed.

When your Spark amp ships you will receive an email with tracking information.

You can follow shipping updates and other information at https://www.positivegrid.com/spark#updates

Thanks so much for your continued support and patience.

Sincerely,

The Spark Team


Mrchevy

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Epi Les Paul Standard
Gibson SG 50's prototype
Squire classic vibe 60's
Epi LP Modern
Epi SG Custom
Martin acoustic

Princeton chorus 210

GT100
GR-55
Helix LT
Waza Air Headphones
Boomerang III

And, a lot of stuff I DON'T need

mos6507

Question.  This is being marketed as "full range".  Does that mean it's FRFR?  Is this capable of being a low-power bedroom amp for the VG-99/SY-1000?  Seems like the speakers are too small to serve that role.  I've been looking for something that can handle all frequencies but isn't as overpowered as a headrush.  Doesn't seem like anything is really in that segment other than going in through USB to a DAW and monitoring through near-field monitors.


Michael Dolan Doubleneck
Les Paul Custom

VG-99
FTP

Mrchevy

Quote from: mos6507 on February 28, 2020, 02:37:47 PM
Question.  This is being marketed as "full range".  Does that mean it's FRFR?  Is this capable of being a low-power bedroom amp for the VG-99/SY-1000?  Seems like the speakers are too small to serve that role.  I've been looking for something that can handle all frequencies but isn't as overpowered as a headrush.  Doesn't seem like anything is really in that segment other than going in through USB to a DAW and monitoring through near-field monitors.



I plan to try this when I get mine with the GR55, GT100, Mustang floor, and computer. It has AUX in so only needs appropriate adapter.
Gibson Les Paul Custom
Epi Les Paul Standard
Gibson SG 50's prototype
Squire classic vibe 60's
Epi LP Modern
Epi SG Custom
Martin acoustic

Princeton chorus 210

GT100
GR-55
Helix LT
Waza Air Headphones
Boomerang III

And, a lot of stuff I DON'T need

dsmmrm

This should work as a few people have reported using it as Bluetooth speaker sounds halfway decent.


dsmmrm

Got mine last Friday. Been playing with it for a week now. I like it a lot. It meets or exceeds my expectation, which were for a good sounding practice amp. I have a number of other amps, both tube and modeler and a headrush pedalboard with 2 HR FRFR08 speakers that I gig with. I am not judging this amp by comparing it to them, it is a different animal.

some observations:

Sounds great when you spend a little time dialing it in. The hardware presets pretty much suck. I'm still not sure why manufacturers don't spend more time getting usable presets instead of just making sounds that show off the feature set.

Getting more/better sounds from the cloud is a hit or miss proposition. Sure, there are thousands of them. For every one that sounds halfway decent there are 10 that sound like a tone deaf monkey was playing with the knobs. I found it far easier to get decent tone tweaking manually in the app.

The app. When it stays connected it is very cool. I have used it both with an IPAD and an android phone. I prefer the ipad because the interface works well in landscape orientation. The spontaneous disconnections happen at about the same frequency in both environments.

It  sounds good as a bluetooth speaker. Those that wonder if it will be a decent FRFR option for other devices like a GR55 or VG99 I think will be pleasantly surprised.

The backing tracks are cool. There are quite a few in various styles. You can't change the key of existing ones but that's to be expected, I guess.

The create a jam thing is...Promising? It feels half baked and can only give you useful output if you stick to the simplest of chord progressions. Hopefully this will be fleshed out further.

It can get pretty loud but more importantly for its intended purpose, it sounds really good at low volume. I have no need to have it keep up with a drummer, I have other gear for that. This thing does exactly what I bought it for.

I will be using the USB interface with Cubase 10 starting later today. If it works like it's supposed to no additional commentary is warranted. If not, I'll let you know.

admin



^^ Bummed to discover  "NO Reverb on the USB Audio Output ?? ^^

admin

Spark vs Mustang GT 40



PG Spark Power Brick (19VDC @ 2.5Amps) - ( Dont loose it)


Find Latest news here
PG Spark Forum
https://forum.positivegrid.com/category/28/spark

Latest PG Spark Firmware
https://forum.positivegrid.com/topic/3777/spark-amp-firmware-v1-1-3-18-beta

How to Install PG Spark Firmware
https://help.positivegrid.com/hc/en-us/articles/360038685111-How-To-Update-The-Firmware-on-Spark-


Status of USB Recording
https://forum.positivegrid.com/topi...spark-amp-for-recording-guitars-and-playing/3

( seems many forgot to install the ASIO USB Driver )
https://help.positivegrid.com/hc/en-us/articles/360039598451-Spark-Windows-ASIO-Driver-


I knew going in this would be marginal

the PG Spark Firmware instructions are here
https://help.positivegrid.com/hc/en-us/articles/360038685111-How-To-Update-The-Firmware-on-Spark-

they state:
*3. Download and launch firmware update tool:

Windows: unzip and launch the "Spark Firmware Updater Win x.x.xxx.zip" file
Mac: unzip and launch the "Spark Firmware Updater OSX x.x.xxx.zip" file*

I go here for the Latest firmware FW 1.1.3.18
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1tFM2L9UEjf-qxVe6wZibFOzZdFkOCeRj

I Unzip only to find that Neither are labeled Win or Mac nor 1.1.3.18 and there is NOT a *.BIN file to be found anywhere - typical of other products FW release
there is "Spark Firmware Updater.EXE" - which must the the Windows update utility - but there is not the typical FW *.BIN File, and the other file is
"Spark Firmware Updater.app" which must be the Mac App
on Windows when I  launch the "Spark Firmware Updater.EXE" had a hard time connecting - had to re-power the AMP before the Amp would be recognized - but it finally dod, I clickked apply the update, the firmware updater froze after 20 seconds - Windows error message saying the "Spark Firmware Updater2.EXE" app has stopped

So no functioning FW Updater on Windows 8.1

Also I feel I was lied to as the USB Audio is only 1 Left Mono Channel Out from Spark Amp - Will not record Stereo via USB -

Reaper DAW only shows Spark as a 48KHz 1 input , 2 output Audio device

Why are you shipping a product which does not match the 8 month old PG Spark Specification Sheet?
A Reminder:
https://www.positivegrid.com/spark#specs

***USB AUDIO
USB Interface for Recording
2 In x 2 Out***

https://forum.positivegrid.com/topic/3777/spark-amp-firmware-v1-1-3-18-beta/12



OK Plugged and using an Android Tablet (Galaxy Tab S3) to run the Spark Application

The PG Spark is Easily TWICE as LOUD and Clean TONE vs the Fender Mustang GT 40

I could actually play solo gigs at a coffeehouse with this amp alone

The Spark app is a bit annoying as it only runs in Portrait Mode, and will not do much until you are 100% logged in with your Positive Grid Account

This explains much of the PG Spark delay - the final FCC Report was just completed March 5, 2020
https://fccid.io/2AAP8SPARK40

https://fccid.io/2AAP8SPARK40/Test-Report/Test-report-4650440
https://fccid.io/2AAP8SPARK40/Internal-Photos/Internal-photos-4650446

Preliminary product name =  "Jamup - Main PCB Board completed Nov 22, 2019