Positive Grid Spark GO 5W Ultra-Portable Smart Guitar Amp, Headphone Amp & Bluetooth Speaker with Smart App for Electric Guitar, Acoustic or Bass

10 reviews for Positive Grid Spark GO 5W Ultra-Portable Smart Guitar Amp, Headphone Amp & Bluetooth Speaker with Smart App for Electric Guitar, Acoustic or Bass

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Kyle – August 11, 2023

   
   Here are the main points as well as suggestions and I’ll give some pros, cons and notes and tips after.First, for the price, this is an AMAZING value if you’re going to use it to it’s full potential.Second, it sounds okay on its own, and much better through headphones.Third, if you like to play along with songs or just drums, you’ll love it.Fourth, if you aren’t familiar with the Spark amps, know you must use a phone or tablet with it for many features.The Spark Go is a very small practice amp. It’s small enough to fit in a gig bag or some hard cases. It’s battery powered and charges via USB-C. The battery life is said to be 8 hours at mid-volume. I’ve gotten at least that but I primarily use headphones with it. It has a small 2” speaker and a passive radiator. This gives it a MUCH larger sound than you’d expect for its size, but it doesn’t sound “big.” The amp allows you to store four sounds or channels directly to the amp that are switchable by a single button (a foot switch is available.)Should you buy this?I’ve been playing for 35 years. I have some excellent amplifiers and all the effects I could ever need. Does this sound as good as my various rigs, LOL, no, not even close. I still like this enough that it gets a lot of my playing time. Why? Because it’s there. What I mean is the Spark Go is so small and convenient, I can just plug in and play. I don’t even have to go upstairs to my music room. This even fits in some of my guitar cases, so if I have enough room to take a guitar, I can take the Spark Go. The best thing you can do to become a better guitar player is to play. The Spark Go encourages you to play because it’s as easy as plugging your guitar in. Don’t get me wrong, you can tweak tones all day, play along with songs and many other things, but if you just want to play, you can.For the price of a fairly cheap effects pedal, you get a LOT out of the Spark Go. For the novice guitar player, this is a no-brainer: GET IT. For the intermediate or advanced players; if you need a battery powered practice/headphone amp and like to play around with different tones, this would be great for you too.Pros:Being able to search for songs and play along is really neat. The app attempts to give you a real-time chord progression as the song plays. This isn’t perfect, but good enough to help you learn and play songs.Access to community-contributed sounds is an excellent addition. I’ve been playing for 35 years. I know how to dial in sound similar to Slash’s. Newer players aren’t going to have this knowledge yet, so being able to search for a Santana or Mustaine sound is a great thing!It can be used as a stand-alone amp. It comes with four sounds pre-loaded, but you can, of course, change those. You don’t HAVE to connect your phone or tablet to just plug in and play.It can be used as a simple Bluetooth speaker. Sure you probably already have one, but if you carry this around you not only have a Bluetooth speaker, you have a guitar practice amp too.It can be used as a direct recording interface. Recording your own music can be a lot of fun (also, very frustrating.) Because this can be used as a recording interface, you can record some tracks very inexpensively.Because the device, and obviously the app, are software based, tones and features can possibly be improved and added.Cons:Putting the input and guitar volume at the top is a complete mistake. This causes the amp to topple over very easily. They should have put this on the side and towards the bottom.Smart Jam is not quite there. It’s a great idea, it just doesn’t work so well. It will pick up on simple chord progressions, but nothing very complex. I found the AI drum patterns to be lacking too.The amp models are less than authentic. Positive Grid notes that amp models are “inspired by” certain real-world amps. The biggest problem I have is that the models don’t operate like the real thing. I’ve owned a lot of Mesa/Boogie amps. The tone controls of the Positive Grid models don’t operate in nearly the same way, so it’s really hard for me to dial them in.I had to update the Spark Go firmware via my PC. This should have been able to have been done via the phone/tablet app.Notes:I first used this with my Android phone. It connected and everything worked fine. However, I decided to switch and use it with my iPad. Getting the device to connect to my iPad after it had already connected to my phone was a bit of a pain. I was able to find the solution on the Positive Grid website though. I do recommend you use this with a tablet if you have one.When setting up sounds, watch out for the noise gate. You can easily kill your tone’s sustain with it. I suggest you only use a noise gate with really high gain sounds, and only then with as little of it as possible.Tweak away! If you download a sound that’s supposed to be Eddie’s Brown Sound, you don’t have to keep it that way. Play around with it. That’s a big part of the fun with modeling amps.

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Dr X – September 26, 2023

   
   First off, I play a ukulele and not a guitar but any instrument could use a little embellishment. The first time I was introduced to Positive Grid, the Go had not been in the line up. I was looking for some pedal options to shape some sound on my ukulele and saw the Mini, wow I wanted one of those, then Positive Grid started promoting the Go and I was hooked! It’s small in stature but huge on sound not loudness but sound. With the app you have a plethora options of which I have not discovered all yet and I have been noodling with this amp for three weeks now. Small, rechargeable and well made, the Positive Grid people have a cool thing going for themselves, impressive amp.

3. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   kjcheek – August 19, 2023

   
   I’m a old school tube guy. Got more amps than I need and I’m pretty particular about my gear. However, I saw where Positive Spark Grid released this GO earlier this spring. I got in for the introductory price of $100. I figured at the very least, it’s portable. I was knocked out by the versatility of this 2″ speaker. The app and the amp are fantastic for bedroom jamming. You can find any sound and tweak that sound to your heart’s delight. I loved mine so much that I bought an extra for my son and he’s knocked out.I’m 100% positive there are tons of folks out there who are particular too about their amps. However, for $120 bucks, you get a WHOLE lot more than what you should. Such a great versatile tool. Doubles as a Bluetooth speaker too so you can jam along with YouTube or Spotify or your own saved iTunes music. This is a great piece of equipment for the price. Sounds like a real tube amp at a fraction of the volume needed for a vintage Fender or Marshall.One more thing, I would recommend that you purchase some wireless transmitters though. The input jack for a standard guitar cable works just fine but it has a tendency to fall over if the cable moves. I bought a Lekato 5.8 mgz transmitter/receiver set that works great. I have total freedom to move wherever I want.https://www.amazon.com/LEKATO-Transmitter-Transmission-Frequency-Rechargeable/dp/B07TYRQ222/ref=sr_1_5?crid=4AAVDJSWE7K2&keywords=wireless%2Bguitar%2Bsystem%2B5.8%2Bghz&qid=1692488640&sprefix=wireless%2Bguitar%2B%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-5&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.18ed3cb5-28d5-4975-8bc7-93deae8f9840&th=1

4. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   OzValen – August 14, 2023

   
   I won’t try to be redundant about it. I wish I had something like this when I was younger. If you expect It “ a room filling amp” yes you can hear it quite well but don’t expect it to be very loud. It sounds great for an amp this size. It is amazing! The sound quality of for instance Spotify is just ok. Nothing to rave about. My gripe is how tiny the led lights are. I would have given it 5 stars if they were a little larger and brighter. I can barely see them outside or in bright conditions. That’s not a dealbreaker though. The tone settings are very cool. You can’t beat the value of the wide world of amp and effects alone. Head phones sound fantastic!! I highly recommend the positive grid amps and apps. Getting started will probably be a big pain in the ass for some people. You have to have a laptop to download updates. There is no getting around that. I just type in positive grid downloader go on the search bar instead of doing it on their website. It will come right up. Buy one and have fun!! Update, after using the amp there is no way that it has 8 hours playing time. More like four. I DO NOT appreciate a company misrepresenting a product like that. I need feedback from others about their experience with that so I can make a decision on whether I should send it back for a replacement.

5. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Mr. Hacks – July 28, 2023

   
   Remember in the movie Men In Black where Agent K gives Agent J that little pea-shooter looking device called the “Noisy Cricket” which turns out that itty-bitty gun packs a wallop?The Positive Grid Spark Go 5 Watt Ultra-Portable amp is pretty much like that.The Spark app makes it even more versatile with plenty of effects and settings.A practice amp might not be anything to write home about in comparison to say a desktop amp or a full-fledged regular guitar amp, but if you’re looking to practice in the park, you got an apartment with a balcony with neighbors (including other tenant in your building) who aren’t going to narc on your landlord, or if you have a family willing to put up with all your noise, then this is the amp you want.Great for travel, it also works as a bluetooth speaker. However, don’t expect its bluetooth features to pipe electric guitar via a bluetooth transmitter to this device. You’ll need a 5.8 GHz or 2.7 GHz wireless system (which uses RADIO like WiFi) to transmit. Of course, you can simply plug a 1/4 inch cable in between your guitar and this practice amp and keep it simple.You can store four profiles from the app onto this speaker. The Spark app will load those profiles onto the speaker, but you will need the Spark App if you want to change those profile settings.Overall, it is a great practice amp. You can even stick it in your gig bag if it has a pocket for stuff.

6. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Steven M. – September 26, 2023

   
   This amp is compact and great for practice sessions. The price at first made me hesitant as most amps under $300 are not great; however, this amp has great sound quality and is honestly worth more than what it costs. The Bluetooth function allows you to save presets to your amp. My only complaint is you only have 4 presets but that is a small gripe. Overall I highly recommend this amp!

7. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Richard – September 28, 2023

   
   Tons of fun. Play along with all of your favorite jam tracks. Keep in mind it’s only 5W. Sounds great through quality headphones and you can run it to a powered speaker if you need more volume. They back their product, so you’re covered. Definitely well worth the price.

8. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Mr Inklings – August 23, 2023

   
   I had to downsize my guitar rig recently for some travel time, and since my tube amp is big and heavy I was forced to find a compact solution. The Spark is the best solution I could have asked for! Not only is it tiny, but it’s perfectly suited for practice anywhere. It fits in the little storage pouch on my guitar case, and having onboard effects lets me leave all my pedals behind, too. This isn’t a forever solution, but it’s the best way I’ve found to keep playing while on the move.My only complaint is that there’s no current solution in the software to replace my octave effects, but I’m hopeful that future software updates could make it possible. Totally worth the price!

9. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Robert K. Duckworth – September 20, 2023

   
   This amp has a great clean sound as well as good distortion. I mostly play metal. Makes a decent bluetooth speaker for its size. I love that it has independent volume for bluetooth and amp. It makes playing along with songs easy. It has alot of features on the app that i haven’t used much because i really don’t need the 4 presets sound great.

10. 

    Rated 4 out of 5

    JohnnyC – September 9, 2023

    
    I love the clever, practical and convenient feature set of the Spark App. It’s outstanding creativity and flexibility in the palm of your hand. However, I found that I had to upgrade to the Spark Mini in order to enjoy all that clever tech combined with portability AND reasonable quality tone. The Go was just too tinny and I couldn’t summon warmth from any of the tones to my satisfaction. I also had some Bluetooth connection issues that I never experience with my full size Spark (love).Great for practice! Recommended.