The Spark GO Mini Bluetooth Guitar Amp: a Review
The Spark GO mini guitar amp came on my radar a couple of years ago when my Instagram feed got flooded with influencers wielding the tiny-yet-mighty Bluetooth-powered device. Yet while I loved the idea of a stylish accessory amp that could fit into a tiny purse, I didn’t click to buy.
I’m a quasi-analog girl bred to plug things into outlets. So the idea of downloading yet another app and making yet another password exhausted me. Also, the Spark GO, by Positive Grid, retails at $149. It’s not expensive but for a thrifty mom who tries to only buy what she needs (except guitars), I couldn’t justify the expense.
Then my husband surprised me with the Spark GO on my birthday.
What I love the most
The hardest part of setting up the Positive Grid Spark GO smart mini guitar/bass amp is carving 20 minutes out of your busy day to download the app to your mobile device, and (if you’re like me) grabbing a pair of readers to scan the paper instructions. Doing those things and loosely fiddling with the knobs took just 10. minutes, so I had an extra 10 to start playing around with the amp.
I’m no Bluetooth virgin: I’ve got a JBL portable speaker and the Fender x Teufel portable rockstar speaker (both of which I love) so I know how to pair Bluetooth with phones. So once that was done (two minutes later), I dove right in, plugging my Gibson SG into the Spark GO.
The first thing I noticed was the sound! The smart guitar amp is just 5 watts, but sounds bigger than that. It also features a USB-C port acting as a 1-in x 2-out audio interface for direct recording to a computer. It offers 33 amp models and 43 effects, with an 8-hour battery life. Players can change effects just by swiping. I easily went from an overdrive-fueled effect to super delay in about 10 seconds, which was fun!
And I’m only scratching the surface: As Positive Grid notes, users casy to create your own tones, or download more than 100,000 tones from the ToneCloud community and get “millions of chords for millions of songs.” Or use the AI?powered Smart Jam to learn and jam along with players. When I can carve out another 20 minutes,
There’s also a specialized “Experience Jimi Hendrix” expansion through the app, which offers six specialized amps and six effects modeled after Hendrix’s gear .
What I love less
It goes without saying that this portable delight can’t replace my actual 50-watt amps. Also, I haven’t figured out if it’s possible to somehow connect the Spark GO to my guitar pedals, which enable me to easily switch between clean and gritty tones at band practice. And obviously, if I misplace my phone I’m screwed because this thing can’t work without it. And it needs to be charged regularly. But 90% of the time, I can avoid these scenarios.
Would I buy again?
A resounding yes! While the Spark GO mini amp was a perfect gift, its portability is pretty amazing. I’d buy it in a heartbeat if it went missing (note to self to put an Apple tag on this baby!). Also, it’s got MANY more settings than my other mini amp, the adorable, yet analog, Orange mini amp (which I’ll still keep for outdoor jam sessions and guitar lessons). I love that I no longer have to lug my humongous Fender Mustang from room to room just to have distortion and clean options at my fingertips.
