You can trust Guitar Player.
Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing guitar products so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
Ever since amp modeling, digital signal processing (DSP), and circuit miniaturization collided several years ago we’ve been served up more and more functionality in smaller and smaller packages.
The brand-new Spark Pedal from Positive Grid arguably maxes out the equation, especially when you factor in the fourth parameter of price. For the cost of a meal for two at a fine restaurant — with maybe a glass of wine each but a shared dessert — this compact box carries all the guitar-tone crafting a novice to intermediate player will likely need for jamming or home recording, while also providing an impressively compact and versatile backup or fly rig for more experienced musicians.
This little bundle of sonic alchemy runs on Positive Grid’s HD Tone Engine, the same high-definition DSP used in the company’s flagship Spark 2 practice amp. Available blocks include 33 amp models, 43 effects and access to more than 100,000 sounds through Positive Grid’s online ToneCloud community. Plus, players can easily load or use any of their previously saved presets from other products in the Spark family, or upload those created here for use elsewhere.
Guitarists who have dabbled in compact modelers will be familiar with the multifunctionality that’s essential to packing so much into such tight quarters. If you’re new to the format the user manual will make for better full instruction than space allows for here, but suffice it to say the Spark’s five control knobs all perform different duties depending on what mode you’re in, whether dialing in the amp or selecting and editing FX parameters.
These include drive/gain (which also selects between boost, OD, distortion, fuzz); mod/bass (tremolo, chorus, phaser, flanger); delay/mid (digital, vintage, multi, reverse); and reverb/treble (studio, chamber, hall, ambient). Three foot switches double up for preset selection and looper functions, with double-switch presses changing between these modes and the two preset banks with three presets each, for a total of six available on the unit at any one time.
Several more presets are available via the Spark App for iOS and Android over Bluetooth, which is also where you’ll do most of the heavy lifting for editing if you want to go beyond what’s available onboard. Although, to be fair, its clear graphics and mostly WYSIWYG performance generally makes the task more “light lifting” at most.
And if the physical controls can occasionally be a little touchy to dial in precisely when making parameter changes on the hardware unit itself (understandable, considering the tight confines), the app offers much easier fine-tuning. For even lighter lifting, delve into Spark AI: describe the tone in your head or choose from a list of prompts and Spark AI will generate it for you.
I tested the Spark pedal with a Fender Telecaster and a Gibson Les Paul, direct into headphones, a recording interface and through a couple of different amps and one powered FRFR cab. Short answer: There’s a lot to love here, and the fact that it costs just $200 makes it all the more impressive.
In some ways the experience reminded me of checking out the first compact modeling units of more than 25 years ago — like the DigiTech RP100, Korg AX100G, or even the first kidney bean Line 6 POD multieffects processors— given the plethora of sounds available in the mind-bogglingly tiny box and the potential hours lost to twiddling, playing, and twiddling again.
And that’s a good thing: there’s always a place for easy access to countless recreations of classic tones and boundless inspiration all from an affordable, sandwich-sized unit with the potential to kickstart the playing of many a future rock hero.
Sonically, while the Spark touches all the important bases via its many cleverly named recreations of seminal vintage and modern British and American amps, it can’t be expected to match the full sonic veracity of today’s popular larger (or even smaller) units from leading makers like Fractal, Line 6, or Neural DSP for overall realism and sound quality. However, it can match or better the performance of several of the best modelers of years gone by while offering more up-to-date editing facilities, and that counts for a lot at this price.
As with many budget modelers, I found overdriven and high-gain sounds more convincing, and ultimately more satisfying, than clean tones as a whole. This is likely because it’s easier to suspend reality as a player riffing through a slathering of heavy distortion and endless sustain than it is through a nuanced clean tone, which is far more revealing.
Some of my favorites from the preset menu included Blues Ark, a slightly overdriven ’60s Fender amp with Tube Screamer; British Accent, a crunchy Orange amp model with treble boost in front; and Millenial Lead, a modded Marshall model; but anything with a little hair on it proved a lot of fun. That said, the Matchless model found in the “Match DC” amp block wasn’t at all dissatisfying, and could provide plenty of trenchant cleans when needed.
Putting Spark AI to the test also produced some interesting options. I tried “crunchy classic-rock tone” and “clean-with-bite country twang” and the system delivered pretty well, although many guitarists might want to further adjust the settings a little to achieve optimal results. The looper worked well, too, and was easy to get to grips with. Although, as is often the case, it required some clever tap dancing, especially when employed with other parameter changes on the fly.
Ultimately, the Spark Pedal delivers an impressive combination of design, functionality and affordability. Considering the wealth of good-sounding tone it holds within a box that sits easily in the accessory pouch of most gigbags, that’s quite an achievement.
CONTACT positivegrid.com
PRICE $199 street
CONTROLS Multifunction knobs for drive/gain, mod/bass, vol/amp-FX type, delay/mid, reverb/treble. Three multifunction foot switches for presets (6 onboard in two banks of 3) and looper
CONNECTIONS Single ¼” input, L and R ¼” outputs, ¼” expression pedal jack, MIDI In and Out, USB Type-C for Charging/Service, 1/8″ headphone out, power in
POWER USB-C
MANUFACTURED Vietnam
PRO A huge bundle of very capable amp and effects modeling tones in a compact, affordable box
CON Can be a little touchy to dial in some settings using the unit alone
