Spark Amp

Larry Hopkins · Post by **Larry Hopkins** » 7 Jul 2021 8:38 am

Just curious ,if anyone has tried the SPARK AMP on pedal steel,thanks
Larry

Dan Beller-McKenna · Post by **Dan Beller-McKenna** » 7 Jul 2021 10:38 am

Calling Bruce Bjork. Come in, Bruce.

Edward Dixon · Post by **Edward Dixon** » 7 Jul 2021 1:29 pm

I have one I'm using on steel right now. I using it with a preset form Ron Hogan. He's probably the guy you want to talk to. His preset for the Spark sounds great,

Greg Lambert · Post by **Greg Lambert** » 7 Jul 2021 2:07 pm

Should be interesting.. I was thinking of trying one of these.

Bruce Bjork · Post by **Bruce Bjork** » 7 Jul 2021 5:32 pm

Dan Beller-McKenna wrote:Calling Bruce Bjork. Come in, Bruce.

Got a SPARK a few months ago and use it for my band rehearsals with a mic, only 10lbs. Great practice amp. I have all my favorite songs loading and play them as backup at my weekly open mic, great little amp and very easy to dial in pedal steel tones.

Dan: Great seeing you and thanks for the steel jam invite, boy does Ann (did I get her name right) have a voice, would love to back her up.

Larry Hopkins · Post by **Larry Hopkins** » 8 Jul 2021 9:28 am

Thanks guys

Larry

Dan Beller-McKenna · Post by **Dan Beller-McKenna** » 8 Jul 2021 9:45 am

Bruce was showing some pretty fancy footwork on that Spark amp!

Yes, Bruce, and Jessie too! It's such a pleasure backing up both of them.

Ron Hogan · Post by **Ron Hogan** » 8 Jul 2021 1:35 pm

More SPARK stuff

CLICK HERE

Ron Hogan

Ron Hogan · Post by **Ron Hogan** » 8 Jul 2021 1:37 pm

SPARK sample here

Ron Hogan · Post by **Ron Hogan** » 8 Jul 2021 1:39 pm

SPARK AGAIN

Ron Hogan · Post by **Ron Hogan** » 8 Jul 2021 1:42 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpGaLOX6wgs

Ron Hogan · Post by **Ron Hogan** » 8 Jul 2021 1:44 pm

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtop ... highlight=

George Biner · Post by **George Biner** » 14 Jul 2021 4:22 pm

I bought a Spark amp a while ago, so my impressions of it:

Advantages: It's light, high tech, the app is pretty good, you can get many good amp sounds out of it, it is many amps in one, and also effects/compression, you can use it without the app, good build quality, looks stylish

Disadvantages: no battery (must be plugged in); it doesn't get loud enough to do anything but practice (the 40W number is misleading, this won't do what a 40W Fender will do, not close); there is no provision for a footswitch so you can't boost for leads; sometimes it forgets the Bluetooth pairing (it seems to forget what it was paired with and you have to start all over); there is no external cabinet output; it sounds bad if you overload the input (you get bad digital distortion, so don't overload the input); if I remember correctly, the only output connection is the headphone out, which kills the speaker out, so that in general limits the usefulness in different live situations (again unlike a traditional amp) (it needs a line out)

All in all, it's great for recording if you need different amp styles

Another thing is I wonder how long the Spark company will be around to support it -- as long as Fender? We'll see.

Ron Hogan · Post by **Ron Hogan** » 14 Aug 2021 1:10 pm

I played with another feature of the Spark amp. It lets you choose a rhythm player. Once you enter the speed, it counts you off and then listens for your progression as you play (easier with guitar vs. steel but works). After a couple bar it stops and computes a rhythm section of bass and drums. It does this through your cell phone app blue toothed through the amp.

This allows you to practice with the amp. I put in a basic Tulsa Time progression as it is a good warmup. I should have turned the steel down some so the bass track would stand out.
Quick example:

AUDIO SAMPLE

Richard Stoops · Post by **Richard Stoops** » 19 Aug 2021 5:47 am

For Ron Hogan.
Ron, your clips sound terrific, but try as I may I can't seem to get my Spark to sound right. Strings 1 thru 3 always sound tinny, even though the strings 4 thru 10 sound fine. I've tried about every setting on the amp, but the top three strings still sound tinny. There's gotta be something I'm missing. Any ideas

Xavier Baron · Post by **Xavier Baron** » 3 Sep 2021 1:17 pm

Here's a quickie playing my just finished double neck lap steel with my son playing his "BARON" dreadnought.

It's just for the lap sound (through a Spark amp), better played to come.

CC style pickups by vintagevibeguitars.

https://fb.watch/7Oc146q9ZI/

Ron Hogan · Post by **Ron Hogan** » 15 Apr 2022 5:32 am

Here's a reply I made to a fellow SPARK owner to help him tweak it.

Do you have it set on "acoustic" not "Clean"? You would think clean was the way to go but not true for me.

Also, did you go to the cloud to try out my settings? Search "Hogan" and it should pull up about 5 tones/amps.

Every time you turn the SPARK off, it will return back to where the knobs were originally from my original saved settings. You have to move the particular knob to a different location to change the setting to your liking.

Of course, turn either bass or and highs up and down. Remember that the speakers sound different vs. just using the headphone jack. The HP jack sound has more highs, so adjust accordingly.