Positive Grid Spark Mini review

What is it?

Guitarists are now quite spoiled for choice when it comes to high quality practice amps. The dank and limited days of the Gorilla combo are long gone, replaced with a feast of amp and effects choices in ever more compact dimensions.

However, Positive Grid’s proposition of features for the Spark Mini stands out: a very small 10-watt modelling amp running on an internal 3,000 mAh rechargeable lithium battery.

The company’s original Spark 40 was its first combo amp and made an almighty splash when it hit the market as a ‘smart amp’; taking the idea of an amp/app package to a new level. Not only did it sound great, but it could help you become a better player through a host of features in its Spark App.

This Mini is less than a third of the size, and while we’re not expecting a ‘less is more’ scenario we do wonder if this might suit some players better than its larger sibling, or if the overall Spark experience is compromised.

Like Neural DSP after it, Positive Grid’s expansion from a software into a hardware company has been impressive. The first 40-watt Spark showcased PG’s consideration of how a practice amp could become a hub for tones and practice, while still impressing as a plug-in-and-play experience. But can the Mini punch above its weight?

Build quality and usability

In terms of look, the Mini continues the Tolex and gold piping look of its big bro. It’s available in black or pearl (white) Tolex options, with a detachable handle that you’ll definitely want to use. It’s the kind of amp you take with you, rather than feel like you need to go to it – potentially encouraging you to play more, without as many limitations.

Compared to the mains-powered Spark 40, the onboard controls are massively streamlined here. Gone is everything but guitar and streamed audio volumes, plus four preset buttons.

The Bluetooth pairing button on the rear also doubles as the activation for a tuner. While this all might seem jarringly minimal at first, the idea is for you to tweak tones via the Spark app, then save to your presets slots as required.

Using the factory presets, one thing becomes immediately apparent: this little amp is surprisingly loud. Delivering 90 dB SPL at one metre away, it sounds bigger than we imagined it would, and with some impressive bottom end too. It really projects. And it’s got a hidden weapon to help...

Sounds

The Spark Mini has 2 x 2” custom designed speakers for stereo sound, but underneath there’s a passive radiator too. Positive Grid has even designed the shape of the rubber feet to make the most of this feature and squeeze as much low end response as it can.

This also makes it an excellent mobile speaker for music streaming but the result for guitars is a punchy, bright response – noticeably so when A/B comparisons are made with the same models on a Spark 40. When reverb and delay come into the mix we honestly wonder how such a small amp sounds so wide.

And there’s plenty of reverb, delay and more to choose from with Noise Gate, Compressor, Distortion, Modulation/EQ, Delay and Reverb models. Because PG has refined these in its BIAS tone engine processing before launching the Spark line, players can now reap the benefits of lush and detailed tones.

But the guitar amp selection is even more impressive. Positive Grid has spent years honing its modelling technology and the results are a varied selection of classic clean, crunch and crushing high gain.

If you don’t mind the idea of using the Spark App to fine-tune your settings, a drawback we want to note is the headphone experience. Despite PG suggesting to us that the relatively quiet output through headphones would be addressed in a firmware update, we’ve downloaded the first one that’s been available and it hasn’t improved. So this remains an issue for some users.

The headphone volume with the Spark Mini is usable but currently not really loud enough. The better news is that output was more than sufficient at 50 per cent while sitting in front of the Spark Mini.

While the asking price may initially seem on the higher side for such a diddy amp, the Spark Mini is so big on features it is ahead of the competition when factoring in the quality, portability and value you get – plus the potential to record with this via USB. We think it would prove money well spent because it encourages you to play more and makes it easier to stay inspired when playing alone.

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The Spark App

As far as the app is concerned, the Spark Mini has everything the Spark 40 boasts. As well as being able to access and change amp and effects type and parameters to build signal chain combos you can save to one of the Spark Mini’s four presets.

The app gives you access to the ToneCloud where PG and other Spark users upload presets they’ve created. It’s easy to audition each one, save to favourites or download onto the amp’s memory.

Elsewhere, Smart Jam generates drum and bass backing tracks based on a riff or chord progression you play, learning your style and feel in real time as you play. Search for any song and the app will find it on YouTube if it’s there, then transcribe the chords for you to play along to. You won’t get bored!

Long term test perspective

It's been over three years since the Positive Grid Spark Mini launched, and I've been using it for nearly two of those years now. When we first reviewed it back in July 2022 we were full of praise for the amp, awarding it four and a half stars out of five, praising its great tones, surprising volume, and excellent companion app.

Has it stood the test of time though? The landscape of practice amps has changed a lot in the last three years, and there are more quality options than ever for guitarists to choose from nowadays. It seems like as good a time as ever to revisit our review and determine whether or not the Spark Mini is still the king of the compact desktop guitar amps.

In use

I've had the Spark Mini sitting on my desktop for nearly two years now, and I use it daily for practicing my technique, writing new tunes, and testing gear for reviews. It's become a core part of my home studio in conjunction with a Spark Link guitar wireless system, allowing me to quickly and easily play my instruments.

The tones you can get out of it are really incredible considering the size, and even now it continues to surprise me with how good it sounds at times. It's ultra-responsive to any playing style and I love that you can set four favorite presets. Mine consists of a base clean tone, a clean with some modulation, a crunch tone, and a higher gain sound for leads, which covers nearly any style without having to reach for the app.

The battery life continues to be excellent, and despite regular use, I only have to charge it every couple of weeks. As it uses USB-C it's pretty easy to hook it up to a nearby computer connection and charge it that way, so I've only run out of power once or twice in the entire time I've been using it.

Criticism

Looking back at the initial criticism in the original review, PG fixed the issue with the headphone volume being very quiet with a firmware update, which takes away one of the major cons of the amp. Now the headphone socket can get plenty loud if you need to block out the sound of others in your household.

My only other long-term criticism is the reliance on the app for most of the functionality. I've had some issues with Bluetooth over the years, particularly when I was reviewing another PG amp and it seemed to get confused between the two. There have also been times when I've just needed to use the built-in tuner but Bluetooth issues have stopped me connecting to the amp which can be frustrating.

Long-term verdict

These incidents are thankfully few and far between however, so following my long-term testing I can absolutely say that it is hands down the best practice amp I've had my hands on, and that it still deserves the original 4.5 out of 5 score we gave it when we first reviewed it.

I love the small size of the amp which means its easily transportable to other parts of my home, and doesn't take up too much space in its permanent residence on my home studio desk. The quick and easy access it offers to great tones makes it a real winner in my book, and having tested lots of practice amps over the years for Guitar World, I can't see myself replacing it anytime soon.

Specs

• Price: $199 / £182
• Type: Digital modelling combo with internal rechargeable battery for guitar, bass and acoustic with BIAS Tone Engine and app integration
• Output: 10 watts
• Speakers: 2x2” active stereo with passive radiator
• Controls: Guitar level, Music level, Preset selection
• Onboard effects: 33 Amp Models (additional available to purchase via Jimi Hendrix add-on), 48 Effects
• Connections: 1/4” guitar input, 1/8” aux input, 1/8” headphone out, Bluetooth audio, USB-C connectivity for recording
• Dimensions: 135mm [w] x 162mm [height including feet] 125mm [d]
• Weight 1.36 kg
• CONTACT/BUY: Positive Grid