Mark, Thank you for sharing your talent and informative opinions on this channel. You have inspired me to further my guitar journey. I have been a 12 string owner now for a week, partially due to inspiration from this channel.
Hey Brad. I'm so glad to hear that and I really appreciate you taking the time to share that with me. Sometimes I get caught up in the numbers and I know this sounds like a cheesy line but comments like yours really do make all the hard work worth it. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and take care. Mark
I have both. I use the mini most the time. I also got a cheap wireless off Amazon for the guitar and it’s great. No plugs or cords to look for or fumble with!
Hey Mark, great video and overview. I too would be not be rushing to get one. I believe I have watched every video except the longer hour versions of your videos. I wanted to go back and see the channel growth and your approach to the video's and music made that very easy. Keep doing what you do and ROCK ON!!
Hey Rich. You've been INCREDIBLY supportive and I truly appreciate it. When I started growing I told people that I would answer every comment no matter how big the channel got or how many comments. I was told that at 1000 subs, it would become impossible. I was able to do it until about 15k subs. I would spend hours each week (one video that did really well got 3000 comments and took me 10 hours to get through). At this point it is impossible unless I want to throw out a faceless "thanks". Personally, I'd rather not get a comment at all then get a meaningless one. Have a great weekend. Mark
If I did not already own the Spark 40 I would be fine with the mini. My only complaint is no mono direct out to connect to a PA or powered monitor. I use the headphone out in to a Radial Stage Bug SB-2 which converts stereo headphone level in to mono line level XLR output. The only issue is that it mutes the internal speaker, but at that point it is going to an iem or wedge anyway.
I have one. It's great! My favourite feature is the AI tone aspect - simply type a few words of the tone you're after, eg. 'Money for nothing' and boom - there it is. The exact right sound for the song. Very clever stuff. If you like the tone, then save it to a memory.
When I started playing I bought the BOSS Katana MK2 because I wanted to have decent but not to expensive amp, I knew a tube amp with decent pedals is considered "the best way" but I don't have the budget and also need to play at moderate volume which is a bit inconvinient on a tube amp. However, the BOSS is cool, you can do pretty much everything but then you can't because you always have to plug it to your PC. Also it is big which is good for the sound but sucks if you wan't to move it. If you have a dedicated room or place in your house / flat where you can have a permanent Setup with all the Stuff then that (or even a tube amp + all the pedals) is great. However, I always felt the need of a smaller, more portable and, most of all, more easy to control modeling amp. I love messing with different sounds but almost never did on the BOSS because I always had to plug it to my Laptop. Then the Spark 40 came and I was really excited but I wished it had a battery because I wanted to simply take it with me wherever I go. So when the Spark Mini was announced it was an instant day 1 buy for me. I ordered and couldn't wait to get it ... And I don't regret it at all, it is exactly what I was hoping for. I can change sounds within second and even edit them, it sound's great for it's size (definitely enough for a typical room) and you have all you need on board. For a more professional use it's missing a few things like several dedicated dials, a footswitch (even tho there's a way to use one but it's not straight forward) and some other stuff but I don't really need that. If there's ONE THING I could wish for then it would be some sort of looper functionality, that's the one thing I really would like to have!
I had the Spark 40 but when I decided to change from amps to multieffects, then the Spark 40 wasn't so useful to me. I realized I wouldn't be using it and sold it. I use now a Fractal FM3 and use it on top of the desk, great size, use it with my iLoud micro monitors and are the same I sue to listen music so very straightforward and outstanding quality and options. Since that's always fixed works great for me, but the Spark 40 I used it a lot back then so was great, although I agree with some comments, was bassy, althugh the EQ pedal when they added it, improved the sound a lot. But the Mini I saw it back then being launched but just today I realized it had in built battery. And wow, that's something I find useful, plus being so small is really portable. The 40 even with a battery you can mod, its still big and something etremely portable, although it can. So just ordered the Mini, cos in my situation and my needs and with its strengths, will be able to give it some good use!
Looks like a nice small amp and sounds good, but as you say if you already have the 40 then there's not much point, unless you are out and about or if you get a power cut at home 🎸🙂
Excellent video. Is the battery the regular replaceable type or an internal rechargeable? Have you run the battery down to see what kind of run-time one can expect? Sorry I missed the live chat and video premier, is there a way to see the chat transcript? Thanks Mark!!
Great vid! The Mini seems pretty cool, but this video actually convinced me to go out and buy the Spark 40. It seems crazy to me that the two them are so close in price.
Hi Mark, interesting little Spark... I mess with my buddy "Cousin Vinny"'s Spark 40 and find that a great amp. This looks pretty cool. Good video review!
I switched accounts to give you a second thumbs up, then the screen went blank and there was no sound. I wondered what I did wrong, but when I went to play the video back I found that there is no sound or picture after 6:22, but the total time is 7:59. What happened?
I just sold my fender blues junior and ordered a spark mini Steve Vai. The bigger amp is obviously going to sound better but generally they are far too loud for home use. In my case I couldn’t use the fender above about 2 on the volume plus it weighs a ton to lug about the house. The mini is soooo much more practical for home use. Only thing is maybe to get a wireless plug for them to get rid of the cable.
I only have a small practise room and it's tight for space and 10w is ample. I also use the app 95% of the time so I've just purchased a Spark Mini and am selling my Spark 40
As much as I want to thank you for the kind words right now I'm hung up on the fact that I have no recollection of making that thumbnail. I wish more of my thumbnails were more creative. I'm grateful for your time and comment. Have a great day. Mark
Spark Mini looks like a little brother of Spark 40. What they do with app accessibility is amazing. I guess it has its place but the 40 is not that much bigger in size and the price differential is not that big. Have you tried out the Fender Mini Mustang? You need headphones as it is a practice amp without speakers. I am impressed with its presets. You can dial in just about any sound you can think of. I'd like to hear your opinion... a video, perhaps? #10
Pardon me for butting in, may I answer your question? Unless you are busking or doing a coffee shop gig, you don't need an amp for an acoustic guitar, whether it has an internal pickup or not. I am like 75% of the time on my acoustic, and I never use my acoustic amp. The only time I have used an amp was for open mic gigs, and they always have their own sound system. But, if you do fancy the need for an amp, I suggest the Fishman Loudbox. Get the bigger one, the one with the phantom power. (The "mini" does not have phantom power.) That way if you ever need it for a gig, you can plug a condenser mic right in. The condenser mics are much better than regular ones, and they need phantom power, and it is a pain to carry around one extra little power-supply box just for your condenser mic. Just my 2 cents! :)
@@freesk8 No need to apologize and thank you for your viewpoint. It was a casual interest since the last thing I really want to do at the moment is amplify the sounds I make. I've had this acoustic electric for a couple of years and have never found the need for an amp either. I can, however, imagine that there could conceivably dawn a day when those circumstances might have changed. Even less likely, but still a non-zero probability, is that I might improve to the point where I'd feel justified in getting an electric again. Either way, I have to agree that I don't have a burning need for an amplifier at the moment. Unless I decide I'd like to experiment with a few well-chosen pedals, just for fun.
Do you need an account to store your settings with Positive Grid amps? If so, is it a subscription? How about if you get a phone call during your playing, is anything interrupted? I too think the $230 price is too high for the mini. I was enthused when I first saw it teased some time back but I really think this is no higher than a $125 amp. I’m satisfied with my mini Vox amp for this use case.
Hey jadm. You can get on Amazon. I'm not sure if they have it in stores. They should though. PG would sell a lot more of these if people heard what they sound like in the room. If they hired a rep to play one at the entrance to every Guitar Center, every 5th person that walked into the store would walk out with one. Thanks for checking out the video. Take care and have a great day. Mark
Hi ,I have a Vox mini go 3 and a budget Donner dst 100 ,I can’t get a decent sound with this set up ,do you think this mini amp will sound better or do you think I need to buy a better guitar too ? I’m a beginner btw .
If you want to shoot me an email at markaranalli@gmail.com I'd be happy to recommend some inexpensive guitars. I had that Donner amp and it stinks (especially compared to their other products which I find to be consistently excellent). All of the spark amps sound great. Even the Spark Go. That being said, the mini is a significant bump up in sound from the go. I appreciate you checking out the video. Here are a couple of practice tips that I really think will help you. th-cam.com/video/HPZna9-VewY/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=8MinuteAxe. Please take care and be well. Mark
so do you only announce winners at the end of the chat during the livestream? i've only seen it one time but then somehow even when i'm right by my computer i seem to miss the livestreams. i suppose you email them too.anyway, off to find vids with under 1k views.
Spark mini sounds harsh in the high frequencies and Tiny, while the spark 40 may sound like a muddled mess of bass it can eventually be dialed out by setting bass to 0.5 and treble to 7
I already have so many. I just got the spark2. The worst part is that I could get them sent to me for free but I don't want to say anything I don't mean. Not a single thing. The guitar youtuber community is a pretty tight bunch of people but if I have to watch my friends make one more video about how great the newest $44 Amazon guitar is, I'm going to give up. :)
I just scored one on eBay for £138.! A white one, with a spare grille in red. Virtually unused, as the seller has just bought the new Spark50. You could have a look on there, they seem to come up pretty frequently.
Hey Bill. Fair enough. For what it's worth, the average review takes over 4 minutes to get to the playing. I usually start each video with playing. This time I opted for a 2 minute intro. I was thinking the same thing though. I should have hit it with some playing early on. I do make it a point to always have a minimum of 50% of every video playing and not yapping. I'm not sure if you follow the channel but if you do you'll notice that recently it's been more like 80% playing. Anyway, thanks so much for checking out the video. I appreciate your candidness and for taking the time to give me some constructive feedback. Have a great week and take care. Mark
I tried paying attention, but I can't stop looking at that PRS Mark is holding. In my opinion the BEST cheap amps that ever existed were those Gorilla amps from the 90's. They were pretty damn loud and built to last!
Great video. I'm surprised people aren't commenting as much as usual!
I was thinking the same thing
I dont know Stan. Reviews never do as well as other videos
Yes
Mark, Thank you for sharing your talent and informative opinions on this channel. You have inspired me to further my guitar journey. I have been a 12 string owner now for a week, partially due to inspiration from this channel.
Hey Brad. I'm so glad to hear that and I really appreciate you taking the time to share that with me. Sometimes I get caught up in the numbers and I know this sounds like a cheesy line but comments like yours really do make all the hard work worth it. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and take care. Mark
I love my Spark 40. Really appreciate your advice on whether to buy both. I trust your recommendations.
somebody finally put the Rok Lok to good use. Nicely done!
yes
God gave Rok Lok n Roll to you
I have both. I use the mini most the time. I also got a cheap wireless off Amazon for the guitar and it’s great. No plugs or cords to look for or fumble with!
Hey Mark, great video and overview. I too would be not be rushing to get one. I believe I have watched every video except the longer hour versions of your videos. I wanted to go back and see the channel growth and your approach to the video's and music made that very easy. Keep doing what you do and ROCK ON!!
Hey Rich. You've been INCREDIBLY supportive and I truly appreciate it. When I started growing I told people that I would answer every comment no matter how big the channel got or how many comments. I was told that at 1000 subs, it would become impossible. I was able to do it until about 15k subs. I would spend hours each week (one video that did really well got 3000 comments and took me 10 hours to get through). At this point it is impossible unless I want to throw out a faceless "thanks". Personally, I'd rather not get a comment at all then get a meaningless one. Have a great weekend. Mark
I can't believe the sound you're getting out of that thing. Good call to keep the mics wide open. Great playing too!
I just bought it. Thanks for the review!
I own a Spark 40. Thanks for the great review! Glad I don't have to also get a mini! :)
If I did not already own the Spark 40 I would be fine with the mini. My only complaint is no mono direct out to connect to a PA or powered monitor. I use the headphone out in to a Radial Stage Bug SB-2 which converts stereo headphone level in to mono line level XLR output. The only issue is that it mutes the internal speaker, but at that point it is going to an iem or wedge anyway.
Great video!
Thx
I have one. It's great! My favourite feature is the AI tone aspect - simply type a few words of the tone you're after, eg. 'Money for nothing' and boom - there it is. The exact right sound for the song. Very clever stuff. If you like the tone, then save it to a memory.
When I started playing I bought the BOSS Katana MK2 because I wanted to have decent but not to expensive amp, I knew a tube amp with decent pedals is considered "the best way" but I don't have the budget and also need to play at moderate volume which is a bit inconvinient on a tube amp. However, the BOSS is cool, you can do pretty much everything but then you can't because you always have to plug it to your PC. Also it is big which is good for the sound but sucks if you wan't to move it. If you have a dedicated room or place in your house / flat where you can have a permanent Setup with all the Stuff then that (or even a tube amp + all the pedals) is great. However, I always felt the need of a smaller, more portable and, most of all, more easy to control modeling amp. I love messing with different sounds but almost never did on the BOSS because I always had to plug it to my Laptop. Then the Spark 40 came and I was really excited but I wished it had a battery because I wanted to simply take it with me wherever I go. So when the Spark Mini was announced it was an instant day 1 buy for me. I ordered and couldn't wait to get it ... And I don't regret it at all, it is exactly what I was hoping for. I can change sounds within second and even edit them, it sound's great for it's size (definitely enough for a typical room) and you have all you need on board.
For a more professional use it's missing a few things like several dedicated dials, a footswitch (even tho there's a way to use one but it's not straight forward) and some other stuff but I don't really need that.
If there's ONE THING I could wish for then it would be some sort of looper functionality, that's the one thing I really would like to have!
Thank you this little amp is fantastic , i love it !
Great advice. Great vid. And especially great busking😮
Thanks dude
I had the Spark 40 but when I decided to change from amps to multieffects, then the Spark 40 wasn't so useful to me. I realized I wouldn't be using it and sold it. I use now a Fractal FM3 and use it on top of the desk, great size, use it with my iLoud micro monitors and are the same I sue to listen music so very straightforward and outstanding quality and options. Since that's always fixed works great for me, but the Spark 40 I used it a lot back then so was great, although I agree with some comments, was bassy, althugh the EQ pedal when they added it, improved the sound a lot.
But the Mini I saw it back then being launched but just today I realized it had in built battery. And wow, that's something I find useful, plus being so small is really portable. The 40 even with a battery you can mod, its still big and something etremely portable, although it can. So just ordered the Mini, cos in my situation and my needs and with its strengths, will be able to give it some good use!
Great video as always Mark!
Always super informative!
I really appreciate you going the extra mile and actually seeking out footage of Liverpool city centre for your busking the Beatles
👏
Looks like a nice small amp and sounds good, but as you say if you already have the 40 then there's not much point, unless you are out and about or if you get a power cut at home 🎸🙂
Good morning Mark, hope you had a great Thanksgiving 👍
Excellent video. Is the battery the regular replaceable type or an internal rechargeable? Have you run the battery down to see what kind of run-time one can expect? Sorry I missed the live chat and video premier, is there a way to see the chat transcript? Thanks Mark!!
You can a battery on the 40.
Great vid! The Mini seems pretty cool, but this video actually convinced me to go out and buy the Spark 40. It seems crazy to me that the two them are so close in price.
Hi Mark, interesting little Spark... I mess with my buddy "Cousin Vinny"'s Spark 40 and find that a great amp. This looks pretty cool. Good video review!
Works great for me and is my go to practice tool.
Great Review, Man!!
Wow. Amazing amp,
It definitely is something. Technology continues to do the impossible
I have both, love both of them.
I like the sound of the Mini better than the 40! I sold my 40.
Me too! I love fender clean sounds, and the 40 was too muddy/bassy for me, mini sounds more clear!
I switched accounts to give you a second thumbs up, then the screen went blank and there was no sound. I wondered what I did wrong, but when I went to play the video back I found that there is no sound or picture after 6:22, but the total time is 7:59. What happened?
That little thing packs a punch! I like my 40 however.
Well said. Wait, isn't that what the guy in the video said.
I just sold my fender blues junior and ordered a spark mini Steve Vai. The bigger amp is obviously going to sound better but generally they are far too loud for home use. In my case I couldn’t use the fender above about 2 on the volume plus it weighs a ton to lug about the house. The mini is soooo much more practical for home use. Only thing is maybe to get a wireless plug for them to get rid of the cable.
What a fucking cool riif you played on the dirty tones section, I want to steal it to put it on a song haha
I only have a small practise room and it's tight for space and 10w is ample. I also use the app 95% of the time so I've just purchased a Spark Mini and am selling my Spark 40
Great video!
As much as I want to thank you for the kind words right now I'm hung up on the fact that I have no recollection of making that thumbnail. I wish more of my thumbnails were more creative. I'm grateful for your time and comment. Have a great day. Mark
@@8MinuteAxe you’re very welcome! We all learn and grow! Still working on my TH-cam thumbnails myself! It’s an art in and of itself. 👍🏻
Spark Mini looks like a little brother of Spark 40. What they do with app accessibility is amazing. I guess it has its place but the 40 is not that much bigger in size and the price differential is not that big. Have you tried out the Fender Mini Mustang? You need headphones as it is a practice amp without speakers. I am impressed with its presets. You can dial in just about any sound you can think of. I'd like to hear your opinion... a video, perhaps? #10
Great video, Mark, and a completely impressive amp. Still acoustic at the moment, how would it work with an electric acoustic?
Pardon me for butting in, may I answer your question? Unless you are busking or doing a coffee shop gig, you don't need an amp for an acoustic guitar, whether it has an internal pickup or not. I am like 75% of the time on my acoustic, and I never use my acoustic amp. The only time I have used an amp was for open mic gigs, and they always have their own sound system. But, if you do fancy the need for an amp, I suggest the Fishman Loudbox. Get the bigger one, the one with the phantom power. (The "mini" does not have phantom power.) That way if you ever need it for a gig, you can plug a condenser mic right in. The condenser mics are much better than regular ones, and they need phantom power, and it is a pain to carry around one extra little power-supply box just for your condenser mic. Just my 2 cents! :)
@@freesk8 No need to apologize and thank you for your viewpoint. It was a casual interest since the last thing I really want to do at the moment is amplify the sounds I make. I've had this acoustic electric for a couple of years and have never found the need for an amp either. I can, however, imagine that there could conceivably dawn a day when those circumstances might have changed. Even less likely, but still a non-zero probability, is that I might improve to the point where I'd feel justified in getting an electric again. Either way, I have to agree that I don't have a burning need for an amplifier at the moment. Unless I decide I'd like to experiment with a few well-chosen pedals, just for fun.
@@grievouserror One thing that IS fun about an amp for an acoustic is reverb.
Nice, small amp, how would it work for an acoustic?
Pretty well. That vid is coming soon
@@8MinuteAxe Great!
Do you need an account to store your settings with Positive Grid amps? If so, is it a subscription? How about if you get a phone call during your playing, is anything interrupted? I too think the $230 price is too high for the mini. I was enthused when I first saw it teased some time back but I really think this is no higher than a $125 amp. I’m satisfied with my mini Vox amp for this use case.
the spark mini looks cool, can we get the amp at retail stores or do we have to order from spark
Hey jadm. You can get on Amazon. I'm not sure if they have it in stores. They should though. PG would sell a lot more of these if people heard what they sound like in the room. If they hired a rep to play one at the entrance to every Guitar Center, every 5th person that walked into the store would walk out with one. Thanks for checking out the video. Take care and have a great day. Mark
Hi ,I have a Vox mini go 3 and a budget Donner dst 100 ,I can’t get a decent sound with this set up ,do you think this mini amp will sound better or do you think I need to buy a better guitar too ?
I’m a beginner btw .
If you want to shoot me an email at markaranalli@gmail.com I'd be happy to recommend some inexpensive guitars. I had that Donner amp and it stinks (especially compared to their other products which I find to be consistently excellent). All of the spark amps sound great. Even the Spark Go. That being said, the mini is a significant bump up in sound from the go. I appreciate you checking out the video. Here are a couple of practice tips that I really think will help you. th-cam.com/video/HPZna9-VewY/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=8MinuteAxe. Please take care and be well. Mark
I just ordered one online. Looks legit, $239 usd. Other sellers are almost $80 more. Does this price sound ok?
so do you only announce winners at the end of the chat during the livestream? i've only seen it one time but then somehow even when i'm right by my computer i seem to miss the livestreams. i suppose you email them too.anyway, off to find vids with under 1k views.
Spark mini sounds harsh in the high frequencies and Tiny, while the spark 40 may sound like a muddled mess of bass it can eventually be dialed out by setting bass to 0.5 and treble to 7
How do I enter the giveaway
Mini me!
Your comment says 'translate to English'. Lol
Anyone picking up the new Steve Vai signature version yet?
I already have so many. I just got the spark2. The worst part is that I could get them sent to me for free but I don't want to say anything I don't mean. Not a single thing. The guitar youtuber community is a pretty tight bunch of people but if I have to watch my friends make one more video about how great the newest $44 Amazon guitar is, I'm going to give up. :)
This is #8 for the 12 string give away.
Oh and you are on Edinburgh Scotland
Yes £159 would be a perfect price!
I just scored one on eBay for £138.! A white one, with a spare grille in red.
Virtually unused, as the seller has just bought the new Spark50.
You could have a look on there, they seem to come up pretty frequently.
I do like the mini but the wife will kill me if I buy more stuff
Tell her to sell some of those shoes 🤣
@@user79592 can’t say much to her she bought me a Gibson Les Paul for Christmas
Seems kinda pricey, but looks fun. #7
If you go 80% of volume, it will rattle...
#2
#7
How much is it too much talking let’s hear it and then talk
Hey Bill. Fair enough. For what it's worth, the average review takes over 4 minutes to get to the playing. I usually start each video with playing. This time I opted for a 2 minute intro. I was thinking the same thing though. I should have hit it with some playing early on. I do make it a point to always have a minimum of 50% of every video playing and not yapping. I'm not sure if you follow the channel but if you do you'll notice that recently it's been more like 80% playing. Anyway, thanks so much for checking out the video. I appreciate your candidness and for taking the time to give me some constructive feedback. Have a great week and take care. Mark
@@8MinuteAxe even your reply is lengthy and verbose😁
Ingrate.
spark mini sounds awful, vox mini 5 is a much better option
I tried paying attention, but I can't stop looking at that PRS Mark is holding. In my opinion the BEST cheap amps that ever existed were those Gorilla amps from the 90's. They were pretty damn loud and built to last!
Very good on playing house of the rising sun....🏋️👍
Ten watts guys for 240
If you like quiet amps i guess
Just get a 30 dallor amp