I have been writing about and researching music gear for many years, all while serving as a music director at my local church. I engage in guitar playing and singer-songwriter stints, in addition to mentoring young musicians and teaching guitar and bass.
Compared to other brands in this list, Positive Grid is a different company altogether, one that develops technology that musicians can use. They first made waves in 2013 with JamUp, a mobile app for practicing guitar. But what really put them on the map was BIAS, a line of software guitar processors that address the needs of home recording setups. They have since expanded into physical hardware with their BIAS technology at the core, releasing Bias Head, Bias rack and Spark guitar amplifiers. Spark in particular is very popular because of its combination of portability and affordability, while retaining high-end guitar processing and auto accompaniment features.
The following contains advertising links that will take you to Amazon or Sweetwater: The Spark also comes in a Pearl colored version that comes bundled with a travel bag. They also make a smaller version called Spark Mini, a 10 Watt portable amp that uses similar technology to the Spark.
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Drawing from their software based amp modeling expertise, Positive Grid have successfully expanded into the physical amp realm, with amps like the Spark that cater to the needs of home recording enthusiasts.
It comes with built-in DSP that enables it to reproduce the same amp modeling and digital effects as their popular BIAS app. And just like the software, this amp is armed with many good sounding and tweakable presets and parameters that translate well for recording and for practice.
What sets the Spark apart from other desktop amps is its Smart Jam and Auto Chords technology. They've done an amazing job of integrating with YouTube with an integrated player included in the app that has a large collect of pre-existing chord tabs that run alongside the music and video. I didn't come across any YouTube ads which is a handy bonus. For clips that don't have chords already their software automatically analyses the sound on the first run through and produces a tab. For fun I pulled up an old smartphone video of me and a friend at an open mic night playing an original song with less than 50 views on it and sure enough, after the first playthrough it produced an accurate rendering of the chords which is quite impressive. So it will work with basically any music on YouTube including the huge range of tutorials and backing tracks on there. For some popular tunes there are also suggested patches to use from the Tonecloud. The app also integrates with Spotify and Apple Music.
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There's a specific 'Smart Jam' feature where you can play a short chord progression and it will produce an automatic bass and drum accompaniment for you to jam with. I didn't have so much success with this as the chords were too often misread and the backing tracks sounded a bit mediocre. I guess for jamming they'd be Ok but I think this feature still needs some work and others seem to feel the same. I couldn't find any way to manually enter chord progressions with this feature. Rounding out the experience there's a feature that allows you to take a record a video of yourself playing with your own imported music through the amp.
The Positive Grid Spark is a technology rich amp that is well suited to practice and home recording. Well worth looking into especially if you don't have a table top amp yet.
This company was founded by Bruce Egnater, one of the pioneers of utilizing two amps to cascade gain. At first he was modding multi-amp setups for himself, but word got out quickly, so he started working with other musicians, and eventually established his own amp brand. Fast forward to today, stacking/cascading gain is now quite common in amps and even guitar pedals, and Egnater continues to utilize this simple yet effective design change in their amps to good effect. Being a smaller company compared to other more established amp brands, Egnater does not have as many different amp models, but the few that they are offering are getting very high ratings from guitarists.
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The following contains advertising links that will take you to Sweetwater.com: The Egnater Tweaker 40 112 combo amp is a well regarded 40-watt option with no need to get a separate speaker cabinet, and then there's the very highly rated Egnater Rebel-30 MKII which is a more powerful tube amp head with 2-channels a lot more in the way of tone control options.
The Egnater Tweaker is a 15-W tube amp head with tone shaping controls aren't normally available in tube amps. It is able to conjure multiple voices via tone stacking analog circuits, instead of going the DSP route.
This means having deep parameter tweaking similar to amp modelers, while retaining real tube circuitry. It can switch between Marshall, Fender or Vox type tones, and this is accompanied by a vintage / modern switch which allows the Egnater Tweaker to go from vintage grit to modern high gain - without having to resort to digital technology.
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Further tone shaping switches include normal / bright and a tight / deep, both of which expand tone shaping further. And since it uses genuine tubes, it produces convincing amp tones with real tube response and warmth.
Note that the amp's lack of preset control means that there is no way to quickly save or load amp voices. Being a single channel amp also prevents any quick voicing changes - you'll need to dial in parameters manually every-time you want to change the amp's voicing.
While real-time usage is limited, the Egnater Tweaker's voicings and parameter controls make it ideal for recording, since there's no need for quick amp voicing changes when laying down guitar tracks.
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Vox's history goes back to the late '40s, where they originally built electronic keyboards. Their presence in the guitar market started in the late '50s when they launched the 15-Watt AC15 amplifier which ultimately caught the attention of many iconic artists - including The Beatles, Queen, Dire Straits, The Yardbirds, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks and many more. These artists helped spread the brand's popularity around the world, but ironically, they were not enough to make the company profitable. This resulted in the Vox brand being owned by many different companies, thankfully Korg took over in 1990 and continues to take good care of the brand up to this day. These days, Vox is still the go-to amp for chimey and jangly clean tones with an extensive line up of amplifiers, interestingly, their line up still includes modern reproductions of their popular AC15 and AC30 combos.
At publication time the 30-Watt AC30S1 was the equal highest rated tube combo from $500 to $1000. Vox also secured the top spot among sub $300 amp heads with the MV50 Clean. Another highly rated amp from their lineup is the VT40X, it beats out other combo tube amps in the sub $500 mark.
There's no denying the legacy of the AC15, which helped define the sound of the British Invasion artists back in the '60s. The Vox A15C1 is one of its current iterations, retaining the same voicing that made the original popular while utilizing more modern production methods.
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To reproduce the original Vox sound, this amp comes equipped with the same 15-Watt Class A circuit with an EL-84 tube at its core. And it comes with the iconic Top Boost channel which further emphasizes the highs for that genuine vintage Brit tone.
The amp's iconic tube tone more than makes up for its lack of features and controls, and its simplicity makes it easy to get good sounds with minimal tweaking.
The amp section is paired with a Celestion 25-watt Greenback speaker that complements the amp's vintage style tone. And note that for a 15W amp, the AC15C1 can get really loud, while maintaining Vox' signature chimey tone.
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Unfortunately, chimey tone is not everyone's cup of tea. Those who are need modern functions like amp modeling and effects will have to elsewhere.
The Vox AC15C1 is the quintessential vintage tube Brit amp, highly recommended if you're into the guitar sounds of bands like the Beatles, Queen, The Rolling Stones and more.
From a fledgling studio that sold second hand music equipment back in the late 60s, Orange grabs the top spot in this list with their highly rated guitar amplifiers. Orange amps are easy to spot with their picturesque design, but what's interesting is how successful they continue to be, while veering away from amp modeling technology. By limiting the features of their amps, they make it easier for users to appreciate their brand of quality and tone, which translates to high ratings. Obviously, the influence of popular artists helps their cause, this includes Jimmy Page, Noel and Liam Gallagher, Billy Gibbons, Chino Moreno and many more. In addition to their distinct combo amplifiers, Orange Amps is well known for their lunchbox size tube amps.
Amazon.com: Pyleusa Portable Electric Guitar Amplifier,40 Watt Power,two 6” & 8” High Definition Speaker Cones, Bass, Dual Inputs, Overdrive,digital Delay, Amp Control Volume, Eq For Beginner And Advance Practice
Orange Amps is
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