So you want Paul Franklin's tone? SPARK Ai2.0 beta

[Michael Lester]

I use several Positive Grid 'Spark' amplifiers. My current is the LIVE model.

For those who may not have looked into Spark, all of the amps are VERY tech heavy - using processors and chips to achieve sounds that used to be only reached with amps, tubes, pedals, etc.

The variety of 'tones' (over 100,000 variations) are available on-line and can be downloaded to the amp and saved as a 'Preset' that is activated with a button or a switch.

The newest App update includes a Ai feature.

By typing a prompt describing a tone, i.e., "Bob Seger" Ai then creates a tone that is supposed to mirror the tone of Bob Seger's guitar from the recordings.

Here's what it came back with when I asked the bot to create "Paul Franklin Steel Guitar".

Spark Ai 2.0 Beta
I’ve created a new preset called ‘Franklin Steel Clean’ designed for pedal steel guitar in the style of Paul Franklin.
This preset uses a Fender Twin for immense headroom and clean warmth, gentle compression for sustain, sculpted 6-band EQ for shimmer and fullness, subtle analog chorus for dreamy width, and a lush hall-style reverb for inspiring sustain. Try it out for authentic, professional steel guitar tones.

I got the preset through my phone and downloaded it to one of the amp presets.

Believe it or not, the preset DOES have some characteristics of Paul's recorded sound, but you'll need to decide that for yourself.

BTW, this is not an Ad for Spark. I have no interest or affiliation with the company. In fact, my introduction to Spark amps was videos of Ron Hogan.

The technology we're living in today is stunning.

[J D Sauser]

Interesting.
I've been using a "50W" (in quotes because it's closer to 25W) Vox Adio Air GT and 30W Yamaha THR. They all are small (compared to what we are used to for PSG), light and have very small speaker. I can dial a very good practice tone out of both... actually, almost a "recorded" tone.
Yes, they are basically small computers capable of mimicking pretty much any sound. And while they are not designed with PSG in mind, they can handle the "bigger" and "fatter" voicings of a PSG... even C6th surprisingly well.
All these amps have Bluetooth (to lace in tracks off your phone of computer) and have some apps to fine tune the sound even further than with the onboard knobs.
I think that for a "Bed-or-Living Room Player" they provide a much prettier sound than using a big 200W amp with a 15" speaker designed to blast people off the stage, set a a low volume.

I was unaware the Positive Grid band and their models which seem to be a technological continuation of what above two amps have brought to the market... with the addition of an app now connected to AI for settings "play".

More surprising to me was to -upon researching your amp today- find out that your amp has the following specs:

POWER AMPLIFIERS
150W RMS / 450W Peak, Class D Amplifier

SPEAKERS
2 x 1 inch Compression Tweeter with Custom Angled Horn
2 x 6.5 inch Custom Designed Woofer
2 x Reflex Port

150W RMS our to 1" and 6.5" speakers?!?!? Whoaw! That's as much a game changer as Bose and Bang & Olufsen brought about in the HiFi-Stereo home-sound sector 35 years ago, introducing home sound systems which were comprised of minuscule speakers after a long era of "bigger is better".

Thanks!... J-D.

[Larry Dering]

I was gifted the original Spark 40 earlier this year and find it a useful practice amp with some decent tones. I will try the updated app and look for some test tones like Lloyd Green and Curly Chalker. I have used the adapter cable and ran as a line out to a bigger amp for more volume.

[Michael Lester]

Technology...

The Spark Live amp has another feature that, for me, is a game changer.
I play steel and fiddle in a Western Swing band. I switch instruments back and forth as the songs require.
The 'Live' amp has two inputs that are independent of each other. Each of the inputs has 8 presets available.

Where that comes in handy is when I'm after a specific 'sound'. For instance, I can alter the tone of my YEV4 electric violin just by switching presets.

For the steel, I end up using 3 different presets for q typical set list. One is a variant of Ron Hogan's Pedal Steel 4 preset that he created and made public a few years ago. Another emulates the tone of a Fender 8 string console steel that I use on the C6 neck.

A third one is an oddball. It does a fair job of sounding like a saxophone.

One of our singers threw in Bob Seger's 'Turn the Page' a while ago which begins and ends with a Sax. Western Swing? No, but many in our audiences like the song. I have a preset that I downloaded from Spark of 'Bob Seger Guitar'
that is dirty enough that it sounds close to a sax.

[Larry Dering]

The Spark live is rated at 150 watts but it only has 2 6.5 inch woofers and 2 tweeters. Can it handle the lower tones of the C6 and do a respectable job? I know that ratings mean little when it comes to actual loudness and tone.

[Michael Lester]

The key word is "respectable".

It's actually better than one would expect. Candidly, it does not have the punch of a Twin Reverb, but that doesn't matter much to me.

There are no songs in our set lists that need the boo-wah pedal or even the F. The rest of the neck sounds great using a preset.

[Larry Dering]

Thanks Michael. I updated my app and tried the AI for Curly Chalker, Buddy Emmons and Paul Franklin on my Spark 40 and it did a decent tone considering the small speakers. The Lloyd Green attempt it came up with was horrible. Since I don't have the Spark Live I will try my 40 on some powered larger speakers and see if it enhances the sound. The Chalker preview was nice and the Franklin was real good.

[Dave Grafe]

If you want Paul Franklin's tone you will need his hands. Nee gear will never achieve that goal no matter how many presets it has or how much you spend, especially if it only 6.5" speakers. Hard to believe this has to be said but put your money away and go practice.

[Larry Dering]

Dave that's a sour piece of advice to folks who have played for for 60 years. No I can't play like Paul or Buddy but wanting their tone has more to do with equipment than plucking a string. I have a boatload of big amps both Tube and solid State and a couple class D types. Truthfully they all sound good but not great. The little Spark is a modeling amp that has AI capabilities to bring up tones to mimic the equipment tone used by popular artists. It also models many amps and effects pedals. It does a great job within the limitations of the smaller speakers. Look at some of Joe Rogers posts and Johnny Cox using the Tonex amp modeler. It's a new kid on the block like the Kemper which is widely used by tons of major artists. The Spark 40 is a practice amp that's fully loaded with features. Just a tool that i find useful to make low volume levels fun to play.

[Dave Grafe]

I mean no offense Larry, but I stand by my observation. Paul will sound like Paul regardless of the amp he is plugged into (and plugging into Paul's rig won't make you sound like Paul either), 6.5" speakers are no help on a real stage no matter how many digital presets and synthesized watts you pour into them, and simply put tone comes from the hands not the gear. I'm not saying different guitars and amps etc. don't make a difference, I'm all for keeping up on the latest tech and rarely hesitate to invest in the learning curve, but why spend money trying to sound like someone else when you could easily go practice with the amps turned off and develop your own tone for free?

[Michael Lester]

Dave... I think the quest for tone is a constant for every musician - no matter what instrument they play.
In fact, I'd be willing to bet that most musicians are motivated to buy, sell and trade instruments due, in part, to hearing the 'perfect' tone from another musician whose tone was 'ideal'.

My proof of this little theory is to point out that every manufacturer of instruments always have a stair-step catalog - from beginner level to Master. How many variations of a Telecaster are there? The $300 Amazon version sure won't sound like the $3,500 SuHr. Carter Starter? Mullen Discovery? GFI Expo? All are good - but none have the built in tone of their professional cousins. No instrument maker ever promises to deliver the tone of their most crafted model in their entry level model.

Even a mope like me can tell the difference between entry level tone and professional rig tone.

But, the SPARK amp system gives me a chance to find tone I like without having to buy, sell and trade for decades to get close. And, I can do it using my Carter D10.

You're right, I ain't Paul Franklin.

But I've gotten closer to his sound (not his playing) with the Spark amp than I ever have before with other amps and a board full of pedals.
Technology cannot be ignored. I posted my observations because this new technology cut countless, expensive, trial and error experiments that might take me months and months and $$$ to finalize.

BTW, mic this little beggar with a 57 to the board and out to a pair of Mackie 1000w Thumps and you'll get plenty of audience pleasing noise.

[Dave Grafe]

I'm delighted that you have found your happy place Larry, and that you have the advantage of many years of experimentation to guide your choices as you pursue the new world of digital audio modeling devices. I wish you all possible success and satisfaction.

[Larry Dering]

Thanks Dave. I get bored with gear and dabble with new technology after watching the posts by seasoned players. At 76 I don't have to pursue concert volume excellence because my playing live shows is far behind me. With the Spark I can stream backing tracks while playing along with a good tone. With it's AI capable analysis and the Bluetooth powered app it even displays the chord chart of a track. But it's not a replacement for my bigger gear with 15 inch speakers and huge low end balanced tone.

[J D Sauser]

Thanks Dave. I get bored with gear and dabble with new technology after watching the posts by seasoned players. At 76 I don't have to pursue concert volume excellence because my playing live shows is far behind me. With the Spark I can stream backing tracks while playing along with a good tone. With it's AI capable analysis and the Bluetooth powered app it even displays the chord chart of a track. But it's not a replacement for my bigger gear with 15 inch speakers and huge low end balanced tone.

I think there are several interesting points made here:
First, we have a 76 years young steel guitar player who uses AI! Whoaw, respect!

The other point is one I've tried to make long before this minuscule "smart" practice amps became available: That IF as a "bed room"-player, one wishes to sound closer to one's professional heroes' sound, using a 200W stage amp, designed to come alive at 50% of it's volume potential, may NOT be the "ticket". Bigger is not always better. If you ask session players of the "miked" era, that held true in those circumstances too.

"Oh but I play C6th and I need bottom, so I need a 15" speaker"... yeah, ever looked at what bass players use?

Speakers seem to have the same dynamics as a piston engine... long strokes or short strokes, which affects the piston's diameters to match the same volume movement (cubics).
Likewise, it so seems that smaller speakers can be built to have a longer "stroke", capable of moving air efficiently even with a smaller diameter. In a small room, that can be sufficient.

... J-D.

[Dave Grafe]

Many good points here JD, but you are incorrect regarding the physics of small pistons and waveform dispersion. There is no getting around the simple fact that moving a large mass of air a slight amount (large piston short travel) is measurably more effective at distributing audio signals accurately in space than moving a small mass of air a great deal (small piston long travel). If you are simply feeding a microphone, i.e. a very small target inches away, a smaller speaker will serve perfectly well, but if you intend to project sound into space the larger the radiating surface is the clearer, more detailed and more evenly distributed the sound will be, and at a small fraction of the electrical power for a given SPL.

In addition to this simple fact is the affect of phase interaction between multiple speakers in various arrays, caused by the different distances between individual drivers, nearby reflective surfaces and ultimately the listeners' ears, causing notable changes in tone as one moves about or changes the position of the speaker(s). Knowing the differences between how vertical, horizontal or clustered arrays distribute sound is important in a live performance setting, as well as achieving one's joy at home.

I only expound on this issue because many new products offer 300-400 watt digital amps driving very small speakers, inferring that the power makes up for the small size. It absolutely does not and this is deliberate misinformation intended to exploit buyers unfamiliar with audio science. Different tools serve best for their appointed tasks but unfortunately the marketing department appears to be in control of most narratives these days. It behooves us all to self-educate at every opportunity.

[J D Sauser]

Many good points here JD, but you are incorrect regarding the physics of small pistons and waveform dispersion. There is no getting around the simple fact that moving a large mass of air a slight amount (large piston short travel) is measurably more effective at distributing audio signals in space than moving a small mass of air a great deal (small piston long travel). If you are simply feeding a microphone, i.e. a very small targst area, a smaller speaker will serve perfectly well, but if you intend to project sound into space the larger the radiating surface is the clearer, more detailed and more evenly distributed the sound will be.

In addition to this simple fact is the affect of phase interaction between multiple speakers in various arrays, caused by the different distances between individual drivers, nearby reflective surfaces and ultimately the listeners' ears, causing notable changes in tone as one moves about. Knowing the differences between how vertical, horizontal or clustered arrays distribute sound is important in a live performance setting, as well as achieving one's joy at home.

I think we essentially agree, Dave, hence I stated "... longer "stroke", capable of moving air efficiently even with a smaller diameter. In a small room, that can be sufficient."
Small un-miked stages will or open air situations are evidently NOT a plications for these small amps. Open Air being entirely different situations anyways, which are now also handled entirely differently than back in the days of Marshall Towers nearly blasting the "musicians" off the stage.

Everything affects tone... speakers able to handle lots of power are more rigid and also more "stiff" sounding. Likewise "weaker" speakers may sound warmer (comparing a rugged 200W BlackWidow speaker to a rather delicate 80W JBL D130 for instance). I suspect that there is a reason why we now see minuscule speaker appear but only paired to "smart" amps which can indeed drive that thing so it can mimic the sounds known from larger traditional amps equipped with 12" or larger speaker. I can only imagine what corky "noises" these smart amps would produce if wired into such a traditional speaker rather than their "micro-speakers".

Interestingly, after steel guitar was played thru it's early Decades thru 8, 10 and 12" speakers until some players started rigging their amps up with 15" speaker in the 1960's so that by the mid 1990's everybody was convinced one need a 15" speaker to possibly play even out of the corner of a bed room, it took Jeff Newman to "revolutionize" our world when he came out with his pair of Black Widow 12" speakers -and to top that- wired to a DPC rack power amp... playing Universal.

Bang & Olufsen and later Bose, did the same to "HiFi" home stereo sound. Bigger WAS better. People would drop astronomical sums of money for huge speakers set up in living rooms, until they proved they could get a better tone with minuscule speakers... for even MORE money

Listened to Buddy ripping it on C6th on a new cell phone. What those devices have is not really a "speaker"... it's some sort of "driver"... but it's astonishing the loudness and frequencies these things can put out and I wouldn't be surprised to see a bluetooth dongle available with an app to play our of a cell phone as micro-practice amp soon.


Thanks!... J-D.