Back in the old days when I was gigging on a regular basis, I had a tube amp and a Gibson guitar. I didn't use effects pedals. The amp was a Mesa Boogie and I still have it. I was never really a fan of the pedals. Yeah I have had a few through the years but currently, I only have a Joyo Ultimate drive and I haven't used it in about a year. The thing with the physical pedals is that you are stuck with that one sound and can't easily change it.

That said..... when I started into digital music, I was looking for a better way to record the guitar. Something with more sonic options. I bought a Line6 Pod2 and used it for many years. All it is, is essentially a fancy FX pedal for guitar. It has about 16 models or presets and an equal number of FX built in. In addition, the knobs you'd normally expect on any amp. I ran it direct into my interface for recording. I bought mine used for $250 which was well under the cost of the Pod2 new.

Last year, I bought a Spark 40 amp. It is also a modeling amp with more models...close to 40, and they are developing more all the time, plus effects pedals and they are developing more of those as well. Currently, you can easily access over 10,000 combinations and you can grab user's models off the tone cloud. IN addition, it has the normal amp controls for old school use, and 4 hardware presets. You get access to ALL the models and pedals when you connect the amp with your phone or iPad via bluetooth.

Remember above when I said you were locked into the one sound from the physical pedal you bought? Well, for example, with the Spark, if I want reverb, I have a choice of 9 different reverb pedals. 6 delay pedals. 13 mod/EQ, 14 drive pedals including guitar Muff & fuzz face, 5 comp/wah. 1 noise gate, and 39 guitar amp models. And ALL of them have the knobs that the physical pedals have to fine tune the sound you want. OH yeah... and you can easily save any of the configurations you create or modify in your own unlimited presets. You can also download other user's presets from the tone cloud and save them in yours.

This amp supports both guitar and bass. In fact, several of the factory preset models are specifically for bass. It has a 40w built in amp and runs through 2 onboard speakers. It's designed to be used for practice and for studio work. It could easily be connected to larger power amps and speakers for on stage use. You can check this amp out at the local Guitar Center store. They're selling for about $300 or so....less if used. I bought my Spark when they were first out and there was a 4 to 6 month back-order. I gave $224 for it at the time but it has increased since then. I'm trying not to sound like a commercial for Spark but this is a cool little amp and has become my go-to amp for studio and just plunking around.

Here's the Spark in action. Leads and acoustics are spark.

https://soundcloud.com/guitarhacker/no-inspiration-blues

https://app.box.com/s/gcwlinuq4tu7h8dcnanbtbmz931h3qjt Living in a Dream Just playing around with recording direct using the Spark amp. I got a pickup for my Taylor acoustic and wanted to try it using the spark with a clean setting. The electric is my Modern Tele I think mostly on the strat (middle) PU.
There's 2 strummed acoustics panned opposite..... and a lead acoustic using the Acoustic Clean model....Electric is using the American High Gain and Something that was British modeling a Marshall..

Last edited by Guitarhacker; 03/25/22 04:09 AM.
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