Even though Barb and I live on the road full-time, we have all the following equipment with us. Along the way, we've set up for shows of all sizes. I even used this equipment to provide sound for my daughter's outdoor wedding.
Alvarez acoustic-electric guitar
G&L ASAT Classic electric guitar
L. R. Baggs Para Acoustic D.I.
Radial JDX Direct Drive
QSC TouchMix-8 mixing board
Positive Grid Spark Mini
One Mackie Thump 12BST loudspeaker
NUX C-5RC cordless guitar interface
Two Audix OM-3 microphones
Audix H60 wireless microphone and R41 receiver
AirTurn DUO BT-200
All the necessary cables, cords, mic stands, speaker stands, etc.
With VERY few exceptions, all this equipment was purchased from one of the best music stores in the midwest - Brickhouse Music in River Falls, WI. Please, please, please visit them at www.brickhousemusic.com. You will NOT be disappointed.
Notice above that I have a AirTurn DUO. I had been using this two pedal device to control the Ultimate Guitar app on my iPad when I perform. I have had issues correctly pairing the AirTurn and getting it to work with the app so I created the following how-to video.
Since experiencing these and other issues with using Ultimate Guitar for performances, I have switched to OnSong 2022 and LOVE it.
I purchased this very nice, easy to use practice amp so that I could play anywhere (battery powered) and not have to get the GTX50 out of storage. The Mini is a very nice sounding amp despite the small speaker. Great tones.
One thing I have noticed is that, even though the "PHONES/REC OUT" port works great for headphones, when I use this port to plug into my sound system, the connection is very finicky. I am plugging in using high quality plug and have to shimmy it just a bit "out" to get a solid connection. Not sure what's going on there.
Ultimately, I decided to sell this because I wanted more of a "signal chain" to work with. Enter the "Positive Grid Spark Mini".
I wanted to love this guitar. I purchased it from a friend after spending a day playing the heck out of it, trying to really understand the sounds it can make. Very good acoustic sounds, piezo pickup sounds, electric sounds. We loved the electric tones I could put into some songs without changing guitars. The more I played it, the more I started hearing, and FEELING, some buzzing and dead-ness on some strings with some chords. I kept after it and really paid close attention to what was happening.
In particular, imagine playing the A major chord, with three fingers jammed into the 2nd fret, strings 2, 3, 4. Maybe I have fat fingers, maybe I was pressing too hard, but something wasn't right. I would get dead-ness on string 4 and often some buzzing on string 1 as it vibrated against my pinky. Could I find a way to not get the dead-ness and buzzing? Yes, with very precise placement of my fingers. But what is the difference when I play my other two guitars? I NEVER get this kind of issue with those. Why do I have to play this one differently? I decided that I don't want to try to play differently and struggle with getting things "just right" in order for this guitar to work for me. So, I ended up selling it.
I really want to be able to get some electric sounds and acoustic sounds in the sets I play without switching guitars. I love how my Alvarez sounds. I love how my G&L sounds. The Fender Mustang GTX50 has the ability to simulate acoustic sounds when playing an electric guitar but it just isn't quite what I want to hear. I just isn't good enough for me.
I'm still trying.
This modeling amp has both wifi and Bluetooth connectivity. The wifi is really only used for performing firmware updates. The Bluetooth, however, can be used to stream music from a smart device or to interact with the modeling capabilities via the Fender Tone app.
While using both the streaming and app connections, I noticed that I was having problems with the music streaming. After doing some research and experimentation, my suggestion is to do one or the other, but not both.
If you want to stream music via Bluetooth, I would NOT also attempt to use the Fender Tone app. Just use the controls on the amp itself to interact with the modelling. In this scenario, I have had NO problems streaming.
If you want to interact with the amp via the Fender Tone app, do NOT pair your smart device with the amp and attempt to stream. I wouldn't even bother pairing your device at all. You do NOT need to pair the device in order to use the Fender Tone app. It doesn't hurt to do so, but by not pairing, you won't be tempted to stream at the same time. If you want to stream, you can simply plug your device into the "AUX" 1/8" port and stream through that. In this scenario, I have had NO problems streaming and using the Fender Tone app at the same time.
Even though this is a very nice modeling amp, I decided to sell it. It really does sound great and is easy to use. I just found myself not using it very often. We live in a 5th wheel RV and typically had this amp tucked away in a storage area. To pull it out every time I wanted to play with it, or to leave it out (it gets in the way in a RV), just got to be a bit of a pain. I do have the Positive Grid Spark Mini for practice and it is small and has great features.
I wanted a modeling practice amp that would match up with the GTX 50 and the new Mustang Micro Plus seemed like a perfect headphone-oriented practice amp. I thought it would be great to share settings between the two amps. Big problem though! The Micro Plus was a sloppy fit! Plugging it into my G&L ASAT Classic, the Micro Plus just spun around anytime I would move and if I VERY gently nudged it back and forth, I would get a horrible static signal through my headphones. I had read in some forums that some fit well and some don't, so I returned that first one to Amazon and walked into a Guitar Center in Nashville. The guy was nice enough to let me open a brand new one and try it. Sure enough, same static and loose fit. He said "Well, just don't move when you're using it." Uh, no, that's not gonna work for me. So I walked away. Enter the Positive Grid Spark Mini.
I have been reading a lot about the Spark line and they sure seem to sound great in the videos. I got the Spark Mini because it has a rechargeable battery and didn't seem to have as small of a sound as the Spark Go. The bigger Spark amps would have been great too, but I wanted a small practice amp. The app works great and the sound out of this little 4" speaker is really good. Another great feature of the Spark line is that they have a "headphone out" and a "line out". On the Spark Mini, both of these lines are the 1/8" output port and you simply configure it to be stereo (for headphones) or mono (for use as a "line out"). I have had this plugged into my big Mackie speaker directly and into my QSC mixing board and it works great.
Positive Grid sells a "Spark Cab", which is a 140W FRFR (full range, flat response) speaker so that any of the smaller Spark amps can connect their "line out" to this big cabinet and get BIG sound. It has crossed my mind to consider getting rid of the GTX 50 and just run this Spark Mini into my mixing board but I'm hesitating. The GTX 50 does a great job of emulating all the classic Fender amps and you have so much flexibility with how to configure the signal chain. The Spark does sound great but the signal chain is a bit set in stone, not that I even see this as a flaw in how I use effects.
There are four presets which are selected with a knob on top of the speaker. The app can also be used to changing presets and many other things. However, if I want to try to gig with this, having the app open (something else to fiddle with and switch back-and-forth to when I have the OnSong app open) is cumbersome. Positive Grid does sell two different pedals that can be used for switching presets and even toggling effects. It is a big pricey though.
On another positive note, I have been able to stream music to the Spark Mini via bluetooth from my phone while also using the Spark app on my phone to control the Mini. You may have read above that the GTX 50 has some issues with that.