This New Practice Amp is so Stunning, You'll Want to Display it in Your Living Room
Positive Grid's new Spark Pearl – a limited version of their best-selling smart amplifier – delivers both brilliant looks and tones
Picture this. You've just come home from a long day at work. It's time to kick back, plug in, and let off some steam while playing your guitar.
How do you typically play for fun while at home? Lug out your half stack? Grab that tin-y sounding practice amp from the closet that you purchased 20 years ago?
With Spark Pearl, there's a way to practice, jam and record in style – right there in your living room – and sound great while doing it with access to an endless well of inspiring tones. Positive Grid's brilliantly limited version of one of the industry's most popular desktop amplifiers, Spark Pearl offers all of the same crowd-pleasing smart features of the original amp, like Smart Jam, Auto Chords, and access to over 10,000 tones.
Plus, with its snowy white tolex, gold piping and contrast-stitched custom strap, you'll proudly display it in your living room or home studio. (I mean, just look at that thing!) Spark Pearl is a Bluetooth speaker too, perfect for streaming your favorite tunes to liven up any social gathering.
On its own, Spark Pearl offers seven high-quality amp settings to choose from, including hi-gain, clean and crunch. These sounds can be customized further with bass, mid and treble tone stack controls, plus mod, delay and reverb effects. Users can also save up to four tones directly to the amp for later use.
However, Spark Pearl's inspiring tone creation capabilities go way beyond the amp itself. With the companion Spark app, players can access the same tone engine that put the original Spark on the map. Here, guitarists can craft tones virtually using 30 tube amps and 40 effects powered by Positive Grid's BIAS technology, for perfecting that signature tone of their favorite player or discovering a unique sound of their own. They can also share their sounds using Positive Grid's online ToneCloud, which is home to over 10,000 tones created by famous guitarists, session players, engineers and producers from around the world.
Most pieces of guitar gear are designed with one person in mind -- the guitarist. As a result, thousands of amps and pedals have suffered the fate of being banished to basements, home offices and other designated practice areas. With a compact design highlighted by custom white tolex and gold piping, Spark Pearl looks like it could be a piece of modern home décor just as much as a guitar amp. So whether you want to jam in your living room, bedroom, kitchen, or anywhere else in your house, take comfort knowing that you'll look good in the process - so much so that you'll finally not get yelled at for leaving your gear sitting out in the living room!
Watch Spark Pearl’s premiere here.
An extremely limited quantity will be available in late April, and customers can take advantage of special pricing for early orders. Learn more about Spark Pearl at www.positivegrid.com/spark-pearl/ and sign up to be notified when it's available for purchase.
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The limited-edition Joe Strummer Masterbuilt Telecaster by Fender Custom Shop offers a faithful recreation of the Clash guitarist's 1966 Telecaster.
The Limited Edition Master Built Joe Strummer Telecaster | Fender Custom Shop | Fender
Fender Senior Master Builder, Paul Waller, said: “For me growing up listening to all of this music and then working for a brand like Fender to have access to instruments like these is pretty powerful and a full circle moment.
Building a guitar like this is both rewarding and difficult. I’m trying to be accurate and create a product that means a lot to so many people, which is why we always try and pair the right builder with the right artist.”
Limited Edition Joe Strummer Masterbuilt Telecaster ($20,000 USD)
As celebrated front man of The Clash and The Mescaleros, Joe Strummer’s raw, passionate stage presence and socio-political songwriting defined the punk rock movement that kicked off in the late-1970’s - all with his now infamous 1966 Telecaster by his side. To honour his legacy, Fender Custom Shop Senior Masterbuilder Paul Waller meticulously recreated every aspect of Strummer’s cherished instrument for a limited edition run. The resonant two-piece select alder body, impeccably worn mid-‘60s “C” profile neck and round-laminated rosewood fingerboard, gives players the feeling of holding a road-tested piece of punk rock history, mirroring all the features found on highly sought after 1960s Fender guitars. Finished in Super Heavy Relic Aged Black over Three-Color Sunburst lacquer— including a matching painted pickguard—all the wear and tear from decades of touring is perfectly recreated on this incredible limited edition. Loaded with a pair of Josefina Campos hand-wound ’67 Telecaster pickups, this guitar exudes all the same raw, expressive tones found throughout both The Clash’s and The Mescaleros’ widely celebrated discographies. Other premium features include 7.25” (184.1 mm) radius, 21 Jescar Vintage (45085) frets, Modern Tele wiring, 3-way switch, 6-saddle string-through-body Tele bridge with steel barrel saddles, Schaller M6 Mini Tuners, brass nut, wing string tree with tall metal spacer, replica touring case, limited edition Joe Strummer Strap and certificate of authenticity.
Limited Edition Joe Strummer 13’ Instrument Cable ($34.99 USD)
Punk icon, musician and composer, Joe Strummer spent his life smashing musical and cultural boundaries both as the singer of The Clash and as a solo artist. Celebrate Joe Strummer’s unparalleled style and substance with his signature cable. This eclectic instrument cable is designed to be unique -- with a 13’ length, pink PVC jacket with leopard print housing, and Joe’s very own signature on the cable’s shrink wrap.
Limited Edition Joe Strummer Guitar Strap ($39.99 USD)
Celebrate Joe Strummer’s unparalleled style and substance with this leopard print strap. Designed to match his legendary Telecaster, this strap features faux leopard print animal fur with a Joe Strummer signature leather badge and is backed by tubular nylon for maximum comfort.
Features:
- 2-Piece Select Alder body with Offset Seam
- Plain-Grain Maple neck with a ‘60s Oval “C” Back-Shape and 7.25” (184.1 mm) Radius
- 3A Rosewood fretboard
- 21, Jescar Vintage frets
- 6-Saddle String-Through-Body Tele bridge with Steel Barrel Saddles
- Custom Shop Hand-Wound ‘67 Single-Coil Tele pickups (Bridge & Neck)
Alongside the Telecaster, there will be a range of Joe Strummer accessories available to purchase that include:
- 13’ Pink Instrument Cable with custom leopard print housing and signed cable wrap
- Faux leopard print animal fur guitar strap
- Pink vinyl wrapped 3-ply hardshell wood case, with soft crushed acrylic plush interior lining in leopard print
- Limited Edition Joe Strummer Signature Telecaster Pickup Set
For more information, please visit fender.com.
Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale, the songwriters and musicians behind indie-folk favorites Milk Carton Kids, don’t cut corners when it comes to songwriting. Everything gets held under the microscope; everything is subject to change. There’s no ego in the room, just pure service of the song.
Ryan and Pattengale join hosts Sean Watkins and Peter Harper to talk influences—what gets through into your songwriting, and what do you block out?—before digging into a downtempo plucker built around a timeless, folk-country melodic convention. Once the basic pieces are in place, though, things get interesting. The gang calls this “Burt Bacharach-ing it up;” lashing the essential elements tightly to the deck. Word choices are analyzed and tweaked, melodies are shifted ever so slightly, and chord progressions are optimized, note by note.
The quartet settles on a simple, memorable lyrical composition (“An Orbison, one-nugget snapshot”), but that doesn’t mean there isn’t space for some Adam Sandler vocal influence to counterbalance the Nebraska-era Springsteen solemnity.
Visit BOL.education for a free sample lesson, or use code “Song” for a 10% discount on your first non-degree course.
Patoma Music's Original Diamond Grip Picks offer an extreme grip with a patented non-slip natural diamond grip. Handcrafted in the U.S.A. with Delrin® plastic for durability and consistent tone. Available in two lines, "The Original Line" and "The Sharp Line", with varying thicknesses.
Patoma Music is proud to announce the launch of their Original DiamondGrip Picks. They have two lines, “The Original Line” and “The Sharp Line”. The two lines of guitar picks consist of 13 Original Diamond Grip Picks in varying thicknesses. The Original Diamond Grip Pick gives the user peace of mind and confidence while playing, knowing that the pick will never slip from their hands.
The Original Diamond Grip Pick has a patented non-slip natural diamond grip that gives the user an extreme grip, unlike any pick currently on the market. The non-slip diamond grip has approximately one carat of natural diamond encrusted on it, allowing it to have a firm and secure grip like no other. The body of the picks are made of a strong Delrin® plastic that offers durability and a consistent tone. Each pick is handcrafted with the utmost precision and care and is proudly manufactured in the U.S.A.
The Original Line Thicknesses:
- Thin - .60mm Orange, .71mm Vintage White
- Medium - .88mm Green, 1.0mm Blue
- Heavy - 1.14mm Black, 1.5mm Black, 2.0mm White
The Sharp Line Thicknesses:
- Thin -.60mm Orange, .73mm Yellow
- Medium - .88mm Green, 1.0mm Blue
- Heavy - 1.14mm Purple, 1.5mm Black.
Patoma Music’s Original Diamond Grip line is available for $17.00 each on their website and at various retailers in Northern New Jersey.
For more information, please visit patomamusic.com.