I have never touched any instrument in my life but I decided I want to learn to play an electric guitar. A friend that plays in a band recommended Harley Benton CST-24T that comes as a beginner kit with an amp and some other stuff. Is it a good guitar? Do you have any other recommendations (I'd like to stay in the 400$ price range)?
#Absolute beginner buying their first guitar.
upper hemlock
knotty sinew
I have never touched any instrument in my life but I decided I want to learn to ...
any idea what shape you're looking for?
weight?
any idea guitars from bands or players you like?
upper hemlock
for the shape I want it to be like the one I was recommendded
weight I don't really care
upper hemlock
any idea guitars from bands or players you like?
don't think so
knotty sinew
that one is based on a PRS
upper hemlock
mhm
knotty sinew
ah for getting a PRS one im pretty sure there's none in this range so if you're open to other options then i can make suggestions
not a HB fan because of their poor quality control
they do cheap on the wood a little as well as the electronics to get the price down
upper hemlock
ah for getting a PRS one im pretty sure there's none in this range so if you're ...
okay, what are your suggestions?
knotty sinew
a lot of it is gonna be used suggestions because of the budget
but a yamaha pacifica 112/212, yamaha revstar element, squier classic vibe, epiphone les paul classic, epiphone sg, most cort guitars
knotty sinew
what's your budget for that?
upper hemlock
well I wanted to fit everything below 500$
upper hemlock
alright I'll look into it, thank you
west marsh
alright I'll look into it, thank you
not the THR series, not worth the money
upper hemlock
not the THR series, not worth the money
how come
west marsh
theyre far too quiet for a band environment
and besides
the Positive grid spark and boss katana outgun it
upper hemlock
okay
knotty sinew
i don't think someone who is getting into guitar will be playing in a band, the thr 5 is quality for it what is
a practice amp
i do prefer the boss katana, but the yamaha ones are still an option
west marsh
i don't think someone who is getting into guitar will be playing in a band, the ...
No, it’s not, since there are amps like the spark thag are basically the same size and better in every way
round chasm
No, it’s not, since there are amps like the spark thag are basically the same si...
not in every way, ime the THR sounds a little better
west marsh
not in every way, ime the THR sounds a little better
And the katana?
west marsh
*versatility
west marsh
And is more expensive
west marsh
Not as much as a spark (or katana if you want)
west marsh
but it has less bells and whistles
Such as?
round chasm
such as the 90000 amps and whatnot that come loaded in the positive grid app
i cant comment on what the Yamaha THR app is like
when i was on a THR a lot back then, I didnt use the app
just the knobs
sounded great, really easy to dial in tones
there's less variation, but each channel itself sounded better than each of both my spark's channels. the spark requires a decent amount of tinkering to get the tone right where i wanted
west marsh
But it also has the tone cloud
And I personally think it sounds great even if you just make a tone yourself
round chasm
yeah most people should
id give the spark the win on the front of flexibility, and as an overall travel / fuck around / bring to parties and whatnot type amp
but purely on sound? the Yamaha has the edge for me
the Yamah THR's now have their own version of tone cloud too cus of that new app thing
but i wont comment on it cus i never used it
west marsh
ehh thats really a matter of opinion, but fair
round chasm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_g-vQ2klIs you can listen to this if you want, i think it was a good representation of my experience with both as well
you can hear what i mean, and what most spark users mean, when i say the spark is naturally super bass-y sounding
at the end of the day i'd still probably have to take the spark over it for couple reasons tho
but still never used the THR app myself, ill give it a shot one day tho
round chasm
then just turn down the bass<:kekw:691256378680934441>
id rather if spark just made it not sound like my guitar was being played thru a sock 
feel bad for spark owners before the EQ pedal update
i always turn it on whenever i make a preset
west marsh
id rather if spark just made it not sound like my guitar was being played thru a...
it doesnt?
round chasm
im glad it doesn't for you, i'm just saying its objectively a bass-y amp
west marsh
i think i strong suit of it is how crystal clear the audio sounds on headphones
round chasm
And the katana?
oh and katana still cum shots both of them yeah
west marsh
its not objectively bassy, its subjectively bassy. on headphones, it sounds crystal clear, and on the speakers, the bass makes up for the lack of size, but whatever
i use the spark every day
round chasm
its not objectively bassy, its subjectively bassy. on headphones, it sounds crys...
then subjectively, there's a very large margin of spark owners who find it bassy
west marsh
and how many good reviews could i pull up for the sparks sounds? (ill give you a hint; a shit ton)
and im not talking about overall
im talking about sound
round chasm
if its what i was saying i wouldnt still own a spark 40
west marsh
if it was truely all too bassy lots of reviewers wouldve said so
ofc
people will complain about lots of stuff, but your just pulling up the negative rev iews
round chasm
its a naturally bass heavy amp dood its fine if you think it's not, but listen to other amps compared to it and youll find that it's the more wooly of the bunch
west marsh
not the many others who love the sound, but opinions are opinions and i can respect taht
round chasm
people will complain about lots of stuff, but your just pulling up the negative...
most of the posts that i showed you are from owners who actually like it though lol
as do i
it's just that the bass has a noticeable boom in the low end that a lot of us think is a bit much
you can still like a product and critique it
west marsh
i klnow but you still only pulled up posts of poeple who dont like the sound,
whatever
we can keep going for years about this
round chasm
i klnow but you still only pulled up posts of poeple who dont like the sound,
because that's literally the topic of the bass
west marsh
opinions are opinions, and you only showed negative ones
the topic is about the sound
round chasm
yes, and compared to the sound of some other amps, its bassy
west marsh
*subjectively
look we can keep arguing forever
whatever we made both our poionts
and idk abt you, but i dont want to have an arguement on discord for 30 mins 
round chasm
tldr spark kinda bassy
west marsh
tldr he only pulled up bad opinions, and didnt show the vast majority of good opinions
west marsh
and idk abt you, but i dont want to have an arguement on discord for 30 mins <:k...
^^^^ @round chasm
round chasm
it's okay for a good product to still have a critique
west marsh
but its not okay to only pull up bad reviews and leave out the majority that are good 
\
west marsh
whatever we made both our poionts
^ @round chasm
round chasm
because the topic itself is about the bass
west marsh
no, the topic is about sound
round chasm
and the bass just so happens to be a large point of the Spark's sound that a lot of people have commented onbefore
west marsh
🤦♂️ please can we stop argueing we're both saying the same thing over and over
round chasm
i jus think there's a disconnect somewhere. yes sound is subejctive, but when you compare a bunch of amps in the same context together, the spark is going to be noticely bassier, it's just something to note. I didn't show bad reviews of the spark, i showed that a lot of spark owners also have noticed the same thing. if you interpret that as a bad review, then idk what to say
are we still going?
round chasm
you can go eat dinner or sum dude im not keeping you here 
west marsh
you can go eat dinner or sum dude im not keeping you here <:KEKW:667625243187085...
i dont want him to make the wrong decision, for what hes looking for. i love my spark, have no issues with it, and so does 99% of the people who own one (including issues about bass)
and now we both stop
round chasm
and im offering him insight on what each amp sounds like relative to each other, and he can make his decision off of that
im happy with my spark, doesn't mean i can't compare it to other amps and weigh in on their differences
west marsh
he can go hear sound tests if he wants, take his own word for it, because opinions can be different
dbg is a fantastic youtuber
round chasm
yeah he has good reviews, he also mentions that is bass heavy so
its not like im cherry picking the most niche critiques
west marsh
he also says you can just adjust it, and he doesnt use the EQ pedal
round chasm
i know darrel him cuts out the bass
and yeah you can adjust, which i already said that me and a lot of spark owners already do
round chasm
he can do whatever he wants, nor did anyone say its a problem. it's just bassy, some people love that, some dont, and some needed to modify their spark cab to counter it even with an EQ
im not saying anything is good or bad, you can interpret it however you want, in all my statements i've just said that it was bassy
west marsh
and all of them couldve just done what he did and turened down the bass on teh amp,
or used the EQ pedal if that made them feel better
round chasm
and all of them couldve just done what he did and turened down the bass on teh a...
they did, and some of them needed to modify the cab further. you're offering a solution to people who already have used it
round chasm
hey, its all subjective right? maybe overkill to you, but for others the bass itself is overkill
west marsh
how about this: we get aurrorra to watch those videos, and form their own opinion, instead of both of us trying to form an opinion for them,
round chasm
and again, if you interpret me saying its bassy as a con, you're looking at it all wonky. I'm just saying the differences between each respective amp's natural sound
whether that difference is desirable is up to buyer
west marsh
alright?
round chasm
im not forming any opinions tho, im literally just comparing the amps because i have actual experience with the ones that are being considered
i didnt say the THR was better, in fact i said i preferred the spark as a whole, i'm still going to break down their differences regardless cus im not going to give "yeah i prefer the spark get the spark" as actual advice, then though I do prefer the spark
west marsh
so do i?
ive played both in person
and use the spark daily
ok
they can watch the video
west marsh
yeah, and i talked about my experience, alright?
ok
cool
we both share opinions
and we have
now its just down to aurrorra to consider the videos and our arguements
knotty sinew
just get a boss katana and you don't need to consider this
round chasm
^ yeah pretty much
west marsh
i prefer spark
west marsh
so we're both in agreement: they should ideally get the spark over the katana.
at least me an kiko
jacob prefers katana
knotty sinew
chris isaak, gary moore, metallica, and judas priest pack from juca nery
round chasm
just get a boss katana and you don't need to consider this <:god_gasm:4509111756...
altho there's still some tug of war right now with the catalyst, but yeah so far 50's not dethroned yet from that 300 ish dollar price range of amps
knotty sinew
tbh though these entry modelling amps do kinda kill any sort of learning experience you'd have with a normal amp
idk wtf my knobs do just that if i download a file it sounds good
having physical pedals keeps it from being overwhelming as each one does a single thing and the limit is how much you spend on them
round chasm
at least me an kiko
if its their first amp, and one and only amp, id rather go with a katana 50
west marsh
They said bedroom no gigs, and the Spark is more versatile so I prefer the spark
round chasm
the katana's attenuation settings is good in that regard imo
you dont have to use all 50 fat gigs to get the best sound out of it
bump it down and you're good to go
knotty sinew
i found putting it on 25 watts and lowering the volume to sound better
round chasm
katana shares the same benefit as the spark with a tone studio and tone cloud as well
knotty sinew
i dont really have to care much about noise
round chasm
as well as sharing the same usability as an interface for recordings
however, there's more preset banks, and i prefer the katana's sound in more contexts
and in case they eventually do play in a small band setting, it just cuts thru the mix better as well
but leaving tone aside
it shares the same features, but more fleshed out
west marsh
TLDR each of their advantages is katana = loud and Spark = versatile (but not as loud)
round chasm
katana's the same level of versatility if not more tho
so it does everything the spark can as far as being a guitar amp goes, and a little more
knotty sinew
tbh if you go to https://guitarpatches.com/
you find the majority is for the katana mk 2
or 1
https://jucaneryguitar.com/ even better ones from here (i need to justify my purchase)
west marsh
katana's the same level of versatility if not more tho
Not really
round chasm
I suggest OP just do a basic "Boss katana 50 vs Spark 40" google search and look at what other people are saying; either on forums, or reddit, from both r/positivegrid, r/guitaramps, and r/bosskatana.
there will be sides to both amps, with many reviews coming from owners of both. what the general consensus seems to be will be up to you, but i think it's a little obvious what the majority of the owners of both are saying once OP reads up a little on what people have to say
upper hemlock
gotta think about it, some people report that it's hard to get into the spark's app if it was already used
west marsh
gotta think about it, some people report that it's hard to get into the spark's ...
What do you mean? It connects seemlessly
upper hemlock
What do you mean? It connects seemlessly
I'm not sure but I saw someone say that if you're buying a used spark it's had to get into the app after the scan card has been used
west marsh
I'm not sure but I saw someone say that if you're buying a used spark it's had t...
No?
I think you should also take into consideration that human error could change thjngs
They could just not know how to do it
The app is great
upper hemlock
I'm just reading the reviews and stuff
west marsh
Don’t read too many, I feel like at some point it’s just doing yourself more harm
Just making ur self more conscious of possible defects that won’t happen
I’ve done that before a lot
Not just for the spark
@upper hemlock
upper hemlock
okay