Statrix Redux

I’m sorry to say that I failed at Black Friday and bought things I didn’t need. Sigh.

Okay, what did I get?

Easy Music Center, my local instrument and gear shop located an annoying two blocks away, had their annual 10% off anything in the store. Sometimes, stores will advertise that, but then you’ll find it doesn’t apply to things already on sale. Easy Music Center doesn’t do that. Admittedly, there were a few specific manufacturers that weren’t included, not many, and nothing I necessarily would have bought there anyway.

What did I get?

I upgraded my audio interface from a Focusrite Solo Gen 2 to a new Focusrite 2i2 Gen 4. The difference in sound is very noticeable; very. In addition, I can now plug in more than one input instrument, something I’ve wanted to be able to do for a while. I haven’t tried it yet, but I did get the interface set up quickly and easily.

That’s the solo, this is the 2i2 4th Gen.

Naturally, I had to buy new cables, but that was a plus! I’d forgotten that I own studio monitors capable of balanced input. All I needed now that I have a unit with balanced output were some new cables. And yes, they were on sale.

I also picked up a new string winder tool. I own one. I just don’t know where it is at the moment. In addition, I picked up a couple more cheap tuners. They seem to last me a couple of years, then start giving me trouble.

But did I get anything else? Maybe something expensive?

Well, here’s the fail.

I ended up buying one of their clearance guitars. I’d really liked to have had a guitar on my epic road trip this past summer. Imagine, if you will, a month without being able to make music. Not so much anymore.

I bought a Steinberger GT-Pro Spirit “Deluxe” guitar. Given the clearance price and the sale discount, it seemed like an opportunity to have some fun on the road. I’ll travel in January and February, the former to Hawai’i Island and the latter to San Francisco. I’m covered, I can bring a guitar, my Spark GO, and some headphones, and jam out daily!

Is this the best-reviewed travel guitar out there? Nope. Does it have fans? Yep. Could I have done better? Maybe, maybe not. I will say that with my Spark GO, this guitar sounds excellent to me. It’s easy to play, feels well made, has a smooth action, and is light and easy to carry around. It even came with a decent gig bag.

Should I even bother with all this stuff? After all, I’m not a great or even a good musician. I’m hopeless. But here’s the thing. I’m not playing for other people and certainly not for pay. I enjoy what I do, and that is the point.

I’ll show you what I mean…this isn’t for you…this is for me to remind myself I did this one day and had fun doing it.

I’ve had a few days to play with all my new gear and have reached some tentative conclusions. Keep in mind, I’m not a particularly proficient player nor a guitar tech wiz.

The setup for each system was as follows. For the Valeton, I’ve hooked it into my M2 Pro Mac Mini with Apple’s own expensive cable so I could use the editor. Other than that, I just hooked it up to headphones to spare my neighbors, and went to town.

The Spark GO required a bit of setup to work with the Airstep SPK controller. I hooked my Spark GO up to my iPhone 15 Pro Max with another good cable, and yes, used headphones from the Spark. Opening both the Spark app and Loopy HD, it was off to the races.

My thoughts?

The Valeton is a lot easier to setup for this. That makes sense as it’s combined unit including the looper. It also has good sounds over my headphones. The looper works great and with little tweaking, I was able to play over a loop I created pretty easily.

The combo setup of my Spark GO, the Airstep SPK, and my phone is harder to setup, especially make sure Loopy HD can read the controller. I do wish Loop Pro was able to do this, and I suppose that it can with the full Airstep controller, but not the Spark version. Further, I’ve had more trouble getting a good sound on the loop, though it certainly does work. I’m also not getting as clear a sound as I might like through the headphones, but I’m new at this and can probably tweak it to get right.

Who wins? Well…neither really. I’m far more likely to travel with the Spark GO combo. At home, I’m far more likely to use the Valeton in my living room where it’s hooked to my Mac and studio speakers. In my bedroom? It’s going to be the Spark combo.

In short, both solutions work, but seem to have different usages, at least for me. Since all the gear was on sale, I’m not feeling like I made bad purchases. I love the Spark GO and will certainly take it on trips.

All the best!

I managed to get through the day without touching my guitar…this was not in the plan, and I hope to play soon.

But I wanted to say that, at least, I’ve been quite happy with my Spark Go and the Spark Control.

I know I suggested I’d prematurely ordered it and might have considered the AirStep first. Well…maybe so, but I’m good for the moment.

Sigh. I think I may have gotten ahead of myself the other day when I ordered the Spark Control. Why is that?

Well…one of things I really want with the Spark is the ability to use a looper of some sort. And, sadly, the Spark Control doesn’t allow it. Don’t get me wrong, almost everything I’ve heard about the this device is great. The only complaint ever seems to be that you must the Spark App with it. That’s not really a problem for me, I’m down with apps and don’ t play out at gigs or even with other people. Though there is a good friend on Hawai’i Island I’d love to visit and play with and all of this Spark gear would mean I could get my own tones next time I visit.

Instead, I’ve found that XSonic makes a five-switch foot controller that can use a software looper. It’s the Airstep Spark Edition.

So yeah, I ordered another piece of kit. Luckily, Amazon will take one or the other of them back. Or, as so often happens, I’ll keep both.