Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive

4 knobs. Gain, Tone, Clean, and Volume. Start with low settings, ring a couple of adjacent strings, and bring each knob up at a time until you find your sound. Do this for each knob trying different combinations until you find the right ones.

I play a Jay Turser JT-135 into a Line6 1x12 60Watt combo amp. The sparkle drive has true bypass and is as quiet and covert as the amplifier. I can get from classic Rock (Eagles) to Blues (you know the ones) with this pedal. A quality sound at any setting.

Hand made in California. Analog Circuitry. I should not need a backup for this.

Have not had to deal with them.

I play Contemporary Christian (Third Day, Audio Adrenaline) to classic 70's Rock (what a decade!). Been playing for 30 years and this pedal can cover the styles I play. If it were stolen, I would get another Sparkle Drive. I love everything about this pedal.

4 knobs. Gain, Tone, Clean, and Volume. Start low with guitar ringing, bring one knob up at a time to where it is to your liking. Keep tweeking different combinations 'til you find the right one.

I play a Jay Turser JT-135 through Sparkle Drive into a Line6 combo with the amp delay around one second. This pedal has true bypass. It is as quiet as the amplifier. Nails classic Rock (Eagles) and Blues (you know the ones).

Hand made in California. Analog Circuit. A high quality unit.

I have never dealt with them.

I play Contemporary Christian (Third Day, Audio Adrenaline) and classic 70's Rock riffs (what a decade!) I would buy it again if it were stolen. Losing it is not an option. I love everything about this pedal.

Very easy to get the a great blues or rock tone. I haven't found a setting that wouldn't sound great for something.

I keep it pretty simple: American Fender Texas Special --> Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive --> Teese Wah RMC1 --> Peavey Classic 50 2X12 (I know it's a Peavey, but I thought it was better than anything else out there in the same price range).

I bought the Sparkle Drive over several others for a two major reasons 1) I thought it sounded just as good as the Maxon OD808, but thought the Sparkle Drive was more versatile (i.e. I can get the SRV sound very easily, but can get more grit as well) and 2) the Sparkle Drive is True Bypass. This pedal gives me SRV, Clapton, Hendrix, Buddy Guy, you name it. I am very happy with the sound.

Light gigging (for the last 3-4 months) and I play without a backup. Come to think of it, I can't think of anybody I know in the whole "band scene" who has a backup for their pedals. I think I can depend on it.

No need yet.

Been playing poorly for 20 years, some gigging, but mostly a hobbyist. The more I play, however, the more concerned I've become with the tone (i.e., I'm always looking for THE tone). I tweak the settings on the pedal occasionally, mostly the "clean" knob, and have never ended up with a tone that I didn't like. If you're looking for SRV, Clapton, Hendrix, Buddy Guy, etc. this is a great sounding and incredibly versatile pedal.

Very easy to get a great tone from this pedal. Really no bad sounds.

Unbelievable tone with gain at about 85%, tone at 70%, clean knob at 20%, and volume knob at least half way. I play a Godin Solidac into a Tech 21 Trademark 60 and this pedal is UNREAL for getting a really compressed, clear-sounding, bell-like tone that sustains for days. I've had two Tubescreamers and various other overdrives/distortions, and this one honestly blows them all away.

Don't really know, but have heard alot of good things about them.

Seriously, as for the tone, I'm DONE looking for overdrives. This is it. The only thing I could nit-pick about is the fact that you have to unscrew 4 screws to change the batteries. That's the only bad thing. A very versatile pedal.

It's got 4 knobs. If you don't know how to turn a knob or step on the switch, then pedals might not be the way to go for you. If you need further explanation, the instructions explain stuff pretty clearly.....if you are literate.

I've read both positive and negative reviews. Some may be manufacturers, some may be experienced players, some may not know what the hell they are talking about. All pedals are different and unique. I think a good sounding pedal doesn't take away from the amp's natural tone. I doubt all these tone experts know what good tone is. I see people describing their rigs who say the Sparkle drive lacks tone and they have a whole load of effects and other crap in their rig. Most of these people don't realize that they are playing through crappy amps and they probably don't realize the lack of tone is in their fingers!

I have tried many different setups over the years. Currently I use a Matchless cheifton from 1995 and a New Fender "evil" twin. I only use the clean channels(Matchless is only one channel, and the Twin's clean is the only one worth a damn.) I have a '57 reissue custom strat and a custom les paul. My old setup was a mesa triaxis and 50-50...etc. I have become disillusioned with modeler and rackmount "amps".

I think the sparkle drive sounds great. I'm not sold on the clean blending, maybe because it doesn't suit my particular style(mostly pop/rock and rock.) I beleive in playing dynamics. I crank my amp so that it sounds clean when I play soft and slightly dirty when I pound on it. By the way, to achieve this, you need a good amp. Class A is the way to go , but any tube combo may be sufficient. Definately get away from solid state or modeler amps. The sparkle drive adds just enough overdrive so that it sounds slightly dirty when you are soft, and nicely distorted when you play hard. The true bypassing is the way to go if you don't want big changes in tone when you shut off the pedal.

Here is a bit of experience coming at you. When I've been in the studio or working with a good producer, I noticed that they know what amps sound good and most producers know what sounds they are looking for. Try binging in your line 6 or triaxis to the basics session. It helps to lighten up the mood. I got my best "distorted" tones ever from a 63 Vox Ac30 and a 95 Matchless dc-30. Clean channel, cranked. Now thats distortion. The sparle drive is not the same overdrive as a fully cranked amp, but it gives you good distortion at lower volumes.

As far as live is concerned. Again, its all about a good amp and a good ear. Every live situation is different. You won't know an original ts808 from a sparkle drive from your ass live, and anyone who says he does, needs to try playing live. The best rigs are simple. Guitar, amp, a good overdrive and effects sparingly. Raw cuts through the best. People who use tons of crap that muddy the dynamics need to see what "the pros" are doing. You'd be surprised.

I know I haven't talked much about the sparkle drive. I like it. I'm using it on an indefinate trial basis. If it suits my needs, it will be in my rig until it doesn't. I read all these reviews and many others, as well as talked to people who have used it. I'm happy I bought it.

I hope I can depend on it. Things aren't made like they used to be. If you want one that is, original ts808's are going for $500+ on ebay right now.
If I have issues, I'll give Voodoo labs a chance to right it and update my review here.

Irrelavant, but I've heard good things.

I think if you've read this far, you know where I'm coming from. Try stuff out. It may or may not be for you. Remember that simplifying is the key. Start with a good amp and guitar. If you are happy there then start adding stuff. If you aren't happy, nothing is going to help it, like many say.
Try thinking about dynamics, clarity, and musicality. If you aren't sounding good clean, practice.

If you buy it, submit a review. I've found some of these to be helpful. You can tell who are the honest submitters.( I think the guy from New Zealand is hallarious!)

If you are playing solid state amps, or using digital modeler anything, this pedal isn't for you.

Straight foward to use. Anybody 6 years old or above could use this.

With a reissue Fender deluxe reverb and an older Les Paul Classic, it gets a great overdriven tone. I mainly use tube screamers (TS10's). The Sparkle Drive can give a little more breakup and distortion. I don't think it has quiet as much midrange punch, but it comes very close. Overall in a band situation, I don't think you could hear the difference. Its that close. Crank up the volume to the 2 o'clock position and set the gain at about 11 o'clock, tone at 10 o'clock and clean at 9 o'clock. It sounds great with the Deluxe Reverb and Les Paul.

I don't see how anything could go wrong with the Sparkle Drive. Solid metal housing and heavy duty switch. I really like TS10 tube screamers but they are not very solid. I've had to resoilder the input,output and 9V battery jacks a dozen times. The Sparkle Drive is pretty much a TS10 but built to last.

Never had to deal with.

I play anything from southern rock, classic rock, country and blues and this pedal does them all very nicely. I've been playing for 26 years and half that on the road. I wish I had bought one of these before I did. For the price, if it were stolen, I would definitely buy another one. Just remember when you buy a pedal, alot of the tone and sound comes from the amp and guitar, but most of all the one playing it.No pedal will do miracles.

4 knobs to do so little is a bit of overkill

Absoute crap. I read everything I could about this pedal before having it shipped to me in New zealand and found it has lived up to none of it's expectations. Tone control is piss poor and the overdrive effect is mush. I now seriously question the authenticity of "rave" reviews at sites such as these.
I tested it through a Marshall 50 watt tube combo with a Rickenbacker 330 and a Gibson 335.

I'll never use it enough to find out how long it lasts

The only good thing about this was how quickly they shipped it out to me in New Zealand. If I built crap like this I'd want it out the door as quick as possible too.

I've been playing for 25 years and have tried loads of these pedals and this rates as one of the worst. Do not buy this pedal. Get either a Tube Screamer of hunt down a Hot Cake (hand made overdrive pedals that beats them all-hands down) from New Zealand

There are Four Controls which make it a little more challenging than your average Overdrive pedal, especially since it allows you to mix in a clean signal. Overall though, you can get the hang of it in about 15 minutes, but sometimes you may be tempted to back off of the tone control or add with the tone control without simply adjusting your clean level to add dullness or brightness.

This was a good idea for an overdrive, unfortunately it didn't quite give me the results I was looking for. I a/b 'd this against my current re-issue Ibanez TS-9 (un-modded) and the TS9 won out. The Sparkle drive definitely has the TS9 vibe in the distortion end. I could almost clone the sound of the TS9 with the Dparkle Drive, but the Sparkle Drive has some added headroom in the highend whereas the TS9 is very midrangey and throaty. If you need a little more high end, this may be the pdal for you- I use a Danelectro U3>Maxon CP101 Compressor>TS9>Boss NS-2 Noise Supressor>Fender Princeton Chorus>Voodoo Lab Tremolo and Akai Headrush in effects loop. I have the sparkling high end covered and I am looking to my overdrive to add fullness to the rig. One reviewer mentioned that the OD sounded "fizzy" on this pedal, well, overll it sounds very good-but yes the top end sounds "fizzy" to me as well. I wanted to like this pedal more- I LOVE the Voodoo Lab tremolo, it sounds like part of the amp! But I'm sending this one back and trying a modded TS9 (I recently sent back the much hyped Maxon OD808 as well) I still haven't quite got the Overdrive I want, but my TS9 reissue is still beating more expensive pedals in my (very clean solid state) rig.
If you are using tubes or humbuckers, maybe the tonal response would work better. I like my solid state rig, although it could use a little tube-like warmth, the TS-9 has done it best so far.

I like the way Voodoo Labs constructs their gear. Good warranty, made by hand in USA. Good, true bypass switches, nice cases. I trust it.

Never dealt with except one email-they were lightning fast with a response so I'll give it a 10.

Overall, this is a decent pedal-the blending of a clean signal was a good idea, it just didn't compliment my rig the way I wanted it to. 13 years on club circut, owned a bunch of stuff-I sent this back. i'm going to check out a Keeley moded TS9 or maybe go back to a Real Tube (had one once-sounded great, just a little heavy I remember...) Voodoo Lab makes great stuff and their tremolo is awesome (4 knob version) so try this out next to your OD, it mey be just what you need.

Simple. Tone control only effects gain though. Probably a good thing
since the clean boost is so transparent.

I run a variety of guitars into a Line6 DL4>Sparkle Drive and into
either a Fender 4x10 Hot Rod DeVille or a Mesa 1x10 Suway Blues driving a 2x12 close-backed cab. The "DRIVE" channel of the Fender is
pretty nice, but a little loud if you want to balance it with the superb clean channel of the 4x10. The Sparkle delivers a wide range of
great overdrive tones which can be matched with the excellent lower-
volume range of the clean channel. The Mesa Subway Blues 1x10 and cab
is a great combo, but the dual EL84 single channel amp prefers certain
sweet spots on the volume dial which don't always cut through a noisy
band. Now I can dial-in the sweetest low-gain tones for either my single coil or humbucker guitars than simply boost the clean signal until the amp lights-up. Sweet. Never buried again and the signal, clean or gained, is more than enough to make any good valve amp start to sweat. Now I can take my "little" rig to play out and cut-through
easily with room to spare in most situations.

No problems so far. Voodoo has a pretty good rep when it comes to build quality, reliability and service.

Never had any experience with Customer Support

This is an incredible buy for 119.00. I play Surf/Blues/Roots music and enjoy clean tube tones, juicy reverb and twangy echo. The Sparkle
rules when it comes to articulate, lower-gain overdrive and is a godsend for those who have a great little tube amp but need a potent
clean boost to kick it up a notch. BAM!

Very easy and intuitive knobs. A short manual is included.

Awesome. I brought my fulltone dp-1 into a store to compare to the sparkle drive because I wanted to hear if I could get my dp-1 to mimic a smooth overdrive. When testing the two I found my dp-1 to sound harsh and choppy and within 2 minutes I knew this pedal was what I wanted. It gave a smooth overdrive with the ability to blend in a clean sound, it doesn't sound like two amps but it sounds very good. I can get clapton(the man) to hendrix (god) to srv (demi-god). Actually, it doesn't sound like any of them, but it sounds damn good. I can't hear any annoying amount of noise from it either.

I don't know yet, but it seems as sturdy as any other good pedal.

Man, what a pedal. It's not as versatile as the dp-1, but it sounds so much better. I traded the dp-1 straight for it and lost 100.00 in the process. I wish I hadn't bought into the hype surrounding the dp-1 , but this pedal makes up for it. I run my clapton strat into this into my 71 deluxe. I'm a very happy man, dialing in the clean with the overdrive is sweet but the overdrive alone is worth the money.