Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive

Easy

The Sparkle Drive plugs into a THD Univalve, great overdriven sound. No noise. Sounds like me. Here's a tip, plug this into a Creamy Dreamer, crunchy sustain for days with fantastic definition and no noise!.

Switch got flaky, sent to Voodoo Lab. Sent back to me via UPS at light speed. If only all companies were this way.

See above

Play all styles, have been playing over 20 years. It's a good pedal that is more versatile than a Tubescreamer, but costs around the same. Essential pedal for lots of styles. Would buy again.

This thing is easy to use. It has 4 knobs. Gain, Tone, Clean, and Volume. Doesn't get any easier than this. They are pretty self explanitory, so I won't go into detail.

I am using this with a Fender Strat, a Jackson w/ humbuckers, a solid state Crate, and a small tube amp. It has a little noise with the Strat, but that is expected with single coils. I love the sound this thing puts out. I have not been fortunate enough to use an "808", so I cannot tell if it truly sounds like one. That is Voodoo Lab's disclaimer. The Clean control adds a nice punch to the overall sound. Turn it up too high and the overdrive disappears. Mix it in a little and you get a clean distortion of sorts. It has very good note definition. If you are looking for a metal distortion, go somewhere else. This is great for blues and rock. It sounds sweet with a little chorus. Just get one and see for yourself. Using it as a clean boost is great too. It has enough oomph to overdrive my tube amp. The only thing that would be great is if the Tone control worked on the Clean too. It only works on the Gain. Maybe next time. I have to give it a 9 because there is no perfect pedal.

This thing is rock solid. Built to last. No need for a backup.

N/A

I play mostly in the blues and rock genre with a little funk and jazz mixed in. I would recommend to anyone who is looking for a versatile overdrive pedal to go and buy one. I would definately buy another one under any circumstance. I forgot to mention that it is true bypass. All in all, it is a great pedal for $109.

Since others have submitted complete reviews I will just get to the meat.
First of all, beware that if you see any reviews that tout 100% satisfaction it's probably been submitted by the manufacturer, or someone close. I have had problems and because of these, it is difficult to troubleshoot and use.

I have tried this with mostly tube amps, and I can say it does do OK when it works.
When the unit is off, the signal drops out and I have to nudge it on the floor to get the signal back. So something that sounds like an 8 is really a 1 when it constantly gos intermittent.
I've tried other cords, so I decided to open it and have a look. Let me tell you what I found.

On examination of the unit I found the footswitch to be board mounted, all of the pots are soldered to another board and flex wired to the main board. The connectors are also soldered to the main board, and they are the crummy PC mout style. You can't service these. If your plug is not hitting the contacts right, them it will drop out signal. Even the LED is soldered to the board.

They seem to be responsive since I have heard this from other reviewers, but why should I have to servive a unit I paid 100+ for?
I think many of these manufacturers need to wake up and realize that mass manufacturing techniques applied to overpriced effects pedals is not a good way to insure their future. Of course there will always be the new unsuspecting customer that they thrive off of.

If I sound harsh, it's because I think they deserve it. If they intend to apply mass manufacturing techniques, they should do failure analysis or something before pushing it off on the consumer. They way after 1000 hr of analysis, they would find what I found in 5 minutes.

I don't think I'll buy from them again.

I have to say, at first I didn't like this pedal and was considering sending it back, but after some tweaking I came to like this pedal. I think that this is due to the fact that I am a very impatient person, I just expected it to sound good right away.
The clean boost works really well with tube amps.

I mainly use this pedal with 2 different amps, a 50 watt Marshall 2x12 combo, and a Carvin X60B 1/2 stack.
For guitars, I use a Strat, a Gibson SG, and a couple of old '80s Kramers, and it sounds great with all of them.
It is not a high gain distortion pedal at all, but it's a nice overdrive pedal. With my strat, I can pretty much nail Stevie Ray Vaughans sound (but not his technique).

As far as I can see, it's built pretty well, I have only had it a couple of weeks, so who knows.

Never dealt with Voodoolabs.....

I play blues and hard rock, and this pedal suits these styles pretty well, although I do have other pedals on my board.
I have to agree with the others who say the knobs are too close together, but it's not a big problem.
I compared it to the Ibanez TS9 tube screamer and I think it is a much better pedal.

Bog standard operation, can you turn knobs?, then you can use this pedal. It gets only 9 'cos the knobs are too close together

I run Peavey Wolfgangs into a recently purchased Heartbreaker Combo. Set-up as follows: Guitar>Akai Vari-wah>Sparkle drive>MXR Phase 100>Boss LS2>Boss Pedal tuner>Boss CE2>Boss BF2>BossDD3>Boss NS2>Amp.
I brought the Sparkle drive to beef up Heavy sounds on the amp but without changing the Amps superb tone. Suffice to say, it does this and then some.This is surely one of the most organic sounding OD units out there, it will not colour your sound but it will enhance it.Do not buy pedals to make you sound like other players as they will not. Use your imagination and try to sound like YOU!

At one hundred english pounds it had better be reliable, but based on Voodoo Labs rep, I would be suprised to have any Problems

Never dealt with them

I play in a Rock/Blues Covers band, and we try to to put our own slant on songs rather than reproduce them exactly. I have been playing for 20 years and have a great many influences but I have always tried to sound like ME!.I believe that this pedal is one of the best ever, but decry people talking about the SRV Tone, by all means try one and buy one but please do not think it will make you sound like any of the well known TS9 users 'cos it will not.Be happy,be intuitive and BE YOURSELF, that is how great music is made.

It's an easy pedal to figure out, and the one-sheet instructions explain it all; the gain only affects the OD amp, etc. Once I got the concept down in my head, the controls made perfect sense. Other reviews go over the control functions so I won't bother. I do agree that the small knobs are a bit unwieldy, but only compared to other Voodoo Labs pedals--definitely less so than a Boss or Ibanez pedal

My setup:
Guitars: G&L ASAT Z3, EB/MM hardtail Silhouette w/HSS EMGs, old Steinberger GL w/HH and TransTrem.
Amp: I've ditched them all except for my 1X12 Boogie Mark I reissue combo.

The Sparkle Drive is very quiet in operation and in bypass. While I agree with another reviewer that this effect cannot be "true" bypass, it is a pristine bypass and shouldn't be overlooked on this technicality.

The overdrive effect is excellent. I don't worship at the temple of Tubescreamer, so I can't compare. I would describe the overdrive tone as ranging from "a little dirty" to "hot." Yes, there are no metal tones, but I know enough from reading about Tubescreamers that when a pedal advertises its sound to be similar to a TS, I should not expect metal tones.

Here's my take on the clean control: I am a one-amp player, but I played for over a decade in a band where the other guitarist always went stereo. He could have one amp running with low gain and another with high gain; the sonic characteristics of his guitar and his picking came through. THIS is what the Sparkle Drive does for me--it gives me one of the benefits of playing with two amps while only using one.

After searching for my perfect tone for many years, I've finally settled on a formula: I set the Mark I on "Tweed" and keep it clean so I have instant access to a clean tone (It is not a channel-switching amp, but none that are have come close to matching the Mark I's tone). I got out from my guitar into a Teese RMC-1, a vintage Dyna Comp modded with a 3PDT, a Tech 21 XXL (for more extreme distortion tones), the Sparkle Drive, a Voodoo Labs Micro Vibe and an Ernie Ball Volume Pedal. Power is from a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power. Depending on the song I'm playing, I'll tweak the Sparkle Drive to either use it to dirty up my sound (say, for a rock song with arpeggios), give me a bluesy distortion, or to boost the XXL.

The Sparkle Drive matches up best with single coils in any position. The "twang" of my Z3 can be preserved and give me a great country sound with just a little bit of dirt.

I also use a Boss VF-1 for headphone practice and the Sparkle Drive works great in this capacity as well.

I must stress again that this is not an all-in-one pedal--the amount and type of distortion is not suitable for styles where a Wes Borland or Kirk Hammett type of sound is required.

I've owned a bunch of Voodoo Labs gear (Pedal Power, Proctavia, Micro Vibe, Sparkle Drive) and have played with others who have owned Voodoo gear, including the Ground Control system. Neither they nor I have ever had any problems. My only beef is that the battery isn't held securely enough in the housing, but since I don't use batteries, it's not going to be an issue for me.

Voodoo pedals seem designed for players who mount their effects on a pedal board. There are no rubber feet, just a sheet of thin rubber stuck on the bottom. I DO use a board, so I just take of the rubber and put on the Velcro. If I were just putting this pedal on the floor, I don't think the rubber would last long.

I have dealt with Voodoo Labs via e-mail and they were very responsive and polite. I bought this and all my other Voodoo Labs gear through musictoyz and that guy has been great, too.

I play many styles of music, including punk, metal, country, lounge, pop, disco, and polka. The Sparkle Drive is already proving to be the most valuable effect in my arsenal, whether as a solo boost in a metal song or to give a pop song just a little bit of edge.

I've been playing for around 21 years and have owned an embarassing amount of gear, including solid state, digital, and tube amps and effects.

If some bastard stole this or if I was stupid enough to loose it, I would buy another in a heartbeat--this one is a keeper for sure!

This is without a doubt one of the most musical guitar effects I have ever played. I would love to see a future version with high-gain distortion--I'd use both!

Front-mounted jacks and LED definitely a plus. Four-knob operation; only drawback for me was that once I got the knobs where I wanted them, it was too easy to bump one out of position while tweaking its neighboring knob. Minor issue...

First of all, those of you with solid-state amps: this will work! I demo'd this on my Roland JC-77 and was pleased. I wasn't looking to overdrive my preamp here; not a good idea on solid-state. The clean boost is transparent, with plenty of gain, but what I was looking for was the "in-between" distortion sounds. I like the Larry Carlton/Robben Ford/Mike Bloomfield tones. I don't have the need for clean boost; I use a volume pedal. However, if you want to slam the front end of a tube amp, it does it very well. I tried that on my Mesa Boogie Subway Rocket...Regarding the quality of the distortion: very smooth and round. You can make it edgier (and increase the sustain) by cranking up the tone knob. Sounded much less boxy than the lead mode on the Rocket. Very nice sound. The draw for me with this box was the ability to mix clean with dirt, and capture those elusive "in-between" sounds. It didn't do that to my satisfaction: just not enough sustain...

Beautifully made. All the others reviews give this a high rating. Will give it a nine based on reputation. Yes, would use it without a backup.

No experience here...

Been playing almost 40 years. (Anybody catch the Mike Bloomfield reference?) Played professionally for twenty. Enjoy all styles, but consider myself a rock/r&b player. Use a Zion strat with Seymour Duncans (lots of switching options) and an Ibanez 335-type, also with Seymour Duncans. I am addicted to the Roland's stereo chorus. Been using it since they came out, and have gone thru a number of distortion/od pedals looking for the right one. Had the original TubeScreamer and didn't realize it would become a collector's item. Good unit. Used a ProCo Rat for a long time. Still use a Scholtz Distortion Generator occasionally. Unit of choice has been the original Hughes & Kettner Tubeman. Haven't been able to improve on that so far. Bought the Subway Rocket off Ebay on a whim. Like it a lot, but that's another review. I didn't keep Sparkle Drive. Bought it from Musictoyz.com, just to try them (him, it's a one-man operation) out. No problems with the return. Just not enought sustain for me. Wanted to submit this review as way of saying thanks to all those that have contibuted; I have spent many hours reading the critiques of effects, guitars, and amps. It's nice to have a perspective other than the magazine reviews...

Fairly simple operation.....takes a little tweaking to get it just right for personal taste(as with any product)

Im using a les paul standard and a rivera knucklehead 100.The dirty rhythm channel resembles an old marshall kind of sound and in my opinion,this pedal works perfect with that.The biggest advantage of this pedal over the "tubescreamer"is the clean knob.It really delivers notes that are very "defined".

havent had it long enough to tell but it seems like its built well.

havent needed any yet....

I play heavy new alternative and classic rock.Fits nice for what I do.

It's a "no-brainer" to get a good sound out of the Sparkle Drive. You have gain, tone, clean, and volume controls to noodle with. Go for it! A simple one page instuction form came with it - but honestly, it wasn't necessary and if you NEED one...you shouldn't be playing.

I own at present: A maple-top, goldtop PRS Standard with Dragon II pickup's, Yamaha 904 (USA made) Pacifica with custom Seymour Duncan's,
Fender Roadhouse Strat with Texas Specials and a 1987 G&L ASAT Special. My amp is a 1999 65 Twin Reissue. With each guitar there's a sweet spot for sue, but my joy is I got what I was looking for - a pedal that kicks out blues tones with clarity and tone. I'm not after my favorite artist's sounds, but my own. However, this pedal gives you the best SRV clone job out there in an instant. My number one goal was to has a fat clean tone with just an edge of OD. You can get high gain if you want it too. High marks for not sounding as "transitorized" as a Tube Screamer does.

Very rugged case and switch. I'm not worried about it breaking.

Haven't had a reason to call yet.

I play all styles and I get all the OD sound I need for jazz, blues and country styles. If I want super crunch and metal I'll use my SansAmp box. I've been playing for 36 years. I definitely want another one if this one disappears. One way they could improve on it is to have a seperate stomp button to kick in the clean boost. I'm so glad I waited out the 7 weeks it was on back order.

Just like any other OD (gain, tone, volume) except it has the clean "blend" control, which is the whole reason for this pedal's existence. Dialing in the right amount of clean can take a little tweaking, but once set, I think it works for varied levels of gain.

WOW! This thing should have been invented a long time ago. The blend control makes this thing the most useful OD pedal, IMO. I am using it with a strat and tele with a twin reverb (JBLs) and a princeton reverb. The twin is far too loud to get dirty tone at a reasonable volume. The sparkle drive allows you to get some smooth overdrive without losing the attack, snap, and feel of the guitar you're playing.

All other ODs I've tried color the guitar sound too much and give an unnatural muffled sound to the string attack. The clean control lets you add in a bit (or a lot) of uncolored guitar tone to restore bottom end and string feel. If you dime the blend, the pedal becomes a fully transparent clean boost. Plus, it is true bypass, if that matters to you. Why spend $300 for a Klon when this does the same and much more? I hate to give a 10, but its about GD time somebody made something like this!

Brand new, but looks to be built like a tank.

Never dealt with.

I play country, blues, and rock and roll with fender guitars and amps. This pedal is the holy grail for me. Never before have I purchased a new effect and knew instantly it was EXACTLY what I wanted- until now. If you want your amp to sound like it should at less than ear splitting levels, this pedal can do it, plus more. The versatility is amazing. It can be a tubescreamer, a clean boost, or anything in between. It sounds good through a cranked amp, or one turned down to 1- few ODs can do this. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!