Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive

All knobs are self explanitory. Just a little tricky when blending drive & clean boost.

Using a Aerodyne strat with a all tube handwired(from original specs)Fender Princeton amp treble and bass no mid w/reverb & tremolo . Very basic!!. The unit is a tad noisy with drive past 12 O'clock but nothing major. The effect nails pure vintage amps on 11 and the clean boost really gets rid of any muddy sound you would typically get from a tube amp cranked and not elevated. I love the sound out of this box because I had many overdrives and distortions in my time!

Totally built to last. No backup needed.

Never had to deal with company and hope never to.

I mainly play a lot of bluesy jazz. It fits perfectly for what i do. I have been playing for 25 years and owned alot of guitars,amps,and effects. I love the fact that it does not color your sound unless you turn clean all off and put drive all up. Just enough crackle to rock out on.

Pretty straight forward. Gain, Tone, Blend, and Volume. The only thing that takes a little getting used to is the blend feature which is really the beauty of this pedal.

Set up is: Anderson or Melancon thru Boss tuner-Boss DD3 delay- Dunlop Wah-VooDoo Lab Microvibe-Sparkle Drive. The pedal is only noisey when the volume is cranked up all the way and the blend is all the way down, so obviously it's going to hiss a little. Again, the beauty of this pedal is all the in between sounds like Keith Richards, SRV, and Hendrix which are acheived via the blend option.

So here's where it goes south. I've had this pedal for over 2 years now and in that time, I've had to send it back to the factory twice. It's a problem you read about a lot here; you hit the switch to turn it on and the volume drops almost completely out. The worst part is that it's intermittent. So come solo time, here you go for the gusto, and WHAM! NOTHING THERE! The folks at Voodoo Lab are very nice and accomodating. Both times I sent it back they say the couldn't make the pedal malfunction, so they replaced the switch. It started happening again about 4 months ago, so I called them and John was very professional and sent me some switches. I cannot gig without a backup (HBE Power Screamer) because it is a frightening feeling not knowing when this thing's going to act up. So why do I keep it? It really is the best sounding pedal I've ever owned! I absolutely love it.

Very nice people. Very easy to contact and they react pretty quickly. I wish they were a little more pro-active and deal with the switch problem they have. They seem to be in denial about it, but I have a Microvibe that had the exact same problem, and I have a friend w/a Sparkle Drive with the exact same problem. But I cannot complain about how they've helped me when the pedal malfunctioned.

I've been playing 20 years. I play classic rock and contemporary Christian. This is just a great pedal for any style of music. If it were lost, I'd buy another in a second! This is my desert island pedal. I just wish I could use it without worrying about it going out on me. There really is no comparison to this pedal, no one on the market has anything this hip (again, blend control).

It's a pedal, use your foot!

Very classic in character, like a screamer overdrive or the zillion other screamer imitators, so if you're not shooting for THAT sound you may be disappointed, but in 9 out of 10 cases I'd bet that if you're looking into the sparkle drive then you know that's the case and that IS what you want.

For me, I needed a straight-up overdrive that cleaned up and responded to dynamics. It's not really amp-like in my opinion, but the drive is really biting and clear, which is what I wanted, and the "CLEAN" blend makes it a really cool and fun to customize beyond the standard overdrive tone. I looked at a lot, lot, lot of overdrives when shopping, mostly because there are so dang many, and though there are some really cool things available most anything better or cooler is more expensive, or MUCH more expensive even.

I wanted something basic and I did not want to spend a lot, but I couldn't get excited about picking up a TS or generic clone or Boss version. Despite what brochures or young ears may swear to, a lot of the cheap overdrives out there do not clean up for that NATURAL sound. I don't want to sound old or snobby (like other reviews online can be), but trust me if you know what I mean you know it's important to say this pedal has the goods on the clear but JUST a bit hairy spectrum. This gets it and does a nasty, funky, cool clean thing as well.

Speaking of the "CLEAN" blend, NOTE: it does not sound like you may imagine, so you know. I used to have a funky set up with one guitar split to a clean and dirty signal before hitting the recording board, and this doesn't imitate that the way I thought. It's just more control over the tone, which is good, AND a ready-to-go clean boost, if needed. With one of my old guitars the output is dreadfully thin, and when I use that guitar I beef it up by turning the sparkle drive all the way clean. Saves me from buying a dedicated clean boost, which as much of a pedal hog I am, I just don't need enough to add to an already crowded pedal board. This does the job for those special cases, though. Nice!

I could give it a ten, but come on, it's an overdrive, not a mystical music box that will absolutely change your world. I'm not obsessive about overdrive tone the way I used to be and the way many, many players can be. It's a well-beaten path, no need for reinventing the wheel here. Just give me the perfect thing for getting that classic taste of drive in the right song. The sparkle drive delivers.

9 is very good.

Yeah no problems, and true bypass!

I don't or haven't tried them.

I play guitar, this thing does what I need and more.

I love the CLEAN blend and wish all pedals or pedal makers were into creative additions like that. Like many musicians I get bored, bring on the innovation!

But speaking of random desires, I tend to tweak a lot, so added functions would be nice additions, perhaps, I would add a bass EQ and maybe another, stacked distortion circuit, kinda like the FD2 overdrive, but for half the price I'm quite happy with it. Then again, put it with an EQ pedal and big MUFF like me and you'll have a lot of possiblities, I promise.

Again, I can't just give it a 10, but a 9 means it's does what it does with excellence, though, really, no more, no less. Hard not to love!

No problems here, although learning to blend the clean signal with the gain signal to your preference may take some practice.

I play through fender tube amps with a prs custom 22.

True bypass is a good thing.

Pedal is quiet. I don't know that it could be quieter.

This a fairly excellent sounding pedal; really lovely overdrive sound, and you can retain more attack (via the clean signal) than you can with your average tube screamer style peadal.

I've had some switch problems as well--seems like everyone has. they're not a big deal, but they should fix this.

will probably get the switch replaced soon.

I play various experimental forms of rock and jazz, lots of noisy stuff--I like the varieties of tone and feedback I can get with this baby--I can use her just for boost and let my amp do the overdriving, or I can use the big, overdrive tone from the pedal. Preserves the character of my guitar nicely as well.

Easy to operate. Every knob does something.

This pedal is the perfect match for my plexi. Its pretty much a tube screamer without the clean boost. The plexi is already dirty and i use this pedal to push it over the edge.

Try maxing out the drive, tone and volume knobs which will give you a nasty trebly sound then, set the clean to around halfway. Run this into a plexi(ish) type of amp and this pedal is the shit! You get the boost of the clean to overdrive the preamp and then you can dial in how much 'screamer' you want via the clean dial. Here is where they get the 'sparkle' from.

The options are endless.

Dont get it if you dont like tube screamers!

Ive used it solidly almost daily for 5 months at home, rehearsals and gigs with absolutely no problems.

I expect no problems.

Never dealt with them on this.

This is an extremely useful pedal for my use with my plexi to push the front end and add a little bit of tube screamer to the mix without muddying up the tone.

Forget about it being stolen. Im actually buying another one soon to 'cascade' with even more tonal options.

The clean dial is this pedals selling point and it is perfect for driving a tube amp that is already slightly dirty.

The people dogging this pedal probably dont realise that it IS a good pedal but it just doesnt do what they wanted it to. Dont get it if you hate tube screamers.

Does what it say's on the tin. Add's both sparkle and drive.

It disapoints me when people confuse there requirements with what a unit can provide. Guitarists who don't like this pedal most likely want it to do something it does'nt.
It's great for
'Making any amp's clean and slightly overdriven sound better'

It's bad for
'Metal, thrash, shred etc'

If your looking for a pedal that boosts clean sounds (good for country, blues) and also has the bad bit's of the original tube screamer removed, this is it. I love the simple lightly distorted cristal sound. If you have listened to classic electric blues, country and rock you will spot the value of this pedal.

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In the UK this pedal is expensive. You could score one cheaper on ebay. It is however similar in price to the Ibanez Tube Screamer re-issues and half the price of boutique units.
It's much better than my original tube screamer due to the clean boost and a better mid range. I find the mid's of the TS808 a bit cloudy but it is a classic unit and this highlights the quality of the Voodoo.

No firmware ... :) No need manuel.
it's 100 % analogic, 4 knobs : drive tone clean volume. Nothing complicated.

The worst thing with this pedal is that i have to bend over to turn the knob, which is pretty normal for a pedal "on the floor".

light overdrive; light clean; tone around 10 or 11 o'clock and enough volume whatever setting i obtain a warm pretty good jazz sound.

drive at 12; no clean; tone 1 o'clock with a volume not too high : i can play with the clean in order to sweep away a little of dirt and i obtain a SRV hendrix and good crunchy light od tube sound which is very good.

drive at max, I play around with tht tone knob : volume low ... i got a good OD for rythm "kick ass" when the amp is clean warm when tone is low, with lot of volume and the tone pushed to the right the amp change is color and get really nasty if you have already a light od from the amp. That rocks.

After all of it ...

I put after the sparkle drive a classic distortion : with the clean at the max : WOW ..... here i am .. blowing like a hurricane ... if you know what i mean ....
so same config with drive instead of clean in the setting ... and again ...WOW ... lot of dynamics ... lot of compresion for the solo and it's natural .... nothing to worry about it.

This pedal rocks .... Check this out ...

no noise you don't want to hear when you record or something like that .... and the sound is really dynamic and warn (not like the podxt which put you in cold non natural sound even if that's do a good job, it's damn far of the real thing)

all what is in it is high quality features ... film resistors, capacitors polystuffidon'tknow, JRC4558whatever, etc ....

A true bypass .... Who does that really ? ibanez .... no no no i have to buy a mod or a A/B pedal to get back my clean sound ... GRRRR ... i don't to be stiggy but damn ....

i open it !!!! i didn't see any excessive wire which increase the lost of the ... it's tight ... eventhe battery plug actually is ot made with crap it's a damn robust plastich which is'nt gonna die in your hand after years O_O

129 $ : LOL are you kidding me ? why is it so cheap .. and it's made in U.S.A ??????

I plug it just after the guitar ... and i need an another one for serial plug : i need it :)

hmm hmmm ....

the pedal is well built so there is no matter calling them ...

... I would like a sticker ?

I play everything and nothing !

Good'sic to crap'sic.

I would like a twin sparkle drive something damn killing.

ONE is not enough :)

I use the sparke drive with mainly a 57' reissue Strat, a Vox AC30 and/or an 80's JC-120. My effects chain consists of a Dyna Comp>Sparkle Drive> Fuzz Face clone> Ibanez CS9 Chorus> Maxon Ad-900 delay.
I'm a bit confused by some of the negative comments regarding this unit. To me, first and foremost it is a TS-808 clone, with an added clean boost that can be mixed in to taste. Now a few words about each of these seperately: The OD circuit is an accurate reproduction of the 808 Tubescreamer circuit, warts and all. If the TS sound is not your thing, there is no sense in buying the Sparkle Drive. That said, as far as TS9's and 808's go, the Sparkle Drive sounds as good if not better than the best of the originals. Imagine replacing all the cheap caps and resistors in a 808 with high quality components and the resulting improvement in clarity (read -less muffled) and noise ratio. Also, it seems the taper of the pots is more smooth and gradual, as well the tone knob having a bit more usefullness as opposed to the original. Enough said.
The Clean boost is wonderful. Your original tone, just louder with the "hardness and stiffness" many otherwise excellent clean boosts have.
Blending the two sides gives a little more character the one side or the other, but for the most parts I use one side or the other.

So far so good. I think they stand behind thier products.

Two classic effects in one makes this a great value. High quality components, low noise and true bypass. The TS-9/808 sound has become a staple of classic rock and blues. Forget the hype of how it's transparent or sounds just like your amp- it doesn't. It completely colors you tone and sounds like a Tube Screamer- learn to love it. The Sparkle drive is a Great TS-808 plus added blendable Clean Boost. Enjoy.

Sounds like a weak TS-9.

Certainly no sparkle.

The blending of clean and drive tones makes no sense to me. It's like the old Electro harmonix Deluxe Big Muff with this feature or the horrid Fender Blender of the 60's or 70's.

I'm amazed some people like this thing.

I prefer the Boss O/S-2 overdrive/distortion pedal. It sounds great on my solid state and tube amplifiers.

I play from the blues to Heavy Metal.

Guitar Center Salesmen were heralding this pedal as being great so I took one home and tried it.

I don't like the Ibanez TS-9's much either.

I've been playing since 1969.

pretty straight-forward controls, but the options are limitless. You can off course get some nice tube-screamer type sounds, but you can also dial in some distortion sounds that might not be great alone, but can really add something when subtley mixed into the clean signal. For instance, crank the tone all the way up, add a little overdrive and mix it into the clean signal about 25% for a nice treble boost.

nice sounding pedal. true bypass and everything.

see below

This is why I wanted to post this. I bought this pedal second hand and used it for about two years before the switch became intermittent. I wasn't too bummed out since I had no idea how old it was when I bought it and replacing the switch is an easy repair. I emailed Digital Music Corp. to request a new switch (the DPDT stomp button mounts directly on the PC board so you can't replace it with one that doesn't match exactly) but they insisted that I send the pedal to them. I told them that I was pretty sure the 5 year warranty was void at this point and I was quite capable of fixing it myself with the right part, but they insisted and I eventually complied. Eight days later, they fed-exed it back with a new switch installed. They even replaced the two missing screws on the back and put it in a new box. THAT'S what I call service.

The clean control knob really makes it. This is a wonderful overdrive pedal that's also great for someone like me who loves the sound of their amp as it is and wants to add a little something different to the mix with the push of a button. And Voodoo Labs/Digital Music Corp's customer service is simply great.