Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive

Very easy to use and well thought out pedal.I love the blend knob!

This is a wonderful sounding pedal. It has a great blend function. As a clean boost this pedal can't be beat, the fact that it also has an OverDrive built in makes it a must-have pedal!

Now here is the MAJOR problem with this pedal(all VooDoo Lab pedals), the switches will(I don't mean might) go out on you. I have three VL pedals and they all have bad switches. I've sent them in to VL for repairs and they did it for free, but guess what? within a month I had the same problem with all three pedals again. Horrible, stay away!

I would have given them a 8 because they fixed them for free, but the problem wasn't really fixed. After they fixed them once they ignored all my e-mails after that. Horrible customer Service, stay away!

Great great pedal, when it worked.

This pedal has a rare combination: Extremely versitaile, yet exteremly easy to use. A volume, gain, tone and the clean blender. Nothing more.

My setup is: Gibson Les Paul Studio--->T-Rex Compnova--->Sparkle Drive--->T-Rex Mudhoney--> Voodoo Lab Analog Chorus--->T-Rex Replica-->Fender Blues Junior Amp.

The sound quality of this unit is fantasic!

With clean all the way up, you get the clean sound of the amp. Turn it down a bit, you got a great clean with a hint of drive. at 12 of clock, a very smooth half-drive half-clean sound. At zero, great tube-like overdrive. The tone knob is the most versitale I ever heard.

Gave it only 9, because the overdrive could have been fatter, but this can be easily fixed with the blues junior "fat" switch.

No problem so far. Build like a tank.

Never dealt with them.

Overall great clean blender, sounds fantastic! great overdrive too. Wish the drive would be fatter, though.

I'd say it's very easy to get a good sound out of it.

Greco strat -77/Fralin VH neck pu w baseplate - Fulltone Clyde - Sparkle Drive - Fulltone '69 - AMZ Booster - modded/"blackfaced" Fender Concert -83 top - THD 2X12 cab

A little bit noice whith full gain and my drivechannel on high gain, nothing to mention.

Sound quality is awesome. Perfect combination of texture and coloring. I plugged it in whith every knob at 12 o'clock, and they are still that way...

Before I heard it I had a little doubt over the "layereffect", but the clean and overdrive blends perfectly.

Whith everything set at 12:

On the clean channel I get what I missed on the Fulldrive 2:s FM mode I sold a while ago: The sparkle and feel and edge and bite. Tonal coloring about the same.

On the dirtchannel I get raw crunch, clear, but yet whith bite. I hear every note. When I increase gain and blend I get a more searing leadtone whith some harmonics. But I don't use it whits that setting.

I'ts a 808, you can't miss that.

Havent used so long, only a cuouple of months at gigs and rehearsals. I't has the stompswitch attached directly at the board inside, which, have I understood, could be problematic if you should have to repair it. On the other hand, it comes whith a 5 year warranty...

I play in two cover bands, thats covers the most: Rock, soul, pop, disco, funk, from the '60s to nowadays...

I've been playing guitar for 30 years

Would by it again, I'm thinkin about bying another one, and get it modded by Keeley, using it after this one. The "blendingthing" realy made it happen for me. No more mud, only beatyful tone, which I can adjust after taste. Very versatile.

This baby made me think realy serious about getting a Barber Tone Press.

This one came after many OD pedals, example given: BJF Baby Blue, Fulltone OCD, Fulldrive 2 and Distortion Pro. This one I keep.

For the price, its a fantastic value

very easy to use. Blend control is gradual and tapers well. Not suddenly one way or the other.

I saw a lot of reviews that seemed to be guys running them into cleaner amps and commenting on not a ton of gain available. I run mine into a 70's 2203 Marshall usually running the preamp at about 12-2 O'Clock, using Gibsons. It has a perfect push on top of the Marshall. I can definitely play metal with this pedal and the Marshall together. Into a Twin or DRRI, probably not. I love the blend control. Tuned to A440 I only use the clean boost but if I tune down, usually to C#, being able to blend in some of the OD circuit is great for getting some top end snap back. I use the "808" side as an EQ basically.
Overall the pedal as many have said, is quite natural sounding and doesn't obscure the guitar. When boosting I still hear a LP into a Marshall just ballsier and more sustain.

It has True Bypass....a must. I hate using pedals without it now.

It also worked great on Bass as the blend helps you keep the low end together.

It worked solid for over 2 years and has recently had some issues with the switch. Sometimes when turned off the bypassed signal is weak. I would recommend a backup if your sound is designed around this pedal. I have used it live and in the studio many times over those 2+ years so it was really used if you know what I mean.

Here's where it really counts. I have never experienced a better customer support experience than with Voodoo Lab. They return emails very fast and have hooked me up in the past with cables for my Pedal Power and are also going to take care of me on the Sparkledrive's switch, pronto. No muss, no fuss.
It's a given things will go wrong and things will fail. What really matters is how are you taken care of when this happens. Voodoo Lab is obviously all about complete customer support. Make a great product and back it up like it was your own.

I play bluesy hard rock and metal from AC/DC and NWOBHM stuff to COC and BLS. This pedal is great for these with an already driving tube amp. For older Metallica and other similar type stuff I would use a more distortion orientated pedal.
Been playing for 22 years. I also have a Dunlop Dimebag wah, Boss Hyper Fuzz, Line 6 DL4, Boss DS-1, DOD 250, Boss CS-3 and Boss TU-2 tuner. Main guitar is an '83 Gibson Black LP Custom with a Burny Japanese copy as backup.

I also use their Pedal Power (first series), GCX Audio Switcher and the ground control. All work top notch.

I compared it to the MXR Zakk Wylde OD and MXR Distortion + and a few "boutique" choices that GC had. I picked it because it was true bypass and priced better than the other "boutique" choices (also sounded better). The ZW-44 did sound great. In it's own way as good as the Sparkledrive but not better.
If it were lost or stolen I would try another pedal, only for variety, knowing I could always return to the Sparkledrive as a tried and true choice.

If your looking for a better tubescreamer but with a kickin' clean boost as an option that has a well tapered blend feature then this is a stand out choice. I'll give it an 8 instead of a 10 as the switch should have lasted longer but if not for the excellent customer support it would have been a 6. Great company and product.

Pretty straightforward. It's an Overdrive pedal, nothing here to tax the brain too much. Mine's the stock model, with four knobs: gain, volume, tone, and clean. The only issue is the balance between Gain and Cean, which is the whole selling point of the pedal.

When the Gain is fully engaged, the Clean is overridden, and vice-versa. With Gain turned right DOWN, you have a Clean Boost pedal. The tone control only affects the Gain, not the Clean.

The manual explains all of this, and includes some soundclips on a CD.

Voodoo Labs admit quite openly that this is basically an original 808 Tubescreamer, but with a twist, in the form of its 'clean blend'. The Sparkle Drive doesn't give spectacular gain, but it will take you further than the (admittedly very good) Keith Richards sound the reviews spoke of. It takes you into dirty Classic Rock territory as well: Van Halen /AC-DC/ Gary Moore, if you want to go there. But anyone looking for an extreme killer distortion/ hooligan death-metal device has got the wrong box here.

As a gain pedal, it is pretty damn good. A nice, full, throaty overdrive; tight, but not too compressed. I'm playing it mostly through a small Mesa-Boogie combo, and occasionally a Fender Twin. At rehearsal and small gig volumes, I prefer it to the gain channel on the Boogie. Some overdrive pedals make your sound very thin and compress the hell out of it. This sounds broader somehow, more valve-y and authentic-sounding. Likewise, it is quite transparent and *drives* the signal, without colouring it. My Boogie still sounds like a Boogies, my Twin sounds like a Twin. This pedal does what it should and creates a righteous, overdriven amp tone, not the sound of a gnat in a jam-jar that has just flown into your speaker cabs.

The Clean blend is a good idea. You can go all the way from a mildly overdriven pop/country-rock sound, to full-on growly rock, as mentioned above. This innovation helps keep it more articulate sounding, and also more realistic. There seems to be something about turning UP the clean as opposed to just turning DOWN the gain.

I use a combination of single coil and humbuckered guitars and it seems to cope well with both. On cleaner settings, the single coils shine, as you would expect, but using a 335, for example gives you lots of sustain.

I hear some of the available mods will give you more dirt, which I guess would make it more versatile.

I play varied stuff: blues, rock, country, jazz; rootsy kind of music. I'm not looking to emulate any one particular artist.

Only had the pedal about a week, so I would hope to use it w/o backup. Very sturdy casing, but there seems to be an issue with this type of switch - people claim that they crap out eventually. I guess manufacturers use them to distinguish their product from the ubiquitous Boss design, which seems to have it about perfect.

Brand new pedal, never dealt with the company. There was a form to send back within ten days, giving a 5-year warranty, which sounded fair. Living in the UK, you always pray for good service, as it is a drag to have to deal trans-Atlantic.

I have played guitar over 20 years now and used a whole bunch of overdrives: Boss, Marshall, Ibanez, etc, etc. This is up there with the best of them, if not the best. The Fulltone Fulldrive is supposedly the Holy Grail of overdrives, but based only on the soundclips I have heard, the Sparkle Drive seems to be well in the neighbourhood.

I chose it because I was intrigued, basically, and thought intuitively that it would suit my sound. So far, I am not disappointed. Not a vast amount of gain, to repeat, but very rich, tubey, and authentic-sounding. The Clean blend is a simple but valuable feature.

I am being generous and rating it 9, which is really 8.75. It *is* expensive for what is only an overdrive pedal. Just one switch, no different modes or settings. It's not like a modeller, with patches and bells and whistles, or a rig that makes your cappucino and gets your email. I got a slight discount, but ??100 or more full retail is a lot. Why gear in the UK costs so damn much is anyone's guess, I suppose we're all too polite to say anything about being consistently ripped off.

Simple to get a great sound out of. Solved my love hate relationship with the Tube Screamer. This will be the highest rating I ever gave anything. I'm a stickler.

I can't BELIEVE more people have't caught on to this box. It's got that kick ass TS tone, but with a knob that allows you to keep your pick attack. the Original TS sucks for rythm, and does this wierd compressy thing that steals the edge of your original signal.
It can be used like a top boost to give life to Dark amps. I leave it on most of the time !!!

Had a voodoo vibe for a couple of years (Which is also a great pedal.) never had a relibbility issue..gigged with it ALOT.

I tweaked a lil' pot inside my Voodoo vibe that you aren't suppose to touch. I sent it back to them..they re-adjusted it and mailed it back free of charge. Very cool.

Play Zep, Hendrix,Rock ,Jazz, Blues, playin 20 years. Owned a zillion Pedal Boutique to Boss. This pedal is a Rock n Roll pedal. I prefer pedals that don't have the switch,pots,jacks mounted to the circuit board, I can't remember if Vodoo does this or not.. and dont feel like breakin out a screw driver rite now, But if It aint broke.....

Playin a Tele through it. I use Vintage tube amps. Love this thing.

a breeze to use. if you're familiar with overdrive pedals at any level, this will be simple to use. similar controls to tubscreamer with the added clean boost knob. the manual kinda sucks, but thats probably because they didnt have to write a thesis on how to operate it.

wow, this is where it shines. i have a few modded Keeley pedals, and i know that he mods this, but i still havent sent it off yet! thats how good of a pedal this is. a friend of mine had a keeley tube screamer, and i was blown away at how awesome that sounded. when i was considering buying one for myself, i was hesitant, because i really wanted something with true bypass this time. there was "a sound" that i still wasnt getting from any other pedal thus far. i bought the sparkle drive with the intention of getting it modded, but was taken aback at how rich and perfect the sound already was. its sounds the best with a strat, but its not "guitar specific" like some pedals are. it really sounds great with all my guitars. the really great thing that im just finding out is how great the harmonics are. it does have a midrange focus, but doesnt sound thin. it still has a warm and fat sound. the drive is just right for almost every style. sometimes i do need a tad more gain, but thats only with a few songs here and there. ( i know the keeley mod doubles the gain.). its obviously geared more for bluesy/classic rock/rock players, but you can find a setting for some other styles. the clean blend is fantastic, and really brings out some articulation when playing. you can get a really phenomenal clean shimmering sound with the two mixed together. every overdrive pedal is a little noisy, and this does have a slight hiss with extreme settings, but it sounds quieter than any other overdrive i've ever used. this is by far my favorite overdrive. for being a TS9/TS808 clone, i think it sounds a lot better. i actually hate the tubescreamer. i think it sounds like garbage. but this! this is heavenly! its sonic ambrosia!

it seems really sturdy. havent had any problems. im gigging without a backup, but if it died, i would probably cry

never dealt with them

i've been playing for about 10 years, play a lot of rock music in my church, and have a few keeley pedals. by itself, this is the best pedal i've ever played. im somewhat of an audiophile when it comes to overdrive, so im critical of many pedals, but this is just great. i hope its never lost or stolen. i would go out and by another. this is just a memorable pedal. this is one of those pedals that if you sold it, you'd look back and say, "man, i wish i didnt get rid of that thing!"
like i said before, i think the only thing it could use is maybe a tad bit more gain for the sole reason of playing a couple more songs. this really does inspire you as you play, as cheesy as that sounds. i know people on this site give tens without much thought, but i really do mean it. this is perfect.

Very easy to use others have stated what it is so I wont waste your time

I use a goldtop 56 re-issue with P-90's and a G@L ASAT tele, 335 and a DeArmond MT-77 with a blackface super reverb. Pro player with over 25 years experience have done studio and touring in a roots rock blues format. The reason I purchased was to find a pedal that could complement my sound being a tad oldschool I really never liked distortion boxes or compression, my view was to get the air moving by running your amp hot. Still nothing better than a superreverb on 5 or 6 and a great guitar you get a classic full rich tone. This pedal will achieve some of that at lower volumes and I do like the ability to dirty the sound up when called for. I find it very versitale and has many possiblilties. purcahsed it to replace my Fulltone boost pedal

Have had it for over a year, at times the light will not work and the on off switch sticks a bit also replacing a battery is not as easy as others have stated

no comment have not had to use them

As stated above (gear and styles) I like the pedal and think it is a great value and will solve the problem if your working clubs amp need a nice full round sound at lower volumes

as already stated, just blend amp tone and 808 style overdrive.

no complaints about the tone. i also own fulldrive 2, Analog man silver mod TS9, Xotic BB pre-amp and the sparkle stands up well with them all a great TS808 sound. i play strats into Cornell (dc-developement) class a amps.

Here we go! Dont bother. i loved the sound but sent it back twice within 3 months to have new switches installed. in the end i trashed it. i've also owned a microvibe which again sounded great changed the switch on that 4 times!! and i'm not heavy footed i've had most of my other stomps between 2 and 10 years and they've never gone wrong.

sounds great in manchester (UK) were great and kept replacing the switches for only #5 a time and seemed as frustrated as me apparently they have V.lab stomps sent to them on a weekly basis.

It's a distortion stompbox with a parallel clean boost. Very easy to use if you know what you have.

I've used the Sparkle Drive with my main rig, which is a Koll Custom DL Thinline into a Vibro-King.

This pedal is a mixed bag. On the one hand, the ability to blend a clean tone with the distorted tone gives you a way to get some "hair" on the body of the note without totally flattening the attack. That's a good thing if you believe, as I do, that much of your expressiveness comes out in how you attack each note. This blended clean/distorted trick works really well if your amp is already running hot enough to respond to differences in touch by sounding more distorted as you dig in; the Sparkle Drive works with your amp to fatten up the body of the note while still letting some clean signal through so you can control your amp with your playing dynamics.

But it's the interaction of the Sparkle Drive and a cranked amp this really brings out the magic. You won't get creamy overdrive tones at low amp volumes; without the amp's natural overdrive to smooth things out the Sparkle Drive sounds a bit harsh and fizzy. That's *not* a point against the Sparkle Drive, as far as I'm concerned. It's just a matter of understanding the limitations of the pedal. If you're going to play a stage volumes the Sparkle Drive is a wonderful tool. If you need creamy overdrive and dynamic touch response at conversational levels you should look elsewhere. To be fair, this is true of all "old-school" distortion stomps...

I haven't abused it, and it hasn't broken.

Never had to deal with the company.

I play a variety of music that borrows from rock, folk, classical and jazz. I play mostly fingerstyle and pay a lot of attention to dynamics, voice leading and chord voicing.

I've been playing for almost fourty years - seriously for the past seven.

My main rig is a Koll Custom DL Thinline into a Vibro-King. For effects, I'm particulary hot on the Toadworks Redux and the Blackstone MOSFET Overdrive. I have a few other effects that get hooked up on an as-needed basis.

Honestly, I don't think I *would* replace the Sparkle Drive. It's not bad, but it's not good enough to have a permanent place in my rig. At the moment my wife uses the Sparkle Drive as a clean boost in her bass rig.

That said, I'd still *recommend* the Sparkle Drive to anyone who's already pushing their amp and needs just a bit more oomph to fatten up their lead lines. The idea of mixing the clean sound in parallel is brilliant, and really works well with a pushed amp. The clean attack hits hard to bring out all the dynamic character of the amp, then the distortion fills out the body of the note. It's a winning combination, IMO. But it's not the only way, and I have a different approach to get that kind of response over a much wider range of volumes - everything from coffeehouse to club volumes.

not easy ( because it's a really oustanding pedal ). Seriously - I have owned mine for 3 yrs - steady use in medium sized bars/clubs - I didn't find my "perfect tone" until about six months ago - it was worth the experimenting and being a slow learner - so it loses 2 pts

knobs a little close together - when you turn one knob , you bump into another one. - one more point off

I don't do reviews much but this time I really want to because I have come up with a really cool set-up with this pedal - it only applies to strats into fender boxes. If you play anything else my review is a waste of your time - so skip it.

my setup strat ( EJ model for past year ) >>>>> any good compressor ( subtle amount of compression ) >>>>>> Carl Martin drive/boost
( maybe other hybrids of distortion and OD would work at this place in the chain - OD pedals DON"T work for this plan. - I set the drive level only slightly up and the volume up enough to increase overall volume when engaged >>>>> sparkle drive gain - off ( that's right - all the way turned down counter-clockwise ) tone - all the way rolled off ( yep ) clean - about 10:00 volume - up enough for slight increase when engaged >>>>>>>>> tweed 4 10" bassman re-issue with the tone settings very bright and with hi treble ( presence and treble knobs way up )


WARNING - IF YOU DO THIS YOU WILL LOVE THE BRIDGE PICKUP ON YOUR STRAT. Heres the deal: with the sparkle drive on with the bridge PU in a medium size club I get awesome punch with just the right amount of hair - it sounds FAT!! ( that's right - a fat sounding strat bridge PU - but SWEET fat - not muddy fat like a less paul.
- I use this for rhythm and then add the drive/ boost pedal for solo tone - the secret here is LOW gain settings

NOTE: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SUBSTITUTE A FULTONE OCD, KEELEY MODDED TS-9, BUDDA PHATMAN, ETC FOR THE SPARKLE DRIVE - IT DOESN'T WORK - YOU NEED THAT CLEAN KNOB.


what's cool is this - I have that wonderful clean strat into tweed 10" speaker swirl sound for a lot of songs - various pick-ups. AND I have an over-the-top killer bridge PU tone when I want it. I sometimes use the sparkle drive with same settings on mid PU or PU
#4 - so I can produce 'out of phase sweet hair' also!

no humbucker bridge PU or other single coils or other overdrives do this - no need for you to experiment - I did all the research for you!!!! ( you're welcome )

3 years of heavy use.

35 yrs playing - last 10 in a fairly busy cover band ( pop-rock - R+B, rockabilly,funk - fun dance stuff )

other gear: a gazillion other overdrive pedals gathering dust.

this is pretty-much a perfect OD pedal for me - once I figured out this set-up.

Despite having four seperate adjustment knobs on it's face the Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive is pretty darn easy to dial in a good tone.

From left to right the knobs are "gain", "tone", "clean" and, "volume". Most of these features are pretty standard fair for od pedals so the only one that needs a little elberation is the "clean" feature; dial the "clean" knob all the way to the left and the "gain" setting will become more pronounced, all the way to the right will lessen the amount of "gain" presence in the signal and will also enable you to make use of the pedal's "clean boost" feature.


Voodoo Lab's manual is a good overview of the general capabilities of the pedal but unlike some other pedals there isn't any recomended presets so to an extente you are on your own.

The key to success with this pedal is sublty, cranking the gain setting or tone settings to either extreme can make the pedal sound a little harsh but working with in it's broad and very usable mid range settings is very rewarding.

Personally I like setting the gain at about 3 o'clock, the tone at 10 o'clock, the tone anywhere between 10 o'clock to about 5 o'clock and the volume is set just so I get the slightest amount of boost when clicked on. By using the clean knob as opposed to the gain to increase and decrease the amount of dirt in my signal I can get a broad sweep from classic od sounds to "low fi" indy sounds to just enough breakup to add some desired "botique" tone to a clean signal or used in conjunction with the amp's own gain settings.

Got a Les Paul and want to make it sound like you are actually playing a big box jazz guitar? Use the clean knob with a fairly high gain setting but dial the clean knob just so you get a nice break up just as the note begans to decay. Very taisty.

I've tried the Sparkle drive through five amps, an old but hotrodded all tube Fender Princeton, a newer trannie Fender Princeston, Mesa Boogie Mk1, a Fender Super Reverb reissue, and last but not least a Rivera M60 112. Used with any of these amp will give you very nice results even with an amps onboard gain settings. If you dig the kind of gain you can get from a Matchless, Savage, Bad Cat, or Carr then you are right in it's tonal range.

Each amp retained it's tonal characteristics, each guitar did the same; ie, a Strat still sounded like a Strat, a Les Paul still sounded like a Les Paul.

That said, played through the trannie Princeton was pretty awful. No, I shouldn't say that, let me just say it was "uninspired" and go on from there.

For an analog od pedal, even used with tube amps, single coils, and in a room that has fluorescent lights and a crt monitor this pedal is incredibly quite. Awsome.

I also use the Voodoo Labs Analog Chorus. Any one looking to duplicate an old Ibanez TS 1. I recomend using both together if you are trying to get "that" tone. Sure, it's been said that the Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive is based on the old TS 1 but I don't hear it. To me it's much more useable and flexible, especially with the clean boost and clean blend features.

If you have tried either the Barber LTD or the Toadworks Mr Squishie then you will probably like this pedal. This pedal is is about as flexible as the Barber LTD but has a broader tonal range than the Mr Squishie.

If you are looking for the ultimate high gain, super saturated 500 megaton distortion pedal of ultimate death - this is not for you.

Yes and yes.

It seems, as of now that Voodoo Labs has adressed it's infamous on off switch issue so there shouldn't be any problems.

For rock, blues, jazz, and country this is a very usable pedal. No need to lug around a huge amount of stomp boxes to jam sessions or to recording sessions unless or if these situations require high gain rock tones.

I've tried a good number of offboar stomp boxes including the Barber LTD (awsome but hard to find in stock and in a store) the Toadworks Mr Squishe (great tone, nice compression but you only get that one great tone) the Mesa Boogie V Twin (god's own od pedal- no longer being made and very expensive even used) the reissued Marshall Guv (great for "Marshall" tones, amazing for high gain distortion, not so hot for lighter shadings) and last and least Visual Sound's Jekyll and Hyde Overdrive (shit).

Short of running multiple stomp boxes the Voodoo Lab's is a jack of all trades. If I had to sum it up in three words they would be "subltle", "musical", "flexible". Would I buy this pedal again? Oh, heck yeah. If a Boogie V Twin and a Sparkle Drive were the same price would I have stil bought it over the V Twin? No, I may be an idiot but I'm not a moron.

If this were to be turned into the ultimate od pedal I wish it had two things 1) more saturation for metal players and 2) that it resoponded a little better to increasing the guitar's volume output for it's gain output. Tube amp guys (and gals) you know what I'm talking about, tranny amp people... you don't know what you are missing.

Make no mistake, this is a good chunk of change for a stomp box. I highly recomend that when you check it out that you do several things 1) bring your own guitar espcially something that's hard to distort like a Strat or a Tele, 2) bring your own amp to the dealership, 3) bring any and all other stomp boxes so you can set up your own signal chain so you can hear how the pedal reacts to other effects 4) try the pedal back to back to other stomp boxes within + - $50 of this effect's price range.

What really prompted me to buy the Voodoo Labs over any other is 1) how it worked with the Analog Chorus 2) it's incredibly good "botique" tone.

I all ready was using the Marshall Guv but the Marshall did not, or could not communicate well with the Anolog Chorus. But since the Marshall Guv has a slight chorus to it any way the point is somewhat moot unless I really wanted a grand mal phsycedelic freak out sound.

This is a follow up review, mostly to address the pedal's relability. But, sure, it's easy to use.

Yes, sounds pretty great. See below for more on sound...

As stated elsewhere here, the switch failure is an issue. See below...

Their email kicked me back an auto-reply directing me to call. On the phone they were polite and informed. I got the pedal back from them in 2 weeks, which is pretty good turnaround, though had it broken mid-tour, I guess I'd have to hit up a shop for a back up.

Still, nice and friendly folk, willing to discuss the products.

Just thought I'd lend my thoughts here: Even though the switch went south I still think this overdrive deserves a good rating, the clean blend goes a long way and makes it a great tool, for overdrive and clean boost and the best is in between. After mine went bad I initially lost faith and tried literally around a dozen other pedals to replace it, and none got me just what I wanted. I settled on a DOD, surprisingly, called a Juice box, which is remarkably nicer than I'd thought DOD pedals to be. But when I got the Sparkle Drive back in the mail and threw it in my rig I was really pleased with how great of a fit it is. I've tried almost everything (TS, boutique, fulltone, etc) and there's nice alternatives out there, mostly on the expensive end, but nothing I tried was quite as right, the Sparkle Drive is the one I like best. Easy to dial up just the right amount of drive and clean to sound great. The best thing is that it's not changing your guitar tone or eq when engaged. It's very smooth and easy to get all the extra grit I need.

I called them when I got mine back to ask about the potential for future switch problems, and they said it's unlikely that it will go bad again. Obviously it's hard to trust something that's gone bad in the past, but I believe they're aware and invested in their product's reliability at this point. Lucky for them I'm so sold on the sound and function. Hope they keep an eye on quality, reliability is very important.

The Bottom Line is:
I tried to replace this while waiting for repair and couldn't find anything as good for what it does. I hope the company is bankable and that the repair holds true, because if it fails again I will have to let it go. But right now, it's fixed and reliable, and I'm very happy to have it back.

Recommended.

read on.....

great...read on.....

You guessed it...FAULTY SWITCH!!! bummer

good ,theyre replacing the switch,but like the other reviewer said,why should i have to pay the shipping on a brand new pedal??

The other reviewers pretty much sumed it up,great subtle overdrive.If this happens again though,Im ditchin this one...

Easy to dial in a variety of sounds. Every knob is clearly labeled so twist away until you get what you are after. One page Manual which descibes the knob functions. One complaint is I hate needing a screwdriver and removing 4 screws just to change the battery. Minus -1 for that.

Running in the effects chain through a Traynor or V-Series tube amp straight into the amp input. I play a Texas Special Strat or a Gibson Les Paul. I prefer the pedal on the amps dirty channel for a solo boost. This pedal delivers exactly what I was after. The Tone is perfect and the boost is right on. I love/hate this pedal!

Here is where the love-hate realtionship begins. The first two Sparkle Drives I received were both faulty. Switch problems right out of the box. I am now on my third one in a month. Luckily this one seems to be ok. Normally I would say screw it after this many malfunctions and find something else, but the testimony here is that I like this pedal so much that I'm willing to deal with the problems!

I did speak to Voodoo Labs on the phone and they were more than happy to fix it for free. But rather than be out the "to them" freight charge I opted to return both units back to Musicians Friend for a replacement. Each time MF issued a call tag for the defective unit and picked up the freight expense. Kudos to MF. I give Voodoo Labs a 5 rating here because if a brand new pedal arrives that is faulty out of the box I think the customer shouldn't be responsible for ANY freight charge!

I have been playing Rock, Blues, and Praise music for 22 years. The VL Sparkle Drive is an amazing pedal...when it works. I have to recommend it even though there are issues with it. It sounds that good!

It's easy to dail in the tone you are looking for. After playing around for my first 20 minutes with this pedal, I was able to find 2 or three nice settings with some simple knob turning.

My guitar of choice is a G&L hollow ASAT (Tele style) with dual humbuckers installed. I feed the signal through a 120watt Crate Vintage club head on top of a 2x12 loaded with a Vintage 30 and an Eminence Legend.<br>
I mostly set the clean fairly low and the gain up around 2 or 3 o'clock. My tone setting is set around 1-3 o'clock. This gives me a great hot 'n balanced attack that reminds me of a Keith Richards, Joe Perry, or Tom Petty rhythmn sound.<br>
The response is very even. The clean boost really helps the treble sing and to bring out each note when playing individual strings. When compared to a TS9 TS808 (which I sold after being pushed off of my pedal board by the Sparkle Drive) the bass response is fatter and the mids less harsh. It's quieter too. Same goes for the Boss DS or OD pedals (a couple of my buddies on more of a budget play these) You can't beat the high quality analog circuitry of this pedal.

No issues at all after a couple years of use. The switch and knobs still operate like new, and the durable case seems to be very resistant to wear.

Never had to deal with customer support. The packaging and simple manual is nice and their website is sensible and useful. Judging by that, I would guess that their customer support is rather adept as well.

I play all types of rock music from classic to more modern, but mostly rock in the style of the Ramones, the Jam, or U2. Sometimes I play Beatles, Stones, and Zeppelin style rock. I mainly play bass, but I record some rhythmn guitar tracks as well. This pedal is versatile enough to work quite well for pretty much anything I play that requires a bit of a harder edge or requires more of a hard rock vibe. It can do both very well. I haven't done too much experimentation with a straight clean boost and less dirt, but it works very well at doing what I require it to do.<br>
I would [i]highly[/i] recommend this pedal to anybody who might be considering an Ibanez or Boss pedal. The price is higher, but the sacrifice in dollars is really made up for in quality and depth of tone.

It's very easy to use its just got so many possibilities in terms of setting. Not at all an "all knobs on 11" type pedal just cuz' thats not its thing, but also engaging the clean all the way will make it into a clean boost only.

I have to rate this a 10. Silly it seems but i've been without an amp for quite a while and just was reading these reviews and remembering how much fun this thing is. It definately has a tube screamer sound but idk, it's hard for me to just call it a "clone screamer." When i had amps i had a Marshall DSL 1x12 combo and a little 10 watt crate practice amp. I'd say that overdrive at about 3o'clock and clean at about 9-11o'clock was my favorite setting, i liked its tube screamer sound with the clean added in to add some bite, like real complexity to the sound.
My cousin (old enough to be my uncle with kids my age) happened to score an amp off an old lady. It was broken as far as she knew, and he didnt and doesnt really know amps (counrty music guy all acoustic) so he bought it off her for 100 bucks. Its only problem was the power cord needed to be replaced: IT WAS A VINTAGE BLACKFACE FENDER SUPER REVERB!!! He lent it to my dad to play around with a bit and when i plugged the sparkle drive into that bad boy GOOD LORD! Instant SRV i kid you not lol! My dad played with it more than i did when i did this, he even liked using it for country and kicking it in for quick little solo runs when he and my cousin and their band (all related) played out... borrowing it for days at a time and once in a while forgetting it at my cousin or uncle's houses...
Oh btw almost forgot a word on guitars:
Fender Jag-Stang with stock neck and Seymour JB, sounded good nice rock feel throught the DSL and was the first way id experienced "Stevie" in my kitchen with my dad and the Super LOL(i was the biggest nirvana fan at the time)
Washburn Bt8: stock: marshall: again a good sound with humbuckers driving it tho this guitar still needs to be fixed as the bridge cuts out.
Cousin's American Strat: Super:WOW! read above! this was awesome, for me it was damn near religious lol.
I played all these guitars with the pedal through the crate too, it did its thing well enough at bedroom levels but it shined with just a little more push from the louder amps.

Well i can't really give an opinion here. I never gigged with it tho my dad did and it held up well. I'd heard bad things about the switches even when i bought it but its been without batteries in the bottom of a milk crate collecting dust for quite a lil while unfortunately.

Never dealt with them.

Man i loved this thing. I play rock of all sorts and i love the blues. For a blues style this thing is killer, and my dad even liked it for his country. For rock or harder rock (i liked bands like Nirvana, Foo Fighters and a bunch o' punk guys at the time tho havin a country guitar playin dad my tastes were always broad)its good for a mellow sort of feel. I've been playing about 10 years now, and i have a bunch or crunch pedals. I have a Hot cake, a Rat, a Sustain punch creamy dreamer and they are all just different animals. As i said i've been between amps for quite a little while. At one point i stopped playin little shows with my friends and since they all had one amp or another (most louder than my little Marshall dsl even if i loved that thing) i figured what the hell i need money for my student loan i'll sell it and just use ev1 elses amp. The crate was my sister's boyfriend's who became her ex-boyfriend: bye bye practice amp. And the Super Reverb as never mine to begin with tho i had more than my fun with it.
And that brings me to the big point and the reason i wanted to "Gush" on this pedal after having it for so long: FUN. Playing with this pedal was so much fun wish i had an amp just so i could break it out again. It has alot of range and the mix of sound is pretty wide, tho its not a do-all pedal like the hotcake which can go unbelievable clean boost-crunch-distortion-raging wall of fuzz. And this thing, i dunno how to say it. It doesnt make your gear sound like your gear, it makes it sound like your gear played through THIS pedal, tho thats kinda any 808 Tube screamer in my experience.
anyway to me this pedal was alot of fun and i recommend it to any1 looking for a ts808 ts9ish sound, or just lookin for a "Stevie" sound. LOL! Cyall later

Pretty straight forward- level,tone,drive,clean--the clean option is a nice idea but it should have it's own tone control.

You can get good sounds out of this pedal but when compared to my TS-10 and Boss OD-1 it sounds ordinary. It has a very hard, uncompressed solid state sound to it. I have two Warmoth guitars(Strat w/Van Zandts,semi-hollow tele w/Fralin P-90&PRS McCarty humbucker)I play through a modified 66 Fender Bassman head/Peavy classic 4x10 w/mojotones A/B'd with a modded Peavy classic 30/Mesa 2x12 w/greenbacks. Effects go Sparkle Drive-TS10-Deluxe Memory Man-Moogerfooger Low Pass Filter-Maxon AD999 delay-Boss DD-6-Digitech Digiverb.I am not using my OD-1 because it needs a new switch. What really seems to help the Sparkle Drive for me is running it after my TS-10. However this takes away the clarity of the TS-10, so I have no choice but to put before the TS-10. I set the clean at 9o'clock,Drive at 10o'clock and use it as little as possible.

No problems yet but I don't use it much-I've read many reviews where people have problems w/ the switch. I plan to sell it when my OD-1 is fixed.

I play alot of different styles of music-blues,jazz fusion,funk,prog-rock,prog-metal,celtic folk rock,etc.I play out regularly and record alot at home. This pedal acually sounds better when I'm recording at low to medium levels at home w/ a smaller amp. With my live setup I find myself wearing out the switch on my TS-10 and I miss my OD-1 dearly. When I bought this pedal I tried it through a Mesa Nomad,a Vibrolux and a Traynor and it sounded pretty good so maybe it just doesnt like my setup. I just think there are much better pedals out there for the price. TS-10w/JRC4558-$30 used.Boss OD-1w/JRC4558-$60 used. These are over 15 years old and I've only encountered one malfunction w/them.Acording to the reviews it seems the Crackle Drive only lasts for about 6 months before you have to replace the switch after moderate use. You can mod it but that would put the overall price around $200-not worth it in my opinion. If you you have that much $ to spend on a OD pedal get a Durham Sex Drive or 3 or 4 used TS-10s-not that the TS-10 is a great pedal but even the ones w/ the cheaper op amp chips have a more natural tube like tone than this pedal.

very easy to use..i found my "sweet spot" and have marked the setting.

I have a number of good OD pedals incluning TS808/TS9/Analogman and Keeley modded ts9/fulltone etc and this is as good as any. Its real strength is the clean boost which sounds extremely sweet and you can dial in just enough dirt to juice it up without losing jangle and ..well sparkle in fact!..the tubescreamer style dirt is good and in same league as the other pedals mentioned above.cleans up beautifully on turning down.used with cornford hurricane and BF deluxe and super reverbs.

well main reason for writing is to confirm the switch problem but also how well voodoo lab help out...I bought this used and have no idea how old it is and i told them so..despite this they were very helpfull and mailed me a replacement switch all the way to England..HOWEVER ,...ive now had the replacement switch go wrong as well ...and i dont mistreat them honest!..fitting the switch is a DIY job if you are careful but you need to carefully destroy the old switch so you can desolder its six contacts from the board so you are not going to do this in the pub,in the dark,between sets,after 3 pints of lager while chatting up the drummers girlfriend [nb bad idea anyway...drummers like hitting things!]

see above ..best service ive ever had..mind you the most times ive ever needed to contact a manufacturer.

This is an excelent pedal which is as good as any pedal of its type that ive come across.Its great for that singing sparkly just breaking up tone and works really well with a nice clean valve/tube amp.cleans up well and has something unique with that lovely clean sound to blend with the dirt.Guitar player magazine I think gave this an editors pick and they were right!..However there is clearly an issue with the switches breaking at regular intervals for some reason ..pedal is good enough to have a spare and replace the switch every so often...Id definately replace it if stolen..essential.

4 knobs...come on now.

this pedal is fantastic. if you have a blackface setup, this is it. i've done the whole maxon, ts808, sd-1...the whole gamut. this and the original marshall bluesbreaker and maybe the visual sound pedals are my favorites. it has a little less mid hump than a 808 and a bit more fidelity to the gain. this pedal sounds great low gain, boost or dimed out. I almost want two...but i use a cheaper pedal for the boost.

i have some quality gear and this is it...very good pedal.

Because of the massive versatility and array of tones on offer you may find yourself twiddling the wrong knob to find a rare and fresh sound, though getting a basic crunch or overdrive is pretty simple.

I'm using an Gibson SG standard and a Fender Blues Junior.
It produces anything from a clean boost to a rock crunch. Each note on my guitar seems to cut through. The pedal sounds a lot like a BOSS OD-1 (which is a quality overdrive), though the sparkle drive has more sounds on offer with it having a tone knob and clean knob. Also this pedal is true bypass and it works 100% great.

Built like a block of iron.

I hear VOODOO LAB are great with customer support though I haven't needed it.

I got it off Ebay for a bargain price though if it were lost I would by one new straight away, full price. It's a fantastic overdrive with millions of tones on offer and the true bypass makes it all the better. I recommend getting one if you are looking for a lifetime overdrive.

I've reviewed this pedal before, love it, read down for what I've been wanting to add...

Great, a little smooth for some tastes maybe, but that also depends on your amp and guitar....

so here's where I just wanted to add a new note...I'd had the pedal for about a year and a half or so, and the engage switch started wigging out...the "on" light would flare up, but my sound would just vanish...if you jiggled it, eventually it would come back on, but clearly I had the same basic faulty switch problem that everybody has had...bummer, but read on....

....so I called them, very friendly guy immediately answers the phone, I never registered this thing, they have no history on me or when I bought, and there going to do the repair and send it back to me for free....super helpful and nice. this is really important, because no matter how well your gear is built, and the sparkle drive is built as well as anyof them, the excrement is going to hit the appliance periodicly and your going to need it fixed...voodoo labs is the most helpful company i've ever interacted with. highly recommend their gear.

jazz, noisy fusion, indie rock, etc......for six years or so.
would def. buy it again.

Plug in and turn the knobs,You wont find a bad sound here

Ive been seaching for the ULTIMATE boost for solos,THIS IS IT!I have a Mesa Dual Rectifier ,Marshall TSL 2000,and 50watt JCM 800.This pedal KILLS on the Boogie.Adds great sustain without changing the sound of the amp.Very subtle,transparent and makes notes "jump" out of the cabinet.Ive tried many OD and boost pedals but this sounds the best by far.With the TSL its a little noisey,but still great.On the 800,which is a lower gain amp,it sounds good but ,like other reviewers stated,this isnt gonna change a lower gain amp into a screaming metal amp.But if your a metal player with a great high gain amp and an ear for great tone,this pedal will take solos "over the top"

seems tough enough,but I always seem to have problems with these type of switches,we'll see...

N/A ,havent had to deal with them

My only negative comment is that the knobs are close together and have a "loose" feel,they could easily be moved with your foot during a gig,havent giged with it yet,so I'll have to see..I own or have owned a Boss od-3,Boss super od,Ibanez ts-9,Boss graphic eq,Boss blues driver,Dunlop zakk wylde,dod yngwie,MXR micro amp,marshall guvner,proco Rat,and others and if you lookin to just give your amp a natural sounding "boost",this pedal is the best ive tried.

very easy. set your gain and tone then blend in clean or (articulation) as I think it should be called.

setup as follows.
gibson sg standard
sparkle drive
fulltone clyde deluxe
boss dd-6
boss ce-2
boss tu-2
eh holy grail
Orange rocker 30.

I prefer the sound of my dirty channel on my amp by itself. I use the sparkle drive to bring out my effects more. My amp is really stripped down and doesn't have a loop. because of this the Wah especially doens't sound as good by itself without the overdrive in front of it. I was using a tone sucking stock boss super-overdrive which actually sounded great with the wah, but nothing else. Anyway, long story short this pedal if more than i had hoped for. I find that i'm leaving in on all the time. it really breathes extra clarity and complex harmonics into your sound. sometimes i use it on my dirty channel to push me into the zakk wylde range. I'm glad I got this instead of the fulltone I was looking at. double the price.

Only had it for a couple of days now. seems solid. high quality parts throughout.

I've dealt with these guys once before. Awesome. I needed some different cables for my pedal power 2. they called me back within 5 minutes and sent me the stuff i needed for free. couldn't ask for more. Much better than Fulltone.

exactly what i was looking for.

n/a

n/a

n/a

I submitted a review about a year and a half ago. I love the Sparkle Drive and use it primarily as a boost/light overdrive. I got the Keeley mod which perhaps gave the sound a little bit more gain and articulation, but IMHO it didn't change the sound as drastically as some reviewers said.
Anyway, the main reason I'm writing is because I'm mighty impressed with their customer service. The footswitch became faulty (intermittent) after about a year. I called Voodoo Lab and left a voicemail message - they called back in about 15 minutes. I sent the pedal in, and as it was still under warranty, they replaced the switch for free and got it back to me within a couple of weeks.
Unfortunately, the switch went again after a few months. No, I don't weigh 300 lbs. or abuse it!!! I called Voodoo Lab earlier today and again they got back to me in 15 minutes. Even though the unit is no longer under warranty, they are still going to fix it for free!!! As I have had terrible customer service experiences with other companies (Zoom and Steinberg immediately come to mind), it gives me hope in humanity when a company actually cares about it's customers.
I hope no one takes this as a knock against the quality of the footswitches that Voodoo Lab uses. I haven't read the hundred or so reviews so I don't know if this an issue, but shit does wear down and break in this here universe. Point is, they are going to fix it for free, and I didn't have to wait 2 or 4 weeks (or never) for a response and deal with any attitudes. Thanx Voodoo Dudes!!!!!