Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive

4 knobs which are easy to use. Ever use a Tubescreamer? same circut.

I use a fender strat or moded epi SG into a behringer GMX 212 set to a good clean sound or overdriven Marshall sound. in addition i have other pedals which suck tone or i thought they did. turns out it was the amount of cabble i use.
got this for about 50 bucks off a sale price. dont remember the amount but it was under 100. this thing has my tone in it. well no it doesn't but the clean blend is agod send to me because with the gain i'm looking for but the articulations and stuff i use in my playing i often had to sacrifice one or the other. Not any more. Now to the amp thing it doesn't sound like 2 amps although you can get a decent Keef sound with it. I have about 4 amps one of them being a vintage reverborocket.
overdriving the reverborocket and using the clean of the Behringer i tested the sound. the pedal just doesn't have that delay you get with 2 amps. but since i'm not looking for that i was looking for more articulations in a tubescreamer type pedal (which is why i have th BD-2 the trebly frequency lets more shine through than a TS9 just sayin). if you dont like the clean function the best reason to buy this pedal is that it has the same circut as an 808 but is made from higher quality parts than the current Ibanez reissue. all in all it sounds amazing in my rig and lets my tone shine through so i dont have to fight a pedal while playing.

well since i got a once in a lifetime deal on this and a small clone (bringing the total up to about $130) i guess i have to use it without backup being as i cant afford another an dont want another. it seems well made and sturdy and think about it if i can gig heavily with a plastic Dano pedal i think a metal encased pedal realy ought to stand up to the rigors. but it's to soon to tell

I play alot of things and i dont feel like going into it again. been playing abou 10 years come september and have always been able to get my tone out of most setups. What i like about my current setup ,which is mainly my favorite pedals, is that i dont have to fight through a pedal for my tone. what i disliked about my previous sources of dirt is that they all sounded like pedals and were a bit to muddy had to fight for my tone to get through. Well then i'm giving this a 9 because what ever i dont have to think about is a good thing.

very basic pedal

been playing for 15 years, and now we perform in a punk/psychobilly band, and our set up goes like so: either gretsch 6119 w/tv joneses, rickenbacker 330/6 with bigsby, or dearmond jazzbox with dearmotrons into that pedal, memory man, and a tuner into either a vox ac15 reissue, peavey classic 30 or an ampeg reverborocket, usually 2 amps! the sound is great! since were a big fan of layering guitar parts as george harrison did on certain beatles/solo recordings, we know how cool they could sound. with a good dirt amp, this pedal is a great boost for solos and all, since our mix is very very dense. it consists of a drummer, upright bassist and rhythm guitarist (using a les paul thru marshall combo) and a skitzofrenic singer. since our sound HAS to be very mid-rangey to have its voice heard in this mix, this pedal does a good job of getting it like so. we know its not common for a rockabilly guitarist to use pedals like so, but we like the sound we get from this.

voodoo labs builds em like rocks! we gig either with this one, or an ibanez turbo tube screamer

never dealt with them, but if necessary, we hear that they are good!

this pedal is a good match for rockabilly/psychobilly! no noe else uses it, cause theyre afraid of stubbing their toes on the pedals or something! weve been playing for 15 years, and own tons of kick ass gear! if lost,m wed definately get this or a reverend drive train, since we used to have that, and it is one hell of a pedal as well. the best feature is the blend knob, since layering sounds cool! we wish it had 2 separate outputs, so the signal could be switched between 2 amps. it definately helps us make the music, since its uncomplicated, and gets great tone!

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.

excellent set up with two amp tones .Dosent really make a bad sound at any setting

Heres where this this kicks all overdrives for the money . It gives you the most crystal clear sparkle on the high end and a super tight low end almost like adding a sonic maximizer with classic pure guitar style uncolored tone . I own a boss gt-6 which is a great unit with a little work on the presets but !!!!! it colores your tone like any other multi effects pedal . I do however not like the overdive amp only settings but it shines when you cut back the gain under half , tone just over half , clean just over half and you get this pure clean sparkleing guitar tone simmalar to the sound I was looking for for Los lonely boys covers . Put this in any current guitar setup and it will add clarity and sparkle to any settup .If your buying this with the hopes of using it as a distortion pedal thought It wont work very well but ad a distorion pedal along with it and you'ii get more than you dreamed possible for the money .

very well built

never delt with them so I cant comment

Ive been playing for about 16 years and I have a very critical ear and spend way to much money good equiptment .I like to spend as much time working on my music as I do my sound .99 percent of the time I would say you get what you pay for but this little box is incredable for the money . If your not a guitar tone purest you will be after you try one of these .I really dont think they should have put a switch on this one because youll never turn it off .

Plug it in ,Turn some knobs ,find your sound ..easy

This pedals from the Ts-9 school of overdrives,its smooth,and sings and very musical and pleasing to the ears.For those who complained that the pedal colors your sound...well OF course it will!Its a refined tubescreamer for goodness sake! The ablity to blend the amount of gain in conjunction with the clean knob is a GREAT feature.
Put the gain on 0 and crank the clean knob and you have a wonderful clean boost pedal.Nice..
As for ratings, NO piece of equiptment gets a 10,none,I feel that there is always room for improvement, but this pedal gets a 8.5

Switch crapped out after 2 yrs,so that is why a low rating, Vlab replaced it free of charge,but I think they should use better quality switches.

They are relativley quick to answer emails or by phone, and fixed my switch rather quickly.

Im a working musician,and fulltime guitar teacher.I play anything thats good music,jazz,rock,funk,fusion,whatever...but back to the sparkledrive ..Basically a great overdrive from the Ts-9 school,its smoother and more musical than a newstock TS-9(unless your have a ts808).I used it in a Buddastringmaster head,BongerShiva head,VHT pitbull 1x12combo,Fender Deville 4x10,and a Peavey classic 30,
The sparkledrive sounded best in the Peavey ,Fender and Bogner and pretty good in the VHT,in the other amp it souned like crap.
Over all it gives a Wonderful tone,verymusical.
RESULTS will CHANGE with the AMP you use it WITH,that is the case with any overdrive,some boutique amps hate pedals!
The blend knob is a great feature,the pedal gets a 8 but with the clean boost ,I rate it a strong 9

Simple to understand and use. You'll need to spend some time with it dialing in the settings that please you most but, who doesn't spend time playing with a new toy anyway???

I am playing a Warmoth 72 Tele Custom creation. Swamp ash body and birdseye maple neck. Fender WRHB in the neck and SD Broadcaster in the bridge. I run through a BOSS TU2 into the Sparkle Drive, Keeley Modded BOSS BD2, Keeley Compressor, BOSS CE5 Chorus and MXR 90 Phaser into a Morley Little Alligator Volume pedal and then a 2000 Fender DRRI with NOS RCA's and a Weber 12.

This pedal is very quiet overall with a little noise on the highest gain settings. The Sparkle Drive is what I have been looking for in an OD for a long time. I can dial in perfect "Keith" tone (clean with hair) and not deal with the extreme midrange hump of a TS9. I can dial in as much clean and as much TS9 like OD as I want for the perfect blend. I love the tone of my rig with the Sparkle Drive added to my pedal board and it's my opinion it's better out of the box then either the modded Keeley TS9 or the modded Keeley BD2. That's saying alot because I think that both the mod's make for great pedals.

Appears to be built like a tank and since I have dialed in my ideal tone, I never trun it off! No stomping means a long life!

Haven't had the need. Hope I don't.

I play mainly classic rock, blues and contemporary christian. The Sparkle Drive is the Holy Grail of OD's in my opinion and I am only sorry it took me so long to get one. I have been playing for 20+ years and have 2 teles, a strat and 2 acoustic electrics. I would replace this pedal immediately if it were ever lost or stolen. Heck, I sold my Keeley modded TS9 just days after getting this thing. The best feature of this pedal is the ability to "blend" back in your clean signal with the OD signal and thus dial in just the right amount to keep that good "clunk" on the strings sound while having some hair of the dog on top. I have been through the usual and the unusal in search of the perfect OD for me. In the Sparkle Drive I finally found it!!

Very Simple

Mature, subtle shades of overdrive all the way to full on TS glory.

The effect of combining the CLEAN knob is not like two amps, because there is not spacial expansion / time delay effect of the sound hitting your ears at slightly different times because you are not the same distance from the two amps.

However, the CLEAN knob will add attack and snap to the front end of a moderately overdriven tone. I like it best when the clean and gain are in the same neighborhood. Keep the CLEAN low for best results. Over doing clean will just wash out the overdrive.



If you like Tubescreamers, but find them a bit mushy, this pedal will give you a bit more chime and crispness to go with the overdrive. Cool.

2 yrs of moderate studio use. no probs.

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To me, this IS my tubescreamer. I just have an extra dial to blend in a clean thing when I want it. Because it doesn't make me play better, it gets an 8

It sounded about the same in all settings. Not extremely inspiring.

Lemme qualify the rating.
If you are looking for a device that would mildly DISTORT your
signal and than mix it with the clean signal and that would be
fairly "trebly" sounding then well Sparkle Drive deserves more.
But if you are looking for OVERDRIVE then it fails miserably.
There is almost NO RESPONCE to dynamics - the dirt is there at
about same level no matter how hard you pick - it simple colorizes
your sound uniformly. That is not how I understand "overdrive" that
is why only 4. Otherwise it seems to be a nice pedal - well built
and quiet - with true bypass. NOT an overdrive though.

No idea - returned it next day - got SIB Varidrive instead.

I heard they are good but I never tried to contact them.

If you are looking for a mild OVERDRIVE then Barber LTD is MUCH
better choice at the same price range (Barber sells for $100 + s/h).
The one thing I dislike about Barber is the certain degree of
midrange hump - however it is much milder case than Tubescreamer
(I hate TS for that very reason). Sparkle Drive does not seem to have
any such midrangeness - but is also FAR LESS interesting addition to
your tone than Barbert LTD.

Lots of complaints from people about having to take the back off to change battery. Jeez..way too many girlie men out there. If it was easy to change then it wouldnt have been made like the tank that it is.....I can't beleive people bitch about this. Smaller knobs would be an improvement as its easy to accidently move one knob while adjusting another. Subtract 1 point for the knobs.

This is by far my favorite pedal it can be subtle and warm, it can be nasty and biting..whatever you want, but you won't get metal out of it....The biggest problem with this pedal is there are too many good sounds to get out of it. Never had an issue with sound quality with it or getting any sort of undesirable sound.I run it in conjunction with a holy grail reverb, fulltone distortion pro, boss blues driver and some wacky overdrive pedal I got from down under....I found that setting the gain on all of them at maybe 1/4-1/3, you can layer your overdrive depending on your needs, so as you hit each pedal you increase your gain either more or less depending on the need.... Took hours of fiddling with it to get all of them right. I also found out how important it is to make sure each pedal is in the proper order as it affects the sound. George L's cables are a must with any foot pedal arrangement so minimize loss of sound quality. I play mostly a variety of tele's thru either a 66 Princeton dimed, or a 57 Gibson GA-20 set about 2/3 of the way up... anything more and the neighbors will shoot me. I nice upgrade to the pedal would be to install 2 switches so that you could have a drive setting and a clean setting. Minus 1 for that.

This thing is built like a truck. No battery access..so who cares? Batteries are a pain in the first place. Use a 9 volt adapter. Judges scorecard say 10.

The footswitch went bad after 2 years so I called them up and they said no problem just send it to us. They didn't even ask for a receipt or proof of purchase. Take that Fender.. Give them the full 10 plus 1.

I've had this pedal for over 2 years and still love it. My opinion hasn't changed from the first day that I got it. If anything, I love it more. I been playing for 20 years give or take, love the blues with an occasional walk into the country, and rock and roll. I think for the money this is the best all around pedal out there. However , I will say its probably not for everyone. I have as I said a fulltone distortion pro that everyone raved about, but I prefer the sparkle drive. I just think the sound quality is better and more flexible. I have decided to buy another so that I can take advantage of the clean aspect of the pedal...run one clean and the other one with the gain about 2/3 up....makes your eyes roll back into your head....If stolen or lost I wouldnt hesititate to by another. Have to give it a 10 in this catagory.

knobs are too close together - not stage friendly . I leave it set in one setting for one very specific great tone with my strat (see below) so not a big problem for me. Manual not necessary.

15 year old clapton strat modified with low output no-name Japanese hand wound pickups >>> carl martin compressor - always on with very subtle amount of compression to mellow out the peak transient stuff >>> old budda phatman with better tubes (raytheon) with gain barely on for bridge pu rhythm crunch tunes >>> TS 10 with Keeley mod - gain off for solo boost >>> sparkle drive >>>Ibanez AD 99 analog delay >>> bad cat cub. I have played 40 years - currently in dance oriented - party cover band ( sixties stuff, rockabilly, RnB, funk, etc) In the past 10 years I have discovered the secret of low output chimey pickups into a class A EL84 amp. I have no use for humbuckers BUT the one tone that I've always wanted is that focused sustain Santana-like, Gary Moore sound - for some songs. I want to cover gigs with one guitar and move fast from song to song - the strat has always been perfect and now I have that focused sustain without dragging another guitar around. Gain full up on sparkle drive - tone rolled bac a bit. "clean" knob turned off. I use position 2 or especially 4 on the strat (out of phase - bridge + mid ) tone all the way off on Strat ( woman tone, I guess) - Voila !!! The sparkle works much better than any other TS clone for this - including high end stuff - the voodoo stays focused and does not get buzzy. The claims on the web site are true. I bought the sparkle to try the clean thing ( 2 amps simulation ) and it's a total gimmick - terrible. BUT I still love this pedal for my own specific tone. By the way my teles don't work as well for this tone - I believe it's because the pickups are too high in output.

switch seems a little flimsy but I have used it quite a bit - no trouble.

don't know

This pedal DOES NOT give what it claims too - the clean knob is a gimmick - you get a very weak non-useful sound. But I got lucky and found my sustain tone with it. I'm very happy with this

Getting good sounds is not a problem, it's trying to decide which one you want to use! Very versatile. I won't go on too much, you can get all the specs from the previous reviews below/above. Based on the Tube Screamer Vintage 808 circuit, but it's like having two amps - clean and dirty and being able to control which is louder. The manual is just a sheet of A4 paper (a bit cheap for Voodoo Lab), but has enough info to get you up and away. Comes with a cool sample CD of all the different Voodoo Lab effects which I enjoyed listening to.

Generally speaking, the OD is classic and not very aggressive - turning it up pass 7 starts to give you the highly squished out compressed effect, which is not my sort of sound. However, the following is...

Setup: PRS Santana SE (like sweet chilli - hot enough to rock it out but sings clearly) through a Trayer Custom Valve 40 (bright & clear tube amp with plently of punch - a purist's dream). I basically have two "default" settings with the pedal. First is for Sunday morning church(!), in which I set it for my amp's clean channel: Gain-7, Tone-5, Clean-3; this gives me a beautiful and well defined tone for overdriven open chord rhythm. When I use this setting on my amp's OD channel, it gives me a nice lead boost tone with compression that is ever so sweet. Second setting is for gigs and "youthy-er" events: Gain-8, Tone-3, Clean-0; I basically use this to overdrive my overdrive ;) Plenty of sustain and retains the punch.

Noise? I haven't any. True bypass, so even if the pedal's power accidently cuts out your (clean) signal still goes through.

Built like a tank. Love the durability. Has a heavy duty metal switch with the big "click" feel. Knobs might move around with a brush of a lead or something, but that's just because my setup is untidy sometimes.

Never dealt with them. Hope I don't have to.

I bought this pedal without even trying it first (they don't stock it locally where I live). Recommendation from a friend and hearing plenty of it was enough to convince me that I had to have this pedal.

I play mainly rock, contemporary Christian and some blues/funk so this pedal fits perfectly. Get this straight - it's NOT A METAL PEDAL, so don't get it if that's what you're after. Been playing for 7 years straight. Also own a Yamaha CPX8 electric/acoustic (flawlessly good), a Yamaha FG-401 acoustic (camp fire guitar), a classical (somewhere under my bed), and Boss Reverb/Delay and Chorus Ensemble pedals (clean as whistles and do their job well).

I love this pedal because it is flexible, maintains purity of the guitar's signal, and is just plain sweet as. It's irreplaceable. If anything, I reckon Voodoo Lab should improve the model by adding flexibilty and "digitising" the controls so you can have preset sounds you can switch between (instead of buying a second, third or forth one!).

The Sparkle Drive sounds great when turned on. But I found a huge difference in sound between guitar>amp and guitar>SparkleDriveOff>amp. The Sparkle Drive sucked all the bass out of my tone when in the signal chain and turned off as compared to not in the signal chain at all. This is a huge problem. Maybe this is why several people have mentioned that they leave it on all the time! I don't have this problem with my Barber Direct Drive, my Reverend Drivetrain II or my Fulltone Distortion Pro.

I recommend that you check this before buying a Sparkle Drive. You may be as disappointed as I was. It's great when on and sucks tone when off.

This is my favorite pedal that I have ever owned. In fact, it is hard to get it to sound bad. It is actually two pedals in one, giving you a warm overdrive or a crisp clean boost or a mixture of both. How cool is that?

I am very hard on the sound quality of any pedal, because this is where the rubber meets the road. The Sparkle Drive delivers perfectly everything that it boasts it will do. If you are looking for a loud, fuzzy, overbearing sound this is not the pedal for you. However, if what you want is the perfect blusey sound with a kick you need to check this little black box out. I don't think you can go wrong.
My gear in order is a variety of guitars into a Ernie Ball VP jr., Crybaby, Sparkle Drive, Fulltone '69, TS9, Boss DS1, and a EH Small Clone into a Mesa Boogie Rocket 440 and a Ampeg Reverberocket.
The only reason I still have the TS9 is for a different od sound. The one thing I have found about the Sparkle Drive is that one isn't enough. It has too many good sounds to use them all!!!

No problems.

I have been playing contemporary christian music for the better part of 20 years, as well as doodling around with rock, country, and blues for the same amount of time. The Sparkle Drive sounds very much like The Ibanez 808 and the TS9 but with more range. I would replace it without a doubt should something happen to it. It has been a spark to my music; so much so I think my wife is jelous.

Very easy

Gibson 336 > CryBaby>Sparkle drive Tech21 Trademark 60 miked SM58 to PA.

I've been playing 30 years and have cut down my rig from Mesa Boogie/ Fender Twin etc. to something I can carry easily and also maintain with no valve cost.

Instantly impressed with the SD have it set at 12oclock/3/3/11-12

Get very good Larry Carlton/Robben ford tasty blues sound. The Tech21 has a great 'Twin' sound but can't get a good OD from the lead channel (good but to Marshall'ish for my needs). Sounds great, I would imagine sounds amazing through a valve amp. I occasionally use hired gear so this is a must have unit!

Don't know as yet.

Don't know as yet.

Excellent for blues, very more-ish sound. Expensive, but I've spent a heck of a lot of cash in the past... quality gear though.

Not too simple, but on the other hand it's MUCH easier than setting up a MIDI patch. The only thing that throws a wrench into the equation is the 'clean' knob. But about an hour's worth of fiddling and tweaking gets you farmiliar with it's use.
The manual is literally a green sheet of paper describing what it does, what it's supposed to emulate, and gives a brief description of what the knobs do. but honestly no one forks out this much on a pedal if they're just starting out so i see no need to get big manuals like boss.

It's everything i wanted and more for an overdrive pedal.
I use a '71 Fender Twin Reverb (non-master, for those who care) a Fender Strat and an Epi Sheraton. i usually use it un conjunction with a Vox wah pedal (works beautifully before and after the wah, takes some time to adjust however.) Once in a while i'll use my octavia if i'm in the mood for some hendrix.
There's very little noise except with gain set high with a single coil (which should be expected), no clicks when it turns on which i like because i've had problems with other pedals doing this. It packs a lot of boost and i like how you can blend the clean back in to get some bass back in. but my amp is bassy as it is, so i really don't mind the loss.
The tone knob bugs me a little bit. i don't like how it doesn't affect the clean signal. It still sounds great however. no qualms with sound quality here.

It's reliable, i own a voodoo lab proctavia as well never had problems with either. one thing i don't really like is how the pedals go through batteries quite quickly (even when i'm dumb enough to leave my leads connected). They aren't like Zvex pedals, but i'd expect better battery life. i guess next on my shopping list is a power supply then.
I would use it at a gig without a backup. mainly because i can't afford a backup, but i'm none too concerned, it's fairly solid. but i can't really be certain as i've yet to christen it at a gig.

never dealt with them via phone. but they did return my emails quickly.

For the styles i play it suits me perfectly. when used with humbuckers this gets HEAVY (like led zeppelin, or cream). with single coils it's exactly the kind of boost i like to have for playing stuff like freddie king, eric clapton or SRV. It also works amazingly well using 'woman tone'. the only word to describe it is smooth using woman tone. but it's downright gritty and loud with single coils. I really like this pedal. If it were stoled i would hunt the thieves down and shove 22 frets up their asses.
I did try this out with a TS-9 reissue and this thing beat the pants off of it. but i suppose it would be about even with an original. I like how voodoo lab boxes fit together easily, but you need fairly short cords to connect them (vertical inputs) so my yorkville leads stick up like a mcdonald's "M" in white.
Great pedal... worth every penny.

Very straight forward once you get the 'clean' blend concept.

I had Robert Keeley, check him out under effects, modify this pedal. He change a couple of things allowing the bass freq to remain when the pedal is engaged. I noticed that when I engaged the pedal i lost some bass freq in my tone, no longer the case. Also he expanded the range of gain. It's got a ton more gain on tap now, more along the fulldrive range.

Both Voodoo labs and Keeley built this like a tank.

Great.

If i lost this pedal I'd buy another one and have Robert Keeley mod it. It's the only pedal i use all of the time.