Quote:
Originally Posted by open_space  I am looking for a low-gain overdrive. I have already tried the mighty polish pedal and while it's pretty good, it like it more for medium fuzzy overdrive. I am still searching for a pedal that will give me a low gain overdrive.
It seems that I have to choose between two "guitar" pedals: a Barber LTD and Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive. Both of them are based on TS circuits but sound (judging by guitar videos) somewhat different. They also cost about the same.
I can't decide which one I want. It seems like for bass it would be best to use the Sparkle Drive because it lets you blend in a clean signal. I think it's a very cool feature to have especially for bass, but I have never tried this pedal, so I am not sure that it will work. Barber is praised on this forum but there are not many sound samples.
I know that there are people on this forum who used these pedals. So, please help me decide. |
The LTD gets a lot of love here and for good reason it is an excellent pedal......however for me personally i prefer the Sparkle Drive....now let me tell you why
Digital Music Corp. Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive $129.99
This is an overdrive pedal
(based - not a straight up clone) on the vintage TS808 format, it includes the original JRC4558 opamp, but has been modded with metal resistors and polyester capacitors which creates a tighter midrange, a crsiper high, and overall IMHO a far better capacity for note definition than the original 808. They have also added a clean boost channel which allows you to blend the clean signal with the overdrive circut. This allows you to boost the direct clean signal which in turn restores the attack and feel which is usually lost in most pedals when the signal is compressed in the ovedrive circut. The boost claims to be a 20db boost, i have not measured this claim but i can tell you you notice a huge difference when its on and when its not...lol
You have four knobs (which i wish were metal but oh well cant have your cake and it it too...lol)
first is the Gain knob this as you figured sets the gian level of the overdrive and the overdrive only, it does not affect the clean boost signal in any way.
Next the Tone knob turn it up for a bright sound and down for a darker sound. It works only with the ovedrive circut and does not affect the clean boost channel
Third there is the Clean Boost knob This blends the boosted clean signal with the overdrive, essentially acting like layering two amps, one clean and one saturated...when it is turned all the way down you get straight overdrive, with it turned up it begins to bleed away the overdrive sound once you reach the three o' clock or 75% position most of the overdrive signal begins to fades away. In between you get a nice blend of both.
Last is the Volume knob this obviously sets the output level of the unit...lol
The box is solid aluminum, has a heavy duty switch and true bypass....and i can attest to no loss of signal when it is turned off. A red LED lets you know the unit is on.
You must have a screwdriver handy as you must take the entire back off of the unit to replace the 9 volt battery
you can also power the unit externally with a 9 volt adapter.
It comes with a 5 year warranty and is made and assembled in the U.S.
now while the LTD was a little darker to my ears the Sparkle drive seems to have better definition which comes in handy if your playing double or triple stops...YMMV
it can be used as a simple boost pedal by turning the drive all the way down or a boost with a little color
I had a hard time deciding as the LTD has internal Trim pots that can be tailored for better bass response and it can be run at 18 volts for a slightly different sound...but in the the end i chose the sparkle drive for the added clean boost
My .02
