Dr. J Sparrow (Joyo)???

[blujosh]

It works on both outputs.

is that true? i found the manual after my last post and saw that it said:
"Includes an XLR out for DI (perfect for live shows and pro recording) and parallel 1/4" to connect those pure, beautiful lows your stage amp."

the underlined portion makes it sound like the 1/4" output was in parallel to the input, ie. an uneffected signal to send to your amp?

now i'm confused.

 

[kikstand454]

I think what it meant was that the 1/4 is parallel to the xlr so you can send the same beautiful signal to your amp as you are to the board.

 

[FatFunk]

Does anybody know if it runs on phantom power?

 

[gerodoth]

it does'nt

 

[jj4001]

Is the cab sim still working from the XLR out when the pedal is off?

 

[Mattbass97]

+1 on this, would like to know this as well.

 

[John D Harris]

Is the cab sim still working from the XLR out when the pedal is off?

You'd think "Off" would bypass the tone manipulating circuitry of the pedal, which I'd think would include cab sim.

 

[jj4001]

You'd think "Off" would bypass the tone manipulating circuitry of the pedal, which I'd think would include cab sim.

Touché, salesman.

 

[John D Harris]

Touché, salesman.

I should know for sure (hopefully) fairly soon - I just bought one off EvilBAY.

 

[stingray69]

I noticed this thread is still active, so I figured I'd chime in too. Just got turned on to this pedal by a fellow bass player at a gig last weekend - talented guy who plays similar gear along with Aguilar DCB pickups like I do in my Ibanez. He loves his Sparrow and was raving about the tone and how nice the DCB pickups/Sparrow pair together in general. So I figured why not - I took a chance on a minty fresh used one on Reverb for $55 dollars shipped - it showed up earlier tonight & been putting it through the paces for the last several hours. I gotta say, this thing is the real deal!

I still own rackmount SansAmp gear and I've been through just about all of their floor pedals to boot - I'm familiar with the tone & this Sparrow is the truth! Actually, dare I say I like it better than the BDDI floor version I used to own? Seems more polished somehow, less general harshness, smoother Blend & Harmonics range. It only gets as scooped as you make it, but overall less scooped than a BDDI.

The Sparrow nails the SansAmp tone yet seems more refined while doing it. High quality tone circuitry - would use this on a studio recording without hesitation. Zero coloration when set flat and zero noise. Been traveling small & light in the last few years and the petite size of this fits nicely on my mini pedalboard. Nice! Highly worth checking out!

 

[stingray69]

Is the cab sim still working from the XLR out when the pedal is off?

To my ears, the cab sim is only part of the Drive section of the pedal - when you roll off the Mix you start losing the cab sim effect along the way because it fades out along with the Drive tone. When Mix is fully off (counterclockwise), you are left with just your original clean tone, but the Low & High knobs (both very nicely voiced) will still effect your clean signal.

This pertains to what's coming out of both the XLR & 1/4" output. They both output the same carbon copy signal of each other, not two different dry/effected output signals. When the pedal is completely off (with the footswitch), not a single knob affects anything of course. Your clean tone is passing through the pedal completely uneffected when the pedal is off.

 

[John D Harris]

Got mine yesterday, I'm still sorting out the tonal options.
I'm working to find a setting that sounds the same 'on' as 'off' with minimum drive.

 

[John D Harris]

I have found some very good tones though.
Thought I should point that out.
Pretty sure it's going to be an always on device for me.

 

[stingray69]

Got mine yesterday, I'm still sorting out the tonal options.
It appears that the tone controls still work (to some degree) with the unit off.
I'm working to find a setting that sounds the same 'on' as 'off' with minimum drive.

Huh - I will have to try this, perhaps I have assumed too much. I thought I had tried this, but maybe I'm mistaken. Then again, I haven't had it OFF much since I got it - it's pretty much an always-on device for me too.

Which knobs are you finding still function in the OFF position - the Low & High knobs?

 

[John D Harris]

Huh - I will have to try this, perhaps I have assumed too much. I thought I had tried this, but maybe I'm mistaken. Then again, I haven't had it OFF much since I got it - it's pretty much an always-on device for me too.

Which knobs are your finding still function in the OFF postion - the Low & High knobs?

Correction: my 1st pass at this either I was mistaken or my unit malfunctioning.
I just tried it again & the 'bass' & 'treble' controls have no effect with the unit off.
I apologize for the confusion!

 

[stingray69]

Correction: my 1st pass at this either I was mistaken or my unit malfunctioning.
I just tried it again & the 'bass' & 'treble' controls have no effect with the unit off.
I apologize for the confusion!

No worries - it could very well have, and if it did, it wouldn't be the first time I've overlooked a potential function of a new piece of gear. Aside from that, how are you running your Sparrow - straight into a head or in a pedalboard situation? I have mini pedal board which consists of the Sparrow, a Zoom MS-60 (mostly for effects) and a small DI unit. I find the Sparrow plays nice with my other pedals. Tonight I decided to roll back the Blend to about 50% on the Sparrow and dial in an additional Hartke amp & 4x10 cab sim on the Zoom. I run the pedalboard DI output (1/4" output) into the effects Return of a GK MB500. The stacked cab sims of both the Sparrow and the Hartke sound nice together!

 

[John D Harris]

No worries - it could very well have, and if it did, it wouldn't be the first time I've overlooked a potential function of a new piece of gear. Aside from that, how are you running your Sparrow - straight into a head or in a pedalboard situation? I have mini pedal board which consists of the Sparrow, a Zoom MS-60 (mostly for effects) and a small DI unit. I find the Sparrow plays nice with my other pedals. Tonight I decided to roll back the Blend to about 50% on the Sparrow and dial in an additional Hartke amp & 4x10 cab sim on the Zoom. I run the pedalboard DI output into the effects Return of a GK MB500. The stacked cab sims of both the Sparrow and the Hartke sound nice together!

Just as a lone pedal.
Haven't tried it with my amp yet.
I do my home practicing just running my bass into a 4 track cassette recorder that I just use as a mixer.
I've got iTunes on my computer that I run into the 4 track with headphones.
So thus far I just have the Sparrow between my bass & the 4 track.
Monday at the next band practice will probably be my 1st time to run it in front of my amp (Genz Benz Contour 500).
I'll check out the DI at practice as well just to make sure it's OK since I'll probably use that on gigs instead of the DI on my amp as long as it sounds alright.
That way if something should happen to my amp, the sound out front won't go down.
I'm getting a fairly scooped tone out of it.
I've got the bass at about 3 o'clock, treble at about 2:30 o'clock, drive @ 10:30 o'clock, harmonics @ 11 o'clock, & blend @ 1 o'clock.
I have a MusicMan StingRay 5 (which I usually run in the single coil mode) - right now I have the bass control on that up by maybe 20% of the boost.
As I said pretty scooped sounding, then depending on the song, I boost the midrange control by whatever makes the song sound right - 50% boost on the mids sounds fairly balanced just solo.
Add or subtract a little treble &/or bass at my BG.
We'll see how that works in the band setting - I foresee on some songs boosting the midrange all the way.
I'm sure the more I get comfortable with how the different controls interact, I'll make more changes on the Sparrow.

 

[John D Harris]

I've changed my settings a fair bit already - just had too much scoop going on.
I've arrived at a similar tone, but less scoop (at least by a bit).
Bass @ 3 o'clock, Treble @ 12 o'clock, Drive @ 3 o'clock, Harmonics @ 10 o'clock, Mix @ 8 o'clock.
I may have to cut the Drive & the Mix some when I run it into my amp.
I'm still using my BG (SR5) tone controls to add treble & mids on some songs & adjusting the bass (on the bass) to taste.
Still scooped a bit, but does have better punch & takes a bit less EQing at my BG.

 

[FuzzFacetious]

Could it also be used as a pedal into an amp or is that definitely not what it's designed for?

 

[stingray69]

I've changed my settings a fair bit already - just had too much scoop going on.
I've arrived at a similar tone, but less scoop (at least by a bit).
Bass @ 3 o'clock, Treble @ 12 o'clock, Drive @ 3 o'clock, Harmonics @ 10 o'clock, Mix @ 8 o'clock.
I may have to cut the Drive & the Mix some when I run it into my amp.
I'm still using my BG (SR5) tone controls to add treble & mids on some songs & adjusting the bass (on the bass) to taste.
Still scooped a bit, but does have better punch & takes a bit less EQing at my BG.

These settings are pretty much what I run at too. I go for the just-slightly scooped area and that still leaves me room on my Ibby 3 band EQ to be flexible for most song changes. I only lean heavier into the Drive or Mix if the song really demands it.