Dr. J Sparrow (Joyo)???

[stingray69]

Has anyone ever determined if the Sparrow can be used to drive a Crown power amp? I've looked all over TB and the web and haven't found anyone that has confirmed one way or another yet.

Not sure - if the Crown's input sensitivity ratings are fairly low, then perhaps. Hard to say without simply trying it in some cases - especially with a pedal like the Sparrow. The Sparrow has a decent amount of gain, but it is also one of those kind of pedals where your preferred settings come into play as to the output volume output. The amount of Lows, Drive, Mix (Blend), you are dialing in - all these things come into play a great deal as too how "hot" your Master Volume knob is when all is said and done.

I don't go for large volume jumps when use my Sparrow so much as a fantastic tone shaping unit, so I've not really put it to the test in sheer output volume. But there is always the option of adding a clean boost pedal after the Sparrow - that would definitely drive your Crown if your preferred Sparrow Drive/Blend, settings weren't doing the trick sufficiently enough.

 

[kcmoe]

Not sure - if the Crown's input sensitivity ratings are fairly low, then perhaps. Hard to say without simply trying it in some cases - especially with a pedal like the Sparrow. The Sparrow has a decent amount of gain, but it is also one of those kind of pedals where your preferred settings come into play as to the output volume output. The amount of Lows, Drive, Mix (Blend), you are dialing in - all these things come into play a great deal as too how "hot" your Master Volume knob is when all is said and done.

I don't go for large volume jumps when use my Sparrow so much as a fantastic tone shaping unit, so I've not really put it to the test in sheer output volume. But there is always the option of adding a clean boost pedal after the Sparrow - that would definitely drive your Crown if your preferred Sparrow Drive/Blend, settings weren't doing the trick sufficiently enough.

What i'm really just wanting is a preamp to put at the end of my pedalboard into the poweramp. Probably won't use much/any of the overdrive or tone controls on the pedal itself. All the pre-pedals I know that will work that way are at least 2x $$ as the Sparrow. I only play live about 3 times a year so I can justify spending a ton of money on something.

 

[stingray69]

What i'm really just wanting is a preamp to put at the end of my pedalboard into the poweramp. Probably won't use much/any of the overdrive or tone controls on the pedal itself. All the pre-pedals I know that will work that way are at least 2x $$ as the Sparrow. I only play live about 3 times a year so I can justify spending a ton of money on something.

If I'm understanding you correctly, what you are looking for is simply more output volume from your pedalboard - enough to drive the Crown poweramp? If that's case & if you probably wouldn't be using the tone shaping or overdrive of the Sparrow anyway, maybe something like a clean boost pedal would work for you.

If you are looking for boost + additional EQ tone shaping ability before going to your poweramp, an EQ pedal would accomplish both so long as it has a healthy output gain (15db or higher should do the trick). Not sure what kind of preamp pedals you are looking at - it depends on what your definition of a preamp is. In the strictest of terms, any tone shaping and/or gain pedal(s) before the poweramp are by definition a pre-amp pedal.

 

[kcmoe]

So I dug out my GEB-7 EQ pedal and put in front of the Crown. Left the tone sliders at 0 and put the output all the way up. It works pretty well. Though there's a nasty hum, which I think is from the XLR to 1/4 cable I was using. I'll get a new one and try again. For the time being this may work ok.

 

[John D Harris]

Yesterday, my band did a private party.
I ran my line out to the mixer (QSC TouchMix 16) from the Sparrow.
One of our guitarist's wife is usually our 'soundperson' - not to be confused with a pro soundperson.
She kept saying my signal wasn't strong enough, so I cranked the level control about 1hr at a time (using the clock reference).
She was still telling me it was a weak signal after I went about 30 min short of fully clockwise.
I did not feel comfortable running it wide open as the signal did not retain the character I had previously dialed in (sounded congested to me).
So, I switched back to the DI off my Genz Contour & we carried on.
Later, I asked her if the gain was cranked at the mixer & she said no, so I'll attempt it again next gig to see if we can get it dialed in w/o jacking up the tone due to bad gain structure.
I'm thinking of using a clean gain boost pedal, but as indicated before I'd rather use it for when I switch between fingerstyle & using a pick.
But if the mixer gain proves insufficient, I may have to resort to an always on boost.
As I said before, I play fingerstyle with a fairly light touch, so everyone else's experience may vary from mine.

 

[bassically_eli]

Time to revive this thread again. Can anyone compare this with a VT Bass? I'm looking for more of a clean tube sound to just slightly driven, anything else is just a bonus. The third option is to get a preamp with real tubes.

 

[gerodoth]

i don't have joyo now and don't regret about it, and if i lost my vtbass i will buy another.
they say sparrow is a copy of bddi.
they say original bddi worse than vtbass.
i think they right.

 

[jefbyos]

I have one an think it's a good dirt pedal for vintage-ish sounds. Astonishing for such inexpensive unit... Only thing that i would love to is to defeat the cab sim, so i could use IR instead.

Anyone knows if there are schematics around ? Or even better, if someone already solved the mod, could provide instructions to do so ?

 

[GregT]

I have two of these. One I use for recording bass when I'm not using an SM57. I also use one of these at the end of my guitar pedalboard right after my IR pedal just so I can also have the DI to the mixer board. The 1/4-inch output goes direct to the amp. I always run it in the off position, and it doesn't seem to affect my tone in any way.