The original Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive really is a classic overdrive pedal that doesn't get the appreciation now in 2016 that it probably deserves. In addition to being a solid TS-808 overdrive circuit, the major innovation of the Sparkle Drive is a "blend" knob that adds in your bypassed clean tone to the end result. So you can mix and match varying degrees of your clean signal with the overdrive. This opens up a lot of possibilities, since your clean tone is likely to be bassier and more percussive than the compressed, mid-focused sound of a Tubescreamer circuit. I love the pedal with my Vox AC10C1 - it has a great chime to its clean tone with just a bit of grit, so blending that in with a smooth overdrive really makes for a complex and beautiful sound.
The "Mod" version of the Sparkle Drive adds a few different modes, and my understanding is that they basically adopted popular mods people were doing with the original Sparkle Drive. I use the original and "1" setting the most. The "1" setting is basically a fuller modded version of the original 808 overdrive. I have less experience with "2" and "3" - I recall that one of them is a more scooped overdrive and may also offer more gain. Those settings didn't sound bad, but they weren't anything I would use with regularity.
My slight complaint/concern about the "Mod" version of the Sparkle Drive has to do with the knobs and durability. I think the bypass switch is fine, but the knobs have some wobble to them, especially the mod selector knob. I'm not a gigging musician, so I'm able to baby my gear, but I'm not expecting "BOSS-like" durability from this thing, and for the price, that's probably something they should have offered. I would also note that this is a not a compact pedal - it's definitely wider than a BOSS pedal, and they probably could have done a better job using the real estate on the front of the pedal, given that the knobs are quite thin. On the plus side, it has a transparent Plexiglass cover on the facing, which gives it a unique and updated look over the old model.
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