I have the option to trade some guitar repair labor($100) for a lightly used Sparkle Drive. I have tried it and I like it, but I have a few questions for you guys.

I already have a modified TS-9. Is the SD better or more useful?

The SD is true bypass, does that mean it has no buffer circuit? If so, how does that change the sound and is this preferable?

Is a used SD worth $100, more or less? Or would I be better off just buying on on evilbay?

Any thoughts, kudos, or misgivings about the SD are welcome as well.

Thanks Y'all

Just checked closed auctions for it on ebay you'll know ballpark going value for it there... if that price suits you you' can alway sget that much selling it yourself there if you don't hang to it...

The main difference from my understanding is that the SD blends in some dry signal in the final signal. Never tried one myself just going by what I remember reading here.

I have a Sparkle Drive and use it quite alot. It's my main crunch rhythm pedal and I also use it for lower gain leads and it stacks GREAT with my BJF Mighty Blue (Baby Blue). The older Voodoo Labs pedals are known to have intermittent switches and indeeed mine is, but I'm told later ones fixed this problem. The switch is board mounted so just popping in a replacment is not as simple as on other pedals. I'm to lazy to send mine back for a switch reoplacement - plus I use it just about every time I play.

I have a Keeley modded Sparkledrive and I love it!! The ability to blend in the clean is pretty much a deal breaker for me. Sometimes I need straight Tubescreamer tone....other times I just need a little transparency to add...love it. Get it....and if you don't like it....you can sell it to me.

hey Ry-Guy?
I was thinking about getting the keeley modded SD. Is there that much of a difference? I played a sparkle drive through my ac 30 and my Hot Rod the other day at a jam at a friends and fell in LURV. It was a stock SD and I didnt find anything I didnt like about it other than it seemed to top out to quick as far as volume on tap from the pedals v knob.

What exactly makes the Keeley mod worth having?

I have always found ANalogman does a smoother more sublte mod on pedals and always found keeleys stuff to make things sharper and hotter and grittier.

Does Keeleys mod make it smoother or hotter or what?
thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by Keef Riffers:
hey Ry-Guy?
I was thinking about getting the keeley modded SD. Is there that much of a difference? I played a sparkle drive through my ac 30 and my Hot Rod the other day at a jam at a friends and fell in LURV. It was a stock SD and I didnt find anything I didnt like about it other than it seemed to top out to quick as far as volume on tap from the pedals v knob.

What exactly makes the Keeley mod worth having?

I have always found ANalogman does a smoother more sublte mod on pedals and always found keeleys stuff to make things sharper and hotter and grittier.

Does Keeleys mod make it smoother or hotter or what?
thanks!

I had the Keeley mod and kept my stock Sparkle Drive. It just sat better in the mix with my guitars/amps/band. I also found the Keeley mods to be somewhat sharp and gritty, whereas I tend to like smoother tones.

I have the Keeley SD & love it. That clean blend is a pretty unique feature.

I've always wondered how similar the SD could be to the Klon, since both have a mid-hump drive character, and both have the clean blend function (altho the SD has an extra knob to accomplish it).

For example: put the drive full up on the SD, and use only the Clean Blend to control the amount of drive you want... this is how the Klon's Drive knob works right?

quote:

Originally posted by ruger9:
I have the Keeley SD & love it. That clean blend is a pretty unique feature.

I've always wondered how similar the SD could be to the Klon, since both have a mid-hump drive character, and both have the clean blend function (altho the SD has an extra knob to accomplish it).

For example: put the drive full up on the SD, and use only the Clean Blend to control the amount of drive you want... this is how the Klon's Drive knob works right?

The Sparkle Drive is a TS808 with a clean blend - that's it. The Klon may have started out in the Tubescreamer relm of the universe but has traveled on to somehere else. I've never heard that it has a clean blend before, and that's certainly not the way I heard it. It's just that most people use it as a clean boost. As a stand alone overdrive the Klon has even a bigger mid hump than a tubescreamer, less gain and can get kinda noisy.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: GuitArtMan,

The Keeley Mod Adds only to the drive side of the pedal. It allows you to have more gain when turned up and less gain when turned down. It's got plenty of Volume to boot, and I think it has a little more bass then before which imo, even with the clean blend feature before the mod, you still lose some bass(but I'm very picky with the low end. ) I thought(in my rig anyways) it made a great pedal just a little bit better and versatile....that's my .02

quote:

Originally posted by GuitArtMan:
accomplish it).


The Sparkle Drive is a TS808 with a clean blend - that's it. I've never heard that it has a clean blend before, and that's certainly not the way I heard it.

The way I understand the Klon's design is, the Gain knob is a dual-ganged pot that incrementally blennds in the OD circuit to the clean signal, eventually going all OD. Which is why in it's lower range it's considered a "clean boost", and in it's upper range it's considered an "overdrive". The SD does basically the same thing, but with 2 knobs.

had a sparkle drive which i liked. when i had keeley modify it, i felt it lost the original vibe which made it unique. it became more like a keeley modded ts. i sold it.

Regarding the Klon, just google it for a schematic and it is pretty obvious what it does. I love the Klon . The Sparkle Drive is a really cool stomper, modded or not, highly recommended modded or not - I prefer it unmodded.

I have a question for SD Owners. I've had a couple of SD's and used them for OD into a clean amp. Not too exciting. I've been looking at boosters lately and the SD seems like a good one. As I recall the clean blend seemed kind of scooped like a BF Fender. I was thinking about the idea of setting the drive to zero or close to it and using the TS side to boost My amp and blending as much clean as sounds good. The TS side would add mids and the clean side would add bass and treble. Blending them to get the right balance would seem to make a versatile booster. I wouldn't want hardly any OD since I didn't like that sound when I had one. All the OD would come from boosting the amp. Anyone using it like this?

I haven't ever tried a Sparkle Drive, but that sounds exactly like how these kinds of pedals were in tended to be used.

HI joel- I had a sparkle drive and sent my re-issue TS9 to Keeley for an upgrade. Hands down the Keeley modified TS 9 is better. But you know, taste is subjective. I run mine through a Mesa Boogie MK 3 with Rubey 6L6s and plug my Fender American strat with Hum Single Hum Duncans into this signal chain: Boss CS-3- Ibanez TS-9 (Keeley mod) Fulltone OCD - Boss CH-1 (super chorus) - and a BOSS DD-6 Delay. The boogie goes into a Mesa 3/4 back 1 x 12" cabinet with a Brittish made Vinatge 30 12" speaker. Tone to die for in my book. I never got a great tone with the Sparkle drive. If I want to get a great tone using the clean/distortion concept, I would use two amps. That works great! Again, just my opinion. Good luck!

MV