| Author |
Topic: Sparkle Drive vs Earth Drive |
Karen Sarkisian
From:
Boston, MA, USA
|
Posted 3 Mar 2015 7:34 am |
|
I see a lot of people on the forum use the Voodoo Labs Sparkle drive. How does it differ from the Sarno Earth Drive ? Is it more fuzz-like ? higher gain ? more compressed ?
What pedal is recommended for Sneaky Pete type fuzz with lots of sustain ?
_________________
Emmons, Franklin, Mullen |
|
|
 |
Mike Terry
From:
Galesburg Il
|
Posted 3 Mar 2015 9:37 am
|
|
| Karen i just bought an Earth Drive for that very reason. I got it with a leg clip so i could reach down & flip it off or on for solos. Like Sneaky Pete on Christines Tune. I think it works well with the steel. |
|
|
|
Ian Sutton
From:
San Francisco, CA
|
Posted 3 Mar 2015 11:03 am
|
|
Hey Karen,
I have an Earth Drive and it's an excellent pedal though I wouldn't say it's a fuzz pedal at all. IMO the pedal ranges from clean boost/light overdrive-to pretty strong overdrive, but not fuzz like a Bosstone or something. Hope that helps.
_________________
Some gear. |
|
|
|
Karen Sarkisian
From:
Boston, MA, USA
|
Posted 3 Mar 2015 11:17 am
|
|
thanks ! i also have an earth drive. Ian how is fuzz different ?
_________________
Emmons, Franklin, Mullen |
|
|
|
Ian Sutton
From:
San Francisco, CA
|
Posted 3 Mar 2015 11:26 am
|
|
When I think fuzz I think more diode clipping (which may be electronically incorrect). But to me fuzz is like a big muff, bosstone, fuzztone -- in general a more brash, harsh tone.
I would consider the distortion tone in this song fuzz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2CzmlRphCg
or even better:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHg-b2hunVE
I consider the Earth Drive to be a much more mellow pedal than the examples above.
_________________
Some gear. |
|
|
|
Ed Brooks
From:
Seattle Washington, USA
|
Posted 3 Mar 2015 8:06 pm
|
|
Hey Karen,
I have both a Sparkle Drive and an Earth Drive. Sparkle Drive sounds to me to have a hyped upper mid tone. It has independent controls for the clean sound and the dirt, so you can blend them to taste, a great function for putting just a little bit of grit on your guitar. The Earth Drive you know, and all I can say is I love it, it is my main overdrive for steel or guitar.
Fuzz pedals are designed to be distortion pedals. I have tried alot of them through the kindness of a friend who collects them. The pedal I like for steel is the Keeley Fuzz Head. It is a relatively low gain fuzz pedal, which to my ear was musical without really taking over the tone of the steel. The other one I like is the Jordan Bosstone, classic vintage fuzz that plays nice with steel. There are reissues being made but I can't recall the name of the person making them. He has posted recently on the forum in the for sale accesories section.
Cheers
Ed
_________________
A blind beagle, a shepherd retriever mix, and a brown lab mix |
|
|
|
Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
|
Posted 4 Mar 2015 4:14 am
|
|
The Sparkle drive is my primary pedal, I think the biggest issue with the Sparkle drive is folks really don't understand how to blend the gain (OD) and the clean settings. I know how it all works but I'm not sure I know why  I just know that I love it ! 
The SD is the only OD pedal in my stomp rack...
_________________
Emmons L-II , Fender Telecasters, B-Benders , Eastman Mandolin ,
Pro Tools 12 on WIN 7 !
jobless- but not homeless- now retired 9 years
CURRENT MUSIC TRACKS AT > https://tprior2241.wixsite.com/website |
|
|
|
Karen Sarkisian
From:
Boston, MA, USA
|
Posted 4 Mar 2015 6:29 am
|
|
| Tony Prior wrote: |
The Sparkle drive is my primary pedal, I think the biggest issue with the Sparkle drive is folks really don't understand how to blend the gain (OD) and the clean settings. I know how it all works but I'm not sure I know why I just know that I love it !
The SD is the only OD pedal in my stomp rack... |
Tony have you used an earth drive ??
_________________
Emmons, Franklin, Mullen |
|
|
|
Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
|
Posted 4 Mar 2015 1:58 pm
|
|
Karen , no, I have seen them and heard them, they sound fine, but seeing I am very pleased with the SD I didn't bother looking at it for my use. I guess I am old school, if I have no reason to change I don't !
I would imagine that either would be serve you well!
t
_________________
Emmons L-II , Fender Telecasters, B-Benders , Eastman Mandolin ,
Pro Tools 12 on WIN 7 !
jobless- but not homeless- now retired 9 years
CURRENT MUSIC TRACKS AT > https://tprior2241.wixsite.com/website |
|
|
|
Brad Sarno
From:
St. Louis, MO USA
|
Posted 4 Mar 2015 5:24 pm
|
|
The Sparkle Drive is a cool pedal. In a nutshell, it's a clone of an Ibanez Tubescreamer but with the added feature of a clean/dirty blend knob so you can mix the two. The tone quality of a Tubescreamer/Sparkle Drive is that it's a big giant midrange boost centered at 1kHz. That's what makes the Tubescreamer sound that way, all a big giant midrange and that makes solos really poke thru. They do dump the bass and the top end a bit because of that big midrange push.
The Earth Drive is not so midrangey, it's more full range, more lows, more highs, not so heavily EQ'd, so that when you barely drive it, the sound of the instrument is relatively unchanged, still sounds like itself.
For a Sneaky Pete type fuzz, you may want to find a Jordan BossTone or a clone. Keith Hilton made some really nice BossTone like fuzz devices that would be worth checking into.
Brad |
|
|
|
Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
|
Posted 4 Mar 2015 8:13 pm
|
|
Chris Mahoney (mahoneyguitargear.com) makes a good clone of the Boss Tone, under the name of Buzz Tone.
A completely different animal from the Sparkle or your box.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
|
|
|
W. Van Horn
From:
Houston, texas
|
|
|
|
Karen Sarkisian
From:
Boston, MA, USA
|
Posted 5 Mar 2015 5:43 pm
|
|
I'm looking at the Wampler velvet fuzz. I really like Brian's pedals. thanks for all the responses
_________________
Emmons, Franklin, Mullen |
|
|
|
Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
|
|
|
|
Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
|
Posted 5 Mar 2015 6:04 pm
|
|
| And btw--I have a Sparkle Drive (as well as a Keeley TS-9) and an Earth Drive and although they are very different animals, I just can't give a decent verbal description. The mention of the midrange hump in the Tube Screamer type pedals is true and the description of the E-drive as flat and transparent is also correct. |
|
|
|
Tony Glassman
From:
The Great Northwest
|
Posted 5 Mar 2015 6:06 pm
|
|
| I just dug out my old MI Audio "Crunch Box". It's billed as a "Marshall Stack-in-a-pedal", and it lives up to that description. It sounds pretty Led Zeppelin-y. |
|
|
|
Justin Jacobson
From:
Rochester, MN
|
Posted 6 Mar 2015 5:13 am
|
|
The sampler velvet fuzz is real nice. I'm thinking about picking one up again.
I'm currently using the mojo hand iron bell. It sounds pretty great on the steel.
_________________
http://soundcloud.com/tower-4
ShoBud Pro2 - Strobostomp - POG2 - mojo hand iron bell - WMD Geiger Counter - EHX Freeze - Earth Drive - catalinbread pareidolia - fender volume/tone - boss dd-3 - behringer vibrato - boss bf-2 - boss dc-2 - neo ventilator - catlinbread echorec - strymon timeline - eventide space - fender blues deluxe |
|
|
|
