The Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive is an overdrive pedal built around a familiar circuit with one unusual addition. Voodoo Lab says its overdrive circuit is an exact replica of a vintage '808, the design behind the Ibanez Tube Screamer, but the pedal adds a Clean control that blends a boosted direct signal back in on top of the drive12. The company describes the result as using "the same concept as layering two amps, one clean and the other saturated"1.
The point of that blend, as Voodoo Lab explains it, is to restore what a highly compressed overdrive circuit takes away. The clean signal brings back the attack and feel of the dry guitar, so you can run a midrange-heavy '808-style drive without losing the definition of your picking1. The pedal debuted in 2000 and Premier Guitar has called it Voodoo Lab's flagship overdrive34.
An 808-style overdrive with a clean blend
The overdrive side of the pedal is the part players will recognize. Voodoo Lab's own FAQ puts it plainly:
"The overdrive circuit is an exact replica of an ‘808, but now you get it with true bypass switching AND a killer clean boost!"2
Pedal of the Day's 2014 review described it in similar terms: "By itself this pedal is a Tubescreamer style drive that goes from light to medium gain"5. So the drive character is the classic midrange-forward, compressed '808 sound, and the Clean knob is what makes the pedal its own thing. GuitarPlayer, in its roundup of the top 50 stompboxes, identified that knob as the pedal's key feature, noting it "lets you add boosted clean signal to the distortion sound to enhance clarity and detail, simulating the layering effect of two amplifiers"4.
The controls
The Sparkle Drive has four knobs: Volume, Gain, Tone and Clean. Voodoo Lab's product page describes each1:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| VOLUME | Sets the output level. |
| GAIN | Sets the gain level for the overdrive sound only. Low settings warm up and compress the tone; higher settings add sustain and saturation. Has no effect on the clean signal. |
| TONE | Brighter up, darker down. Affects the overdrive only, with no effect on the clean signal. |
| CLEAN | Blends the boosted clean signal with the overdrive. All the way down is overdrive only; all the way up is clean only; in between is a blend of both. |
Because Gain and Tone act on the overdrive path only, the Clean knob effectively lets you dial out the drive's influence on your core tone. An independent review at muzique.com (AMZ Guitar Effects) noted the practical limit of this: "If you turn the clean all the way on, the drive and tone controls do not work, so its then only a clean boost"6. The same review found the clean path to be "a very nice one with proper highend definition and full range boost," though "a little less 'clear' through the mids"6.
Using it as a clean boost
With the Clean control all the way up, Voodoo Lab says the pedal "provides a super transparent, 100% clean boost"1. Pedal of the Day's reviewer liked that mode, writing that cranking the knob all the way right gives "a rich, full, and sparkling clean boost (an glorious tone I must add)"5. For players shopping by function, that makes the Sparkle Drive usable as a boost pedal as well as an overdrive, with the caveat that the drive controls do nothing in that position6.
Power
The Sparkle Drive runs on 9V DC and draws 20mA, through a 5.5mm x 2.1mm barrel connector with center negative polarity1. That is a low enough draw to share an isolated output or a conventional daisy chain with most compact analog pedals. The muzique.com review also lists a 9V adapter and LED among the pedal's features6.
History and the Sparkle Drive MOD
The pedal's current successor in the lineup is the Sparkle Drive MOD. It keeps the original's Clean blend but adds a MOD switch with four modes7:
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| VINTAGE | The original Sparkle Drive: the stock 808-based circuit, with the classic tube-style midrange grind great for blues or boosting solos. |
| MOD 1 | LEAD circuit with extra gain, a thick and juicy bottom end, and smooth highs for single-note melodies. |
| MOD 2 | A third custom modification, selectable on the same switch. |
| MOD 3 | A HIGH GAIN treatment with articulate highs and aggressive bottom end. |
Pedal of the Day reviewed the MOD in 2023 and called it "might be our favorite one yet" of the Voodoo Lab pedals the site had covered, praising its "wide-ranging tonal spectrum" as usable for any guitar and amp setup8. The MOD differs from the original in a few concrete ways: it draws 35mA rather than 20mA, and it achieves true bypass with a high-reliability gold-contact relay rather than a mechanical switch71.
What reviewers said on video
A JHS Pedals episode on Voodoo Lab covered the Sparkle Drive's history and its sound, and the presenters found it works well beyond six-string duty, calling it "phenomenal on bass guitar"9. For bass players, that points toward the bass pedals angle of the clean blend: the boosted direct signal keeps low-end definition that a compressed '808-style circuit alone would lose.
Videos
ProGuitarShopDemos
Voodoo Lab
Ryan Kiesshauer
Questions
Is the Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive a Tube Screamer clone?
In effect, yes. Voodoo Lab says the overdrive circuit is an exact replica of a vintage '808, the circuit behind the Ibanez Tube Screamer, and reviewers describe it as a Tubescreamer-style drive going from light to medium gain. What separates it from a straight clone is the Clean knob, which blends a boosted direct signal back in on top of the overdrive.
Does the Sparkle Drive work on bass?
Yes, according to press reviewers. On a JHS Pedals video about Voodoo Lab, the pedal was described as phenomenal on bass guitar, with the low end holding up well. The clean blend is part of why: the boosted direct signal keeps low-end definition that a highly compressed overdrive circuit alone can lose.
Is the Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive true bypass?
Yes. Voodoo Lab specifies true bypass switching, along with a heavy-duty metal switch and an on/off status LED. The Sparkle Drive MOD also uses true bypass, but switches it with a high-reliability gold-contact relay instead.
What is the difference between the Sparkle Drive and the Sparkle Drive MOD?
The MOD keeps the original's clean blend but adds a MOD switch with four modes: VINTAGE, which is the stock 808-based circuit of the original, plus three custom modifications described as a LEAD circuit, a high-gain treatment, and a third voiced option. It also draws more current, 35mA against the original's 20mA.
Can the Sparkle Drive be used as a clean boost?
Yes. With the Clean control all the way up, Voodoo Lab says it provides a super transparent, 100% clean boost. One independent review notes that in that position the drive and tone controls stop working, so the pedal is then only a clean boost.
Sources (9)
- Sparkle Drive®, Voodoo Lab, 2026-10-14
- Sparkle Drive FAQ, Voodoo Lab, 2026-07-24
- 10 Screamer-Style Overdrive Pedals, premierguitar.com, 2022-09-09
- The Best Guitar Effects Pedals of All Time, GuitarPlayer (www.guitarplayer.com), 2021-06-25
- Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive, Pedal of the Day (www.pedal-of-the-day.com), 2014-07-13
- Reviews of boost pedals, muzique.com (AMZ Guitar Effects)
- Sparkle Drive® MOD, Voodoo Lab, 2026-10-14
- VooDoo Lab Sparkle Drive MOD Overdrive Distortion, Pedal of the Day (www.pedal-of-the-day.com), 2023-11-30
- Why Voodoo Lab Pedals Are Amazing, JHS Pedals (YouTube), 2019-10-17
