The Whimsy Machines King Spark Overdrive is, at its core, an overdrive with an embedded wah-style effect and a three-band EQ section, all in one box1. It sits in the overdrive family alongside the pedals covered on our Overdrive Pedals page, but the built-in resonant filter sets it apart from a conventional drive pedal.
What it does
Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio describes the King Spark as "a highly modified discrete core tube screamer with tunable positive feedback"1. The filter section and the drive circuit are intertwined rather than simply chained: "Think of it as a voltage controlled resonant filter from the synthesizer world and a tube screamer that are not just connected in series"1.
The overall effect, as he describes it, "sounds reminiscent of natural acoustic oscillation due to a positive feedback loop in your live setup," with the level and frequency of that feedback under the player's control1. In practice, that means the pedal can push a chosen frequency into singing feedback the way a guitar amp does at high volume, but with the pitch and amount set on the pedal.
Controls and connectivity
The Resonance knob is the heart of the filter section. It sets the frequency you want to push through, and used moderately it can act as a parametric EQ to push specific frequencies for extra bite or growl. Pushed far up, it can generate self-oscillation1.
Beyond the standard knobs, the King Spark offers several less common connections:
- Expression inputs: a level expression pedal input and a frequency expression pedal input, so a rocker pedal can sweep either the feedback level or the filter frequency1
- CV input: the pedal responds to 1 volt/octave CV signals from an external synthesizer, letting a synth sequence or modulate the filter1
- Secret phaser output: a secondary output, available when using a TRS insert cable on the output, with the main output on the tip and the secret output on the ring1
The secondary "secret phaser" output only works with a TRS insert cable on the output jack: main output on the tip, secret output on the ring1.
Where it came from
The King Spark draws on two traditions at once: the Tube Screamer-style overdrive circuit, familiar from pedals like those compared in our Boss SD-1 vs Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer page, and the voltage controlled resonant filter from the synthesizer world1. Whimsy Machines introduced the pedal in September 2021, when Delicious Audio covered it1.
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Sources (1)
- Whimsy Machines King Spark Overdrive + Filter, Delicious Audio, 2021-09-07