TC Electronic Spark Booster Guitar Effects Pedal

Bought one. Loved it. Had to get another to dedicate one for clean and one for dirt. With different settings on 2 spark pedals and clean and dirty channels on the amp....I get 4 channels. I am overwhelmed with these things.

I was SUPER skeptical about this pedal. I've heard it all and tried different thing to tweak my guitar rig. I figured....meh....I'll just return it if it sucks. It does not suck. I figured it was just a volume booster or an overdrive that supplemented your amp or your other pedals. I have to say I am blown away by the Spark pedal. This thing has brought my Wampler Paisley Drive and OCD pedals into an entirely new realm of tone. My orange rocker 15 sounds like a completely different amplifier. I messed around with it for hours and I could not find anything I did not like about it. Well, one thing.... I wish the little switch that went between clean mid and fat was bigger so I could easily access it on my pedalboard. That little switch should really have its own foot toggle switch because it is super effective. I started out my little experiment keeping it on the clean because I thought it would be just enough to boost up my overdrive keeping it there. After much experimentation I started switching to the mid and to the fat, and that's where I really found out what it could do. I mean, it just transformed the tone to where I couldn't recognize my amp... But in a really good way. I believe that someone with an amp, whether it is a 2 Channel hi gain or just a 1 channel amp, could easily use this alone as an Overdrive. Note: heavy metal shredders probably would have to supplement your dirt. This pedal doesn't just make your amp louder, it makes it cleaner, clearer and just better. I'm going to leave it on all the time on my pedalboard. I wish I could somehow just figure out how to toggle the clean mid and fat tones with the footswitch and use it for that purpose. If you get this and don't feel the same way, I have no idea why that would be. Just buy it.

I've always felt that the best rock tones come from a cranked high-gain tube amp (and not via the use of distortion/OD pedals into a clean amp). However, sometimes high-gain tube amps need a little something extra to either push them a little harder, tighten up the sound, or make it a little more thick/sustaining. Over the years, I have occasionally used overdrive pedals to help with that little extra something (my favorites being a Tube Screamer or Chandler Tube Driver). With my latest amp, an EVH 5150iii EL34 2x12 combo, I love the crunch channel, but don't really use the ultra (super high gain) channel. The crunch channel is much more pleasing to my ear. Ideally, I would have preferred to have two crunch channels, so I can have one with moderately high gain (for rhythm) and one with even higher gain (for lead). I decided to try a Tube Screamer into the crunch channel to get that lead tone I was looking for, but it colored the tone a little too much. Having never used a boost pedal, I was a bit apprehensive, but I read enough positive reviews of the Spark Booster to give it a try (also knowing that I could simply return it within reasonable time if I didn't like it). It was EXACTLY what I was looking for. The "Clean" setting thickens up the tone without altering it, and makes leads sound fuller and a bit more sustaining. However, I'm finding that I really like the "Mid" setting even more, as it helps your leads cut through better. The "Fat" channel is a bit too woofy sounding with humbuckers, but does help with single coils if you want a thicker sound. I might change settings depending on the guitar I am using, but typically I keep the gain all the way down/off, the level at noon, the bass at about 11 o'clock, and the treble at noon. I have not experimented with using this pedal into a clean channel of an amp so I will leave that to others to review. People may not hear the difference much when I engage the pedal, but I can definitely feel it while playing.

Use for pedal steel and electric guitar.

I found this pedal to be more versatile than the demos I had viewed before I purchased it. I'm not a real gain junkie, mainly because most gain pedals alter my original tone more than I prefer. The Spark Booster does only what is asked to do, no coloration. I am without a doubt pleased and would highly recommend this pedal to anyone who loves their tone but could use a sweet bump when the music calls for it. 'Nuff said

You can get a lot of different low gain sounds from this. The booster effect is quite strong, but is easily dialed back if you just want to add texture/grit.