The Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive is an overdrive pedal built on an interesting concept. It is has an 808 Tube Screamer style overdrive circuit to boost the signal, and a "clean" control blends back in clean but "boosted" signal, which is supposed to add back in some of the attack and feel which is lost in a strictly overdriven signal that is under compression. Its very similar to playing through a clean amp and a distorted amp and blending the two sounds together, which has been done by numerous guitarist in search of that mystical tone in their head.

Like every other Voodoo Lab pedal, the Sparkle Drive is 100% analog and hand-wired.It features true bypass switching and comes in a heavy-duty cast aluminum casing with a rugged metal switch. It even has a 5-year warranty.

The Sparkle Drive has 4 knobs, 2 of which really control the thing.

Basically at full blast, this pedal is like a crunchy classic rock overdrive, not a high gain distortion. Rather than scooped or bottom heavy, its more of a thick but midrangey sound thats sonically somewhere around what you would expect from a Tube Screamer 808, which is what it is supposedly based off of anyway.
The name Sparkle Drive is apt here, because being able to blend back in a boosted clean signal to the signal adds a bit of transparency, clarity, and sparkle to the tone, though it does diminish the gain.... which is already only moderate at best. So naturally, my favorite way of using this pedal is wide-open in front of my tube combo already running at slight boost, and then In just adjust the "clean" knob according to my mood.
Typically, I play my Ibanez Ghostrider with Gibson PAF humbuckers and occasionally a Telecaster. This pedal loves both of them and interacts differently with the different styles of pickups. When it comes to hand-wired analog pedals, you really have to try it out with your rig to know how you're gonna like it.

This is a pure distortion pedal. You can get overdrive out of it, there are even presets for it. However, I believe this pedal is specifically tailored for hard, heavy, driving distortion. The heavier, the better. It is a digital unit and cannot be edited via computer. It is a floor pedal, so it is not rackable. The unit has one input and two outputs. One output is for going to an amp. The other is a cabinet modeler that allows you to go straight into the mixing board.

Configuration is simple. It has four knobs : level, low, mid and high. As digitech says, they've set the gain on 11 and ripped off the knob ! Thus the lack of a gain knob on this unit. Sounds/effects editing is very easy and the clear, colorful manual makes it even easier. There are not only presets for just this unit, but the manual also shows how you can combine it with other effects to get a solo tone.

This pedal really only serves one purpose....it's a death metal pedal, just like the name says! As such, it sound greats for death, trash, nu-metal, and even heavy metal! I put this thing through a Fender Twin and it was palm muting hell (or heaven depending on your opinion.) It is great for heavy rhythm grind. Unfortunately, because the treble is so harsh, I don't feel this is a great pedal for soloing. The manual has a sample setup that has this pedal chained to a delay and a chorus for a smoother soloing sound. When I mimic this set up, it sounds a little better, but the treble is still too harsh in my opinion, even with the delay and chorus.

This is a straightforward overdrive/distortion pedal. It actually has a mode for both overdrive and distortion. I believe it is digital. It cannot be edit via computer. It has input and output, as well as connector for 9v/dc power supply. It is a floor pedal, so it is not rackable. It has volume, gain, treble, mid, bass, and frequency in stacked knobs.

General configuration is simple. Even though certain knobs are stacked on top of each other, it's not really hard to figure this unit out. This pedal can get a large range of sound or effects and editing is easy. I bought this used, so I don't have a manual. However, if you go on the Marshall website, it has some pretty cool presets that you can set up.

You can get some tones that are fairly close to several Marshall amp models with this unit. For distorted sounds, I have as much as put this through a Fender Twin, and it sounds huge and amazing. It's like having a Marshall amp with the purity and thumping low end of the Fender clean. The distortion mode on this pedal has a ton of bass to it, which I like for solos. However, in order to switch back to rhythm sounds, you would have to bend down and switch the mode to the overdrive mode, which is not very practical in a live setting. The same goes for switching from rhythm in the overdrive mode to playing a solo in the distortion mode. So basically, you need to have another distortion pedal or a dirty amp for playing rhythm, then kick on this pedal in the distortion mode. Or you have to use this pedal on the overdrive mode for rhythm, then have another pedal as a gain booster, such as a DOD YJM 368 when you go into a solo. So it's pretty impractical, when ideally, you should only need this pedal to switch between rhythm and soloing, and back. Since I have a multi-effects pedal as well as my DOD preamp/gain booster, this pedal only gets used for specific applications.

This is a straightforward preamp overdrive. It can be used by itself as an overdrive pedal. (I don't like the sound that much when used in this way.) It can also be used as a gain/preamp booster, i.e. in front of a dirty amp or in front of a distortion/overdrive pedal. I believe it is digital. To my knowledge, it cannot be edited via computer. There is an input and output, as well as an input for 9v/dc power supply. This is a floor pedal, so it is not rackable.

Configuration is very simple, with just two knobs: level and gain. Getting the intended effects is really easy. Turn the gain all the way up, then adjust the level to your liking, and you're done with presets. I think I have the manual, but I don't think it was very useful. Luckily, you don't really need it.

As I said earlier, as an overdrive by itself, I am not so impressed by this pedal. However, when I put it after my noise suppressor and before any distortion pedals, it makes a wonderful, screaming preamp booster. I stomp on this baby primarily for solos, either with a distortion/overdrive pedal already engaged, or when the amp I'm using has it's drive/distortion pedal kicked in. It gives you days and days of endless sustain. I can also do fast,long solos without wasting all of my hard earned energy trying to press the strings so hard to get great tone and sustain. The only things I don't like about this pedal, I fixed by buying additional specialized pedals. It is very noisy, especially with the gain turned up. A noise suppressor fixes that. I also wish that it would boost volume when engaged, precisely because I use it for solos, but this unit does not give much of a volume boost when engaged. So I bought an equalizer that I can engage along side of it when it's time to solo.

- What are the effects, or types of effects available?
Tube distortion and EQ.
Noise reduction knob on the back.

- What technology is used? (analog, digital, tube...)
100% analogue

- Can they be edited? through a Mac/PC editor utility program?
Nope

- What connection types are there? (Audio/MIDI)
In & out, like any simple pedal.

- Is it rackable?
Errm, it's a pedal.

- Is the general configuration/setup simple?
Hard to beat this level of simplicity ;-)

- Is the sound or effects editing easy?
Yes, you can very easily get something u like.
The EQ is very powerful and sounds good.
You can get a bit of noise/hiss but, well, this not a Mesa/Boogie rack, it's a pedal.

- Is the manual clear and sufficient?...
I think it has examples of settings but who needs a manual?? It's a pedal!!

- Are the effects good, usable and sufficiently realistic?
Oh yes!

- With what instruments do you use them?
Don't think the bandwidth would suit a bass or anything else than an electric guitar.

Less hiss would have been good but the noise reduction thingy works ok.

The Big Muff Pi is a reissue fuzz box/sustainer made in Russia. Its a very different manifestation of the classic in appearance, in a sturdy black metal casing with chicken beak knobs, and comes with a cool wooden storage box. It has 1/4" input and outputs, which are annoyingly on the opposite sides from where you would expect them to be, like other effects boxes.

Dialing it in is pretty easy and self-explanatory with just a gain, tone, and volume knob. I never used the manual.

I have to admit, I don't understand what the fuss is all about with the Big Muff, or fuzz pedals in general. Its thin, hissy, buzzy, fuzzy. It is not thick, pleasing, or even musical sounding to my ears. I played with it for a while, using my Les Paul style guitar through a small tube combo, and found no usable sounds. I don't think theres anything wrong with mine, I just think the overall tone of it makes me cringe.

I will stick with my TS9 Tube Screamer for creamier sweet sustain, and other pedals for more heavy distortion. This Big Muff just does nothing for me.

The Snarling Dog's Black Dog is an overdrive pedal. Its built like a homemade pedal and not not mass produced ones, with a 2 piece sheet metal angled box, generic push button, and classic chicken beak knobs for volume and gain. It also has a switch for "attack control" that lets you choose "snarl" or "bite". Fun, fun. But the coolest thing about this pedal is the dog's face staring back at you whose eyes light up red when you switch on the unit.

Its pretty simple to operate; no eq, just a volume and gain knob, and attack switch.

I like this pedal, it has a very classic sound to me. Its got more bark to it than my TS9 tube screamer, though not as much sustain. I find it perfect for nailing that AC/DC sound.
I eventually get a bit bored and it feels kind of like a one-trick-pony since I can't get creamy sustain for soling like I do from the TS9, and its not quite as warm.
But, since it has true bypass, where you can turn it off and its like its not even there (why can't more pedal makers spend the time to do that>!) then I like to keep it right there in my signal chain for that classic british bark once in a while.

The DOD Grunge pedal is a bit misnamed, it can maybe create a "grunge" sound for you if you play with it, but it is mostly a pedal for metal lovers.
Its a fairly typical distortion box, 1/4" input and output, red led, ac adapter input, in a sturdy metal casing with a cheap plastic stomp button and battery cover like all DOD boxes, when will they ever learn not to use plastic? It has 4 knobs; "loud", "low", "high", and "grunge" (which means 'gain' in DOD-land for this pedal anyway). Its pretty simple to use.

I was a bit suprised at how much control the "low" and "high" knobs give you. You can't just max this thing out and rock out like some guitarists are tempted to do, but you will equally lose out by just leaving the EQ at 12 o'clock. You can add a ton of thick low end to your palm muting riffing with the "low" knob without it getting muddy as quickly as I would expect, and the 2 eq knobs seem a bit interactive. It adds a lot of versatility to this pedal.

This pedal will probably elicit a 'love it or hate it' reaction from most guitarists. I do like the meaty crunch of it and the amount of gain possible, but it does start to sound a bit "synthetic" to my ears and never really sounds "warm". Its a very raw, grating distortion. It might be cool to play Pantera riffs, and detune to play newer metal, but..... I would never play prettier music like indie rock or even screamo with it. Its just to nasally and over the top. I go to this pedal when I want super aggressive distortion for metal type playing. I have the sense to reach for my Tube Screamer when I want creamy overdrive/distortion for lead/soling, and my Snarling Dogs Black Dog when I want a more classic sound.

I hate the sound of it with the gain turned down, its not very versatile in that regard either.