EHX Soul Food = TC Electronic Spark Booster?

[WilburBufferson]

Should I get a soul food? What will it deliver that a Spark can't? I'd be using it to drive another pedal, so I don't see how, in the grand scheme of things, one could tell the difference with a blindfold test. Am I wrong?

 

[artdecade]

What is wrong with the Spark? Is there something that you need and can't get from it?

 

[Dunzie]

Not even close. I have both and they aren't close to the same at all.

The Spark Booster is a transparent CLEAN boost with some control over gain and "thickness". The Soul Food is not that at all. It colors your tone significantly giving a nice warm Klon inspired tone with a good amount of drive on tap. Personally I don't think it's a good clean boost option at all but others have said differently for their tastes. To me the SB is what you want in a clean boost, that adds volume and ringing sustain and nice thickness while not altering the flavor of your tone. The Soul Food is a nice organic light overdrive pedal that adds a lot of warmth and some smoothness. Personally I find it doesn't offer any gains whatsoever for sustaining tone, but it is a nice sounding pedal despite that.

Play them both side by side. You'll see very quickly how very different they are. The only thing I can see in common is that you could set them up as a solo boost but the tones will end up very different.

 

[Tim Bowen]

No experience w/ Soul Food but Spark Booster sounds/feels nothing like my old '96 Klon, which Soul Food is purportedly based on. Can't speak to the circuit topology, but I think the (four knob) Spark has more in common with the Xotic RC Booster than w/ a Klon or clone thereof. That said I prefer the RC to the Spark; to me there's something synthetic sounding about the high end in the four knobber Spark.

 

[richey88]

Digging the hell out of my new Soul Food, clean to mean. Great sounding pedal, not over the top. Versatile. LOUD. Cool.

 

[ruger9]

Soul Food is a klone. Spark Booster has nothing to do with the Klon.

 

[WilburBufferson]

What is wrong with the Spark? Is there something that you need and can't get from it?

Nothing actually, just curious about the SF, and the hype around it. I recently got the wampler velvet fuzz and really like it a lot. Am experimenting with the spark as a pure clean boost and as an input driver for the velvet. Was wondering whether the SF would sound all that different in front of the velvet. I find that unless you set the gains really low when stacking ODs, they all end up sounding the same in the end. I guess I'll just have to get out and hear one for myself.

 

[uriah1]

..bringing thread back..

..I have the spark boost, and use it mostly as a always on pedal......

is the SF primarily a medium gain to light gain OD?

 

[bluescube]

Soul Food seemed nasally with it's mid boost

 

[sbpark]

It's like saying will this chocolate milk taste the same as orange juice?!

Sure, they are both liquid, and are beverages, etc., but are not even close to being the same, even if they both are good and tasty, just completely different. Just get both.

 

[DAA1]

Soul Food seemed nasally with it's mid boost

Yep---returned mine....

 

[Swampash&Tweed]

I love the SF stacked with my rivera blues shaman. Its like having a 3 channel amp. $55 shipped on Ebay, take a shot . Everyone should be at that price!

 

[Dunzie]

Funny thing is everyone's right here! It's a heck of a good price for a warm low-mid gain OD, but I too sold mine off. I just have much better pedals for the same gain range, and $60 or not, I don't need pedals kicking around that'll never get on the board. But I'd be happy to recommend it to anyone on a budget looking for a decent warm OD.

 

[xjazzy]

This thread just reminded me I have my Spark Boost in the pedals shelf and the Soul Food on my band's board.
I think I like the Spark better but it was on my little board when I made the band board and now it's time to get it on the SF spot.