TC Electronic SPARK MINI BOOSTER Guitar Pedal - Ultra-Compact 20dB Clean Boost with PrimeTime Switching & True Bypass for Solos & Amp Drive

Small, up to 20 dB gain, transparent, very quiet in terms of hiss/hum when used with TRex Chameleon power box, can be used with latching or just while foot is on pedal (if longer than 2 s)... and it even looks good.Oh and it's only £60ish. Sure you can get cheaper gain pedals, but not this quiet, transparent and small, in my experience. All gain pedals and amplifiers introduce some hiss, but few reviews have mentioned how relatively quiet this is.Bear in mind that it only works with external 9V power supply, which you'll have to buy separately. That's the compromise in having something this small. I doubt this is a big problem for most users -- having noisy mains power supply and several plugs is a bigger one so I'd say invest in proper pedal power box (and board) if you're using more than two pedals anyway.I'd recommend having a fiddle with its location in the signal chain, depending on what sound you're after, the output of the guitar pick-ups and the other pedals your using. E.g. if you have a digital effects pedal switched on after this, you might not get the gain output that you expect because of the output limit of the DAC, plus they might not respond well a high input level either. I've seen some criticism of this pedal in causing the amp to overdrive. I don't think this has anything to do with this pedal per se, it's just the natural consequence of higher level input to the amp, given the setting of the amp. In fact, I have had this pedal to do a beautiful job of lifting the clean sound of my amp or getting a rich overdrive depending on the settings of the amp. Love this pedal.Finally, while not designed for the purpose, I have found that, with practice and if barefoot, the gain knob is amenable to adjustment mid-playing to create some nice effects.

I just bought it, i read countless raving reviews about the Spark mini, without knowing but it's great feeling just to press the pedal and hear your sound boosted perfectly, no distortion, no gimmick with fancy volume pots or treble bass... just plain, simple on/off and level and it works perfection. A fabulous yet simple piece of kit. 110% recommended.

Can't say enough good things about this. I was looking for a simple solution to a pain-in-the-a*se problem and found more than I had bargained for. It takes my rhythm volume and boosts it to lead when placed at the end of my chain and does so without so much as a hint of tonal change (which is something special) and, when placed before a pedal, it boosts the signal going into it and cranks it up. Also contains a neat feature where standing upon it for longer than a second will automatically turn it off when your foot is removed, great for instant licks without having to double tap.Also, it's well built, the switch is nice and the knob is good and stiff to move, and it's very, very tiny, taking up so little space on my board I have enough left over to buy something that I really don't need, just to make it look lived in.I would also really recommend this if you want a little extra out of a low watt amp - like a 15 watt Vox valve combo - because you just can't afford the upgrade and don't want to lose that sound.Be aware - due to size it has no room to be battery operated and the power input is on the right hand side, very much like MXR.I fully intend on owning 2 of these. One for lead and one to boost my TS9. Oh yes indeed!T C are knocking me bandy - 5 stars!

This pedal does exactly what it made to do - give a strong, transparent decibel boost for solos in a live gig situation. It works much better placed in your amp's effects loop (if you have one), where it boosts the power amp and therefore audible volume, if like me that what you wanted it for. Placed in front of my Blackstar HD60's clean channel, in works differently, driving the subtle valve overdrive of my amp's clean channel in to further overdrive. This sounds great, but doesn't have much of a volume boost at all (even when placed directly after my wah at the front of my effect chain). So if you're after volume, put this in your effect loop.

This is great.. I needed a booster that just boosted what ever sound I had, without adding any gain etc.nice size as well

This gem has made my day! I was getting a lot of noise from my Architype Petrucci amp modelling set up. As I was pushing the gain on the interface (Focusrite) it was also adding a ton of noise. I figured maybe boosting the signal prior to the interface to see if that would sort it out. So I bought this. Bam! Problem solved, this little fella is really quiet and adds a nice amount of gain without any noise. Now I have a blistering lead with a ton of sustain and I don't even need the gate on. That is beyond good. I am a truly happy bunny right now. And you cannot complain about the price. I would have paid double for this result.

This thing is epic, I use it right at the end of my chain for a volume boost for lead. Absolute clean volume increase. You can use it before gain effects for a great gain boost but I find having it always on and turned low just adds so much richness to the tone.

well i bought this for a boost pedal for solos and theres no volume increase when engaged even at max so either dodgy pedal or rubbish