Where do you put Sparks in the signal chain?

Pedals
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Just wondering where other guitarists are putting Sparks and what the pros/cons are, partly to figure out if I want to nab one in this preorder window to go along with Ribbons and Ghosts. Interested in how others are using it or thoughts on my ideas below.

What I am guessing is that if it’s earlier in the chain:

  • Envelope signal will track better, particularly for the classic/compressor modes, AR should be less affected. Relevant when the signal is already heavily gated eg. Fuzz - there’s not much of an envelope to track in the incoming signal
  • Can be placed alongside other dirt and play nicer with modulation down the chain
  • Onboard synth sounds can be affected by dirt pedals after it as well as the onboard stuff

Later in the chain:

  • For me my board splits to stereo after amp sim, so only here could I take advantage of the spin control (though to be honest I’m a bit sceptical of how beneficial this is in practical live environments, how well will that come through to a crowd in an average venue?)
  • Trem post reverb is a fun sound
  • It’s nice to have a flexible and preset capable dirt box somewhere later in the chain to get some post effect dirt
  • Nice to have stereo dirt for running other stereo sources through that part of my guitar board (synths/drums)

Overall just writing this out makes me lean toward it being earlier in the chain, seems like the a super flexible trem box with a bunch of extra features, and maybe stereo isn’t actually needed most of the time. Could always move it if I want it for synths/drums.

It is a pitty that it’s not possible to have the envelope creation based on the front of chain signal regardless of where the pedal is actually in the chain. Maybe it’s possible as there’s 2 input channels, but would be messy and require a firmware update. Also maybe the AR envelope removes the need for that.

Last thought is that I’m tempted to get a flexible midi loop switcher so I can optionally put it in the feedback loop of a delay pedal which I think could be awesome for weird glitchy sounds, as well as allow placing it anywhere in my front of amp dirt/mod chain.

Sorry for the rambling!

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I use my sparks in stereo fx loop
Where meris Enzox synth is first in chain then chase bliss lost and found and then i plan to have kinotone ghosts and then kinotone sparks into meris lvx and into meris mercuryx reverb

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@RuNZ its a good topic to bring up
it brings so much to the table, you can put it virtually anywhere

I like mine after all of the dirt pedals, in the FX loop of my amp
I try to have it someone earlier in that chain. Really just anywhere before the reverbs. I find the tremolo/filter parts of Sparks sound better with some reverb trails

but you could very easily just put this before your dirt pedals, and use the filter to get some great stationary wah sounds

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I always like it later in the chain: being able to take advantage of having a true stereo overdrive device or tremolo is more worthwhile for my playing rather than having it before a fuzz. Not to mention most of my fuzz’s are sensitive to impedance anyway, so those always go first.

As for the spin control’s use in a live context: I’d say it might not be as beneficial in a live environment, especially depending on what preset/effect you’re using Sparks as. Imo, it gains the most benefit as a harmonic tremolo sort of effect with the spin control. It might not be as noticeable with other uses or in a louder or bigger environment. Headphones or recording, sure. But in my experience stereo effects have less effect live since even mono sources end up stereo in real spaces.

The envelope sensitivity in Sparks is easy to adjust and has a very good range, so you can set it up quickly if you need to account for how a pedal reacts before it. Might require a bit of knob fiddling or presets, but certainly doable! Having a midi switcher is a good idea if you want to move it around, since it can live anywhere in the chain. Its flexibility is one of the reasons I love it.

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