Mooer: Spark distortion

I've finally gotten down to try Mooer's Spark distortion, currently available at SV Guitars. It's the only one in its series shipped here, the rest were produced enough for promo use only, they will be available in due time.

As you can see, the Spark D sports cute dimensions. The immediate concern is its inability to hold itself down in use should the player yank his/her cable. The economics of its design is such that the controls were made minute & relegated to the top end, facing the audience so to speak. The player has to be very familiar with them because most of the time it's tweaking without looking. If you are the pedal board geek, this one saves space & its squarish design means it takes up equal space length & width-wise. If you dream of an economy pedal board, one which you can slip into your guitar bag, it would be quite possible. Please note that the Spark D is strictly adapter powered.

I think it's rather obligatory to relate the pedal's distortion intensity to that of the industry standard, BOSS' DS-1. The Spark D is a hard hitting distortion unit, it even offers a boost function for you to take it one-up if the need arises. In this aspect, if you wish for the Spark D to emulate a DS-1 in terms of voicing, you have to keep the gain at bay. Personally, I like this pedal for its ability to saturate the gain as the dial reaches its upper settings. With the BOOST function engaged, the Spark D manifests a sweet zing intensity-wise but it won't bring you into metal territory. 

The TONE control has an arguably wide sweep with an 8 o'clock setting giving off a fat, lower end boost. Turn it up & it adds nicely to the treble end. I must say that the LEVEL control adds a tad of top end to the overall voicing so one needs to recalibrate one's tone if things get a little excessive. 

The Spark D played well with both single coil & humbucking pickups. It has a strong inherent response so it won't lose its definition if you switch between pickups. If you are into all things smooth sounding, the Spark D can be a little annoying due to its rich top end but I see this as a plus. It makes you reach for your guitar's tone knob to balance things up so you end up working with a palette of pedal-guitar tones instead of just meddling with what the pedal has to offer. The Spark series of pedals face stiff price competition from Modtone & Hotone especially when the latter brands offer quality-for-price tones. We are spoilt for choice but it's definitely a good thing for us buyers.

Rating: 80%

Mooer: Spark distortion

Availability: SV Guitars

Price: $135