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Thursday, 20 March 2014

TC Electronic Spark Booster

Another great layout from John for a modern booster pedal from TC Electronic.
Info about the original:

Rooted in Tradition, Aimed at Rebellion

Kick your playing into high gear with Spark Booster, a pedal rocking a completely clean boost and heaps of extra features for a world of tone.

    A whopping 26 dB of boost
    Gain knob for added grit and dirt
    Active EQ and toggle switch for precise tonal shaping

Kickstart Your Tone
With a full 26 dB of boost, Spark Booster delivers the juice you need for highlighting solos and nailing that killer lick or riff.

There’s So Much To Gain
The Gain knob allows you to add just a hair (or heaps) of dirt to your tone vastly expanding your tonal palette. The active 2-band EQ function as a powerful set of tone shaping tools allowing you to sculpt your tone with unprecedented precision.

Total Tonal Control
The active 2-band EQ function as a powerful set of tone shaping tools allowing you to sculpt your tone with unprecedented precision.

The mid-shift toggle allows Spark Booster to focus and amplify all those juicy mid-heavy frequencies that make guitar so great, allowing you to cut through any mix.



Gain
Add a hint of grit and compression to your sound to get the same tone and feel cranking and old tube amp beyond "are you insane?!" to induce ear-bleeding levels of guitar heaven.

Active Bass Knob
extended lows and added tightness at the turn of a knob.

Level
drive amps to peak performance and add body, punch and grit to your gear.

Active Treble Knob
Dark and fat or sweet pristine highs with added sparkle and shimmer - the choice is yours.

Maximum You
TC drive pedals offer true bypass. It simply means that no matter what your setup or situation, they give you optimal signal integrity so the 'you' in your playing shines through with unparalleled clarity and definition.







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34 comments:

  1. Iago20 March 2014 at 19:57

    wow, never thought they had so much stuff crammed in there... cheers John K!

    ReplyDelete
  2. charger20 March 2014 at 21:18

    Is that a SPDT on/off/on switch? Original has three positions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. johnk20 March 2014 at 22:52

      yes. center position is flat. the other two are a low mid boost at 185Hz and another at 408Hz.

      Delete
  3. Unknown21 March 2014 at 07:46

    Hello, i'm interested in building a PCB for this one, where can i find the schematic? :D thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Unknown21 March 2014 at 07:46

    Hello, i'm interested in building a PCB for this one, where can i find the schematic? :D thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  5. atomicwombat21 March 2014 at 14:15

    Hello- John, it's good to see your layouts in the main gallery. Keep up the nice work. Does anyone have a good substitute for the opamps for this one? Also, is there any chance of you posting your layout for the EQD speaker cranker? Thanks

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    Replies
    1. johnk22 March 2014 at 01:11

      I sent IvIark the layout for he EQQ SC so he should be posting it soon.

      Delete
    2. IvIark22 March 2014 at 20:09

      By the way John, I've sent you 3 emails now replying to yours and keep getting "Mail undeliverable" messages back. Have you received anything off me?

      Delete
    3. johnk22 March 2014 at 22:42

      no I haven't gotten 3, but I did get at least one of them.. are you sending them to my Verizon email account?

      Delete
    4. johnk22 March 2014 at 22:44

      as far as dual opamp substitutes, I would imagine a 4558, a TL072 or any decent dual opamp would sound good in it. I just used what the originals had in them.

      Delete
    5. IvIark23 March 2014 at 01:15

      Yes Verizon, same error every time, undeliverable. It was just thank yous for the bits you were sending me, just so you don't think I'm being ignorant :o)

      Delete
  6. mbah GAS22 March 2014 at 12:53

    As this is from John, I believe it should work well with bass, right? I plan to build xotic Rc boost and modify it for bass. Can somebody give a comparison between spark & RC booster? Thanks in advance

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  7. johnk22 March 2014 at 22:40

    the RC's bass control has a lot more low end boost available, but IMO, the TC is easily as good. IMO, the spark booster is really good at getting subtle overdrive tonse with a bass.

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  8. Unknown24 March 2014 at 13:42

    Hi all.
    As asked above, (did not see an answer) will a 4558 or TL072 work ok in this?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Denny29 June 2014 at 20:17

    3 questions:
    what does the "vr" on the top left mean?
    the "914" are 1n914 diodes, right?
    and c100k is 100k rev log, correct?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Unknown9 August 2014 at 09:26

    Thanks a lot! Built it & it is lovely. Exactly what i was wanting. Really has some serious boost if you really crank it up. Thanks lvlark!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous11 October 2014 at 22:04

    I found a missing jumper on the layout. G:\Desktop\SparkBooster.png

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous11 October 2014 at 22:19

    The switch on my build isn't doing anything.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous13 October 2014 at 03:04

    Is there anyway to remove the switch completely?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Ruben17 November 2014 at 22:50

    I think a list of materias should be posted. Regards

    ReplyDelete
  15. Unknown2 February 2015 at 01:24

    Would this switch be alright?
    http://ca.mouser.com/ProductDetail/CK-Components/7103SYZQE/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMsqIr59i2oRcryn0MUGx8H027SgIL9GfdQ%3d

    Also, about the ICs, which would I want? 4558P, 4558D?
    http://ca.mouser.com/Semiconductors/Integrated-Circuits-ICs/_/N-6j73k?Keyword=4558+IC&FS=True

    What about TL702C, TL702IP?
    http://ca.mouser.com/Search/Refine.aspx?Keyword=TL072+IC

    Any suggestions to help figure this out would be great. Thanks!

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  16. Unknown14 March 2015 at 11:43

    I have a problem with this project,
    the controls work properly, but the signal is attenuated and not boosted...

    I use TL072

    ReplyDelete
  17. Blackwing15 July 2015 at 21:30

    Greetings!
    Built this, works great sounds great. Definitely not a good beginner project. Thnx, John love your layouts!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Blackwing6 October 2015 at 14:46

    Any dual op amp will work. I used jrc4558. Gonna try some others. Read up on op amps!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Unknown19 November 2015 at 08:55

    Hi,
    Can you send me all Bill of Materials (also relay parts) for build the spark booster pedal?
    Thank you very much

    ReplyDelete
  20. h0rxata24 May 2017 at 15:57

    Anyone have a schematic for the mini version? Looking for a simple 1-knob transparent boost.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Unknown27 July 2017 at 21:31

    There is a 10uF cap at the bottom middle beside a 100K resistor but there seem to be 4 connections for it? Can someone clarify if more jumpers are required or if not where to connect it? Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  22. Massatony5 January 2020 at 01:03

    where is the 22nd link. After counting dozens of time I can only find 21. Also as per previous post that 10uf has 4 connections. The top connection goes back to earth via a link just to the right of it which does not seem to be correct.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Elijah-Baley5 January 2020 at 08:52

      Actually, I found just 21 jumpers, too. I guess "22 jumpers" was a mistake.
      About the 10uF you mentioned, looking at the schematic of the replica by madbeanpedals that 10uF is a filter cap in the VB root, so it has to be solder just like it looks, with its longer link. The negative side on the last stripe at the bottom, the ground, and the positive goes in the pin 5 of the IC.

      Delete
    2. Daniel S21 April 2020 at 02:45

      Hi there,
      There is a link shown in the top left hand portion of the components image that is not on the links and cut diagram beneath. That would be your 22nd link. Did you get it to work with 21 links? I've made it with 22 and only get unity gain. Might have to cut it and see what happens....

      Delete
  23. Massatony9 January 2020 at 22:27

    Yep, just realised that there is a cut preventing the + side of that 10uf going to ground (which I had put in). Ive tried this schematic 3 times and still can't get it to work.

    ReplyDelete
  24. TheLawyerX17 January 2021 at 20:06

    I am not a technician or an expert about schematics, components and so on. I'm just a sloppy passionate guitar player but about the TC Electronic Spark Booster i have a question.
    The GAIN Knob .... which is the real technical function? Does it work like a Gain Knob in an Overdrive Pedal like the TS, being the clipping stage only with a far more limited gain range? ... or does it work in a different way, like in the Master Volume amps (configuration only Volume, Master Volume, no Gain Knobs) where the Volume is then administrated by the Master Volume in something like a cascading sequence?
    Is there in the Spark Booster a clipping section/stage with diodes like a normal OD or something else?
    In the end ... can the Spark Boster be listed - from the technical side - as a Booster? .... or as a Light OD?

    Sorry for the naive questions ....
    Hope for your kind answers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Diogo Martins10 February 2021 at 13:40

      Hey TheLawyerX, you seem to be confused about Master Volume amps:(originally in fenders, but most other tube amps ever created derive from those, including marshalls) the gain knob is the same as the volume knob, it's just a different name. While the master controls how much signal passes from the preamp to the poweramp, the gain/volume controls how much signal passes from the first to the second gain stage. So a non-MV amp is exactly the same as having the master knob dimed.

      Now, from the following schematic (the only one I could find online): https://www.madbeanpedals.com/EP/schematics/Arsonist.gif I can tell you the gain knob here works like a TS in the sense that creates soft clipping (that is instead of having diodes to ground they are in the OpAmp feedback network) so this is like having a light OD where with the switch in the middle position and gain knob at max doesn't create enough voltage gain to clip the diodes unless hit hard. Hopefully I was clear enough, but if you have any question, let me know

      Delete