NPD! Barber Direct Drive!

[brettk7]

I must say, for all the praise I have given these guys on this forum and others... It's about time I actually sprung and picked one of these up. I ended up taking the Direct Drive home on a whim and couldn't of been more pleased with the results.

ALL of the Barber pedals that I have played have displayed not only incredible tonality, but have also been very transparent. I honestly have access to pretty much any pedal you could imagine, and I find it to be pretty awesome that the pedal that I find to sound the best is $120... And not to mention that, it also sounds the best and is made the best components possible. Military spec components, true bypass switching, etc.

The Direct Drive is pretty simple, three knobs (volume, tone, and gain). The tone knob is a push-pull pot, and with it pulled out it puts it into 'fat harmonics' mode. This is where the pedal really comes alive... The pedal just opens up and with it ran into my 83' JCM800s clean input it pretty much is like a second channel on my amp. The DD kind of has a Marshall-esque quality about it (and I mean that in the best way... All the good Marshall tones are here) so in conjunction with my amp it works really, really well. I still can't get over how warm, thick and transparent this pedal is. This literally solved every problem I had with my JCM800. Not enough gain if I want it? Solved. Need a clean channel and a 'drive' channel? Solved. Want to run the amp kind hot and with a boost in front if I want it? Solved! Endless possibilities.

Something else that I find to be really cool about Barber pedals is their 'adjustable phono style recovery stage.' From the Barber site, "Most of our op-amp based overdrive pedals use a cool old style phonograph circuit to recover the frequencies lost in the overdrive stage, this worked great for vinyl and now works great for guitar overdrive!" Honestly, I think that is a big deal and will eventually catch with other builders if they can figure a way to replicate it.



Direct Drive



Anyways guys, if you are in the market for over-drive/distortion pedals... I implore you to check out the Barber stuff. I have also used the Tone Press from them in the past and had great results (and this is coming from somebody that cannot stand compressors...). Of all the things I have ran across in my time working at a boutique guitar shop, the Barber stuff is one of the few things I can say without a doubt are an incredible value. You CANNOT find better stuff for the money (even for double the price).

[princetonreverb]

Great pedal, not sure about any turret board in there!
I miss mine

[brettk7]

Originally Posted by princetonreverb

Great pedal, not sure about any turret board in there!
I miss mine

You know, it's early (or was when I wrote this) and didn't really think about that...

They are $120!!! Get out and get another

[princetonreverb]

Mr barber is a super cool guy. Have an ltd now

[brettk7]

Originally Posted by princetonreverb

Mr barber is a super cool guy. Have an ltd now

Touche my friend!

I tried the LTD with my JCM800 and while I really, really liked it... It wasn't exactly what I was looking for (really was looking for kind of a... Main sound if that makes sense), but I wouldn't mind adding one to the herd in the future. That is another severely under-rated, awesome sounding Barber pedal.

[candletears7]

I tried a Direct Drive once into a Bandmaster I think it was and a Les Paul Custom. It was a great TS into a Rat style sound. Really cool.

[duderanimous]

the DD is one of my personal favorite drive pedals... good stuff indeed!

[dmw319]

I just got mine in the mail from ebay (85 bucks) yeserday. Cant wait to try it out!

[Blues Wail]

I have owned 2 Barber Direct Drives as well as other pedals that David makes. Well............I bought the Barber Custom SS Direct Drive & that remains one of top three drives EVER. Kudos David!

[dmw319]

Originally Posted by Blues Wail

I have owned 2 Barber Direct Drives as well as other pedals that David makes. Well............I bought the Barber Custom SS Direct Drive & that remains one of top three drives EVER. Kudos David!

how does the SS compare to the DD?

[roquero]

Congrats!
I found I had the same reaction with my Barbers- "I paid how much for this amazing pedal?" while looking at the overpriced boutique stompboxes that I had bought before them
If you like the DD and like JCM800 tones I strongly suggest you try out the Dirty Bomb, and the super versatile Burn Unit EQ!

[Blues Wail]

Originally Posted by dmw319

how does the SS compare to the DD?

More overall shape & control over your sound in addition to a LOT more gain on tap.

[yerbluesrob]

I love my Direct Drive, just as you described it, very versatile and transparent. It stacks very well with other OD's too

[jlagrassa]

I've got a Barber B-Custom Super Sport, LTD & Launch pad on the way. I've had these all before but sold all my pedals when I had my Blackstar, since downsizing my amp I needed pedals again and Barber pedals have always been high on my list.

[MBreinin]

I got mine and immediately put it up for sale. Maybe I should try it again.

Mike