Barber Electronics Burn Unit

Let's be honest. Overdrive/distortion boxes are a-dime-a dozen. I'm a reformed "pedal junkie", but still enjoy trying the occasional stomp box out. Years ago, friends would laugh and give me a hard time--the most common comment I heard was "Dude, there is NO SUCH thing as a magic black box." Guess what kiddies. Now there is. This pedal sounds good where ever you set it, my favorite being the obvious "D&umble" setting and the "british" (Plexi) setting. Great sounds are attainable with some work as this is a very versital piece of equiptment. 4 control knobs, TONS of sound/tone possibilites/and one REALLY friggin' bright green LED light.

I'm playing mostly Budda amps and an older (60's) Bassman. The sound of this thing is to DIE for. Yes, I know tone is very subjective to say the least--NO this is not a slash-your-wrist-rectumfire-alterna-scooped-deth-nomid-satan-tone (Thankfully!!). What this is, is a well defined, harmonically rich, extention of your personality. Can you say sweet, chimey, harmonic feedback at LESS than bedroom/practice volume--I thought so. At louder/gig volumes the Burn Unit makes like much easier and TONS of fun. It is a shame I didn't have this pedal years ago.
The Burn Unit likes other effects and is DEAD quiet at any volume. I have not tried it as a "boost" with higher gain amps like marshalls,etc., but I think it would be a benefit. It does seem to like slightly lower gain amps such as the ones I use (Budda, Fender, etc.)
You can obtain tones very similar to that of Robben Ford (Mystic Mile), and C. Santana. The "british" setting (with some tone/pickup selection) will get close to any good player using a marshall (Audley Freed, Angus, Trower, etc---how close you get to these and others will also be up to YOU!)
Unlike many od/dist. pedals, the burn unit does not "cough" when you get into shred/warp speed territory--it tracks better than any pedal I've come across.

No doubt, it took me some time to find my favorite settings for this pedal. But, that's the beauty of the burn unit - instead of having only one decent setting like most pedals, it has several great ones, including that prized Dumble tone. This is the most versatile overdrive pedal I've ever used. One of the reasons it took me a while to find what I like most about this pedal is that each control knob has so much impact on the overall sound and the sound of the other chosen settings. And, it takes some experimentation to understand what the "dynamics" and "burn" settings actually mean in the context of an overdrive pedal use. Easy to find good sounds; takes a little time to find the great ones, but they are there.

I own and regularly play 19 (solid, chambered and hollow-bodied) electric guitars - 8 Suhr, 4 PRS, 3 custom shop Fender, 3 Gibson, and 1 McInturff. Amps include 4 Fender, a Dumble ODS, a K&M, a Guytron, a Marshall, a Vox, and an Edward. I use them all with this pedal, but often change the settings based on the type of amp. On or off, this is the quietest (least noisy) pedal I've used. It's entirely transparent when not in use and, especially, by itself, barely perceptible at high settings. Of course, playing style and gear greatly influence tone, but, with my humbucker guitars, Ford, Lukather, Morse,and Santana tones can be attained with this pedal. Single coil tones include Hendrix, Stevie Ray, Ernie Isley, early Beck and Page, Knopfler - although, for these tones and classic/vintage Fender/single coil tones, I prefer the "Tone Pump" or the "Chunk Wagon" from Nuance. Neither of these pedals is as dark or grainy as the "Burn Unit." Also, with these pedals, you don't have to hurt your ears to get the tone of someone wailing on a wide open amp. These pedals are great at low amp and pedal volumes. Try that with a "Tube Screamer."

This thing is built like a tank! I'm not worried about it, but, if it did malfunction, my "Tone Pump" has it covered.

I've spoken with Dave Barber several times about customizing my pedal board and about future products. His knowledge and understanding of sound and electronics is other-worldly. And, a nice guy to boot! He even rebuilt/modified one of my dusty old Fender amps to sound the way I wanted. It's my main amp now.

I've been playing, recording, and touring internationally for 36 years and play and enjoy most styles of guitar music. Along the way, through friends and endorsements, I've acquired and "de-acquired" lotsa gear! I've given away, given back, donated or sold most of it -simply because I didn't like it. The equipment I own now is a collection of what, I feel, are superior, never-to-be-sold pieces; I don't own anything I don't like. To me, the "Burn Unit" and the "Tone Pump" represent a tone breakthrough. I wish I'd had these boxes when I was starting out; they are far superior to anything I've used in almost 4 decades of professional playing. If I could only go back and re-cut some of those old tracks! I know that this pedal is not for everyone - no pedal is. But, as far as I'm concerned, these are the best overdrive pedals ever made.

Pretty easy to use, 4 knobs and one foot switch, plus an internal tone control. I knocked off a couple points for the internal control and the slightly odd "Dynamics" control, which is more a compression factor then anything else.

This is a middle of the road OD pedal. On the upside it has a lot of boost to offer. On the down side it's sound is colored, compressed and the EQ of the pedal is too mid. Even with the inside control turned to max it still sounds like a pedal in front of your amp. This is a opposed to sounding like part of your amp.

For a novice or gig impaired player this would probably make a person happy. For a gig level player, it really can't cut through a band mix. It's too colored for studio work, unless your looking for a tweaked type sound for some reason?

No problems in the year I owned it.

I owned the pedal for a year and did get some use from it. But it's been long since replaced. Like I said, it's a middle of the road pedal with a mediocre sound. In a live mix you will probably be buried.

I've been playing over 17 years, a gig level musician mostly play blues and rock. My goal here was to offset some of the bedroom player reviews.

UPDATE: I just wanted to share a side note. Another feature that I had no clue about when I wrote the last review is the internal bass trim pot. I have heard nothing about this until recently. I always loved the sound of this pedal, but was kind of despondent because, despite my best efforts, the pedal still sounded like it did away with a good bit of the bass response on whatever amp I was using, whenever I used it. I figured I could eventually tweak it just right, but haven't been able to. The pot looks like a white plastic deal - I thought it was one of the components, though I'd never seen anything like that. My first thought was, "where is this thing?!". Also, it may be a bit hard to turn at first, but it does move, so take heart. Now that I've got the bass response matched to my amp, I noticed even more harmonic complexity. I used it last night on a gig. The fuse on my Matchless was broken (don't ask, the glass broke off in the holder, so I have to get that out before I install a new fuse) so I had to use my backup amp, a Peavey Classic 100 (don't laugh, those are cool sounding amps, and a steal used). Of course the Burn Unit will sound phenomenal through the Matchless (those are great pedal amps, by the way, especially the Thunderman combo I have, which is pretty much clean, but still has that certain something that Matchless amps are known for). But it sounded incredible through the Peavey as well. Overall, I have to say that it has a very colorful sound. As with everything it seems, it works best with a really good tube amp (or at least a decent one). Tones ranging from L Carlton to R Ford, even to E Johnson somewhat, etc... All in all, great pedal.

4 Knobs, internal trimpot, and an on/off Footswitch.

I really like the controls - instead of bass and treble, there are knobs for tone and dynamics. Read the other reviews for what they do. Set the internal trimpot for your preferred bass response (after carefully marking the original spot, of course), adjust tone to your liking, then set volume, dynamics, and burn. The last two are interactive in a nice way - in other words, it's not like if you adjust a pot a smidgen in one direction you'll suddenly sound horrible. Great tones are all over this pedal.

Main rig: Fender strat w/ Kinman Avn Blues into effects by fulltone, colorsound, sweetsound, zvex, and barber's tone pump and burn unit into a '64 BF bassman with jenkins 2x12 cab. A very nice setup that likes me very much :-)<br><br>

The BU can cover tweed to plexi, but like most players, you'll probably find your best setting or two and leave it like that. I do think it's a darker pedal at heart, and I like that. However, you can get really bright (too harsh for me) settings by raising the tone and dynamics. You know, I don't need/want the most versatile pedal in the world. That's what different pedals are for. Still, it's nice to know that the flexibility exists.<br><br>

The BU doesn't have gobs and gobs of gain, but any more distortion would sacrifice the clarity (thus spoketh Dave Barber). The burn knob past 2 o'clock adjusts subtle variations on good medium-high gain with my single coils. With my dimarzio/duncan humbucker guitar, I get lots more, enough for hard rock, but never metal.<br><br>

The burn unit can be noisy, just like most any other distortion device, boutique or otherwise. At live levels, you won't notice at all...You will get the juiciest tones at _any_ volume. You want sustain? Easily controlled feedback? Cream with your coffee? The Burn Unit excels at making all this possible with ease. In fact, with a good tube amp (yes please), the BU becomes a vessel between your fingers and the tone-of-the-gods. It's that rich and alive.<br><br>

With the onset of the boutique craze of recent years, players have so many options - in conjunction with the rise of the 'net, this has resulted in the "what's the best ***** pedal/amp/guitar/etc?" syndrome. Nearly all of us suffer. But it's better than having a bad version of communism where all you get is "Pedal" isn't it? (You want distorion? Here, you need "Pedal". You want delay? Here, buy "Pedal")<br><br>

What sucks about all this is that it becomes really difficult to try out different pedals. If you don't want boss, ibanez, etc, you gotta pay up and hope. There's certainly no Barber distributer where I live, so I had to find out as much as possible on the 'net, and then cross my fingers. I got the tone pump first, fell in love, and promptly ordered the burn unit.<br><br>

All the boutique manufacturers make their versions of what they think good tone sounds like. Fulltone has his own perspective, Barber has a different one. I like Fulltone pedals because they embody classic vintage tones through Mike Fuller's ears. Mike's an incredible player, and he uses his own pedals on his recordings to get some of the best tones ever. That being said, I find Fulltone pedals a little dry and stolid. If you want to play "perfect" hendrix, srv, etc, then Fuller's definitely your man. However, if you want something a little sonically different, try Barber. You get better-than classic tone through the ears, brain, heart and soul of Dave Barber. Yes, I use barber pedals when I want to rock out on hendrix and srv to great effect. But I sound a little left-of-center than those players. I don't want to sound exactly like them anyway, and I sure-as-hell wouldn't trade the barber pedals for an 808, TS-9/10, or classic fuzzface.<br><br>

There are some comments on the 'net about how Barber pedals "shimmer". Someone compared the sound to a bluesy metalzone. I'd almost agree with this opinion. They do shimmer. They sustain. They feel alive.<br><br>

All the propaganda on the barber webpage is true. The BU imparts sonic flavor, blurs distinction between overdrive/distortion, etc...I tend to use more of the dumble setting with the burn set a little lower than others may like. At high volumes through my bassman, I get incredibly rich, creamy, complex tones that can't be reproduced

Strong construction. Hammond box, mouser pots, switchcraft jacks, etc etc...all the good stuff. In addition the true bypass is very well done, using good wire and resistor for the ground (I think, don't know much about this stuff). I like the low-profile easy-to-click footswitch very much. Don't know about their durability, but my ultravibe uses them too, and I like 'em. The board is not as cool as a zvex homemade brew (and frankly, doesn't smell as funky), and uses an IC chip for ease-of-construction, but the pedal does sound obscenely good, so I don't care.<br><br>

Here I'm knocking a point off because the wiring is not as clean as my tone pump (or my fulltone), which was artfully done by Dave Barber himself. With all the orders, Barber can't do it all himself so he employs "artisans". Nice term, but it could mean some 14-year old apprentice. Don't get me wrong, the wiring will hold up, it's better than I could ever do, the pedal won't fail or fall apart, but there is no comparing the innards of the BU to my TP. Adequate versus Art. If you want a pedal guaranteed to be put together completely by Barber himself, you'll have to order straight from him (I got mine through GasPedal). He'll also do custom dual units (two TP, or TP+BU in one casing).

Nicest guy around. No attitude, chats as long as both you and he need to. Really likes his pedals and good players who like good tone...<br><br>
Easy to get a hold of by phone, answers emails quickly. What all boutique pedal makers should be doing.

You pay for good tone. Try out the different flavors offered by different manufacturers. Maybe you'll be a fulltone devotee. Maybe you'll love the tonality of Rx Electronics, Everman, zvex, or any of the other guys. Each offers their own unique take on your basic pedal. I hit it big time with Barber. Sorry I wrote so much - but it felt like the Barber pedals were getting a skewed perspective. I've only written one other review so far - despite the ton of gear I have or have used in the past. I feel like I've dissed fulltone pedals here. Sorry, not my intention, because I do like them. And besides, they tend to sell themselves (check out the used fulltone gear on eBay!). Barber is unique, and his pedals are a perfect match for me. Try 'em. I believe he has a 7-day no fuss refund. You may not like them, but you may be blown away. I know I am.

Yeah, I know, it's a simple pedal and all (4 knobs, one stomp switch), not rocket science, but I give this pedal a "7" in the ease of use category only because it takes a while to dial in the sounds you might like, as opposed to "good, but somebody else's" sounds. You might thinks it's just okay when you first plug in, but will set it a certain way later and it'll rule. Other than that, it's pretty simple.

"Another ten?!" I know, but I really think this pedal deserves it. This pedal will more than likely not strike you right away as wonderful, but it might if you play with it for a while. I was fortunate enough to have a friend who let me borrow it for a while before letting me commit to it. I still haven't bought it from him, but I'm trying to work out maybe a trade deal (he likes the Tone Pump better with his amp, which incidentally, used to me mine).

This pedal has a completely different sound than any overdrive I've ever used, or perhaps heard. At first I was a bit let down, partially because I was expecting this to sound like "God's overdrive pedal", but this really is great when given a chance. I'll avoid the obvious points and try to focus on some points I feel need addressing. First of all, this is a medium-gain pedal, but in a strange way, the Burn control seems to not change that much between 2 and 9. It does allow great control over a small gain range. The Tone and Dynamics controls, combined with the gain, change the way the pedal overdrives in very subtle ways. I usually turn most pedal Tone controls all the way down, but I don't on this pedal, because it would just be too dark. But, in a way this is actually a bright pedal, but it's just not in the ear-stabbing bright range.

Really, I can't put my finger on the one magical element that makes me like this thing so much. Very hard to define. It can do the Tubescreamer thing, kind of, but it's really it's own animal. I've never played a Dumble Overdrive Special before, but I can imagine it sounding much the same, because other people's reactions with it have been mine with this pedal, in that it's definitely not everyone's sound, but it is a knock-out for those that like it. I can't imagine getting very aggressive tones with this pedal (though it can be a little aggressive). I like it for those silky, sustaining leads that I haven't been able to get with any other pedal - they either sounded too forceful, too raspy, or too mid-rangey, but it certainly wasn't the beautiful sound I get with this pedal. Not too fat, not too thin.
And yes, it depends on the amp you plug it into as to how exactly it's going to sound (reacts with the amp it goes into, instead of forcing a sonic agenda on it - but at the same time is its own thing, which I know sounds contradictory). I heard someone say that they had the same complaint that, like the Fulltone Fulldrive 2, it is a great pedal but with too much midrange. It's true that this pedal does have a kind of fixed midrange, but it's not that Boogie/Tubescreamer squashy, taking-over-the-signal midrange that the Fulldrive had (which can be cool sometimes, too). It has a very present, but very transparent mid frequency.

Couldn't say.

Never dealt with them. I called once, and they seemed nice enough and answered my question.

I didn't give it a ten overall, but only because it's a little hard to figure out. At first it sounded too thin, but then too thick, and I thought, "Man, what's going on here?". You just have to tinker with it to make it sound like you want. Actually, the version I tried is an early one, with purple letters - the Burn control reads "Pump", and the Dynamics control is labeled simply as a big letter "O". I still honestly don't know what to think of the pedal, except that it is capable of some very beautiful and singing overdrive tones, and that I want to get it. I guess you could say it's a bit "exotic" sounding, were it not so, well, almost normal.

The Barber Burn Unit comes in a black, (painted) standard size metal box, with stick-on yellow writing. Its controls consist of one in, one out, volume, tone, dynamics, burn and one LED for on/off. It also has a hard-wired "true bypass." The included manual is nothing more than four or five sample settings to get you started. At first glance the pedal seems "cheesy" looking, but what the heck, all pedals can't look and sound good at the same time. Speaking of sounds, this is what THIS particular pedal is all about. Having played various Tubescreamers for the past ten years or so, I was more than pleased to find this pedal gives me all that, plus much, much more. With the Volume set around 9 or 10 o'clock (slight volume increase when engaged), the Tone control set to 4 o'clock, (this pedal is rather dark sounding with the tone control set any lower), the Dynamics set to 10 o'clock, and the Burn set the same, I can get any of the vaulted SVR/Kenny Wayne blues sounds, (WITHOUT the annoying bass loss of a Tubscreamer) that up until now I was only able to hear in my head. The sounds in this pedal really are quite astounding. Even with the Burn control maxed complex chords ring out!! Once the tone and volume controls are set (above settings), moving the Dynamics knob and the Burn knob in conjuction moves you out of the SVR realm into ZZ Top, Trower, Led Zepplin and of course Hendrix. I find that the Dynamics knob has a dual function. Not only does it increase treble when it is moved clockwise it also DECREASES the compression as well. VERY COOL!! You can go from a very Mashally sound to a VERY usable Blackface sound by a simple twist of this knob. The one draw back (if it really is one) is the non "clean boost" mode. Even with the burn knob turned all the way counterclockwise there is still a slight amount of distortion present. Besides, if you want a TRUE "clean boost" there is nothing better than the Prescription Electronics "Germ" pedal. (see my review in Harmony Central)

My set-up consists of a '57 reissue Strat loaded with Lindy Fralin Woodstock "69" pickups, run through a 1965 Blackface Super Reverb. I run this pedal in conjuction with any of the following; Budda Wah, Prescription Electronics Germ, Prescrition Electronics Vibe Unit, and a Roger Mayer Octavia. This is the best sounding distortion pedal I have EVER heard with the Budda Wah, Ocatavia, or Vibe Unit. Incredible sounds!!

Although slightly "cheesy" looking this pedal seems very strudy and road worthy. I have owned it for six months with NO problems what-so-ever. So far, no need for a back up pedal.

I have spoken to Dave Barber on the phone and he seemed VERY friendly and helpful. He tests and designs all his pedals through two Super Reverbs. Need I say more!!

My main influences in music are; Hendrix, SVR, Trower, Kenny Wayne, and Scott Henderson. I can easily match any of their sounds with this pedal, plus many, many more. This pedal is really the best of the bunch when it comes to usable semi clean to distorted (in a very musical way) sounds.

You can read all other reviews for full story. Easy to get good sounds because they are all toneful. Getting a specific sound you want could be trickier because all controls are so interactive that there are many options. Experiment. Dynamics knob is interesting.

I've got a Tone Pump too. This is a darker and smoother sounding pedal. The name implies there might be more gain in the Burn Unit, but I say the Tone Pump grinds more. This is a wonderful sounding pedal if the Larry Carlton/Robben Ford thing is your bag.

Excellent. No problems for a year.

Very good. Dave's busy so calls aren't always answered as quickly as I might like.

Does what it promises. May not be for everyone, but it is a very unique take on the current rage of smooth and warm OD boxes. I am not disappointed and I would buy it again.

It is fairly easy to use, though it requires a bit of knob fiddling to really see what the unit is capable of. The bass control is located inside, which is kind of a pain to get at.

I like the tones I can get from the BU. The BU seems to be eq'ed on the dark side, so it delivers some pretty fat tones. I think it works best with single coils, though I have been able to coax really good sounds from humbuckers, too. I initially wanted a BU because it was supposed to emulate a Dumble ODS-type of overdrive tone, and I think it does come close to the Dumble ODS I tried. It can deliver a TS9 type sound, too. I don't like the fact that the pedal won't 'clean up'
too good when rolling the guitar volume down, especially at higher gain levels, the only really bad thing about the pedal. A little time spent twiddling the knobs can be rewarding with this pedal. It seemed like it had plenty of gain for me, especially with humbuckers.

Not too impressed with the build quality, kinda funky-looking solder joints. The bass pot inside looks like it won't withstand much abuse, not the best idea. I guess it is a 'wait and see' deal with the reliability.

No experience, purchased used.

The pedal does do what I want it to do, a thicker OD tone for single coil guitars. It also delivers a nice approximation of the Dumble ODS-type OD tone, which I really like, sort of Robben Ford-sounding.
Not too floored with the build quality, since it is a botique pedal, I was expecting a little more tidy construction. With that said, I'd probably still buy another one if this one were stolen, because I do like it.

Seems easy enough to get all the sounds it can do.There's a small instrution sheet with some adjustment suggestionson it.

I got this pedal because of the to say the least "articulate"reviews I read on this site.The fist thing I did was got my strat out ,my best amp,Dr.Z rt.66 plugged the pedal in and immediatly felt as though I took a drink of sour milk.Not a good pedal for that amp.But it's hard to make that amp sound better ,It's too good already! Not to be discouraged.I got my old Marshall plexi 100 out .In my opinion it just doesn't do the plexi thing.Too dark and compressed.Didnt sound bad in my vibro champ though.Beyond that there is one thing I find very important in a live situation .I like a pedal that cleans up a little bit I you roll off on the guitfiddle.This thing seems to stay muddy when I roll off (not cool).I have e few hand made pedals,Centaur,Menatone,Black cat OD1 to name a few.If you want the plexi sound get a Menatone Blue collar.Thats plexi

Looks built very well to me.

My girlfriend orderd this pedal for me in October for a Christmas surprise and even e mailed Dave a few weeks before x mas to see if it would be on time .He e mailed her back.One word. Yes.It didn't get there till after.I'm sure he's busy but hey be honest huh.

I play Blues driven rock and some heavy rock even jazz rock fusion And the reviews on this pedal seemed too good to be true lets face it a pedal aint going to make everthing sound better unless you got good stuff to begin with.This pedal doesn't Make my rig sound better to me.but isn't tone a subjective thing? Make sure when you buy any pedal that there is a check out period.I'm sure there is with this one .I hope this review helps out.