Barber Electronics Burn Unit

Easy to operate, turn the knobs, use your ears, season to taste.

see comments below I'd give it a 10 for MY tastes, but it may not be for everyone

not sure.... a backup would be nice, but they are too expensive. see comments below

Dave Barber took my order, but did not respond to my last two emails when it was past delivery date. Prior to that he had broken a collar bone, or somthing, mountain biking, and there were delays as a result. I assume things just got backed up.

After working with the Burn Unit distortion pedal for a few rehearsals with different bands I thought I'd share some comments. I have been using a Fulldrive 2 pedal, and will use it as a comparision for some details.
Feature wise, the Burn Unit has volume, tone, dynamics and "burn" (distortion) knobs, plus a bass level pot on the inside of the unit. It runs on a 9v battery or external power (I use a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power Supply). This is a "single channel" distortion unit, not like the Fulldrive2 which offers 2 "channels" for two tones.
Sonic qualities are very, very good. The character of the pedal is meant for distortion. Even with the burn control turned all the way down, it has some grit. I have been using the burn knob about halfway, and find that it cleans up just right when I back off on the guitar's volume and doesn't lose highs. Very, very cool. The tone is the best part, as just about any distortion pedal can produce adequate distortion. The tone knob seems to focus on the upper mids and treble range, and this lets me either darken my lead sounds, or get back to the original tone of the guitar. I simply can't do this with the Fulldrive2. There is a distinct midrange tone imposed by the Burn Unit, yet I much prefer it over the Fulldrive2. The Burn Unit is far more detailed, responsive and "musical" (pardon the over used phrase) for my taste than the FD2. The FD2 tends to wash out all low end information, and the high end is uneven. This is more problematic in the FD2's compressed mode (volume knob down position).
I had assumed that the ideal overdrive / distortion pedal would simply enhance my guitar's tone, but I now feel that the somewhat different character of the Burn Unit is more interesting. This area is totally subjective, and I wouldn't expect anyone to agree or disagree. Totally personal preference.
The Burn Unit seems to interface much better with my different guitars ('52 RI Tele, Tom Anderson Hollow Classic, LP Special, LP GoldTop w/humbuckers) than the FD2. Recently I jammed with a friend who has a Matchless DC30, and it worked great with that amp, too. The FD2 sounded better with my Rivera M60 than my Dr. Z MAZ38. I think the combination of guitar and amp plays a huge role in the results you get with different distortion pedals.
I had always felt the Fulldrive2 has too much compression in the volume knob down position. In the volume knob up position, the boost channel is uncontrolably LOUD. I discussed this with Mike Fuller, and he said this is by design and nothing can be done about it. It may work great for some players, but I can't get a good tone without it being extremely loud in the non compressed mode.
I do have a few quibbles about the Burn Unit. Construction quality, while very good, is not of the same caliber as the FD2. Labels are simple stickers, and the input output jacks are not labeled at all. Interior work is clean, but heavy on solder. I don't knob good components from bad, so no comment there. The Burn Unit circuit appears extremely simple compared to the dense circutry of the FD2. I assume it costs much less to build the Burn Unit. I may be off base here, but think the Burn Unit should sell for less than the FD2. I do think the unit is durable, but it does not give me the confidence the FD2 does.
I haven't decided to keep or sell the FD2. I do like it for clean boosts, and it does have some great sounds, but its no longer on my pedal board.
I hope this loooong post is of some help to others who are curious about the Burn Unit. Feel free to contact me directly if you want more info. davidp158@earthlink.net tel: 425.746.7245

The Burn Unit is EXTREMELY easy to use, and it is a lot of fun dialing in your tone. There are four knobs....1) Volume (adjusts level of the Burn Unit) 2) Tone (controls brightness) 3) Dynamics (controls dynamics and compression) 4) "Burn" (adjusts the sustain, drive, and harmonic ratio). There's a green light which shows that the unit is on, and there's a switch. Input and AC adaptor are on the right side, and output is on the left.

Sound? OFF THE SCALE!!!!! This is the BEST distortion pedal that I have ever heard. There is no way to describe it without playing through it because words cannot give it justice. It is VERY quiet. In fact, it's silent...no hum or buzz. I play a Les Paul Standard with original 40 year old PAF's through an unmodified 1974 Boogie Mark I and also through a '65 Blackface Vibro-champ. I occasionally play a G&L Legacy. It can give me a Marshall/British crunch, a Fender Tweed tone, and a $15,000 Dumb Bell tone...it's amazing. I can get a Larry Carlton smooth and full clean tone all the way to a Robben Ford drive. I wanted a distortion pedal that could give me a Joe Walsh/Don Felder, Thin Lizzy, Neal Schon, Neil Giraldo, REO Speedwagon etc...70's Classic rock tone without spending the $$$$ on a Fender Tweed Deluxe or a Marshall Plexi, but I also wanted a smooth overdrive unit. The unit does not suck any tone out of my amp, and it does not color my amp's tone at all.

Dave Barber uses only top quality, high-end audio components with point-to-point wiring. He makes each Burn Unit by hand. The box is built like a tank. This is a distortion pedal for a lifetime, and one is all that you will need.

Dave Barber is extremely helpful and nice. He answers all of my questions without hesitation, and he makes you feel very comfortable. He is extremely knowledgeable, but he does not make you feel ignorant. You can reach him via e-mail or by phone.

I play mostly 70's classic rock and jazz, and the Burn Unit can fit any playing style. I've been playing off and on for about 10 years. If it were stolen or lost, I would cry because there is currently a 5-week back order. I could not play without it for that long, and I do not know how I played without one for so long. I love that it is so versatile. It can give me any amp tone that I desire. I love the "Burn" feature which is the sustain, drive, and harmonics. I was going to buy a Fulldrive II or a Green Rhino by Way Huge, but I wanted to get away from that TS-808 tone. It makes me a better player, and it makes me want to play. I want to thank Dave Barber for making the exact pedal that I was looking for, and it is so nice to see that someone can still make a quality product with incredible customer support.

Very easy to use. Stomp it on. Adjust to taste and then play. One pain is the pot inside to adjust the overall bass. You have to be carefull becuase the pot is soldered directly to the internal components and is at a funny angle. I could see some potential breakage problems there in the future. There is a lot of interplay between all the controls which makes for lots of tweakability if you want it though.

The sounds are surprisingly good. Its forte seems to be smooth overdrive sounds, and emulates power amp comression very well. I especially like the Dumb bell setting. It doesn't do a pristine clean boost though, even with the burn all the way down there is some rasp. You do have to be careful with the tone setting though because it can get rather muffled and dark. The manual says to start with the tone at the 3 o'clock position. I find myself using the tone almost maxed out unless the bright switch on the amp is engaged. I tried the pedal with various combinations on Tom Anderson strats, Jacksons, and Ibanez sabres, through my Bogner Ecstasy, VHT Ultra-lead and through a cheap peavey Ultra 1-12 combo. In all situations it did exactly what I wanted it to do. On the Bogner I used it for a mild volume and gain boost for oomph during solos and it worked fine without any dumping of the bass freqeuncies with good articulation. On the VHT I used it to emulated the mild vintage overdrive sounds since the VHT has a very aggressive sound to it. And on the peavey I used it for both with good success

Seems fairly rugged but I do have some niggles. The box has stickers for its face art work! Also for a high price stomp box it also has stick on rubber footpads. The on/off switch also seems a little flimsy to me.

Very nice fella. Spoke with him at length on the Phone. He even played through it over the phone so I could have a listen to what it could do. I ordered it and it took about 4 weeks to get.

Overall I still like it, and it is the only overdrive pedal that I still own. I have owned or used tube screamers, klons, jekyll and hydes, daddy o's, menatone's, comptortions, etc. Even though i don't think it is perfect, it still does what I want it to do better than the others that I tried. I like the smooth overdrives and fully transparent true bypass. My biggest niggles are that I have to engage bright switches on all my amps, or I have to turn the tone on full. It's too bad that he doesnt have a lo mid and hi, or at least a separate lo and high knob. It would be way more versatile. Also the stickers really bug me and the stick on feet. Oh well, for all my complaints, I'm not even considering sending it back for a refund. My ratings for this pedal may seem kinda harsh. But I'm sick of seeing all tens in every category for everything that people buy and post on harmony central. Please people, don't justify your purchases by giving tens, be honest!

The Barber Burn Unit is a distortion pedal featuring an on/off switch (true bypass), on/off LED indicator, four knobs - volume, tone, "dynamics" (which seems to adjust the compression ratio), and "burn" (adjusts drive, sustain, and harmonics). There is a bass control inside the unit which the user can adjust if he wishes. The unit is battery powered but a 'wall-wort' jack is also included. All the parts are top quality. Oil-damped Mouser (I think) pots, Switchcraft jacks, a very high quality footswitch, all in a steel housing with what looks like a baked-on textured black matte finish. Indestructible.

Really deserves an 11, because the sound quality excedes all my expectations. There is alot of buzz about this pedal and its brother the Tone Pump. They are very deserved. The bottom line on the Burn Unit is this: you get a range of distortion from mild, loose, Fender Tweed drive to maxed out, hot-rodded Plexi. There is no 'slight fattening' overdrive settings as you would find on a Fulltone Fulldrive or Barber's Tone Pump, for example. Once you turn it on you've got DISTORTION. You also cannot get very heavy distortion freak-outs ala Big Muff Pi, or Boss Metal Zone. This thing lives in the traditional Fender/Boogie/Marshall grind range. So why is big buzz on this pedal? Because the sound quality is realistic beyond belief. I would never have imagined that a mere pedal could nail tube amp saturation so realistically. Hell, this thing does it better than all of the tubed preamps I've heard (except the CAE 3). Incredible balance of harmonic complexity, detail, and gorgeous, round saturation. With the dynamics and burn set all the way down, you get a very realistic Tweed drive. Set them all the way up and you've got a blistering Marshall meltdown. The range of the 'burn' (distortion) pot provides only about a 40-50% increase in perceived grind intensity. But every possible setting on this pedal is useable and sounds wonderful. It is impossible to get a less than a terrific sound out of it. It does Blackface, Tweed, Santana-like Boogie, and a nice range of early Marshall distortions (JTM 45 to JCM 800 area), as well as a cool clean boost. It provides a tremendous volume boost if you want it. This thing raises the standard for distortion pedals. The most perfectly voiced pedal I've ever heard. Wouldn't have thought it possible for a stompbox to sound this good.

Totally bullet-proof. Will last a lifetime. Roadwarrior quality.

It is such a treat to deal with serious professionals like Dave Barber. He advised me the wait was about six weeks. I truely expected it would take longer because he builds every pedal himself (mine is No. 61), and I hear a tremendous buzz about his products. So I anticipated he would be very backordered. Four weeks later the unit was in my hands! He is having new graphics made for his pedals right now so he shipped it without (I can just stick the decals on when they come) so I could have the working unit ASAP. Class! My customer satisfaction level is at maximum.

I am straining to find anything to be critical about. It was shipped without a battery. Maybe Dave had reasons for this. If a battery went bad in transit the unit would have been ruined. Other than that this thing is better than I ever imagined a pedal could be. Wildly exceded all my expectations. The unit carves a rather traditional niche though. It doesn't try to be a subtle OD pedal or an extreme wall-of-noise distortion/fuzz. If you have a great multi-channel amp you wont need this pedal. But pairing the Burn Unit with a hand-wired, single channel boutique amp (like a Dr. Z 'Carmen Ghia') would produce a devastating pallette of tones. The Burn Unit is not for every situation, but in its territory it nothing on the market can touch it.

Very intuitive and easy to set up. The pedal has four knobs: Volume, Tone, "O", and Pump. Volume and Tone are pretty standard fare. "O" adjusts dynamics and compression characteristics. "Pump" regulates how much distortion and sustain you get. The "manual" consists of a one sided, type written instruction sheet. But in all reality, it was more than enough. Mostly, they offered suggestions for dialing in popular sounds (blackface, tweed, Dumb Bell tone).

I pretty much bought this thing sight unseen. I was taking a little gamble on it. (But David has a one week trial basis, where if you don't love it, send it back for a full refund, no questions asked). I gambled...and won. This is the best sounding distortion pedal I've ever played. One of the things which I really liked about it was that it has more sustain than anything I've tried. I hit a note (on the 3rd string) - and it sustained, and sustained, and sustained...and then started to feed back an octave or two higher. I bent the note up...and added some vibrato - and it sounded like somebody singing! And this was at apartment volume. The pedal is also very, very transparent - even in the "on" mode.
The Burn Unit was hyped as being able to cop the overdrive characteristics of a Dumble amplifier. Does it sound like a Dumble? I dunno. Never played one of 'em. However, this is one hell of a great sounding distortion/overdrive stomp box. I'd say that the distortion characteristics are like that of a "Good Marshall". (As opposed to anything made after 1973). It's got a TPDT switch (true bypass with LED). And there's an internal trim pot inside...so you can tweak the overall bass response. I haven't messed with this one yet. But even without having tweaked the internal trim pot, I was able to dial in a HUGE plethora of fantastic sounding sounds. Very easy to dial in creamy, Eric Johnson / Robben Ford type lead tones.

This pedal is hand made - and the hand wired insides are as clean as anything I've ever seen. Looks to be built as tough as they come.

David Barber is a gem. He is one of THE nicest people I've talked to. Very gracious with his time - and stops to listen to his customers. And unlike most other manufacturers - he takes seriously customer feedback. It shows that he's building his company at the grass roots level. When I buy stuff, I make my purchasing decisions based on not only the product itself - but also the customer support (pre and post sale). I've dealt with many different manufacturers through the years and have bought thousands of dollars of gear. And I have NEVER dealt with anybody more professional - or committed to total customer satisfaction than David Barber. He has earned my business!

I play rock, blues, jazz, and fusion. And for my needs, this pedal is IT. I've been through some really great sounding gear (including other botique stuff). And I can honestly say that this is the new King of the Hill. I can't think of anything I'd want different.
I'm not sure if Barber pedals are available in any stores. But you can contact David Barber at: 410-298-6861.