Barber Electronics Direct Drive

3 knobs and the center one is push-pull type. I love the sweep of controls, no garbage and useless settings throughout the entire range!

I have never heard a pedal as tubey as this! I've been buying and selling a lot of dirt pedals (low gain & high gain) and here's a few of them:

- mi audio blues pro > boomy
- mi audio blue boy deluxe > solidstate-ish
- mi audio crunch box > fake sounding, fizzy and doesn't clean up
- emma reezafratzitz > a little better than crunch box but still transistorized and 'wannabe' sounding.

... these pedals that i sold sounds very sterile & solidstate-ish. The range of controls aren't all useful.

Only the Direct Drive made me satisfied and it has surpassed the expectations of my 'very picky' ears. Now i just need only 1 pedal and I just backoff my guitar volume for cleaner overdrive sounds.. and yes, it does cleans up beautifully.

I liked the big pots inside the pedal, on my experience big potentiometers tend to last longer than the smaller ones. I don't need any backup.

I only mailed Dave just to say thanks & how I appreciate the pedal. He responded so quick just to say welcome.

Words can't even describe how intelligent and creative this pedal is. Highly Recommended for every guitarist!

It's easy to use. There are three knobs, one with a push pull on the tone pot. Very easy to dial in whatever sounds it's capable of.

There is a sheet of paper that describes the pedal and various options.

I play a MIA strat s/s/s through a Carvin Nomad and a Kustom Coupe. The Nomad has a great clean channel and a muddy soak channel so I was looking for good OD pedal. I bought the Direct Drive along with a Fulltone OCD to test both side by side. After two weeks I found myself able to objectively review these pedals. The DD offers great OD type gain but is a bit more compressed sounding than the OCD. But the tone it gives you is thick and warm. As an OD pedal it's pretty good too.

It's not as reactive to the amp and guitar as the OCD. When the amp is played at lower volumes the DD has more gain on tap than the OCD but when you crank the volume on the amp the OCD really pushes some sweet sounds while the DD stays, more or less, the same tone wise. But for what it is it's very nice. You could use this as a classic rock/blues distortion pedal with no problem. It also reacts well to guitar volume give you some more tonal options.

One issue I had with it was the noise it made with the gain turned up past the half way mark. There was a noticable hum. I do play a single coil strat but I also have 4 other OD/Distortion boxs and the DD was easily the noisiest at full gain. This might not be a big issue with humbuckers but I found it pretty annoying with my setup. I'm going to give it a 9 though, because it does sound nice. If it weren't for the hum I'd give it a 10

Looks to be well made and I've never heard of these being anything but rock solid.

I doubt you'de find a better company than Barber. If you go to their website you'll see a list of mods that can be done at home by the avid do-it-yourselfer. Now that's cool. Over time I'm sure this pedal will have lots of popular mods making it even more versitle. This could become the next Rat as far as mods go.

I've alse heard that the company goes out of it's way to be supportive and helpful to it's customers.

I play blues and classic rock. I ended up returning the pedal because I found that the OCD was a better OD pedal for my needs and I already have a modded Rat2 for distortion. If I didn't have the Rat I would probably keep the Direct Drive and use it as a heavier distortion and maybe try out some of the mods and see what happens. But even though it wasn't for me "as is" I have to admit that it's an awesome pedal with some great tones. If it weren't for the noise at high gain it would be darn near perfect. If you don't have a good OD or distortion pedal this one is worth checking out. With all the great OD pedals out there I don't know why people are paying outragous prices for reissue Tube Screamers. These new OD pedals offer those tones and more. For $120 on the street it's a hard deal to beat.

BTW there is a great clip on youtube comparing the OCD, Crunch Box and Direct Drive. While I haven't tried the Crunch Box I can tell you that the sounds of the OCD and DD represented there are very accurate.

3 knobs and the center one is push-pull type. I love the sweep of controls, no garbage and useless settings throughout the entire range!

I have never heard a pedal as tubey as this! I've been buying and selling a lot of dirt pedals (low gain & high gain) and here's a few of them:

- mi audio blues pro > boomy
- mi audio blue boy deluxe > solidstate-ish
- mi audio crunch box > fake sounding, fizzy and doesn't clean up
- emma reezafratzitz > a little better than crunch box but still transistorized and 'wannabe' sounding.

... these pedals that i sold sounds very sterile & solidstate-ish. The range of controls aren't all useful.

Only the Direct Drive made me satisfied and it has surpassed the expectations of my 'very picky' ears. Now i just need only 1 pedal and I just backoff my guitar volume for cleaner overdrive sounds.. and yes, it does cleans up beautifully. This pedal is very transparent, so shred carefully coz' it won't hide your mistakes!

Perfect 10!

I liked the big pots inside the pedal, on my experience big potentiometers tend to last longer than the smaller ones. I don't need any backup.

I only e-mailed Dave just to say thanks & how I appreciate the pedal. He responded so quick just to say welcome.

Words can't even describe how powerful this pedal is. Highly recommended for every guitarist. Forget the hype of other boutique pedals, this is the only thing you need!

3 Knobs, very basic. The tone knob is push pull. The "up" position will give you more low end harmonics.

Wow. I did alot of research on OD pedals before settling on the Barber DD. There's a ton of great pedals out there, but this one felt like mine.
Why? Well, because I mainly play a big ol' hollowbody Gretsch, and I didn't shell out 2 grand to have my nice woody tone sucked out every time I wanted a good lead boost.

This box delivers in every way. It is sooooo transparent, that it still will sound like your guitar and clear enough that you could play a nice jazz chord and still hear all the intervals, yet at the same time amazing sustain at a low drive setting. Hell, I keep the drive almost off and still get a ballsy boost where the notes really hold out.

Turn the drive up to 12 o'clock and you got Eddie Van Halen/Hendrix/Trower oozing out of the speakers. I s**t you not. The fat harmonics of the push/pull tone knob is a nice touch, very subtle and never woofy. Many pedals of this type of gain can get fizzy on you, but not this one.

I have been able to dial in just about any sound, from organic bluesey balls to cranked Fender-ish to AC/DC "Jailbreak" to full out singing, screamin, wailing sustain........and it still sounds like my guitar!!!! YES!!!!!!!

This pedal gets a 10, and I dont give anything a 10!!

David Barber has made the perfect overdrive pedal.

So far so good. Looks/feels pretty solid. Oh and I love the black...very elegant.

I emailed David Barber this morning and he wrote back within a few hours.
This guy is a class act all the way.

I play everything from Honky Tonk and Rockabilly to Hendrix/Trower/Cream/White Stripes blues rock, a little jazz and western swing here and there. I play 10-15 gigs a month and my gear sees plenty of use. I'm not some little pedal rat always chasing the flavor of the month.
I only use 4 effect pedals and this is one of them.

Oh, by the way, you cant beat the price on this. Under $150 new or find a used one on eBay.

I play a Gretsch Country Club, a taco Tele and a '79 Strat.

Finally I found the drive pedal. I am so happy!!!

Easy, easy and easy.
Turn on you pedal and amp and play your guitar. No secret!
Natural drive!!!

I use a Gibson LP Standard PLus and a Fender Telecaster deluxe.
It is not noisy, even the drive at 12 o??clock.
I am using the DD and LTD. Both have made me happy.
I use the DD to "hard" drive, almost a distortion. Even with the drive bottom at 12 o??clock, I can hear every note in the chord. It is amazing! I have tried a lot of drive pedals before to buy the DD, but i was never impressed with any of them. Today I can say I am happy.
I??ve tried Fulltone (OCD, GT500, etc...) but Fulltone wasnt made for me. A lot of people adore this pedal, but I couldnt love it.

My LP sounds as weel as my Tele. Of course, there are a lot of differences, but I dont need to alter the bottoms of DD every time I plug them.

My setup is simple - Fender Blues Deluxe AMP + Dunlop Classic + DD Barber + LTD Barber + CS 9 chorus + MXR MicroAMP - Guitars LP Plus and Tele deluxe.



I dont need any more. I am quite happy.

I can depend on it. It seems very solid. Seems very reliable.

I havent called for them yet.

I have been playing for over 15 years and today I can say: "Finally I found the DRIVE pedal".
If you love the sound of your guitar and of your amp, buy the Barber drive pedal. It won??t alter your sound.

I was using the Shredmaster and Drivemaster of Marshall, good pedals, but I wasnt quite content, I was needing more "naturalness". When I tried the DD and the LTD I was surprised with the quality of them.

If I was stolen I would buy it again. No doubt.

Much like all the other overdrive pedals on the market, this one is also very easy to use. Three knobs, volume, tone, and drive. The tone knob has a pull option for added versitility.

After trying literally tons of overdrive pedals, I have finally found the perfect pedal for my amp. To give you a little bit of background, I play am in a punk influenced rock and roll band playing with a gibson les paul standard through a marshall 800 2203 with a marshall AX cab. The tone of those combined is perfect for me.

I purchased a blackheart BH5WHS boutique tube amp recently that sounds amazing turned up to 10. But at low volumes it does not breakup due to it not having a master volume. I have been looking for a pedal to give me that early breakup tone without coloring the amps sound. This is a very difficult task.

It seems like every overdrive pedal out there tries to emulate the tubescreamer. I DO NOT LIKE THAT TONE. Too midrangy and muffled for me. It makes speaker cabinets sound like they are enclosed in a cardboard box. I have tried other boutique pedals like the fulltone, voodoo lab, BBE, radial, and much more.

The Barber Direct Drive was the only pedal that did exactly what I wanted. It turned my Blackheart into my marshall stack. It can do many other sounds as well if you dial it into your likings.

I LOVE IT!

Its still new, but it hasnt failed me thus far.

Simple and straightforward, nothing fancy going on here. The pedal is nicely voiced and really no matter where you set the knobs there are no bad tones to be found - never gets too harsh or too dark.

This pedal sounds fantastic. I mainly use a USA G&L Legacy into a modded Fender Deluxe Reverb RI or Peavey Classic 20. It has a very usable range of gain that can take you from a tubescreamer type tone at the low range to a full on rock distortion at the higher settings. The sound is full bodied and very balanced, and it provides tons of singing sustain which is great for lead tones. I also have a Fulltone OCD v3 - while the Fulltone is a bit more dynamically responsive and is more open, the Direct Drive has a sweeter tone. If I had to pick one it would be the Direct Drive. At low volumes it can sometimes be a just bit too compressed but once you get the powertubes pushed towards a clip at high volumes it really sounds flawless. There are Gilmour and Eric Johnson tones in here - tons of sustain, really smooth.

It can be a bit noisy. That's really my only complaint.

I've had it for a couple years now. No problems so far and don't expect any, but it doesn't quite seem Boss impervious (but it sounds a lot better!)

Haven't had to deal with them

I play classic rock, blues, jazz, and some fusion. I like tones such as Robben Ford, SRV, Eric Johnson, and Joe Bonamassa - "singing" tones with lots of sustain. This pedal delivers. Frankly, it is a steal at $120. Compared to a TS9, which is not much cheaper, you get true bypass and a wider range of tones. It can do anything a screamer can and much more. While I haven't played everything, this the best dirt pedal I have tried. When I've got my Deluxe cranked up this pedal really delivers. Just wish it was a bit quieter, but I can live with it.

There are cheaper options out there, sure, but I think this pedal is a better value. It blows the standard fare Boss/Digitech/Ibanez pedals you find at Guitar Center out of the water. Boss distortions/overdrives subtract from your tone - this pedal adds to it.

Three knobs- one has 'pull' function. It doesn't get much easier than this.

If I rated this in it's dollar range, as compared to other products of similar value, it would be a definite '10'. I am actually going to rate this as compared to other high-end stuff that I am familiar with.
First off, I have been playing for about 25 years. I have done recording, touring, etc... I have 'settled down' since those days, but I still play regularly.
I am running this pedal into a class-A tube combo. This pedal smokes the overdrive on my particular amp. I use it in conjuction with an older 'pre-EQ' two channel Tone Pump, which is an awesome pedal in its own right. The Direct Drive differs from the Tone Pump in that the Direct Drive has more of a 'Marshally' type grind, where the TP has more of a boutique vibe. There are three ways I use the Direct Drive. 1- With the drive set around 9-10 o'clock, it actually has the most appealing 'TS808' groove of any pedal I have ever owned. The pedal is worth getting just because of this. 2- Around 12 o'clock it is a very good Marshall rythym 3- At 3 o'clock it really burns with a nice rich, saturated lead tone. I am continually moving the drive around with my foot as we play different songs, but it is well worth it. It is not noisy for a distortion pedal. It feels far more natural than any "Boss" type pedal, and is well worth the money. It does not clean-up as well as some other boutique stuff I have, but for what it does, it is a keeper. The TP would still be my 'desert island' pedal if I had to make a choice. Anyone looking for either a TS808 or a 'Marshall in a box' should at least check this out. I believe this pedal will make Dave Barber a rich man.

I own three Barber pedals (I also own an ancient single-channel Burn Unit). The Burn Unit did lose a connection (loose solder joint) a few years back, but I fixed it in no time. These pedals are well-made.

I have e-mailed Mr. Barber a time or two, and he has always e-mailed me back personnally.
Try that with some of these other jokers.

Best value on the market as far as overdrives are concerned. Check out the video demo's (they have sound too!) at www.musictoyz.com for some well-done sound files. Barber really knows what he is doing, and does it well.

Simple to use. Volume, tone and gain knobs. The tone knob can be pulled up for a different sound. To access the battery four screws must be removed from the bottom of the pedal. If you shake the pedal you can hear the battery move. No big deal though, I keep this pedal on my pedal board with velcro using the power supply on the board.

I use this amp in front of a Marshall 100 watt all tube TSL112 combo amp and matching cabinet to give the amp more growl. It does the job well! I pre-fer the sound with the tone knob pulled up and turned almost all the way to the right. I turn the gain up just slightly about three (there are no numbers on the pedal). This thing gives the lead channel on my amp a kick in the ass! I am able to get the modern gain tones from my amp using this pedal. The pedal does not add any noise and when switched off does not suck the tone dry. This is a great OD pedal.

So far no problems!

never delt with them

Does a great job adding more growl to my tube amp! And the price was great.

Very straight forward and highly effective -- the only complaint is the push-pull tone control used to add extra harmonics/edge to the drive: it is easy to push this down (off) inadvertently when you might otherwise want it up (on).

Les Paul (loaded with SD JB/Jazz) or Strat (loaded with Van Zandt Blues) >> Boss TU-2 >> Direct Drive >> Boss Metal Zone (only when used in combo with a dirty amp AND the Direct Drive!!!) >> Xotic RC Booster >> Fulltone ChoralFlange >> A/B >> Deluxe Reverb RI and Torres Engineering Boogie Mite (with EH Holy Grail).

The Direct Drive is just a fantastic overdrive pedal. With the Deluxe set for a base low-volume clean tone, it provides an effective, transparent overdrive tone (especially with humbuckers) -- very useful when you have only one amp/channel and need a clean base tone. Against a plexi-style tube amp with overdriven power tubes, it just totally rocks! A wide array of possibilities, all the way from a relatively clean boost to huge amounts of gain. Personally, I keep the tone pot pulled out for the added harmonics. It adds edge and articulation to the sound - excellent.

Three years of gigging -- not a single problem.

Never had to contact Barber.

This is a follow-on review from almost three years ago. Eighteen years of playing guitar. I've been playing continuously in a band/gigging for the past three years and have played in other bands prior to that. I just have to put in another plug for this pedal. Other than my TU-2 and Metal Zone, it's the only one that has stayed on my board through all of my obsessive searches for improved gear/tone. (OK, all that searching has led to the need for additional practice and live experience more than the need for gear, but you aren't a real guitar player unless you are a gear freak, right???) The MZ stays just because it is tolerable when used WITH the Direct Drive and nothing else I have found quite sounds like it... I've tried and ditched a Fulltone Full-Drive, a Maxon TS-9 copy, and an Xotic AC Booster -- the Direct Drive smokes them all and is less expensive than all of them. If you are playing a tube amp, I don't think you could possibly go wrong with the Direct Drive. It's a must have.