Barber Electronics Direct Drive

I had no problem getting a great sound out of this pedal. My problem is, I find a setting I love and then don't take the time to see what else it is capable of doing. It is easy to use, but there's got to be an easier way to make the push/pull tone switch more usable. I prefer it pulled up but it can be pushed back down fairly easy on a pedal board.

My guitars are a G&L Skyhawk (strat)w'Fralin Blues and a Godin SP90 also eqipped w/Fralins. My amp is a Peavey Classic 50 head with two 12" Vintage Celestions. My pedal board has (in order of appearance)a Fulltone Clyde, Fulltone FDII, Fulltone Dist Pro, Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive (with Keeley mod), VL Analog Chorus, VL Micro Vibe, Keely Compressor, Boss - Tremolo, Harmonizer, DD6 Delay, then Fulltone Fat Boost. The Direct Drive is compatable with all of the effects pedals, but as with the 'High End" overdrive pedals that can be stacked or used together, the DD stands on it's own very well. And for ninety bucks! There's minimal noise. I've read that the tone is similar to the "Dumble" type of singing harmonic sustain. I can sure get closer to that sound than with any of my other pedals. The other pedals are still great but they can't get this tone. My favorite players would be Robben Ford, Steve Morse, Doyle Bramhall II, Ty Tabor, Mike Landau, Scott Henderson, etc. There's a lot, but also very diverse styles.

This appears to be built on the same level as the Fulltone pedals or the Voodoo Labs (and hopefully with better switches than the VL stuff). I've had it about 2 months so it's too early to comment.

I haven't had to contact them and I don't see any upgrades that would enhance this pedal.

I play in different settings - rock, country, blues, worship at church. This pedal has a place in any of those styles or venues(depending on your church). I've been playing since high school (graduated '71), but have been seriously tone searching since about '91. I would buy this pedal again. As a matter of fact, I recommend buying 2 of them anyway for the price, because you will want to have one to let your friends take home to try while you still have one to play. I chose this pedal by reviews here on HC and also other webs sites. By checking the dates of the previous postings and reading the great reviews I am surprised that the price has not increased. Well done Mr. Barber.

The controls are just like any other overdrive pedal. Gain, tone, and volume. Super easy to dial in a good setting, and the pull pot feature on the tone control is a nice touch to add a little tonal variation.

I run a 2003 Highway-1 Telecaster with a Little 59 humbucker in the bridge (which will be replaced as soon as I get the money) through a Boss DM-2, Ibanez CS-9, and Direct Drive into an EKO amp from the 60's. This is the only overdrive pedal that I've gotten to sound good with my guitar, especially that single-coil neck pickup. I used to have a TS-5 when I started playing electric that I started to hate after a while, then I tried an Ibanez Tube King that a friend loaned me. The Direct Drive sounds amazing with my setup. I can dial in a wider range of settings than I need, and it sounds good no matter what settings you have it at. This pedal is an excellent replacement for a gain channel, since my amp is basically a single-channel amp. I think I'd be a little happier if I had the ability to dial in extreme enough settings to make it unusable. I'd just prefer to have the option.

I haven't had this thing for long enough for things to start going wrong, but I've opened it up, and it's built near-flawlessly. The soldering looks great, and the enclosure is rock-solid. I'm sure the 3PDT switch will go out eventually, but they do on everything so it's not really a concern, and that can be replaced easily enough. I'm basing my rating off of the circuitry and enclosure, which looks invincible.

I haven't dealt with them, but they're a boutique manufacturer, so I assume I could get ahold of them if I needed to.

I play some pretty arty music, and this pedal is an essential part of my sound. I like to use different chord voicings when I can (I play mostly rhythm and leave the leads up to my bassist) and this pedal has excellent chord definition; very amp-like. I'm a pretty big tone snob, so I wouldn't be using this pedal if it sucked. Really, the only complaint that I have about it is that the pull pot doesn't have such a nice, weighted rotation as the other two. Other than that it's a solid piece of equipment. I just wish the settings to so rediculous as to be insane. I just like to have more control than I need. This is a minor issue though, since it gets to about the limits of what I like to use, but stops before being over the top. If it were stolen or lost I'd be on the phone the next day ordering a new one.

Admittedly I didn't do that much shopping around when I went to go buy a pedal, but I read about the Direct Drive in a magazine and their review was pretty convincing. I don't regret my decision at all.

I'd like to add that it has the same IC chip as an Ibanez TS-808, so you're getting that classic Tube Screamer sound, except it's a hand-made pedal with true bypass and the pull pot that lets through more harmonics. Oh, and it's cheaper than a Tube Screamer. The price they ask is a steal. Order one soon before more people realize how much they rule and the price goes up.

Very easy to use & the pull tone control provides a surprisingly wide range of tones. When pulled, the pedal sounds the same to my ears as the DD SS with trimpots set stock.

More open & natural sounding than a TS9 but not so much of a departure that TS9 fans won't like it. The tone control has a great range & never sounds bad. The pull tone is especially nice, it deserves a dedicated switch for kicking in on solos.

N/A

Dave's a nice guy but I didn't keep the pedal long enough to actually need real support.

Sounds great through an open sounding amp like a Super Reverb or a Marshall. Midrange-heavy amps like my H&K Puretone & Fender Pro Jr. are not a great match for it, IMO, but then that'd probably be perfect for anyone going for a ZZ Top kind of sound.

When I first tried the pedal, it was next to both the DD SS & the LTD. I actually thought the LTD was the most open & natural sounding of the three but took the DD home because it has a much wider range of tones available & can get fairly close to copping the LTD sound (it does a dead-on DD SS, obviously, but without having to mess with the trimpots). Unfortunately, I came to regret this decision over the short period of time that I hung on to this pedal & ended up swapping it for something else. The LTD will probably be my next purchase.

As I hinted at earlier, this pedal is perfect for anyone that likes the TS9 sound but wants to take it to the next level (with more versatility, I might add). I might add that I probably would have kept it if I still had a Super Reverb.

Super easy to use, 3 knobs. On/Off, light indicator. All you need.

Well, all I can say is I am now getting rid of my vintage Tubescreamer (early 80's) and Vox Valvetone. This pedal captures the essence of "that" tone, but adds a certain element that has clarity yet grinds and is warm. That's the best way I can describe it. It is my new overdrive favorite, and I'm a die hard tubescreamer fan, so this is a big deal to me.

Hopefully it will last a long time. Very well built, solid pedal.

Don't know.

Killer deal from a pawn shop, this is a keeper. Can't wait to check out other Barber products now that I have discovered this gem.

VERY EASY TO USE.YOU ALSO CAN FIND SETTINGS ON THEIR WEB SITE.I GOT IT AS A GIFT FROM A FRIEND IN AUSTIN. ED STOCKTON.ONLY THING YOU MUST WATCH THE TONE KNOB IS PUSH PULL TYPE UP GIVES YOU A FATTER OVER DRIVE .BUT IF YOU DONT WATCH YOU COULD PUSH IT DOWN WHILE TURNING PEDAL ON AND OFF..

IAM USING A ES-335 GIBSON A CARVIN STRAT.AND A DELTA BLUES 210 TUBE AMP,WONDERFUL LITTLE AMP.I USE A DIRECT DRIVE,AND OLD IBANEZ CS -505 CHORUS PEDAL AND A BOSS DELAY. THE EFFECTS WORK WELL TOGETHER MY FAVORITE ARTIST HAVE THEIR SOUND AND I HAVE MIND. I LIKE PHIL KEGGEY,JOHN AND EDGAR WINTERS.JIM REEVES, FARRON YOUNG,ED STOCKTON.THE SOUND QUALITY IS VERY GOOD SORT OF OLD MARSHALL MEETS TWEED NOT A METAL PEDAL.ITS ALSO WORKS WELL IN PUTTING YOUR AMPS DISTORTION CHANNEL OVER THE TOP.ITS THE BEST PEDAL IVE HEARD UNDER 100 BUCKS.IT LETS YOUR GUITAR SING AND ITS NOT COMPRESS I HATE A COMPRESS SOUND.GO TRY ONE AND SEE FOR YOURSELF,JESUS RULZ BUT THE PEDALS COOL

YEA ITS BUILT VERY WELL.METAL CASING YOU COULD THROW AT THE DOG,THEN PICK IT UP AND PLAY IT.I USE VERY LITTLE BACKUP ANYTHING.YES I WOULD AND HAVE USE IT WITHOUT BACKUP. IT WILL STAND TOE TO TOE WITH BOSS EASY.

HAVE NOT HAD IT LONG ENOUGHT.AND SO FAR IVE ONLY SEEN THIER WEB SITE BUT NEVER HAD TO DEAL WITH THEM YOU CAN HEAR IT OVER THE NET.BUT THERE IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT BETWEEN THE COMPUTER SPEAKERS,THEN THE FANES IN MY MY DELTA BLUES ARE MY CELLESTION 30S IN MY MARSHALL. ILL GIVE THEM A 8 ANYWAY.

IVE BEEN PLAYING 25 TO 30 YRS.15 YRS CONTEMPARY WORSHIP.IVE PLAYED CHRISTAIN METAL,ROCK,MY FAVORITE IS SOUTHERN ROCK,BLUES TEXAS STYLE,AND OLD COUNTRY LIKE FARRON YOUNG BUT MY FIRST LOVE IS GOD AND WORSHIP.THIS PEDAL DOES EVERY THING I DO AND DOES IT WELL.IFI LOST IT YEA I THINK I MIGHT REPLACE IT UNLESS I FOUND SOMETHING COOLER.FOR THE MONEY I THINK ED PAYED 99 BUCKS FOR IT,ITS VERY COOL;WELL I HOPE YOU AND JESUS GET THINGS WORK OUT CAUSE JESUS RULZ...

3 knobs, with the middle (tone) knob on a push/pull pot. I gave my pet spider monkey a slice of banana every time he dialed in a cool tone. He's now lying flat-back on the floor in a potassium stupor...

Okay, so I have a few overdrive/distortion pedals - Boss SD-1, DS-1, Keeley-modded BD-2, Keeley-modded TS9 Baked Tube Screamer, Digitech something-or-other hunk of metal junk, and the Barber Direct Drive. Truth be told, I favor the Keeley Baked TS9...for no other reason than the increased gain. But when I set both pedals on the floor through an A/B, I did not really notice a great difference between the two (tonally) when set at comparable gain levels. The tone knob needs to be in the pulled up position to get that extra chunk from the DD, but the two pedals sounds remarkably alike. The TS9 has the edge due to gain alone from where I sit.
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So here's the kicker...the Barber is $70 cheaper. Of course, Mr. Keeley must first buy the stock TS9 and then mod it to his specs, so I'm not faulting him at all for the price difference. But the point is, if you want a really good overdrive/distortion pedal at a very reasonable price point, the Barber DD is a fine choice in my opinion. Even though the Keeley stays on my working pedalboard, the Barber is very comfortable at home on my practice amp and makes me very happy. I don't regret this purchase at all.
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In fact, if the Keeley were stolen, I'd cry for a few minutes and then promptly put the DD on my board and step back from the precipice of despair.

Can't complain so far. I've owned the pedal for around a month and a half, though...so not too sure how the switch will hold up over the long haul. Switches are always the weak points on the pedals I've owned. But outside of that, this thing is sewn together into a nice solid metal enclosure and the components inside appear to be of good quality and are well assembled. I'd rather not numerically rate the device, though, without having slapped it around and watched it spit in my face in defiance. So suffice it to say that it *looks* like it can hold its own in a scrap.

Have not needed to contact Barber yet.

I've been playing on again/off again for about 16 years...in all styles from speed metal (when I was 18-22 years old) to more recently a strange mix of jazz, blues, and rock.
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Bottom line...I really dig this pedal overall. If it were stolen, I'd surely buy another. It has a very good quality sound in a not-so-expensive package. Barber seems to be taking the high road with their products in that they are delivering the goods without playing the price gouging game (like Klon and Landgraff have done...$300 for a decent booster and $400 for an overdrive, respectively...yeah, sure! How much R&D did you put into those boxes, anyway?). Kudos to any company that can manage such a feat as being fair to the customer.
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Based on my experience with this pedal, I'm already contemplating a purchase of the Barber LTD and Tone Press. If those pedals are anything like the DD in terms of overall bang for the buck...count me in!

3 knobs , middle pulls out for a boost . A little tricky to tweak a good sound from it. The pull knob is a bit difficult to grasp.

telecaster,hot rod amp . Cant turn the gain up too much before encountering quite alot of noise (hum). I wasnt thrilled with the sound of this pedal. not too much sustain , not too smooth . made my treble pickup sound very nasal like a wah pedal in the mid spot.

seemed well built

Barber seem easy to contact. I got it from Pedal Geek and they seem like a reasonable outfit.

Ive tried alot of these pedals and they all dissapoint me. Often in their decriptions , all the buzz words are thrown about ie: transparent , touch sensitive , shimmering , clean , tubelike , fat etc. the list goes on. Kind of gets ones hopes up beyond whats possible. Actually one of the better pedals Im using is a $14 arion tubulator.

Plug in yer axe, then plug the pedal into yer amp, doofus. Turn the knobs 'till it sounds good. Duh. Basic device. Three knobs, one of 'em (tone) pulls out fer FAT.

I never give 10's. I am basing this review on just this box straight into my Mesa Dc-5 12" combo w/ 12" ext cab (both w/ celestions). My main axe is an 'ol '79 ibanez (blazer) strat with a dunkmore semen JB JR. in bridge, stock mid and neck. It's so damn squishy sounding. Thick 'n squishy. Very harmonically appealing, musical, and quite satisfying. I like it better than anything else I've tried. Not a goofy SRV wannabee, thank God. No super-modded,"vintage" ts-whatever nonsense crap here. It LOVES my fatdawg LesPaul. I crank the drive, pull-out the Fat switch (on the tone pot) turn up the 'Boogie, and it just doesn't get any better. My tele sounds neato thru it, too. I definately can recommend it to humbucker people. I refuse to make comparisons to other drive units, it is it's own thing. SUPER BANG FER THE BUCK, BUCKO! Aww, what the heck, I give it a ten.

I've had it a coupla months. I'd use it without a backup, as the quality is superior. I use it with a power supply.

This guy is a cool dude (dave barber). I called to ask a bunch of dumb queations and realized afterword that it was the owner I was talkin to. He was patient and intelligent. One can only imagine what the poor guy has to deal with from all the guitar geeks in the world. He's not pissed off at us, yet! I am not giving a ten, cause I've never had to have anything repaired, so don't know the whole skinny.

Love it!!!!

This is just a correction of a mistake in my previous review.

In my previous review below I wrote:
''... the electronic components are probably of somewhat lesser quality than the FT FD II and you can hear that at the highest gain ..'' Actually that is plain WRONG and I apologize to David Barber and to all the HC readers. namely I did some of my testing with the open box (in order to tweak those small knobs
in the SS model - I actually do not need those settings :-)
so the noise at highest gain was higher. The moment I closed everything and even used the box at the highest settings with THD all tube amp the noise was negligible: bravo David !

Also for the completeness, I have now tested DD against all various boxes I have for the second time and I can confirm that Fulltone Fulldrive is the closest but with lower gain overall (and less passionate sound) and H & K Tubefactor can sound almost as good or to some ears even better but is much bigger and again more expensive box.

Unless you play Rectifier metal type of leads do not bother with the SS model as DD covers all styles up to heavy rock and classic metal. No other small $99 box cn cover such a tonal range with so much character and juice: a true winner !

By mistake I bought the more expensive SS model that is useful if you need more Mesa-Boogie type of distortion and more harmonics or presence. So now I use my DD SS in the low bass, low presence, no harmonics mode and that is effectively $30 cheaper DD model, so I have added my review here FYI but with no rating although I can confirm that this pedal deserves 10 (and I play regularly since 1960 :-)

BTW, highly rated pedals like Tonebone Classic or British can compete with DD but are less suitable for the stage use. For LIVE gigs I do strongly recommend just this $99 Direct Drive !

Introduction: Features

It has Tone, Drive and Volume and once you decide your tone and the starting volume by varying the drive know you can cover anything from slight boost of your clean tone (tube amp or digital amp - works too!) to tubescreamery SRV to tubey singing, all the way to marshally tube burning ...

Well, you have to also choose and tweak additional 3 small settings inside the box (presence, bass, harmonics content), and I chose the TS808 recommended settings and use it like that - namely, I do NOT play metal - only jazz, blues and light rock, latino etc ...

THE Sound:

I tested DDSS with the very best gear there is including my fender Strat Plus, Gibson Les Paul or even Line 6 Variax guitar through the all tube (Rivera 6550a output tube) THD Univalve (arguably the best tube, reference amp in the world) through the 112 Fane vintage deep cabinet and also through Roland VGA-3 COSM modeling (digital) 112 combo ... DDSS passed all my tests with flying marks and I do know THE tone for sure ... BTW, I used my VHT Valvulator 1 power supply (with a tube) and special no loss monster cables in all tests; also Danelectro vintage 9V batteries ... so my test is as reliable as it gets.

Well, THE sound is certainly there. I have all the other pedals too, so I can compare it and did compare it with: the Maxon TS808 - that's tTHE recommended original circuit great sounding tubescreamer and DDSS sounds tubeyscreamy but also slightly more marshalish, more rock; the same is true for the Fulltone Fulldrive II that is definitely overall finer and more subtle pedal than the DDSS (also somewhat less noisy) but FD II has less gain ... I could go on... BUT the bottom line is that DDSS is almost as versatile as Tech 21 SansAmp Classic (the original) in covering anything from the fine tubescreamer bluesy sounds to singing Santana leads or screaming burning Marshall stack in Hendrix Woodstock style ... all that for $130 in a very, very small box - unbeatable value!

I decided to use it as a tubescremer for blues and for singing Santana to Hendrix 'gymnastics' leads with Strat and LP and it does all of that beautifully. In the blues area I can maybe use $250 BJF electronics Blue Baby and get even more screaming ragey bluesy ('angry') sound, and from $200 FT FD II I do get perhaps more subtle variations of the lower gain guitar tones, while $135 Maxon OD808 is somehow more fluid in low gain tubescreamer range, while $200 H & K Tubefactor (all tube) has more screachy metallico singing tube sound - but you see the DDSS can cover ALL that in a small package for only $130 ! and I even suspect that I could have simply bought just the Direct Drive, without inside controls of bass and harmonics or presence, as I am not going to fiddle much with those ...

In summary, the electronic components are probably of somewhat lesser quality than the FT FD II and you can hear that at the highest gain (which is normal - any burning Marshall produces a lot of noise too!), yet this pedal has THE sound ranging essentially from the SRV tubescreamer to Hendrix burning Marshall - and that means firm 10 in any serious guitarist book.

I play since 1960 and I play any style except the noise-metal or techno-screach ...so my tone is mainly from sweet clean jazz like Kenny Burell, to bluesy Buddy Guy or SRV all the way to singing Santana and occasional Hendrixy 'gymnastics' screaming or Vernon Reid or Van Hallenisms ... Usually for that range I would need my THD Univalve and two OD pedals like Maxon OD808 for tubescreaming and then VS Route 66 in a series or Big Muff or the SansAmp Classic or H&K Tubefactor or FT FD II to get to singing Santana or ultimately to burning Marshall tones ...

Now this pedal can and does cover all that ! It is not better in any sub-areas from any of the above: You can have maybe a slightly subtler, dedicated tubescreamer sound from specially moded OD808, but in all fairness the DDSS comes as close to that that the difference is purely academic - indeed it is a TS808 killer (and I use it exactly in that setting like the basic DD model ! which tells you a lot). The FT FD II is more subtle in low to medium gain range and has also the compression singing mode, but in truth the DDSS is more wild more passionate somehow more true guitar-amp sounding ... in a direct comparison, the FD II is almost like a slightly 'edited', polished pedal ... and moreover DDSS can and does offer the gain all the way to the burning Marshall and that you do hear with different guitars: in other words the DDSS covers also the rock sounds too and in a very convincing way! My THD Univalve (with all knobs set at 11am) sounded just as a burning Marshall double stack (at Woodstock) and that was with Fender Strat Plus Silver Lace (not extremely gainy) single coils - so this DDSS pedal has some serious drive (gain) in it, yet does not color your basic guitar sounds or character ... impressive!

In summary, all exquisite tone and tube tone maniacs like myself can and should buy DDSS (or DD?) as these boxeseasily cover a lot of tonal ground LIVE on stage ... Basically, with a good wah pedal and DDSS you can play all evening through a good tube amp and you won't need anything else to cover a huge tonal range (clean to blues to light to heavy rock). (It does probably metal light gain range too!). I suspect it may become my main pedal (on stage) from now on with maybe BJF Baby Blue to be used in one raging blues solo only ... For specific dedicated recording tones I may continue to use other pedals and boxes (I do have the Roland VG-88v2 too ... or even Award Session(Morley) JD-20 or Behringer V-Amp2 ...) but I have a hard time to think of another very small pedal that covers it all: from fabulous bluesy SRV tubescreaming all the way to the burning rock screaming Marshall (you just vary the drive and volume) ... OK I can probably do that with my $270 Tech21 SansAmp Classic pedal but you have to fiddle small buttons and even then you won't get quite all the CHARACTER and VOICE that this DDSS has - hence I conclude: if you have $130 and love your own guitar sound: just go and buy one !