Barber Electronics Direct Drive

3 knobs, pull the tone knob for fat harmonics. Pretty simple if you can hear.

I'm using it with Strat's and BF Twin. Strat's have Dimarzio VV's and VV Blues'. I love it. Nice and thick, warm, doesn't color the sound of the guitar. I can dial in a clean drive to a Plexi. Well almost a Plexi, after all the amps are Twins. The true-bypass is always a good thing and just as important are the cables you use.
I replaced an original TS-9 and OD-1 with this. I tried an FD-2 and opted for this because of its sound.
I don't know much about the other Barber stuff though he has set the standard on this one for me.

It looks and feels solid. Hammond style case the same as my Phase 100 that Ive had for 20+ years. The inside is extremely clean. If he built aircraft, I'd fly on them.
I have and will gig without a backup.

Never spoke to them, but based on the people before me I wouldn't worry about it either. The company I got it from in Canada was awesome.

I play pretty much everything and use it for nice tight overdrive. I still use my Rat for distortion and TS-808 for a clean boost. I have been playing for 25+ years and so far this seems to be one of the keepers along with a TS-808, Rat, Mutron III, MXR 100(script), AD-9, Analog Man Chorus, RMC-1, and OC-2. I love that it's creamy amp overdrive from a pedal. Like I mentioned, I compared it to an FD-2, TS-9, OD-1 and liked this much better. Interestingly enough, I just got the OD-1 off of ebay because of all the hype. I think the TS-9 is better and this blows both.
It definitely inspires me as it doesn't clutter up the sound like the OD-1 and TS-9. You can articulate each note nicely with this.
I'd like to share the pedal with you though I probably won't see you for a while.
For 99 bucks I don't see how you can go wrong.

Easy as turn and listen. Nice tonal variety. Manual recommendations are on target. I can tell a lot of research and thinking went into this box.

Wow! What an improvement. Against my TS-808, Howie and FD2, this pedal kicks butt. I just don't even bother with those pedals anymore. The DD does all that and more. Amazingly quiet and organic-sounding. From the clean drive to the Dumble, it's all there. I gig this pedal with my Carr Rambler and Clark Beaufort and it puts a real tiger (Marshall, Dumble) in the tank.

Yes, solid box. Too new to comment, though.

Barber helped me through deciding on this, but @ $99, I shouldn't have wasted his time (sorry David). He's totally cool - and one smart mofo.

By trade, I'm a jazz player, but to pay the bills, it's SRV and Robben Ford-type blues w/ some other stuff. I recommend this pedal for blues, rock, rockabilly, country, fusion - and anybody who wants their rig to get up and go, but wants to keep nice natural note and chord articulation.

Easy to use.......Good info in the manual, for gettin' started. Stock Direct Drive. Not an SS.

I'm trying all of 'em....Any and every distortion/overdrive dedal out there. All the Rats , MXR , Marshall, Boss(fake sounding, even my old OD-1 just sucks. I can't believe Boss is on so many pedal boards!?) , Digitech(like Boss but more fake? you tell me) , Visual Audio J&H(sent it back),and some Maxon's. If I did'nt talk smack , than I liked 'em. Some better than others. Waiting on my Pharoh Sweet Cheetah 2, and a McFuzz Hot. I'm trying them all alone , no chain . Just to compare. With different guitars(a few Gibson's, an American Strat, and a modified Yamaha w/ Fender lace P/U's and a Dimarzio Multibucker, and others. With my strat in the tasty front pickup setting, Nothing touches the Direct Drive. It's just too rich in wonderful harmonic tone. Mabe they all don't quite sound the same. My two Maxon D&S 2's had some of thier own character. This Barber DD Rules!

Still new..... third week, it's solid.

Called for power supply advice......Dude was way cool ....on a Saturday!

I teach and play many styles. I play Manual Rodrigues , Cordoba 30F, Ovation Custom Balladeer, Gibson, Fender. ..and more. 19 years playing . Rock , Blues , Classical , Flamenco, but my band now Worm Wagon , is Alt.Hard Rock, of some sort. Most fulfilling! This pedal does the blues better than ANYTHING I have heard. I want to find which pedals can give you a good sound anywhere, anytime on anyones rig. For 100 bucks , this pedal is truly a no brainer. Props to Barber on winning my 03' head to head pedal fest! SIB, Black Cat, Fulltone, Atomic, Frantone,(on and on it goes) .......can you guys answer Barber or what? I read that the gauntlet was thrown down with this pedal........that guy was right!!!

Easy. 3 nice looking knobs. Vol. Tone Gain Tone pulls out
for a mid boost.

Fat sounding. Nice full overdrive but not a huge amount of gain.
I felt I could duplicate and surpass it's sound with my Digitech tone driver. Not alot of bite.

A very handsome and solid unit. I'm sure it will last.

no comment

Very nice but not as good I feel as the hype. I often feel Guitar
Player rates very highly on appearances and vibe and this thing has it. However, as I said I was able to duplicate the sound with my Digitech tone driver and I also feel that the Boss OD-3 is better with a "glassier" tube tone.

Pretty easy. Push/pull adds nice harmonics. Easy and versatile. Hard to find an unuseable setting.

Wow! Dumble - yes. Marshall, vintage Marshall - yes. Tweed OD - yes. This box says what it will do and does it in spades. My Marshall 412, Dumble ODS, and K&M Custom have a hard time distinguishing themselves from the DD through a Silverface Fender at high volumes. I have all of these amps and more in the studio and even the best players in the studio guessed right only half the time. Pretty darn good for $99! If you can't get this pedal to do what you want - from blues to rock to fusion and in-between, well, then tone truly is in the hands isn't it? If you don't have the chops, don't expect this pedal to do that for you, but it's about the only thing it doesn't do.

Opened it up. Very nice. Smart layout. Barber knows what he's doing. Solid.

Yep. I've spoken w/ the Barber people many times - always good. Good people over there.

C'mon, for $99? Who can match or beat that? 25 years of playing clubs and 16 in the studios and this pedal is a first. Inexpensive, versatile, classic tones....what's not to like? Flat out, a 10.

It is as simple as most OD's. 3 Knob with Pull/Push Pot for Harmonic boost. Simple and easy to Mod with info on builders site.

Ok I will give it an 8. I personally don't care much for the unit and I will sell it on eBay, but its not a bad OD, well its not much of an OD. Its more of a distortion as it does not sound much like any of my tube amps cranked up. It has FAR more gain then a TS9. But very little air between the sound so things can get muddy really quick. Works well as a Clean Boost and for Blues guys its got depth in that mode. There are better units for that function however, some more some less expensive then the Direct Drive. There is a little Bass loss but not too much. Compression is not over done, but when its cranked up I think there is quite a bit of compression going on. Rolling back the Gain Knob will reduce gain, but feels as its choking off High end to do so. There is the standard loss of textures that comes from using a OD pedal regardless of setting but its not huge and does not color the natural tone of your instrument too much. I can say that this unit can take your 20w deluxe reverb and make it sound like your playing it through a 4x12 cab with a good amount of British crunch. It can sound huge, but more like a Crate then a Marshall. Not amazing, but useful. The Direct Drive gets lots of tones, sadly none that I like. The Pull Pot Harmonic boost is cool for bringing an amp to feedback quick. Some people think that this unit sounds "Dumblesque" Don't believe it for a second. It can sing but sounding like an Overdrive special. I doubt it. Anyone who says that has never heard an OD Special up close. All in all for 99 bucks its cheaper then a TS9 with more options. If your a blues guy, this is not for you. If your a rocker, you might find something in the box to work for you. Not a bad deal, but not the last OD your ever going to buy.

Seems well built, not a true PTP as a PCP is inside, but the pots and switch are not connected to the board directly so repairs and reliability should be no problem

Pretty good 48 hours to get an email reply. Not bad

Its OK...it falls in line with the TS9, Nobles, BOSS and others. Not an amazing sounding pedal for my needs, but it has purpose. You can get what you put into it your rig and your hands will tell the tail. I used this only for a couple of days and let several players us it at jams. Not once did I hear anything that made me sit up and take notice. I did however hear a Fulldrive II sound amazing durring those jams, and that pedal I really did not like when I bougth one from Fulltone. I Sold it fast as I could, so as with all things here on HC, take it with a grain of salt.

Three knobs with one having a pull switch. Set your distortion level, adjust the tone and your volume. Pretty darn simple!

I'm using this with a hardtail Strat-like guitar with a P-90 at the neck and a Duncan JB at the bridge. Other pedals are Dyna-comp > Ibanez TS-5 > Boss DC-2 chorus > Ibanez Volume Pedal > Boss DD-3 > Mesa-Boogie Studio .22+ amp. The DD goes after the comp and before the TS-5. The DD give me a brighter distortion tone then the TS-5 with lots of sustain. I tried one in a store and to my ear it sounded a little different then the one I have. But it's growing on me and making me happy. Especially after gigging with it.

Built like a friggin' tank! Unless you jumped on it with some big ol' clod-hopper boots, it'd be hard to do damage to this pedal.

I'd give an "11" if I could! I got a DD in a trade. It sounded raspy in the high end with some "artifacts" that I didn't like. A harshness that I couldn't dial it out. So, I contacted Barber and he had me send it to him. He didn't think anything was wrong, but to make me happy he sent me a brand new pedal! Now THAT'S customer service.

I play roots rock, Americana, world beat, intergalactic calypso pirate music and blues based rock.
Tone is subjective. The first DD that I tried in a music store, as I remember it, sounded a little warmer and smoother then the pedal I have. Maybe it was the guitar and amp I tried it with. But it's really a great pedal. Not my holy grail, but I find it extreamly usable and it will remain on my pedal board. I'm still learning what it can do. There are tweaks that I might try on the Barber website. I want to try it with my lap steel. I like it much more then the Keeley modded Metal Zone that I traded for the DD. But the guy I traded with loves it, so it all worked out in the end. Anyway, the Direct Drive doesn't give me exactly the tone that I'm after. But it's one I didn't have before and I can make good use of it. That's why it get's an "8."
If I were to lose this pedal, I'd probably buy the DD SS with all of the trim pots to tweak things out. I just can't stop fiddling with my gear.

the direct drive is a breeze, in fact its hard to get a naff sound out of it. i use mine with my boogie mk1 reissue , turn the drive to 2 o clock and level to 3 o clock and it screams...unit also cleans up marvelously. i think even my granny could have gotten killer tones with the barber.

increase the gain and listen to the compression take over.....yeah most pedals.....NOT the barber. beautifully transparent from gain meltdown to cleaned up strumming. i sold an analogman ts9/808 brown mod which slayed because the direct drive outperformed it totally.

waited 3 months to get it from usa........no probs so far, hope to have none either, too soon for objective comment on this.

spoke to dave barber on phone, nice guy and very helpful, purchase completed without any hassle whatsoever.

i dont hand out 10s if they arent justified, the direct drive is simply the pedal ive always been looking for. its brilliantly put together, has tones by the bucketload and fulfills every need i could have from a drive stomper. completely and utterly recommended from me.

It's easy to get a good sound out of this pedal, and the 3 controls on the face of the pedal are easy to operate. However, the 3 trim pots are only accessible by removing the bottom panel (4 screws). It was probably the most economical approach to have the trim pots where they are located, and it allows for a simpler circuit.

This is a comment/review of the Direct Drive SS (Super Sport) - $129 + shipping. I'm borrowing this pedal from a friend. I think many will be impressed (like I was) with the 3 trim pots that allow more presence, harmonics, and deeper bass to be dialed in. I've never heard the standard DD, but with the trim pots turned all the way down the sound is supposed to be the same as the standard DD (though the harmonics pot can be turned up a bit since the standard DD had a pull-harmonics tone control). I definitely like having the presence and bass pots turned up at least 1/2 way, and haven't decided on where I like the harmonics control yet.

Haven't had this long enough to give a rating, but it looks like it's built like a tank and is carefully constructed and soldered inside. I don't foresee any problems occuring.

Quick and friendly response to an email question I had.

It's probably worth the extra $30 over the $99 standard Direct Drive model to get these adjustable trim pots. There are mods (tweaks) that can be performed on the standard drive drive, but these pots allow for more fine tuning and more range. This pedal is a great value.

3 knobs with a push pull for the tone

I'm using this with a Parker Nitefly or Jackson RR into either a Reverend Hellhound or Marshall Jubilee Series. I wanted something to provide a full on lead sound for the Hellhound and the Marshall needs no more overdrive but I always use an overdrive pedal for solos just to focus and fatten the sound. The Direct Drive is somewhat successful for my purposes.

The lower overdrive settings are uncompressed and full, particularly with the Harmonics mode engaged. The higher gain settings are plenty saturated, and the pedal becomes somewhat compressed. But to me the higher gain settings are still not meaty or amp like enough for me. My Direct Drive sounds a litte flat on the high end, without the extended highs of say the Visual Sound Route 66 pedal.

There is no bass loss on this pedal (something I cursed about several other tube screamer products I have owned). This pedal is interactive with the guitar volume knob as well.

To me this is extremely well built.

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I was extremely impressed with this when I first received it. Since then I've had good days and not so good days with it. For me the tone control could provide a little more grit, it's to me more of a presence adjustment. The highs could also be a little more open sounding. Yes I am being picky. I have owned Boss OD1, Crowther Hotcake, Route 66, Vox Valvetone, etc and this to me ranks with the best of them.