Barber Electronics Direct Drive

1, 2, 3. Easy as pie. Instructive manual that gives good setting ideas.

Guitars: LP, ES-335, Strat. Amps: Fender Tweed, Marshall Silver Jubilee. Pedal is surprisingly quiet for this amount of distortion capability. Wide range of overdrive tones. Crunch, cream, sting, w/singing leads, even a nice clean-drive setting. Full bass and mids - very balanced pedal. Versatile beyond my expectation. Too good to be true. Marshall, Tweed OD, Dumble....what doesn't it do?!

Nicely built, inside and out. Solid. No stickers to peel off!

N/A Took 6 weeks to arrive. I feel lucky.

14 years playing experience - blues and blue-based rock. I prefer this pedal over all of my other overdrive pedals - that includes Fulldrive, Klon, Ibanez, Boss. My pedal board just got smaller by 3 pedals. What a value! While no pedal can do it all, this pedal does more for less. I wish it had 2 channels, but for $99, that's dreaming. Would replace in a heartbeat. Worth the wait.

Very easy. Three knobs, one of which is a push/pull. The "manual" was very helpful also

And now the bubble bursts...

;-)

I don't like it. I really expected something different when I bought it. To me, the Direct Drive sounds like a Tubescreamer with more gain and a "fat" switch. Not a crappy new Tubescreamer, but a Keeley.

This pedal, to my ears, sounds a *lot* like a keeley modded TS9 with perhaps about 15% more gain and a "fat" switch to allow you to get a more rounded sound.

The mids are emphasized. The tone control is very usuable and musical. There's plenty of volume to use as a clean boost, and the "fat" switch adds a nice roundness to the attack.

I don't like the bass response. I noticed the depth of my bass tones dissapeared w/ this pedal. I also don't like the emphasized mids.

If you're looking for a great TS type pedal w/ more versatility and less money than a boutique mod, this is your ticket.

Seems very reliable. The switching feels very sturdy and smooth as well.

They were very helpful on the phone when I placed the order. Though, the sound he described to me and what this pedal does aren't anywhere *near* close.

I've used a lot of ODs. This is a very good TSish unit if that's the sound you like. Honestly, I'd take this over the Keeley modded TS9 I used to have. Cheaper, better sound, and more versatility.

But, I hate the bass loss and mid hump.

My favorite OD so far is a Reverend Drivetrain. It adds grit, preserves your bass, and doesn't add any weird mid humps to your sound. Basically, it makes your guitar sound exactly like it did clean, only with grit.

I mentioned this to Barber when ordering the Direct Drive and asked how he would compare it to the Reverend. He said the Reverend was more of a TS clone and that the Direct Drive would preserve the bass sound better and not add a mid hump. It turns out to be the complete opposite!

It is easy to great sounds of this pedal, the Guitar Player review is right on the money when it comes to this pedal. I was able to get cool sounds with a variety of settings dialed in.

The tone is the best of any overdrive pedal I have played. The harmonics mode when you pull out the tone knob is great. Chords ring out smooth and clear at high drive settings. It can get really punchy if you want it to. A wide variety of top-quality overdriven sounds, it killed with a Fender Princeton, THD UniValve, and Fender Hot Rod DeVille 4x10. Nice as a clean boost, mild boost, medium OD, heavy OD, very versatile with the spectrum of Overdriven guitar sound. Hi-Fi sound.

I smiled when I opened it, the build quality is top-notch. Very nicely done. Boutique quality at a reasonable price.

Don't know.

This is the best overdrive I've played, doesn't get any better than this in my experience. Outstanding. Better overdrive sound and more versatile than any TS9 variation I've come across. This pedal totally kills.

it took no time at all to get a great tone, very straight forward pedal.

sound quality is fantastic,I play a PRS(ce-22)guitar through a fender deluxe reverb 22watt tube amp. I've tried fulltone fulldrive 2,boss o.d.-3,marshall overdrive 2,Ibanez Is-9. I ended up selling all of them.

only had it a short time but , have heard good things about it.

E-mailed dave 2 times with questions and he got right back with me.

what a deal at this price !!!! the only thing that would make it better would be if he sold a dual direct drive pedal so you could have 2 different settings set up,but i would excpect the price to go up as well, with something like that.

this is one of the easiest plug n play pedals ive ever owned. about the only thing that is not obvious is the pull-tone switch to add harmonics...this is in the manual.The manual is simple with some sample settings...but one word of advice...play with it youself! you will find your "tone" no problem!!

ok, i know harmony central says it will not print glowing reviews....well sorry folks at HC; this is the real deal. I could get into detail about my setup and everything, but ive only played this pedal for one hour through the clean channel of a cheapo 15 watt crate with my washburn p2(not my best guitar by any means...i have prs and ernie balls). the second i clicked this on, i started playing "steppin out". the setting that happened to be on it at the time had that same combo sound as clapton on the blues breakers album!!! on this little piece of crap crate nonetheless. i have been playing for eighteen years and this little one hour test has me sold.cant wait to throw this in my regular rig of an ada preamp into a power amp into two cabinets. I mean the versatility!!!! this does sound great straight in clean channel....with a little dirt on the front of the amp it sounds stellar!!!!(did i mention this was a little 15 watt crate???!!!)sounds surprisingly tube-ey...if all of these so called amp"modelers" used this tone as their base tone, they would all sound immensely better. digitech?? you should give dave a call!!! line 6? the same. barber is definitely on to something here.i whack out a chord and its balls out!! and i hear every note in the chord!! i can even play the infamous E7#9 hendrix chord with exceptional clarity! after this short test i can already attest that clapton(vintage),reverend billy g,and eric johnson(add alittle echo, which i did on the crate, forcing me into a few bars of cliffs of dover)among others are living somewhere in this box. anyone who cant find a tone should find their own in their fingers before plugging into any amplifier.im kicking the tubescreamer out of the pedalboard!!

built pretty rugged...ive only had it for a day. i have to vote no opinion

i dealt with dave checking the status of my order.I ended up in a 10-15 conversation about his company(which i initiated) he dealt all of my questions in a very friendly manner even though he is a busy man "he's getting swamped!" if this is any indication how he behaves with customer problems i would give it a 10 but i cannot respond with a rating at this time honestly...i will update this in the future as needed.They have a great website though where he shows you how to "mod" the pedal with minor soldering or op-amp changes....how may companies encourage you to tinker with the product? this is awesome!!!

i play modern rock, classic rock, some metal, jazz, you name it i play it(and yes i think you could play metal with this pedal also...maybe not the oversaturated mud you hear on the radio. but you could definitely play ozzy)...ive been playing for 18 years..if this were stolen or lost i would order three more from dave so i wouldnt have as long a wait if it happened again!!!. theres just one minor nitpick i have though; there is no easily accessible battery compatment...you have to pull all four screws off...again this is just a nitpick....AT THE PRICE THIS IS A HUUUUUUUUUUGGEEEEEE VALUE!

Very easy. Comes with a nice one page manual with some sample settings.

My setup: Heritage 150CM w/Duncan Antiquities, Barber Direct Drive, Fulltone Fat Boost, Holy Grail Reverb into a modifed Marshall JTM45 reissue with KT66's. This pedal is VERY quiet, noiseless switching. The effect is very amp like, it just seems to blend right in with my existing tone and add some more "brown" to the sound. I can definitely obtain the sounds that I desire with this pedal. Tones like Duane, Billy Gibbons, Early Clapton, even some smooth BB King or Mike Bloomfield tones are possible with this magic little box. The greatest thing is that it doesn't suck tone when its turned off, thanks to true bypass

I think so. This is however my second Direct Drive, my first one mysteriously "died" when I loned it to a friend for a blues gig. He stepped on the switch and nothing came on. However Dave Barber to the rescue. I really think my first one could've just had a bad switch or some other small fault, no problems at all with the second one, hey any product out there will have one bad apple.

I dealt with David after my first Direct Drive died, and he was very apologetic and ask me to describe the problem, he said if you have a good tech to take it to him and have him check the switch, so I did. Steve, my tech, said the switch was fine, so I called Dave back. Dave told me to send the pedal back to the dealer, Wildwood Guitars and he would send me a replacement pedal in the mail Priority Express at no charge to me. 2 Days later I had a brand new Direct Drive. Dave and Wildwood were a pleasure to do business with, and Dave actually pulled someone else's Direct Drive just so I could have a replacement in a hurry. So if I have any other problems in the future, I know Dave will provide assistance, as he stands by his products 100%. Great customer service!

I primarily play blues, and this pedal has really taken my tone to new levels. I really owe a lot of tone to how the Barber Direct Drive and JTM45 react with each other, they are incredibly dynamic. I love the fact that this pedal reacts like an amplifier in the fact that it responds to your pick attack. I compared this to my other overdrives (Route 66, TS9 modded, old DOD 250, Marshall Bluesbreaker, Boss Bluesdriver) and I ended up selling them all, as this thing covered all that they do. My ONLY complaint is that I wished the boost function was a button instead of a push pull knob, but hey for $99+ shipping and the kind of customer service that Dave provides, this pedal is a steal and I'll deal with the push pull knob.

three knobs. it took me less than a minute to find the sound i was looking for.

i am using this with an '89 strat or an '89 tele w/bardens into a RI marshall super lead 100 (plexi) with 4 greenbacks. i set the amp pretty dirty, a fair amount of amp overdrive on my clean sound. this pedal is silent. i use it to push the amp and it's amazing. i'm ritchie blackmore. articulate, round, responsive...it doesn't play like a pedal.my favorite part is my tone doesn't change when i turn it on. the bass is even, the mids don't bark, and the treble doesn't screech. it's like plugging into a hotter amp.

i have no backup for this pedal. i have an early one and i've been using it for months with no problems. it had a drink spilled on it once. built like a tank.

dave went out of his way to accomodate me. very friendly, very very helpful.

if this were stolen of lost i would definitely replace it. i use this and dave's new compressor pedal the tone press and that's it. this pedal has become very important to me. and the price? please...

Simple. 3 knobs with a push-pull tone knob for extra midrange.

Les Paul Jr. & Tele thru a Matchless Spitfire. Very quiet, noiseless switching. I barely ever turn the Drive control past the minimum as I'm just looking for a little extra crunch from an overdrive pedal. At this setting, it does a wonderful job of giving the Matchless the illusion of sounding louder without actually being louder. None of the cheesy sounding fuzziness that a TS9 gives. I was surprised at how well this pedal fattened my thin-sounding MIM Tele - it brought it to near-humbucker thickness. I haven't tried it live, but I expect it to sound great. I was able to A/B it with a VooDoo Labs Sparkle Drive (also a great pedal), and it was a much thicker, meatier, more natural and less fuzzy overdrive.

Very Sturdy.

I asked if it would be ready by the New Year. David emailed back the same day and said he'd try his best. It arrived 16 days early! Nice guy, fine product.

Definitely the most useful overdrive I've ever owned. I really still do like the Sparkle Drive, but the Direct Drive has that extra midrange that really pushes an amp nicely, and I think it will prove to be a better pedal for live use for my purposes.

Easy. Every setting works wonders. Manual is right on target.

Fender, Carr and Marshall amps. Fender, McInturff and Baker guitars. Very noise-free pedal, transparent, tru-bypass. Effects the DD is capable of are: Marshall classic, OD Fender-style, tube scream and, yes, RF. Just a great way to overdrive w/out too much distortion.

Ten so far.

The customer service world needs to study this guy and clone him.

I play classic rock, blues and fusion. This pedal is ideal for each of these styles and more.

Been playing for 16 years. Own Fulltone, Teese, Z-Vex, RX, Voodoo Labs, Line 6, Arbiter, Ibanez, and Barber effects.

Would seek immediate replacement if L or S.

Just bought it based on reviews. They were right - and so was the price!

Great sounds right out of the box. Barber's manual gives some sample settings which are fine for starters.

Into a Rivera R-55 this is the quietest overdrive unit I've ever heard. I use this with the tone control pulled out, and don't find much difference in gain from the 3/4s to full on gain settings. Very clean and articulate, and cuts through very well in the mix. Humbuckers sing and snarl, and strat type guitars get a little more of a Hendrixy kind of vibe. Maintains the guitar's character very well.

Appears very reliable, but then again I'm VERY gentle with my gear.n

In a previous encounter, purchasing a used 4 knob Burn Unit, Barber returned an email within an hour. On a Saturday.

Cover tunes and very occasional jazz fusion.I've been playing for 30 years now and have owned dozens of overdrive units; I also used amp only distortion for over a decade with a Mesa Mark III and a Budda Super Drive. Right now I also have a pair of Fulldrive IIs and a Reverend Drivetrain, along with a DOD 250, Morley JD10, and a mid '80s Rat. If this were stolen or lost I'd replace. Barber is working on some sort of 2 switch upgrade, so this may easily challenge the Fulldrive as a great two channel distortion once that happens. Right now in conjunction with the Drivetrain I can do anything I can with the Fulldrive. The Barber is clearer and more articulate than the FDII, far better than the Zinky True Grit. Far more natural sounding than the Bixonic pedals, far higher gain than the Mr Ed. If I'd been more patient I would have waited for the two button version, but this is fine. A very civilized pedal.