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.

This pedal strikes a nice balance between simplicity and adequate tweakability. Volume, tone, drive (I have no need for cutesy or trendy names for controls... I'm generally confused enough already); everything is clearly labeled with ALL CAPS and nice big lettering. No time wasted trying to remember which jack is IN and which is OUT, even if I'm crosseyed-drunk at a raucous punk rock show. Love the push-pull tone control.

Absolutely astonishing. No, seriously.

I play a Soldano HR50 which I keep super-loud and mildly saturated for a nice "clean" (ha!) sound. Soldanos are known for their high-gain clarity but I personally don't like that Jerry Cantrell buzz. With the Barber and a sweet compressor (currently the little green Guyatone, which shall be mourned as soon as I accidentally stomp it to oblivion) I can get the heavy roar I am addicted to. Fantastic with both single-coil and humbucking pickups. The meaning of the term "transparency" became thoroughly apparent to me as soon as I A-B'd it with my Maxon SD-9. (Damn, I used to love that poor, now-neglected SD-9.)

When I run this pedal through my '65 Univox it gets that velvety sound that, especially when run through a single-coil neck pickup, makes my eyes get all misty.

I now control the gain almost exclusively with my guitar's volume knob - a concept I would've previously considered LAUGHABLE.

I imagine I could drop this thing into a tube sock and out-street-fight a bronze statue with it. Opened it up to put in a battery; the quality of the components and ruggedness of design were instantly apparent. I've never seen such thick leads on electronic parts! The pedal's guts look like a work of art. The switch could withstand any stomp-happy crack unicorn.

I'll take everyone's word for it. Have been tempted to call and say THANKS but anyone who's making products this good is liable to have a phone that never stops ringing anyway.

I play rock, metal, thrash, speed, punk, crossover, blues, funk, jazz, surf, rockabilly. I love "vintage" and "classic" tones; I love a good Fender chime as much as a hot-rodded Marshall crunch. I can't stand digital effects or amp-modeling! I will always love this pedal and will probably keep buying Barber electonics products until I've collected them all. I don't see how other companies have the gall to charge twice as much for inferior products. I've hardly ever felt my money was so well-spent.

Been useing the Barber pedals for over 5 years now. I have had the older DD's and the Blue model SS, and the newer black models. I found for me the very first DD with the green LED's are the king of the open plexi tones from god. I own 3 now and they all sound just a twinge different from one another.

I have run them in just about every boutique amp on the market with great success. Even my old blackface Fender sound great with the DD. I like to run a amp with just a small bit of crunch, then take it over the top with the DD for my lead work. Most setting for me are level at 11 oclock, tone at 2 oclock and gain at 4 oclock. I dont use many effects so I cant really say how it works with whatever, but for a Overdrive it is just better then any I have tried.

I still have my very first one, thats 5 years of stomping on it, and it still is in great shape. I have owned over 7 Barber pedals now, and all were awesome built. I am collecting the older green LED models now, as I really feel they sound better for what I play.

Only talked a few times years ago, dont really have much to ask, as the pedal does all the talking.

I play, Rock, Blues, & Jazz, and this pedal handles all of it with ease. I just love when I meet a new player, and he just loves his OD pedal, until he trys mine..thats all it takes he's hooked.
I work at a music store, and just did a pedal shoot out on a 4-10 tweed amp..Klon, reverend, Analogman, Keeley, Ibanez TS808, Maxon808, RT66, Yamaha OD, Buffalo fuzz, Brooklyn, Greenline, and the Barber Direct drive...the barber killed them all, on TONE, drive, and feel...

This pedal is extremely easy to use - Three knobs: Volume, tone and drive. The tone pot is push pull. When you pull up on it, it sounds slightly bigger. It's supposed to sound more modern, which I agree with. It accentuates certain harmonics which make it sound slightly fuller. VERY SLIGHTLY though. There is hardly a difference when this pot is pulled. There are also knobs inside the enclosure for fine tuning - Bass and prescence. Very easy to access with a screwdriver.

This thing really does sound fantastic. It's a pretty responsive box and cleans up fairly well with your guitar's volume knob. The clarity is OUTSTANDING, far better than any Boss overdrive. It's really quite stunning how pristine this thing is. It is true bypass so it doesn't color your tone and makes very little noise (as little noise as an overdrive could ever make). I usually use it with the drive all the way up. You can't really get a whole lot of drive with this thing. If you want SERIOUS crunch, go with something else. This thing will have you covered for slight overdrive to medium distortion, but don't expect anything else; it's not made for that. People have commented on my excellent tone; other guitarists and well as recording engineers.

You have to be trying in order to break this thing. Even then, it would be a challenge. SUPER hard metal chasis, USA made components, Alpha pots; everything is top of the line. And of course, it's handmade in the USA and signed and dated by the builder. I've never seen a pedal built better than this thing. I've gigged and gigged with this thing and never had any problems. But of course, I take care of it and don't jump off a 4 foot amp onto it or smash my guitar into it.

I've never had to contact Barber and probably never will unless it's to tell them how awesome the Direct Drive is.

I use a Les Paul with a DiMarzio Fred in the bridge, DiMarzio PAF in the neck and global coil splitting. The LP goes into a Dunlop standard wah then into the Barber, then into an original USA '93 Blues DeVille 2x12 (not to be confused with the modern Hot Rod DeVilles). I use the Barber instead of the drive channel on my amp. The Barber has more clarity and is more articulate; better dynamic response. It has as much or a little more drive. I wish it had more drive, that's my only complaint. I was under the impression that it would give a cranked up Marshally tone, which it does not really do. If someone stole it, God help them. They'd have really killer tone until I shot them. Anyway, this is the epitome of a 10 rating pedal. It's built well, and sounds even better. Real, real nice.

I picked this up for seventy bucks used from a friend of mine.3 knobs and an on/off switch.Never seen the manual for this thing,but it is one the earlier versions without the internal trim pots.The box is flat,black and handpainted,kinda like I like them.Got a push/pull tone control which fattens up the lower mids some,and engages a little more gain.So simple to operate,that even I can.

Is it noisy? No,not really.But is isnt an extreme gain machine.It is ana overdrive pedal that will step up into some pretty nice gain ranges,and sound like a fine copy of a tube amp getting hot and messin' it's britches.I like it.I use this thing with a marshall preamp,and a boogie preamp,thru a tc into an old Boogie Simulcast 395,and from that to a 4x12 marshall cab w/vintage 30's.Sometimes use a couple of Bogner cubes,depending on the venue.Strats,Teles,Prs,Les Pauls mainly.One of my strats have kinmans,one has texas specials,w/the humbucker in the bridge,the other guitars are loaded with Fralins.They all sound different,and this pedals lets those differences come thru.W/the Tex Specials strat,i pop up the tone knob,taking the tone to about 3 o clock,back the drive down to about seven o clock,Stevie Ray time,& some pretty convincing Jimi tones.Play w/the thing ,there are huge tones available.Some even remind of some Robben Ford dumble tones.It ain't no guv'nr thank the Lord,but with a small number of different settings and a couple of guitars,you can get an amazing array of tones from dark to bright,hot to mellow,and a lot of inbetweens.Is that a word ???If you like Steve Morse,you can even roll out some of his tones damn easy.Good fresh strings help also,but this is a bad little box.Not good for every tone in the world,but mighty fine never the less.Back off the gtr vol,it cleans up.Who woulda figured this kind of sound for so cheap.By the way,Steely Dan guitar sounds are super ez with this baby,I like it.Just a nice overdrive pedal,period.

I've always got other things in the gig bag,but yeah,i think it is reliable.Had it a couple of years,nary a hiccup.

never had a reason to deal with them.

Playing way too long,and play the entire gamut of music,with 3different bands,and a bunch of hired sideman things.Way too much gear for any sane person,it just kinda accumulates.I like the way this thing sounds period,and i've checked it against a lot of other products.It won't do everything,but it will cover a lot of ground,and i prefer it over a lot of other tube driven boxes.More controlled,more refined,more pro sound. Yes i would replace it ,especially at this price point.It does help me make music,take it in the studio,and then listen to playback with neutral people around you,see what they say.It is not the end of all to be all,but it is a very good pedal.You'll need something else to take you to death distortion,but this will get you to that before place easily.once again,i'll just say,I like it

Very easy to use, level,drive, tone w/ pull fat switch. Internal bass and presence trimmers.

Ok, I've been spoiled and I have a very good ear. Being an audiophile and doing numerous mods to both music and audio amps (mainly tube) my ear has really developed over the years. This pedal sounds solid state. I'm comparing to my Vox Big Ben overdrive pedal that I use through my Allen Accomplice amp. The DD sounds overly compressed and too "polished" at anything above 10 on the drive level. There's no "soul" to the sound and it has a plastic popping that's indictive to most TS style circuits. Its does have a decent feel to it though in comparison to other solid state pedals...tube like squash to the sound. One of the main reasons that solid state will never sound like tubes is something called dielectric noise. Tubes don't have this noise since the electron flow is in a vaccum. IC chips color the sound in a hard plastic way because it is encased in plastic and it does effect the resonance. EMG pickups are a prime example of this...the plastic resonates and then the opamps magnify this sound even more. I can tell EMG pickups from a mile away due to this resonance.

In all fairness, in its price range it is a decent sounding pedal but I just can't stand listening to the plastic coloration in the sound. Its also way too polished sounding, i need a bit more balls to my sound.

Spend the extra money and get a Big Ben...I had a Chandler tube driver that cost me $450 used and the Big Ben was very close to the sound. I sold the Chandler for a nice profit and kept the Big Ben.

Barber products are built well, I have a tone press compressor that I love.

I emailed them a while back with questions and never heard back from them.

I hate to crap on this pedal but its just my opinion. If you are used to using solid state overdrive / distortion pedals like stock Boss', Maxon, Tube Screamers, etc. this pedal will be your Holy Grail since it readily out performs those pedals. At its price point though, its a decent pedal. I've tried numerous pedals, stock and modified. I also have a Fuchs amp so I am a bit spoiled in great tube tone. I use pedals with my Allen amp and so far nothing has outperformed my Vox Big Ben.

The DD is very easy to use- particularly considering how versitile it is. Getting good sounds out of it is really about as simple as plugging in and turning on your amp. However, to experiement with all of the stock tone shaping capabilities you need to take off the back cover and play with the internal trim pots- WELL worth the effort, but requires the slightest bit of extra committment from the user.

I play a Tele (american standard) through a Rivera Quiana. The guitar and amp are really beautiful together. The amp overdrives beautifully, so in many ways, I had no need to the Direct Drive. But he DD works so well with this guitar/amp combo. It gives me a way bigger sound than you expect out of a Tele- very good bass response, it respects the twang of the tele, and most impressively, chords sound incredible. You hear every single note, rather than 2 notes and mud you get with most OD or Distortion boxes. The pedal does introduce some noise but being a tele player, I know how to live with that. I run my signal through about 8 other pedals and the DD interacts really nicely with all of them. It becomes a particularly beautiful beast when running the DD with my Homebrew Germacide multi-frequency booster.

I have 100% confidence in this pedal. No one questions Barber build quality.

From reading the Barber user forums, he seems very committed to his customers but I have no first hand experience to form an opinion.

I play orignal rock. Our songs run the gammut from lo-fi punk influences to the Police, Hendrix and the Who, to Wilco and Radiohead. When I need grit, the DD gives it to me. When I need clearly articulated arpegiations, I roll the volume back and it cleans up beautifully, when I need massive chords a la Pete Townshend, I drop the hammer on my strings and it gives me a nice, tight response. If I need to run it through 3 delays, 2 trems a phaser, and an open wah, it still sounds rich and full. This is a great pedal for my purposes. I'm amazed at how versatile it can make a stock Tele with single coils. The DD is a rare combination of user-friendly, tone-friendly, other-pedal-friendly, and pocket friendly pedal. To me, the Direct Drive is essential.

Simple. The pull-tone knob is a great addition, too.

I do not give tens for sound quality, ever. I don't like distortion/overdrive pedals, either. I never use them in the studio and I only use them live out of laziness because it's a lot easier to step on a couple boxes in a live situation in order to change your sound, especially if you play in a variety of bands, like I do. Stompbox distortion has its place for specific sounds, but for general rock and roll, I like my AC30 to be cranked. I've tried a couple of overdrives (out of those, one of the best was the crowther hotcake, but they're pretty expensive), but settled on the Direct Drive because the price was great and I had heard wonderful things about it. And, as it turns out, the DD stays right there with the Hotcake and honestly, this pedal has changed my opinion of stompboxes. I don't care if I sound like SRV or anything like that, which is part of the reason I didn't want a Tube Screamer. I sold my Rat because it just was not very refined. I have a Toadworks Death Rattle II which is great for specific sounds, but still not a great straight ahead rock n' roll pedal. The direct drive, however, is truly amazing. It does sound better than Dave Barber claims (as the reviewer said below). Rich harmonics, distortion from almost clean boost to thick sustaining leads (the knob never reaches a point where the distortion is so muddy you can't use it). The tone knob seems to do more than just alter the high-end in the pedal. It is very sensitive and allows you to get many different OD and distortion tones out of it. The fat harmonics switch (which, since I use this as my straight ahead rock pedal), is fantastic. It really opens my Telecaster up and sings with harmonics that actually make me feel like using a pedal isn't too much of a compromise to cranking my Vox. Cranking the overdrive and then fueling the pedal with the boost function from the Death Rattle really makes this thing sound think, but it never, even for a second, loses clarity (though I've only used it with single coils). Sell your tube screamer for the ridiculous prices that they go for on ebay and buy one or two of these things. I'm considering getting rid of my death rattle and buying a Barber LTD to go with my direct drive. I'm very impressed with this pedal. Wish I could afford the Burn Unit or Tone Pump. I bet they're amazing, too.

Everything seems great except I'm a little nervous about my tone knob. It turns just a little to easily (like if my cable brushes over it while I'm moving around on stage) and I'm worried that it's a little loose. Honestly though, this is a minor complaint. I have the death rattle II as a backup (though an unworthy backup) but I'm not really concerned. Tubes go out. Stompboxes shouldn't unless something really bad happens (like a beer spill).

And if that tone knob ever did mess up, I'm sure the guys at Barber would fix it ASAP. The pride they take in their work means that when one of their products messes up, they will fix it, not just because they have to because of the warranty, but because they really do want every single one of their pedals to be top notch quality. In addition, they keep their prices on this thing really low, especially considering how well-made and good-sounding it is.

I play all things rock. I've gone through some pedals and tried some others and I'm just amazed at the DD. It gets a wide variety of usable tones out of an extremely simple setup. The sound is so refined I actually feel like it's fused with my Vox. But, that's not to say it can't scream or wail. There's plenty of aggressiveness in this pedal. But it's kind of like a precision guided two-thousand pound bomb. It packs a huge punch, but it's accurate, smooth, and never misses it's target. Nothing that you don't want, everything that you do. Beautiful.

I can't believe I just wrote a glowing review. Seriously, get this pedal if you play any form of rock.

simple to use as there is not a bad sound any where the knobs are set

this sounds better than dave and cru claim.no noise,tube sound is there.you can use it with everything from j-station,gnx-2,boogie amp,princeton chorus,anything!

i have a tone pump,ltd.and this new style direct drive and have never had any problems with them,best made stuff i have ever seen or used.

when you call and ask questions MR Barber answers the phone what more could you ask for,

i play all types of music and could not see any need to leave this home as they are so usable.I have been playing for 42 years and have been thru all the equipment you guys and girls have and this is as close as i have gotten and easiest to the sound i hear in my head!these could easily be in the 200 to 300 dollar price range.i have spent a lot more and got a lot less.the drive range from lowest setting to 11 o clock range is nothing short of magical,both with tone knob up or down.drive levels from there up are el34s with perfect bottom.i can just hear all the tube snobs about now but i have to show people all the time that BARBER,GNX2.and 2 tech power engines is what they are hearing.thanks to all the folks at barber.

Pretty easy to use, controls are straight forward and very effective.
True Bypass. Excellent build quality (You could eat off the board - but don't).

I've only had the unit for about one week and am primarily writing this review to comment on the service that I recieved from Dave Barber which was excellent but more on that later. Since I'm here, my current signal chain is: Strat > Teese Picture Wah > Barber Tone Press > Keeley Modded TS808 reissue > Barber Direct Drive > Boss MIJ CE-2 Chorus > Dr. Z Maz Jr. 1x12 NR. This pedal fits in well and is very similar to the ts808 but different enough to keep things interesting. One thing that impresses me with this pedal is how useful the range of the controls are and the Mid boost on the tone knob is excellent. The DD is very articulate but still smooth. You can do a clean boost with it but there is also a ton of gain available if you need that. I think that this pedal is a great choice as a tube screamer type overdrive that will actually go into gain zones that a TS can't. It is also an outstanding value. I've tried stock Ibanez ts9, Ts9 w/ analogman mod, Fulltone fulldrive II Keeley ts 808 and the Direct Drive. I'd rate this pedal second out of the bunch behind my Keeley 808. The keeley doesn't sound better necessarily but the two do have a slightly different voice and I think that I've just gotten use to the 808 to the point where I would not want to go without it. The Keeley however costs 2.5 times as much and is not quite as versatile. Both are well made and both companies provide outstanding service.

Have not had it long enough to comment.

Excellent in every aspect. I had a problem with my pedal when I got it home from the store. When I would switch it on sometimes I'd have a very weak signal and other times it would work as expected. Contacted Barber and spoke to Dave. He speculated that it may be a problem with the switch. Dave explained that although it was very, very rare they have had a few switches that they have had to replace. I think he said that the frequency of a bad switch was like 1 in 1000. Long story short, I shipped the pedal to Dave and he recieved it the next day (I live in the same state). After recieving it Dave ran it through the paces and then called me and explained that he could not find a problem with it and that it was working fine. we talked for a bit and I explained that I had the pedal alone with several different cables and batteries and then tried other pedals with the same cables and could not attribute the intermittent problems I was having to anything else in the chain. It was just my luck to have some sort of gremlin that would only reveal itself to me. Kind of like when your car is making a funny noise until you bring it to the mechanic and then it shuts up. Any way, Dave went ahead and replaced the switch anyway, just to be safe, and then went through and touched up the solder points on the board for me. I recieved the pedal back the next day and everything is working great. The moral of this story? You have nothing to worry about should you need service from Barber Electronics. Dave gave me the impression that he understands that top notch service is as important as the quality of the product and the price. The Barber Direct Drive gets high marks in all three areas.

I play primarily Blues and classic (60's 70's some 80's) Rock. I'm 38 and started playing when I was about 8. I have been in and out of playing for most of my life but for the past five years have been playing pretty much everyday for 1 or more hours /day.

Right now I'm trying to put together a comprehensive pedal board and am not sure that I will keep this pedal only because it is so similar to my 808. For my needs and considering my bank account I may be better served if I replaced the Direct Drive with a Fuzz. That said, if I were gigging I would deffinately keep this pedal as a backup to my Keeley 808. If I were shopping for my first overdrive or was an overdrive junky who just liked to have alot of different overdrive options at their disposal, I would strongly suggest giving this pedal a go. I'd like to give a rating of 9.5 here but since I can't.

Very easy to get a great range of sounds. Like a Tube Screamer without the mud. The internal trim pot for bass response is okay, but I turned it all the way up. It never sounds muddy, but turning the pot counter-clockwise just seems to cut bass. Pulling the middle pot is a "fat" switch, and I leave it pulled out. There is a short but useful manual, but you don't need it - the pedal's controls are self-explanatory. Still, you have to mess with it and your particular amp to get a great sound. But, really, isn't the messing around with it half the fun?

Sounds equally good with humbuckers or single-coils. Without a doubt the best stompbox I've ever owned, and the best I've ever heard outside of a tube-powered unit costing four times as much. Sounds really great, smooth with the right amount of graininess with my Les Paul, and clean-yet-dirty with my Telecaster. None of that compressed, cheesy, midrange-bump stuff is in this pedal. I run this into my late-60's 20-watt Gibson Falcon, which has a Celestion Greenback, new tubes and a recent cap job. I probably should have done some research and bought the LTD (same thing but lower gain) from Barber instead of this - this has WAY more gain than I'll ever use - but I love it anyway.

Seems to be built like a tank. I wouldn't even think of a backup, but I haven't had it long, either.

They're super nice, knowledgeable, and FAST - I orderd mine on Tuesday and received it on Friday!

I've messed around with dozens of distortion boxes and owned a Tube Screamer which I modded with the correct chip and a great sounding Boss OD-3, among others. I've played through an Expandora, Vox Valvetone, Marshall pedals, Ross pedals, Big Muff, and so on. The only thing I've ever played through that equaled this was a $400 Budda ZenMan. Take the extra $300 and buy a low wattage, weird old amp (I got my Gibson Falcon for $150), crank your guitar through this pedal and be amazed. This is perfect for the old rock and blues that I usually do, and can easily handle much heavier stuff too. Just buy one.

Very easy to get a great sound, love the simplicity. Mine is the new version with the OTT graphics ;-) and the bass trim pot. Haven't tried any internal adjustments yet as I'm thoroughly happy with the sounds I'm getting straight out of the box.

Using with Fender Stratocaster Elite (1983) with Kinman Woodstock plus pups, Barber Tone Press, Direct Drive to Roland Bolt 60 valve amp (2 6L6's). The sound is excellent, the Bolt has a great clean channel and with the DD I can get that beautiful full bluesy breakup sound I've been after. With the tone pulled I can get that smooth Jimi lead sound!! at last! Kick in the Tone Press with a touch of compression and mostly clean boost and lookout! Sustain forever!!

Very well made, solid. Barber makes quality pedals, nuf said.

Haven't had to use them, web site is well maintained and up to date.

This is a good match for the styles of music I play, blues, rock, fusion, progressive stuff. I live in Australia and would like to also mention how good the service was from Indoor Storm, Eddie is one of the best people I've ever dealt with for customer service!!. It's always difficult making a purchase like this when you live in another country, but Eddie made this purchase painless. So if you are like me and don't know who can purchase this pedal or other stuff from, I would thoroughly recommend Indoor Storm!! Also, congratulations to Harmony Central for making these user reviews available, would never have known about Barber Electronics if I hadn't read all the reviews posted here. It sure helps to get an overall feel for how good some of this gear really is. Yep, I like my Barber DD alot!! Even at OZZie dollar prices this pedal is terrific value. I don't like to give out 10's too freely but this is as good as it gets.

Anyone steals my gear WATCHOUT!!!! I'm gonna get ya when ya least expect it!!

The Direct Drive is a simple unit that any monkey could use?partly due to the fact that it sounds good on any setting. Simple controls, volume, tone (pull for fat harmonics) and drive. BUT?having opened mine on day one, I also found that mine contains a bass trimpot inside on the PCB. I spoke with David Barber about this, and he told me that mine is actually a collectable transition period unit incorporating the new innards with the old casing?sweet as a nut!!! Very simple to dial in a really great overdrive sound and between the tone pot and the bass trimpot I can tailor my EQ to perfection.

The direct drive is in a different league to the mass produced drive boxes (some of which are indeed great pedals in their own right). This is right up there with the best of the boutique drives. The quality is audible immediately with a good guitar and valve amp. It is a much more natural sounding overdrive, a very broad sound that acts like a drive channel on your amp rather than a pedal. Also, the true bypass is exceptional.
I am using the ?69 and ?72 thinline telecasters with a Vox AC30/tb, and the direct drive works better than any other overdrive I have tried with them, and I?ve tried them all!!!

I replaced my old TS-9 with the DD and now I use the tubescreamer for my lead boost. This works really really well due to the slight bump in the mids to make lead passages stand proud in the mix. The TS-9 doesn?t come close to the DD for general overdrive use though?as I said, different league!!! But the mix of the two for leads is a match made in heaven, a really beautiful texture that sits exactly where you want it in a live performance and studio mix.

I usually use my DD in fat harmonics mode with drive at about 12 or 1 o?clock?tone and volume are variable depending on the acoustics of the room.

I like to use the middle toggle position of my teles for my cleans and clean breakup sound (for which I use the Boss BD-2 with volume high and drive down to crank my tubes into jangley cleanish breakup)?BUT?I like to use the bridge position for full rhythm overdrive sounds, so the bass trimpot inside allows me to dial in enough bottom end so there is no dropout of bottom end EQ when I go back into the bridge position and hit the DD. It works like a dream, full punchy drive and still never muddy when used in the middle and neck positions?just even bigger and creamy as hell!!! Jesus I love this pedal!!! Best addition to my setup since the ac30.

Made to the highest standards. Built like a tank. No problems at all here!!! Inside is a work of art!!! I just love that famous JRC heart in there!!!

I think the service would be really good if you needed it, due to the way that David Barber himself will talk to you so readily. I hope I don?t have to find out if they can fix problems though!!!

A gem to have in your arsenal. Even if you have the big boutique names on your board it is well worth having a look at this. It is better than the fulltone stuff in my opinion, so if you?re a fulldrive user just have a gander at this. OF COURSE?I only have experience of the unit with the bass trimpot inside, so pick up one of the newer ones if you like what you hear in my review.
The pedal looks great, sounds amazing, has true bypass, tough as a house and all at that price ?what else is there??? Blows the competition out of the water. Try it yourself!!!

It's very easy to get a good sound out of it and very hard to get a bad sound. Every sound is completely useable. Plus, it comes with a manual of suggested settings.

I play an american strat with a jbjr in the bridge and a '72 custom tele reisue with a humbucker in the neck. They both go into a board consisting a vox way, EVH Phase 90, Boss CE-2 Chorus, TU-2 Tuner, and a DD-20 delay in the loop of my Marshall DSL 401 with mullaird tubes and a vintage 30 speaker.

I love the sound of my amp and the sound of my guitars, and it was important to me to preserve as much of that sound as possible. Although, there may be slight coloration, you'll never be wondering what your guitar your playing. The Direct Drive, a strat sounds like a strat and a humbucker like a humbucker, unlike some overdrives which sound like the your playing through the overdrive. Playing through the direct drive sounds, and feels like plugging straight in to a cranked tube amp. Warm, grit, sustain, touch responsive, very nice, all of that's here.

I set mine up this way; Volume 3:00, Tone maxed with the push pull in the up position, Drive 7:30-8:00. It's almost like a clean boost with just a little more oomph. When playing my clean channel on my amp with this on, it gives me a little more on the edge type blues tone, very, very musical sounding, and ballsy. When playing rythm on my drive channel of the amp, which is set at about 1:00 (on the amp)I kick on the Direct drive, and I get a great singing violin like sustainy lead tone that's also great for heavier chunky power chords as well. Like all effects that I use, I use them in moderation. Just adding to my tone without overtaking it. And this is a tremendous addition. It takes my tone and makes it nicer and more "real" sounding. Cranking up the gain gets you into more marshally heavy overdrive territory. I can dial it in to sound close to my amp, so if the amp ever poops out, I crank up the Direct drive and keep going. If your using a single channel amp, this would make a great second channel. It's very amp like in sound and touch responsiveness. A definite keeper.

I'm giving this a 10. Why? Because I've owned and used a fulltone fulldrive II, boss SD-1 (old, new, and modded), TS-9, TS-808, OD-9, OD-808, Tech 21 Double Drive, Analogman TS-9, Rats, Jekyll & Hyde, MXR Distortion, DOD 250 (grey model and yellow model), and a zoom pd-01, along with several other distortion boxes. All of these are good and usefull, and definetely get up there ratings. But the best sound wise to me is the barber. My second and third favorite is the Zoom PD-01 and Maxon OD-9, great for pushing an amp and really thickening up a strat, and the least expensive of the others I mentioned, but it lacks the musical mojo that the barber produces and I hate the ts-9 style switch on the maxon. So, I have no problems at all giving this a 10. All of the pedals I mentioned excell as a either a full on heavy overdrive, a simple boost, or a light overdrive. The barber does all three and does them well.

This has got to be reliable. Open one of these up and compare it any thing you own. Anything!! Incredibly well built.

Sent them an e-mail asking them a ton of questions concerning many of their products and they steered me towards a happy purchase. Very good support. Right up there with Robert Keeley, Analogman, and Indyguitarist. Three builders I've worked with that are all great to deal with.

I've been playing for twenty years. I play Rock, Blues, and pop punk. I'm in a cover band and need to cover a lot of territory. I also play at times in blues type settings. Great match for all that. I like it's simplicity in use and I like that it doesn't sound like I'm using a pedal. Also, not much added noise when using with other pedals or driven amps. And the price? C'mon what else are you going to get that close to perfection? Build quality, true bypass switching, excellent customer service, and tone for days, all under $100? Best bang for the buck, hands down.

Typical tubesreamer set up, volume, tone , gain and has added feature of pull tone pot for richer harmonics. Barbers website has tweaks so one can hone in the sound of the pedal. Got this pedal in a trade deal. Downloaded the manual, has some useful info on settings to get you started.

I use pedals that sound like a tube amp at full gain, first sign of fizz, flab, or kazoo like tones and they are off my board. I was using a Keeley modded TS-9 and a real tube 901 to get higher gain tones from a tube amp SET CLEAN. I tried the set the amp at near breakup and use the volume knob on the guitar and pedals to hit the preamp tubes harder, which gives a powerful tone BUT where did my shimmery clean tone go? For most venues I play I have to keep the volume down but still have tone and that is clean tone and overdriven tones and boosted tones for leads. The Barber Direct drive sounds like (or I should say a pinch better) than my amp cranked and I can lay the barber on a clean amp and I don't need any amp overdrive for it to work.

Dave Barber built it, the guy posts on a forum that I frequent and I'm sure he would make my pedal right if something was wrong. And as I said before he has tweaks on his website (I did the "open air tweak" and added a little more high end.

what I already said

I play rock thru a Dr Z MAZ 18 Jr w/2-10's and a Blues Jr.
I like to set my amp clean, my pedals shift the amp into distortion.
I run my guitar into a Teese RMC-2 -Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe - Fulltone 69 - Barber Direct Drive - Klon Centaur (set for clean boost) - Fulltone Supa Trem (which I set the mix knob down all the way and acts as a boost when not using trem) and the Dr Z or the Blues Jr. I have a boss DD-3 that I keep handy but normally dont use. Overall Rating For the Barber Direct Drive: I rate this pedal high because it works and cost's less than a lot of pedals that I bought that did'nt work. I can get my little Dr Z combo to scream like a plexi, or like a modded marshall, it works with the 69 fuzz to produce Hendrix sounds and set at lower gain it does some pretty good blues tones, and no fizzy decay, kazoo like tones, or farty bottom end, it is amplike.

Its been over a year now of every day use. I bought 3 of these pedals. And gave two away as gifts.

Been playing on the Pro level for 30 plus years, and I use a great amp, killer guitars, and only 1 pedal. I looked for ever to find the right OD pedal.....this is it. I like the LTD model as well for blues, and the SS model is better for Metal tones, but for my tastes this direct drive is the shit...I tend to like the Plexi style amps, and overdrive them into milkshake leads with articulation..this pedal does it great, and I can run it wide open on the gain, and it still is very musical. If there is a better OD pedal out there I have not found it, and I still try alot of em...Do yourself a big favour and buy one...out of all my stuff, this & a Demeter head stay by my side..

no trouble at all...many many gigs, and just works great..the battery last forever too...

Very easy to talk to. I bought 3 pedals of differnt types just to test them out..3 of the direct drives my friends bought do sound alittle different from each other, one had more balls, the other had more openess, and one was a tad bit under gained, but all sounded awesome just a little different..

In the future I want to buy his amp cause if his pedal is this killer, I bet the head is awesome. I really think this will be the last pedal I ever buy for OD...for $99 its just the best deal on earth..