Barber Electronics Dual Burn Unit Custom Open Air Mod

This is a custom built Dual Burn Unit, designed and built by Dave Barber. It's essentially two Burn Units in one box, with the ability to switch between them (you cannot have both active at the same time). One side has a slightly reduced amount of gain while the other side has a slightly higher amount of gain (I'll explain why in the next section). Both sides of the unit also contain Dave's Open Air mod (an increased amount of high frequencies; think a little bit less than a bright switch on a Fender amp).
The whole box operates off of one power jack (I run it into one jack in my Voodoo Labs Pedal Power Supply with no problem).
I gave it a 7 in this category because I think the Burn Units, including this one, are a bit difficult to figure out at first. There's a bass pot inside the unit which some people don't know much about and there are different mods you can have performed by Dave (some are easily reversible, some are not) that can customize the tone to your liking. All in all, it's a little tough to find the right combination of things, but once you do, it's extremely impressive.
It comes with a manual by the way, which is a great help in figuring out the difference between the Dynamics control and the more typical compression control as found on some pedals. Also great when dialing in suggested settings.

I'm using a Fender Tele (w/Phil Petillo pickups) and a Fender Lone Star strat (with Harmonic Design Vintage Plus pups in the middle and neck and a Duncan Alnico Pro humbucker in the bridge) into a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp. I use a Route 66 overdrive in front of the Dual Burn Unit as a clean/gain boost for solos. The pedal is not terribly noisy at all, certainly no more than your typical pedals.
This is where the unit really shines, once you figure out how you should set it (see above category). The rhythm setting is designed to produce a little bit less gain than a normal Burn Unit, so, with the burn knob (gain) all the way down, it sounds big and warm, but only a slightly bit dirty, (it cleans up more than a normal BU) very nice for that slightly overdriven Tweed or Blackface sound.
The second side has a bit more gain than an average Burn Unit, so it provides a bit more sustain and body for solos, if you choose to use it that way.
As far as the eq settings, this is where I think you really need to know about all the possibilities the thing offers before you make any judgements. There are a lot of people who claim it doesn't produce enough low end response. Basically, it robs all that great low end you're getting out of your Fender amp when you hit the pedal on. Then, if you crank the bass knob inside the unit to equal the amount of bass you have on your amp's clean setting, the pedal becomes too dark because you drown out all your highs.
This is why, in my opinion, the Open Air mod is so valuable. With the mod, which you can easily reverse yourself if you have Dave add it to your pedal but you decide you don't like it, you basically get additional high end response. This was a life-saver for me, because it allowed me to crank the bass inside the pedal to match all that great low-end coming out of my Hot Rod Deluxe, but the pedal still maintains enough high-end response because of the Open Air mod. So you can have your bass and not choke out all your highs.
Without this mod, I really don't know how useable the unit would be for me. With the mod, the unit's a keeper. I have a nice clean with the Fender amp, a slighly driven channel with the first channel of the Dual Burn Unit, and then a much higher overdriven channel with the second side of the unit, or I can use the second side for a lead guitar sound if I choose because it has additional gain.
All in all, the thing sounds fantastic. I can get a huge number of Fender overdrive sounds, from Tweed to Blackface, from nice and big and warm to all out overdrive/distortion. All without losing any low or high end frequencies.

Built very well. I would never use any pedal at a gig without some kind of backup, but if I had to, I would do so with few worries.

Dave Barber, simply put, is the man. I talked to him numerous times on the phone about this project (originally conceived as a triple burn unit, but he couldn't find a housing big and sturdy enough to contain it!), and he was always extremely accomodating and giving of his time. It can be hard to get him on the phone sometimes, but he does return phone messages. Just be patient!
If something ever did go wrong with the unit, I'm sure he would be available to fix it in a heartbeat.

I play rock/blues of various types, mostly Bruce/Petty/SRV type stuff, but sometimes Van Halen/Pearl Jam type stuff too when I get the urge. The Dual Burn Unit is a must have for my sound, because it provides what I need most: several different types of overdriven/distorted Fender amp tones at the hit of a switch.
I've been playing for about 15 years (I'm feeling old) and I own several other types of pedals including Boss delays and choruses and a Voodoo Labs trem. This works great with all of them. A tubescreamer in front of the Burn Unit works great for solo boosts as well as a Route 66 overdrive.
I would definitely replace it if lost or stolen.
My favorite feature: tone, tone tone.
The only drawbacks: it's big! A little complicated, but once you get the hang of it, it will help you make music. Which is what a great piece of gear is supposed to do.