Barber Electronics Small Fry Burn Unit

The Small Fry is a gorgeous addition to any guitarist tonal package. Right out of the box it had a great sound. It seem quite hard to find a sound that is bad. The thing that makes this pedal stand out from other overdrive pedals is the versatility it has. You have a volume - tone - dynamics(comp) - burn as your controls and with these you can get many different sounds. Even more you have 4 internal trim pots presence - note shape - bass - mids to further shape you sound.

I give it an 8 because in order to fully shape you tone you need to access the trim pots thus having to unscrew the back, but all in all this thing is a beauty.

I love it! i haven't had an outrageous amount of overdrive pedals before this like some others, but from the ones i have had i think this suit me the best. I'm playing through a Vox AC 30/6TB with a Fender Stratocaster (Japanese) with a humbucker in the bridge and an Agile 3500 and with both of these guitar the small fry sounds great!

The overdrive goes from a very nice light crunch to a nice creamy distortion. I was pleasantly surprised with how much gain (burn) the small fry has. Especially with humbuckers you can get a really nice saturated distortion with the burn maxed. I would say it is usable for metal by ay means, but you can get a sweet classic rock sound.

What I really love is how interactive the burn control is with the dynamics control. The compression the dynamics gives you truly makes this pedal amazing. It really allows you to shape your tone in so many different ways!

No issues yet

Never had to contact them yet.

It's great! I wont say its so much better then "insert pedal" or sounds so much better then "insert pedal", because everyone has a different taste and a different needs. That said the small fry is perfect for me. I love the sound, i love the natural sounding overdrive and i love the fact this it isn't trying to be like any other overdrive pedal. There are so many that try to imitate other pedals but the small fry, as well with many other Barber pedals, is its own breed and it's own make up. If someone stole it i would replace is instantly. To me it is simply awesome! Try one out. you won't be disappointed!

I am surprised that I haven't reviewed this pedal until now. My wife bought this for me for Christmas '08, and I SENT IT BACK! The reason was because I own an old single-channel Burn Unit, and it sounded similiar. I agonized over what to exchange it for, but found myself missing some of the awesome tone that I had found. Be advised, although the Small Fry can hit those Burn Unit tones, it can also go places that the Burn Unit cannot go. It clearly has more gain on tap, and with the toggle switch, it capable of some very complex, rich tones that go places the old BU simply cannot go.
Back to the review- it is very easy to get a good tone out of it. Like many Barber pedals, the problem will be figuring out which awesome setting to leave the pedal- this is no kidding.

Sound qaulity is amazing. I run a few quality pedals into a clean tube amp, and am very pleased with my tone. The tone I 're-ordered' this pedal for is a example called 'Blackface' that has Burn half-way up, and Dynamics at zero. It is extremely satisfying. Oddly enough, I almost always have the pedal set on the 'Dumble' tone (burn maxed, dynamics min). This has become my main lead tone. It has a singing, rich quality that gets me into a tone that I have sought for years. This same setting also yields a very rich 'heavy' tone suitable for rock rythym. The pedal is very quiet, adding almost no hiss to the signal, even when maxed out.

I can't imagine my rig without it. I rely heavily on this pedal. It is my fourth Barber pedal, and I can depend on all of them. Even my old Burn Unit, which has been stepped on probably thousands of times still works perfectly.

Dave has responded personally to emails. I have to give his Company a 'ten' for support.

I have a couple demo's on YouTube at betz7777 if you want to hear this pedal using the 'Dumble' setting with some nice reverb and delay.
Yes, there are probably a thousand overdrives on the market, but most are simply junk. Barber makes top-notch equipment AT A REASONABLE PRICE. His stuff clearly competes with the 'boutique' stuff that costs four times as much.
If you can't tell, I love Barber pedals, and the Small Fry is among my favorite.

Take your time to work with the internal pots. There is quite a range of tone available. The internal pots seem to set the range of the external tone knob.

This thing sounds GREAT. Very smooth and creamy. The dynamic control is a compressor. It goes from very open to very fat. If you want that tube screamer sound go somewhere else. Since every other pedal seems to want to sound like a tube screamer you will have plenty to select from. That overpowering mid is not here. This has internal pots to set the range of the tone control giving loads of options. You can set the tone range to give the best tone with your guitars and amps. A pedal with a single tone control is extremely limited. This thing is very versatile. I can't say enough good things about this pedal. Gave it a 9 because unlike others who rate a 10 and go on to tell you why it is not perfect I have not tried every pedal so I'm sure there may be something that is a little better BUT I don't think I can find anything better.

Very high quality build. Perfect soldering top notch everything

Have never called

SRV, Hendrix. Just getting the buzz words out of the way. Have bought and sold tons of equipment BBE MXR Maxon Boss Digitech ToneBone. This pedal has the best sound I have ever played. Since sound is personal preference you may not feel the same. I hate the mid hump from most pedals. If you dont like it either you can dial it out with internal pots. Most pedals sound harsh to me this one doesnt. It is creamy and smoooooth

Great sounds out of the box. The one page direction sheet/manual is sufficient. Wouldn't recommend using the 4 "hidden" tweek controls unless you do it at 100% gig volume or you might be unhappily surprised. NO NEED TO USE THEM, box sounds quite nice with the control on the outside of the box.

Using with Mesa Boogie Mark I or Rivera Clubster 45. Use a PRS Santana III and a Music Man Silhouette Special. It does get a little "hissy" after 11-12 on the gain, as most pedals do. It sounds like "more" of your amp rather than a total different sound. I use it to get the sounds of Santana and Robben Ford. For the Robben Ford, the Zendrive is somewhat better, but it doesn't do Santana that well, and the Small Fry does.

I took it apart and it is built to seemingly military grade specs, like a TANK! Absolutely I use w/o a backup. This baby is made to jam, and jam and jam.

Never had to call or contact them. I'm sure they stand behind this puppy, why not? It's 100% heavy duty and works better than stated!

I play Santana in one band and blues (Ford, SRV, Thackery, Clapton, Allman) in another band. This is THE pedal to have for all of those. Been playing 40+ yrs. I would replace it, no doubt. Nothing to hate and alot to like with this pedal, especially for the 1/2 the price of the Zendrive (which I also own). It's opens up the amp your using rather than burying the tone. Why spend $2000 on a Mesa Boogie then buy a $99 distortion pedal that doesn't enhance anything and covers up everything?

This pedal is pretty amazing. Like the Zendrive you can hear all notes when you play a chord.... Nothing is hidden. Everything is transparent. So if you're a sloppy player, maybe this pedal (or the Zendrive) is NOT for you. It showcases mistakes and sloppy playing.

Despite this pedal's great versatility, its not difficult to use at all. It does take a while to explore the various possibilities, but so far its excellent to use. Very lightweight, takes 9 or 18v adapters, very cute red sparkle.

I've been playing this like every day for about a month now, and its hands down my favorite OD pedal ever. I've had a lot - a Keeley Rat2 3-way mod, Maxon D&SII, Zoom HL-01, Guyatone FZ2, Tech 21 GT2, Boss MZ-2, DOD Corrosion, Boss BD-2, Boss OD-3. I have less need for massive gain these days though, and I wanted a pedal that could 'do-it-all' and all that. A lot of the pedals I've mentioned are great, esp. the GT2, OD-3 and the Rat, but they all kind of lacked definition, except for the GT2, which wasn't tweakable enough for my taste. Anyhow, I think I've found what I was looking for with this pedal. Its described as a 'medium gain' pedal - and it does have lots of sweet spots where you get a fuzzy growl with total note definition still intact. The "$10,000 tube amp" setting does a great heavy gain sound in the direction of more beautiful, as opposed to more harsh or heavy, distortion. Very smooth and responsive. This pedal can sound almost totally clean though, as well. That's pretty much all I was looking for. It sounds great on recordings, I'm excited to try it live.

Will depend on and gig without a backup. This thing is very well made, I have no worries.

So far very responsive to the one question I've asked them (which was about whether it can be run at 18v)

I say this pedal's a winner, it is full of good sounds, and has serious range. It can go from a sparkly jangle to a thick smooth distortion. It can be a boost, it can do fuzz. The dynamics control is great and allows you to easily control sustain without altering the volume too much, since you still have the tone, gain and volume knobs to tweak. The 3-way toggle switch really gives a nice set of options as well. The 'burn unit' setting is more raw, with more high-end and more gain; the 'vintage' setting is more mellow, and the 'power-amp tube' setting is more smooth and more distorted. Within that, you can raise and lower the volume, gain, compression and tone all to your satisfaction. For me its great, because I wanted to turn a 3-pedal section on my board into a one pedal section, and this is better than I had hoped to find. It has all the right sounds for me, I play indie-ish dance rock & melancholy pop and just plain strange noises, as well as more ambient and trancey stuff. This will definitely be a helpful tool for most all of that.

The tiniest bit harder to use than the average distortion/OD pedal, because you have a 3-way toggle switch which becomes particularly interactive with the Dynamics knob on the R (power amp tube mode) setting. It is, on the whole, very easy to use.

This is my new baby. My new all-in-one OD/distortion pedal. Oh, I've had so many, but for now I'm going to stick with this Small fry guy thing. A massive array of tones are available through the pedal. You have a 3-way toggle, the 4 knobs for Volume, Tone, Dynamics (compression) and Burn (OD/distortion - which I keep saying because this pedal is quite able to do both, to a degree), adapter which easily accepts yr average regular power supply, and which can also operate at 18v. Barber plays this feature up on the Direct Drive and the LTD, but not this pedal, for some reason. But I wrote to them, and Dave Barber says so, so I plan to do so, once I can.

I used the Small Fry amidst a large chain of pedals - Digitech EX-7 ->TC Electronic Classic Sustain & EQ ->Small Fry -> Maxon CS-01 -> Maxon FL-01 -> MXR 6-band EQ -> Boss DD-20 Delay -> Boss RC-2 -> BBE Sonic Stomp -> MXR Boost/Line Driver -> Epiphone Valve Jr, using a Washburn WI66 Pro w/ Seymour Duncan PUs. Blah blah. Hee hee. It does make some noise, but what the **** ever. The range of tones is, again, huge. It does clean up a bit and get more transparent on lower gain settings with the volume and tone up, the dynamics however you want it, and the burn low, you can get a sweet, slight fuzz. The "$10,000 Tube Amp" setting is pretty priceless (burn all the way up, dynamics all the way down) - it produces a beautiful, thick & creamy distortion that doesn't feed back unless something else is making it do so. All kinds of settings in between as well. I haven't owned this very long, but I just finished a 2 hour or so session of playing with it, and I feel all happy!

The last OD I had been using was a Boss OD-3. I got a mod kit for it, but it stopped working immediately when I opened it up (some kind of ground issue which isn't immediately visible, for some reason, apparently) so that has become a project pedal for me. When it was working, I loved that pedal, and in some ways, it is very similar to this one. Similar emphasis in the EQ, except that the OD-3 doesn't have the Small Fry's ability to adjust the amount of compression (the OD-3 has a fair amount). The OD-3 is more transparent though, on the whole, although I was pleased that the Small Fry did get much more transparent with the burn down lower.

I don't care about emulating my 'favorite artists', I love 'em, but **** 'em. I am looking to get the best equipment to make my own songs sound like I want them to. In that sense, this pedal is perfect for me, because it seems able to produce every kind of tone I'm looking for on one setting or another. It's a really well-crafted, all-purpose OD/Distortion.

Uber.

So far, great. Minimal, but its always a good sign when a company answers random emails rapidly.

This is described as a "medium gain" pedal, which is pretty apt. Its more distorted settings sound very nice though, and it can be a boost with a hint of growl. I put this thing after my TC Classic Sustainer pedal, and they do this great thing together - turning on the TC as a 'boost' adds massive fuzz to the Small Fry! Interesting, since it works in a slightly varied way, depending on the Dynamics control. But it definitely went from mild OD to fuzzzzz just by driving the Small Fry with the TC. I suspect this thing is full of all kinds of surprises, and I can't wait to figure them all out. I haven't even mentioned or played with the internal trim pots yet - there are 4 of them. I've just loved it as-is so far, but some day when I'm extra bored I will play with them.

The Small Fry is a quality piece of equipment, and despite being of the highest quality - is a good value even at its brand new price of $150. I got a near-new one for slightly less, and I'm very, very happy.

The outside Knobs are easy to use. The inside knobs require taking off the back and leaving it off for an hour or so to dial it in. If your going to use it in a band situation, you better do the back removed adjustments at band volume.

The pedal has it's own sound and is good. This my second time around with this pedal, I struggled with it before, sold it, and gave it a second try a year or so later. The reason I'm writing this is because I didn't give it a really sparkling review that it deserves. The difference is a better rig. I added an ext cab(2x12)loaded with webers to my Mesa Lonestar 2x12 6L6's and the SF sound fantastic through it. I think this pedal sounded just so-so before and on my smaller combo amp Traynor YC-40. I has great tone, very amp like and smooth. It's a "Desert island pedal". Going from clean boost to high gain with comp adjustment and internal trim knobs. This may be the most tweakable pedal in it's price range available. The secret weapon of this pedal is the internal trim called "note shape". It can really fatten things up and give some thump to the bass frequency. My bass player was amazed at the tone of this pedal and the ability to roll back the vol. to get a really smooth blues groove. It's definitely a stage volume pedal. It sounds great at bedroom levels, but gets sweeter at stage level.

If ever there was a true 10 this is it! Barber builds the best quality pedals period!

Great customer support. I sent an LTD to him(David Barber)and called him to fix something on it that worked ok. He checked it out a couple times and concluded it was fine. No charge! Just shipping.

This is a re-review of this pedal I had sold. Glad I bought it again! It just needed more speakers and better ones at that. Would definitely replace if stolen. I play rock, blues, progressive and a little country. Playin for 37 years. It does help me to make music and create as well. This pedal as I stated before is a "Desert island pedal" capable of the whole enchilata! It did replace my LTD/mod sadly enough. But I aint sellin that pedal either.

4 knobs; volumne, tone, dynamics and burn. Toggle switch. Easy to get good tone. User's manual? Don't need one. Can run on Boss-like standard AC adapter-plug.

The sound from this pedal is awesome. Good tonal range from mild to medium gain and everything inbetween. Just the right amount for my music. I considered Barber's DD pedal, but was too over the top OD to me. You can really work the tone with the dynamic and burn knobs. There is some added noise-hiss when you push the burn knob past the 10 o'clock position, but no issue once you start playing. No issue to me since this is a OD pedal. I A-B'ed this pedal against my Keeley modded Boss BD-2 pedal. This pedal is more versatile sounding over the Keeley pedal. Not that the Keeley modded pedal is bad, I just prefer this one over the Keeley now. However, the Keeley is noticeably quieter.

This pedal is very well made. While the BD-2 is solid, this one is hand made with high quality components unlike the mass produced Boss pedals. However, in all fairness I haven't had a problem with any Boss pedal or any of my other pedals for that matter. I expect it hold up just fine.

I haven't used their customer supoort and never expect to, but I have only heard very good things about Barber's customer support if I need to contact them. I wouldn't even attempt to contact Boss' support. If the Boss pedal went south it would end up in the trash or as a door stop or as a case for a home made pedal.

I am extremely pleased with this pedal. I play a variety of rock, classic rock, and blues music. This pedal suits this music well. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a well priced, well built, and great sounding OD pedal. While I still like the Keeley, this one is a keeper on my board. One thing I do perfer with this pedal is when you apply AC adapter power to it it doesn't engaged by default whereas when I apply power to the modded BD-2 pedal it would be engaged by default. I found this to be an annoyance with the Keeley modded BD-2 pedal. I wish I had discovered this pedal before I got the Keeley because now I don't see any reason to keep the Keeley modded BD-2 now. Oh well, live, learn, and listen... Play on.

Well, there are four knobs to adjust - Volume, Tone, Dynamics and Burn - and a three-way-toggle switch. Actually it is very easy to get a good sound out of it, but if you want to use all the flexibilities or wanna get a special sound, you have to work on it a bit. Inside are three trim-potis for Note shape, Bass, Midrange and presence. I didn't have to deal with them.

The sound-quality is amazing. I could get every sound out of it that I wanted. It is the most flexible overdrive/distortion pedal I owned. You can slightly boost your amp, give chords a bit more bite or you can have wallbangig chords and creamy high gain leads. It never sounds muddy - all tones are with definition. Thanks to the flexibility you can adjust it to various amps and guitars/pickups.
Unlike the other user below I don't think, it sounds less warm than a Keeley modded Bluesdriver - I own this pedal as well, but came up to use the Small Fry instead of the BD2, cause it is so flexible and can deliver more gain. I cant hear any noise whils using it.
I'm using this pedal with a Marshall 6101 or a Fender Super Amp together with Reverb, Delay, Chorus or Vibe.

I haven't had any problem yet - I think, it is built like a tank - just like the other Barber-Pedals I have or have had!

I had some email-contact with Dave Barber and recieved answers in very short time!

I play Blues and Rock/Hard Rock. I have other Overdrives as well (Barber Direct Drive, Keeley BD2, Analogman Maxon OD9 and some more)which are definately very good pedals as well. But as I wrote before -I came up using the Small Fry only right now, cause it gives me all the sounds I want in an excellent quality.

I give it a 9 as opposed to the others who posted less. Here's why: You have knobs that are pretty easy to understand without the manual. And i found it hard to make it sound bad by tweaking those. 4 knobs and a 3-way toggle switch. how hard is that?

I suppose most of the people here are referring to the internal trim pots when they are rating the ease of use. C'mon! You don't need to tweak them. I'm willing to bet if it didn't exist a lot of people will rate this higher. But it shouldn't be the case. You need to think about these trim pots as a USER-FRIENDLY-DIY-MOD! No need to have it modded by other folks just to tailor it to your setup. I guess you have to shift you perception of these internal pots.

I've tired several stompboxes, Ibanez Ts7,Ts5,Ts808, Boss Od2,Sd1,Sd2,Ds1's, several other drive pedals. nothing ever came close to my favorite amps distortion. But i didn't expect them to be anyway. I've learned to accept this lack of harmonic content as normal when using stompboxes(including tube driven stomps mind you).
But after getting this my perception changed. While it still won't sound as alive as my amp's lead channel, it's the best approximation i could get and as rich harmonically!

Also a lot of pedals sound good at low volume but when cranked to gig volumes almost all of them start to sound artificial and robotic. the small fry does the exact opposite. It'll already sound great when you try it out at home but wait till you gig with it! I just couldn't believe how natural the distortion this box creates! and the sustain!!
It's a mid gain pedal so don't expect a Metal sound out of it. but for blues, pop, hard rock, funk,etc, this has the MOJO!

If i need more gain i'll save up and get a direct drive. I was actually choosing which one to get first but chose the small fry because i feel it covers more ground at it takes single coils better.

can't really say as i've only had it for a month or so.

Emailed David Barber several times and i got a reply everytime.

I play mostly Rock music. Mostly Classic Rock, Blues, Funk, Hard Rock. Rarely do i do metal if at all.

I got the small fry over the direct drive because it responds to single coils better. SRV is just a tap of a foot away. As well as Eric Johnson, Richie Kotzen,Frank Gambale, Greg Howe,etc.
If i'm gonna go for the EVH, AC/DC, sound i'll be needing the Direct Drive.

I've been playing for 10 years or so. I've gone through several stompboxes (drive pedals). some of them i listed above. this pedal alone replaced three pedals in my pedalboard( the CS3, SD1, and SD2).

I love how this let's your guitar tone come through. I could even hear the difference when i change pickup positions a lot more compared to the other pedals i've tried. It acts like an amp that it responds to the volume control of your guitar. I even use the tone control now with this box!! When you back off the tone you get a nice Eric johnson type of one. Do this with an SD1 or an SD2 and you get a tub of mud for tone.

i love the dynamics knob. It responds to your pick attack. It forces you to clean up your technique. Consequently, since little nuances can already be heard through this, it's easier to feel your playing.
So for blues, this will be more than able to fill your needs.

Out of the box, the Small Fry sounds quite good, pretty easy to tweak with the controls on the face plate. The real good stuff happens when you open it up and actually dial in the tone YOU want with the internal trim pots. It takes some time to do this, but well worth it. The Dynamics control on the top is probably the more unique quality of the SF. It basically adjusts the amount of compression you get in the overdrive tone. Very cool. Note shape is also great (internal trim pot).

I have to give it a 10. Very likely Dave can come with something better at a later date, but this pedal will still be on my board. It's very dynamic, handles low, medium, and fairly high gain sounds extremely well. My reference for "gain" is more old school, from low (Allman Bros), med (Robben Ford), to fair amount of gain (Alan Holdsworth). The players are a reference for tone comparison, obviously my/your tone mileage will vary. A nu-metal type high gain I haven't tried to achieve with the Small Fry. Ain't my thing, probably never will be.

For speakers, I'm using either a Celestion V30, G12H30, or an Eminence Texas Heat. Amps are a Barber Echelon, Valvetech Custom 30W el34 head, and a Silvertone 1482 (rebuilt and modded). Pickups and WCR and Lollar. Guitars are LP, 335, and strat types.

Built to take road abuse, to be sure. If the pedal gets hammered unexpectedly(knob broken off or some such mishap), it is easily repaired due to construction method. Way to go! I own several Barber pedals, and nary a problem with any of them.

Great customer support. One of the best companies in the "boutique" pedal business to deal with. I've done some mods to a couple of Barber pedals, and there's always an answer available.

I play R&B, funk, classic rock, latin rock, jazz, and blues. My main references for tone (mentioned above) are Dicky Betts, Robben Ford, Frankie Gambale, Alan Holdsworth, and a few others in those camps.

It's been said the Small Fry is the single channel version of the Burn Unit EQ. It definitely starts at the BUEQ vibe, and takes off from there. In terms of tone, it will go some places the BUEQ won't. It seems the SF has a bit more gain on tap, and the additional trimpots allow more fine tuning than the BUEQ. The BUEQ is also an awesome pedal (I have one), they just fit into different niches in my rigs.

Yea, I'd get another Small Fry if this one were lost or stolen. Extremely versatile pedal, fits my style and playing perfectly. There will always be another overdrive on the market in the hopes that "This is the One, this will achieve tonal nirvana". I might even try one. However, the Small Fry will be on my pedal board for a long time.

This pedal can get complicated in trying to get the gammit of tones. Ofcourse you can just plug in and play.

I really tried to love this pedal. I spent hours obtaining all the different tonal possibilities. It was fairly versatile but in an a/b test with my Keeley Blues driver-2 Phat mod the small fry just sounded flat. I was very disappointed. I play live alot and this pedal wasn't organic enough to replace any of my Keeley pedals. It might work good for recording. I don't know how to pin it down but it lacked a certain pizzazz. Now if you are a Barber fan this pedal aint bad. It can get alot of different OD sounds, its clean, and quiet.

Did not keep it long enough

Don't know

I'll give it an 8. I usally match sound quality with this category, but this is a well built unit with qaulity components. I wouldn't replace it if lost, I would move on looking for that elusive sound

This is another pedal that, at first blush, seems fairly easy to use. It does sport more than the Volume, Tone, and Drive knobs the myriad TS clones offer, so it???s not a snap for the brain dead, but if you know the difference between a G6 and a Dsus, you can run this pedal.

There are four knobs and one mini-switch on the outside of the box: Volume, Tone, Dynamics, Burn.
Volume is just that - the output level of the effect. If you mess with the other knobs, you???ll likely need to adjust this frequently. The Volume also has substantial range and could be used to push the front end of a tube amp.
Tone is also obvious. Although it is more subtle than many pedal effect tone knobs, its range of adjustment is sufficient for most needs.
Dynamics is very cool and I???ll get into it more.
Lastly, Burn which is Barber???s name for Drive. Note: the Burn never gets completely clean, so if you for some weird reason want to use this strictly as a clean boost, it ain???t gonna happen.

The Dynamics knob is the control that sets this pedal apart. It really does regulate the dynamic response of the pedal, as well as effecting the brightness/clarity/airiness of the tone. It seems to function similarly to the ???Attitude??? knob on a THD UniValve or BiValve - which regulates voltages in the tube that drives the output valve(s). Of course, if you???re unfamiliar with THD products, that tells you nothing.

Let's think of tube distortion as having two characteristics:
1) how much the signal waveform is clipped - that???s the Burn knob, and
2) how much the frequency waveforms are compressed, both in amplitude (relative loudness) and frequency range (more compression = fewer highs, more mids - again relative to one another) - that???s the Dynamics knob. Turned up - clockwise - it gives lots of dynamic response. Pick a little harder and the note is substantially louder. Pick softer and the note volume drops. Turn the Dynamics knob down and volume is effected less by picking force, which means you???ll hear other differences more. There is also a corresponding change in tonal coloration. I think of it as an old tweed Bassman cranked - dynamics as well as frequency response are very compressed - vs. blackface Twin about half open - very crisp, tight and cutting. Points between full counterclockwise and full clockwise have lots of variance and are entirely useable.

Then there???s the mini-switch. To the left - smooth and focused, to the right - jagged and open, in the middle - uh, in the middle. Barber describes them as original Burn Unit sound, Pre-amp distortion and Power amp distortion. One could argue whether that???s entirely accurate but you do get three subtly different, and again, useable sounds.

But then - inside the box are, from left to right ???note shape???, bass, mid-range, and presence trim pots. The bass, mid-range and presence work pretty much as would similarly labeled knobs on an amp. No surprises but entirely functional. Adjust these, for example, to get the pedal to fit with your clean amp setting so you???re not fiddling with knobs every time you stomp on it.

The ???note shape??? however, is unusual. To my ears it seems to effect the attack and upper mid-range bloom. Cranked one way your pick attack is more ragged and raucous and immediate, cranked the other way it???s smoother and tight. I???d like to have this parameter externally adjustable, but I???ve other pedals that can do ragged so I set it smooth and tight.

This is a fine sounding box. Additionally, while most distortion pedals have either 1) one or two sounds and no matter how much you turn the knobs, those sounds stay pretty much the same, or 2) a number of different sounds but only one or two that you can actually use, the Barber Small Fry gives you at least four different, distinctive sounds and enough adjustability to bring out various characteristics as you wish. Most importantly, though, they all sound great. Where ever you set the controls, you???ll find interesting tones with complexity and depth. Compared to my other distortion boxes - of which I have far too many - the Barber Small Fry sounds more ???alive??? and interesting. Essentially every distortion box I???ve ever used has had an upper-midrange ???artifact???, a fizziness up around 6-7 kHz that I find very annoying. While the Small Fry does have a little of this, one can dial it out without neutering the rest of your tone. Wonderful!

No box is perfect. This one does make some noise. The more Burn, the more noise. No more that most. Far less than many. More than my Route 66, way less than my Big Muff, maybe just a little less than my Jacques Mercer Box. When you???re playing, the noise floor drops way down, so it???s only between songs that it???s an issue at all. I will likely put a noise gate after it in time but I can live with it for a while.

Barber certainly has the reputation for exceptional reliability. The build quality is superb! Metal jacks, no gloppy solder joints, sturdily mounted pc board; but any electronic component can decide to crap out at any time. I don???t have the cash to carry a back-up of all my equipment, but I do have contingency plans should a piece of equipment fail.

I???ve never dealt with Barber. They have an excellent reputation. I get my pedals from pedalGeek.com and they have outstanding customer support. Damn fine selection, too.

I am very pleased with this pedal. It comes very close to the ???magic sound??? in my mind. It provides a number of very usable, interesting distortions. It has remarkably good note definition even at fairly high gain levels. When cranked, you can still hear tonal differences as you change settings on your guitar. I'd recommend it for blues, roots and classic rook, modern country, even fairly heavy rock. Probably not for nu-metal, it sounds too good for that.

The Small Fry seems to play well with the Visual Sound Rt 66 and H2O, the Line 6 Verbzilla and Aphex Guitar Exciter on my pedal board and cooperates beautifully with my THD UniValve in every setting I've tried. It does not do so well with the Dan Electro Trip L Wah. If they don???t learn to get along, I???ll replace the wah, not the Small Fry. All in all, it???s a keper.

Pretty easy to use. Internal trimmers inside. I messed with them for awhile but just wound up using them at unity.
Tone, Dynamics,(which is like a sweeping midrange far as I can tell) and "burn" which is amount of gain.

Also a toggle switch which is supposed to give you different output voicings I believe. It's almost overkill IMO with how much tweakability this pedal has. But others may appreciate this more than I.

I use this in front of a Carr Imperial, which is a very smooth,focused, Fenderish voiced one channel clean. It accepts pedals wonderfully, the Small Fry being no exception. I consider this a distortion pedal for the amount of gain it gives you, and that it IS NOT another TS clone. It will do some grinding Marshally midrangey OD-type tones, but I don't consider that its forte. If your more into that, I would suggest a Barber Direct Drive.

In the manual, it gives you a Dumble-type setting,(10k collectors amp is what it's worded as). This is my favorite, and I don't move it from this setting. This gives a wonderfully smooth,liquidy lead tone that I haven't been able to quite get from any other distortion pedal. I rund a OCD in front with the gain way low, and it works well with that as well if I want to add some shimmer. I also use a Barber Tone Press in front of both, and that REALLY kicks up the sustain and the searing lead factor. This setting works great for rhythm as well.

looks solid. It looks cool too. Funky Sparkly red. The logo kinda reminds me of wording you'd see on dishwashing detergent or something, but I'm weird like that.

I emailed Dave Barber with a question I had about the Tone Press once. He got back to me in no time. The guy's a pedal-building saint.

I've been playing since I was a wee lad, I've had a ton of pedals, and I have to say this one's a keeper. It might be a bit overdone with the tweak factor, but thats just me.

THE BOTTOM LINE:
If you prefer a loud growling Marshally sound, I'd go with the Direct Drive. If you want a tight,smooth, singing lead tone and a more focused attack for rhythms,I'd get this, and then I'd get its cousin the Tone Press. They go together like beer and pizza. Barber makes some of the very best o.d. pedals out there, for a ridiculous price considering what some bouteekers charge. I've tried most of his pedals, and I think this is his best work. I give this a 9. I give myself a 9 and 1/2 for having the wisdom to buy it.

Easy pedal to mess with, but there are lots of tweeking that a novice might get a little discouraged. I like stuff that offers lots of variety...like my Fuchs ODS. Lots of knobs, trimmers, etc. Once you get the hang of it, its a snap.

The two most intricate controls are the Dynamics knob and the mini toggle switch. the dynamics knob is almost like a negative feedback type of control. Clockwise adds attack and more clarity with a little more aggressive sound. Counterclockwise smooths out the sound and darkens it a bit...like Dumble type of amps. The mini toggle varies the type of overdrive clipping: Three settings from stock Burn unit (nice smooth harmonically rich sound) to a more aggressive preamp type of sound, to a more dynamic power tube overdrive sound that can be adjusted via the Dynamics control.

Lots of fun for all you sound tweekers out there.

Bravo Mr. Barber !!! This is one of the best, if not the best overdrive / distortion pedal under $200...and I've tried A LOT. I recently sold my Vox Big Ben real tube overdrive to pay for this and i'm not at all dissapointed. I've owned other Barber pedals (LTD, DDSS, DD, Gainster) and was not happy with the plastic "popping" sound under hard picking attack. Lots of tube screamer like pedals have this annoying sound. The Small Fry is the most realistic sounding pedal i've owned and the front panel knobs are very useful in changing the character of the pedal. From Tweed like grind to Dumble/Fuchs type overdrive. I own a Fuchs so I can attest to the comparison. Not super noisey, but I only use up to 50% gain at the most. Note: its does color your sound a bit but its in a good way. Not super transparent, but my guitars sound damn good through this pedal.

All barber stuff is built well, no worries...so far.

As mentioned, I've gone through so many pedals its not even funny. This is the most tube like solid state device I've ever owned. Great tube like feel and character. I wish it was a little more transparent sounding but we can't have everything. I was using a Xotic BB preamp up to this point and I'm not sure whether or not I'll keep it now. The BB sounds more synthetic to my ears with a bit of that popping sound that isn't present with the Small Fry. Its still a cool pedal if you want that tube screamer type of sound (fuzzy type sound) with a lot less mids and more bass. The Xotic sounds like the best tube screamer type of sound whereas the Small Fry is like the best tube amp style of sound.

I have mixed feelings about internal tone pots. When you have time to mess with them you typically are not in a situation where you can really tell how the sound is going to blend with a real world band setting. Having said that it is nice to have the option. I'm sure a lot of people never touch them. This pedal is a nice size and has a good layout. I think it's a little unlikely that the mini toggle switch will get bumped but it's so small that it's hard to tell where it's set if you are standing on stage looking down at it. I have no real complaints with the ease of use of this pedal.

This thing just plain sounds right to me. Extremely transparent tonally. When I switch this on at a gig it just sounds like I turned the amp up. Nothing else changes. I love Tube Screamers but when you turn them on it sounds like you are switching amps usually. I think this is a good "more" pedal.

I'm sure just from looking at it and from owning other pedals from Barber that this pedal is far above normal in this catagory.

Nice and not too big.

I have to say this is my favorite overdrive pedal now. I'm using it for Blues in Texas. This pedal, an upgraded reissue Deluxe Reverb with a Tonkerlite in it and a Reverend Slingshot with P90's is a lot of fun. It suggests that 50 Marshall that you heard in 1972 with the Mullard EL34's that were burnt in to the point where the amp wasn't that loud but had a great crunch to it. A good bit of that is the Tonkerlite though I think. Thank you.

You can get usable sounds right out of the box with minimal knob turning. However this is a fairly complex pedal in terms of the variety of overdrive sounds it can produce so it's worth the time taken to read the simple one page manual.
Controls are: volume, tone, dynamics, and burn. The first two are obvious, last two dynamics-(adds/takes away compression), burn- (adjusts drive intensity) and are very sensitive and interact with each other to vary loose/tight feel to notes. I was amazed at the violin type sustain (think EJ) you can get with the dynamics=11:00 and burn=1:00 but still retain the character of the note and sound of the guitar.
Even with the dynamics knob set off (max compression)notes are not squashed or subdued although some volume loss is evident.
With this control dimed notes pop more like a non-master volume amp cranked. In fact the manual has suggested settings for Black Face, Tweed, Marshall, and Dumble amp sounds. Through my setup these settings sound pretty close.
There's also a 3 way mini toggle switch that selects 1)Burn Unit-left (I've never played through one but there's an excellent video demo of one at www.musictoyz.com) 2) pre amp overdrive-center, 3) power amp type overdrive. While not drastic in changing the tone, this switch
adds to the character of your sound and helps make the Small Fry one of the most versatile pedals available. In addition there are 4 trim pots inside for note shape, bass, mids, presence, for further tweaking. I haven't tried adjusting these as I'm pretty happy with how the pedal sounds as is.

I use an ES 335 Dot Neck throjugh either a Rivera Chubster 40 or Boogie Mark IIB. Other pedals are: Boss Compressor, Voodoo Labs Micro Vibe, Fulltone FD2, TC Electronics Chorus, Boss DD5. I also have a Barber DD and DDSS. The Small Fry has more nuances than the Fulldrive, less mid range, more clarity than the DD and more variety in low-mid overdrive sounds than the DD and DDSS. It's hard to say which application is best for the Small Fry because it does low gain so well, can be crunchy, warm or silky smooth high gain as well. Sounds great in any configuration.
I haven't used it on a gig yet so that will be the true test.
My favorite guitar tones come from people like Larry Carlton, Robben Ford, Eric Johnson, Hendrix, Mayall & Cream era Clapton, Scott Henderson, Mahavishnu era John McLaughlin, Al DiMeola, and on.
The Small Fry can cover these better than any other peadal I've tried.
I can attest to this because I live close to MusicToyz retail store and get to play all the excellent boutique products he carries.

If it is anything like the other Barber pedals I own there shouldn't be any reliability issues as it's solid and built like a tank inside and out.

Never had to deal with Mr Barber but he will personally answer your questions from posts I've see on other forums.

I play blues, jazz, fusion, and classic rock. The Small Fry works great for all these. Would definately replace if lost or stolen.
For price vs. performance this pedal is a bargain. I especially like it because it doesn't over power the character of my guitar and matches well with my amps. It's great for developing your own signature sound!