Barber Electronics Tone Press

Pretty basic knobs and a bypass switch.

I'm playing a 96 American Strat through a 55wt 2x12 Mesa Boogie Nomad, with a few other pedals in front of the pre amp and after in the effects loop.

In my opinion this pedal is not a "true" compression pedal but more of a sustain pedal. It is very subtle and I barely notice a slightly compressed tone even with the sustain knob maxed out. The amount of sustain isn't crazy sustain for days... However I'm playing an American Strat which sucks for sustain anyway. I imagine a guitar that already has good sustain would have amazing sustain.

The biggest claim and benefit this pedal offers is light compression and more sustain without the "compression pedal pop" when you pick a string. The kind of sound you get from most compression pedals. The function of mixing in your dry and wet tone is really nice...

I gave it a nine cause I can barely notice a change in the amount of sustain... It's noticeable but not like it knocks you out. Other than that it doesn't effect your tone unless the volume knob is maxed out then I did notice a little more buzz and hum.

I just bought mine new. so I'll have to update later.

Not yet

I sold my Maxon CP101 Compressor Sustainer so that I could get his one. My only complaint with the Maxon was how it effected my pick attack. I made a slight pop sound with every pick, this is common across most all pedals. I was going to get the Keeley compressor but I've read it has the same "pop" effect and the Tone Press was cheaper. So I'm on the fence about how I feel about this pedal. I wasn't overwhelmed with the amount of sustain it added top my tone but it definitely doesn't pop like other compressors.... and it's pretty transparent in the signal path, no noticeable change in tone.

If you're looking for a compression pedal that will give you that distinct compressed sound. You probably don't want this pedal. If you're looking for a pedal that will add sustain and a slight compression without the "compression pop" when you pick a string then this pedal is for you.

Crazy easy to use.
Comes with a manual with sample settings that are helpful as well.
Only reason it is not a 10 is because you might spend a little time getting use to the fact that adding sustain requires bumping the vulume a bit to keep the sound level in the same place. But it is very intuitive.

Tremendous. I use this pedal with a strat and mostly on clean and legato or clean and crisp tracks. The first sample setting in the manual called "Magic Dust for Single Coils" is where this pedal stays every time it is on. It brinds out the best in my strat's Lindy Fralin's.

I ran this against my buddy's Keeley 4 knob compressor. I liked the Tone press for all the lighter compression and the Keeley for really compressed country stuff. Since that is not what I play, the Barber was the better fit for me. Plus it is $100 cheaper than the Keeley, and if I wanted it to do country spank it can do that really well - just not as well as the Keeley.

Great do far after 2 years of use.

Never had any interaction with the good folks at Barber Electronics. But I have heard they are quite friendly and helpful.

I think this is essential for adding that extra mojo to single coils, when you want clean and crisp sounds for alternative/indie music or whether you want your notes to have more sustain when you play some melodic cleans. I would buy this again if it was lost or stolen.

Once you get it set up, it's easy to use. But I definitely had to play with the color trim pot for awhile to get it sounding right. It would be easier if this pot had a dial on the outside.

My setup:

Am Strat w/ Lindy Fralin "real 54's">Tone Press->Analog mod TS-9>Big Muff Pi>Fender Blues Deluxe>Ibanez AD-9 in FX loop.

I wanted this for my clean signal. I like a big blooming strat sound from my bridge pickup. That buddy-guy bell-ringing type tone. The Tone Press does this, but had to crank the color trim pot all the way over.

I think this compressor is meant for people looking for a very transparent Compressor. I like my compressor effect a little exageratted, but was able to get that sound out of it eventually.

It sounds really good.

I also found that it works with my distorted tone as well, whereas my old Boss compressor would not.

I also tried it out as a "clean boost" as advertised, and it works for this application. All alone, it was able to kick my Blues Deluxe's drive channel into some pretty gritty territory.

It seems dependable. Time will tell.

I've never dealt with Mr. Barber, but his website has a forum where he seems to address questions frequently. I'm sure if I called I'd get the same kind of response.

I'm giving this a 9 for the following reasons:

1.) Great sounding compression effect, with a variety of tonal options
2.) True Bypass
3.) Reasonably priced (around $150)
4.) Doubles as a clean boost; a GOOD clean boost
5.) The BLEND option makes it easy to use
6.) Runs quiet

Very easy to get a good sound (read below).

I usually don't like compression pedals because of the tone sucking and plastic pick attack sound, both of which I found in the Boss and Maxon comp pedals. Sometimes, I'll hear a guitar sample where there is a ton of compression and it sounds really bad to me. However, I needed compression because I play through a high wattage solid state (Fender Jazz King) amp and wanted to smooth out my clean work for pop and covers, etc. and give the amp a slightly more tubey feel. The amp sounds great w/o compression for traditional jazz, but when playing funk and rock, it can get a bit spikey like most SS amps at louder volumes. I use a Les Paul and the usual OD and distortion pedals. I'm very pleased with this pedal. It warms up the sound and controls the dynamics in a subtle way. The attack is preserved and tone is smoothed out, not cancelled. There is a color pot on the inside that lets you roll it back for more vintage tone. I tried this but it robbed a little of the upper mids and trebles, so I put it back to the default - all the way to the right for a more open, snappy sound. I leave the controls at 12:00 with the volume at 1:00p. It also really improved the control over my distortion - much more even string volume and better touch response and sustain. There ia a bit of noise if you crank the knobs too high, but I think this is inherent in compressors since they are preamps with gain. Same with the volume pump - slightly noticeably, but very even to maintain volume. In summary - the best compressor I've heard though I've only owned the two I mentioned previously. Highly recommended if you've been turned off to compression like I was.

Well, as always, crap in, crap out, you know. Although, its kind of the point for compression to make crap sound slightly better. Or good sound great, etc. The pedal is very easy and intuitive, just play around with it. Trickiest part is the blend control, which is really not that tricky.

Hasn't been noisy for me so far, and I just run it off a 1-Spot with a bunch of other pedals. Some people use compression post their OD section, which can definitely increase the noise floor, but I don't do that. I have 2 Barber pedals; this and the Small Fry. And I love both of their sound making capabilities.

The pedal gives good adjustable sustain, volume control, and control over the blending of clean signal with compressed signal. Its a genius pedal, works better than any compressor I've had yet. I've previously used a Marshall ED-1, Maxon CP-101, and a TC Classic Sustain & EQ. This one bests them all, no contest. The Maxon was good too, I just can't go without the blend capacity now that I have it. The Tone Press is the best combo of ease of use & sound quality I've used.

This will last if I treat it well. No problems so far, at all.

So far great.

What more to say? This isn't a weird noise-making pedal, its a sound sculpting, tone-shaping, foundation pedal. I use it to set my overall sound and then tweak other things around it - from the amps to my PUs to other pedals. Its the most dynamic element of my setup in terms of the pure tone of the guitar. When you crank it, sustain way up, blend half way or heavier on the compression, it will hold forever. Really just keep going and going. I've generally had to keep it on medium-ish settings for practicing. Haven't played a gig with it yet, but very excited to in the near future.

No need to describe here again. But you should use the the brown trim pod to colour / or not colour the the sound of the pedal.I prefer the
totally clockwise ( factory) setting.

This is my first review. To my opinion there are two main questions to be answered before you buy any equipment.1. how loud you are going to
play? 2. How skilfull is your playing? A certain Amp might be brilliant on stage but might be beaten by cheap digital rubish at home- you know what I mean?
But there are a lot of stages where your tube amp is still to loud, especially when you love soloing with a clean sound which is always
tending to be to thin as long as you do not play VERY LOUD.
At that point I tried some compression pedals years ago but was??t satisfied. I ended with an Overdrive pedal. But as I cultivated my playing I found the overdrive somehow limiting.
That way I came to the Barber Tone Press which is exactly what I was
looking for: It keeps your attack unchanged but gives you a bigger bell and of course a longer sustain. And its still your guitar that
is sounding not any pedal. I play a Strat with DiMarzio Area 58/61
and a Marshall 410H with a Framus 212 Cabinet(Celestion Vintage 30)
I only use the chrunch/green JTM 45/1959 Plexi mode.

It appears very reliable outside / inside. I will tell in 5 years...

No opinion

I would buy it again if it were stolen- the very next day. I wish I would have had it 20 years ago-it would have kept me from some aberrations.

Pretty easy to use and get a good sound. The manual is helpful in learning the controls and some sample settings. Everything from a nice fat clean boost to super squashed. There is a trim pot inside, so that makes it a little bit hard, but it isn't something that you probably will need to tweak constantly. Learning what the controls are, as they are different from other guitar compressors, will help make this pedal easy to use. Volume, Blend, Sustain. The BLEND knob is how you mix the dry unprocessed signal with the compressed signal, which is called parallel compression. Very nice feature, and is what makes this pedal sound musical. Mine is stock, unmodded.

I use it first thing in my signal chain, or after my volume pedal, or after the wah. It sounds great. My Fulltone Fulldrive II Mosfet loves this thing. So does my Pigtronix EP1, but I have to use the tuner out to go to the trigger input for the Pigtronix, because it changes the envelope slightly.

Seems noisy if I'm not careful with what kind of cables and where I place the audio cables in relation to any power cables. Just like any analog pedal is.

My main setup is Barber Tone Press > Dunlop Crybaby > Fulldrive II Mosfet > Pigtronix EP1 > Yamaha UD Stomp > AMP (Fender Hot Rod Deville or Pignose G40V or Marshall DSL 401).

You can definitely get a Gilmourish sound out of this thing, but I don't use it for that. Could get a great Telecaster chicken pickin thing if you wanted too also, but not what I'm going for.

I can get great sustain, even with clean. But with my Fulldrive II Mosfet, I can actually get endless sustain. Literally.

I love this pedal.

Looks solid. Don't know what could really go wrong, except for normal switch failure. True Bypass switches tend to fail at some point, though I've been lucky enough to not have that problem myself.

I would definitely use it on a gig without a backup. If I had two, I wouldn't use one as a backup. I'd use one for a nice big fat juicy clean boost, and the other for great guitar compression.

Never dealt with customer support. Can't rate it.

I play reggae, funk, rock, and a experimental mixes of latin groove and other world music. This pedal is great for all styles.

I've been playing for 20 years. I have lots of gear, but see above for my signal chain I typically use with this pedal.

If it was stolen, I DEFINITELY go buy TWO more.

I love the sound, the blend feature (favorite feature), and the compact size.

I don't like internal trim pots, or the power input jack on the side and near the front. Should be as much out of the way (in the back) and down low as possible, to keep EMI/EFI noise away from audio cables.

Compared to MXR Dynacomp, Diamond Compressor, Pale Green Compressor, Keeley Two Knob and Four Knob, and a Boss. Blew them all away, in my opinion. The blend knob seals the deal.

I wish it had two buttons, and could be both a Clean Boost and a Compressor separately, and at the same time. Sure it would cost a lot more, but might be well worth it. It's such an affordable pedal to begin with.

It helps make beautiful music, and doesn't get in the way. Except for noise, which isn't really the pedals fault, it's caused by lousy cables and carelessness of keeping audio cables away from power cables.

see below

see below

Although a good compressor is a nice tool to have, it is a sound finisher - my tone is heavily reliant on this working or not - so, yes, I would gig without a backup.

Here's the rub - I had sent an email to a rep at Barber regarding the ordering of a Tone Press and failed to get a response - I suppose after one month there is no hope of a response. I realize they are busy but sheesh!

This was money well-spent. I have used - to varying degrees of success - a number of pedal-based, 1/2 rack, and full rack-sized compressors. This is simply the first unit that I have been able to use that doesn't add an unreasonable degree of noise, or over-simply or over-complexify the search for a pleasing compression effect. Ones like the MXR DynaComp does what it does but allows for very little tweaking to nail the characteristics you want, yet rack effects require a lot of tweaking and is all too easy to hijack your sound due to inexperience. The Tone Press fits the guitar signal and the typical guitarist's needs for a "just enough options to sound great without screwing up the tone". True, I do not use this pedal all the time for every song my cover band does but to me that is more down to what/when I need this effect to do rather than any lack of quality on its part.

Why can't more pedals be as simple to use as this and sound so great? Plus, one does not need an extra adaptor for this - it runs off a Boss-type adaptor very well.
I can only hope that their support is usually better than what I experienced.

Fairly simple.

With the volume past 1:00 there is significant noise.

Love Barber, but I wish they would put a battery compartment in their pedals. I hate how it rattles around.

Always helpful.

Tips to Dave for finally inventing parallel compression (one of those things that everyone wonders why didn't anyone else think of that already?). besides the noise, this is a great compressor. A little confused as to whether the blend knob adds clean signal or removes it. It sounds like clockwise it adds but at the same time you hear more "squash" and compression.

Pretty straight forward. Three knobs, volume, blend, and sustain.

This is where I'm having issues. This pedal is extremely noisy compared to my Keeley compressor. I use a Voodoo Labs power supply and have no noise issues with other pedals. I've used this in front of three different amps; an Allen Old Flame 2x10 combo, my Two-Rock Custom Reverb Signature 2, and my Brown Note D'Lite 44 ODS, and it's equally noisy with either of them. A friend of mine bought one of these recently and sent it back because of noise issues. Having said that, I did an A/B test with another friend's Tone Press and my Keeley about 9 months ago, and I don't remember hearing any noise. I've had the pedal for about 5-6 weeks and keep trying it but keep getting disappointed. I waited too long to send mine back so I'm stuck with it. I've gone back to using the Keeley.

Haven't used it long enough to have an opinion. Seems like it's built well though.

Haven't had to call them.

I play blues, funk, rock and some jazz. Been playing seriously for 11 years. Gig 3-4 times a month. I play Warmoth guitars, use Fulltone and Two-Rock guitar cables, Voodoo Labs power supply, and try to not keep anything cheap, mass produced in my signal chain. Given the irritating noise mentioned earlier, I really don't like the Tone Press. I wouldn't buy another one if lost. Most compressors/sustain pedals add a little bit of noise, but this one is extreme. Maybe I got a lemon one since other people don't seem to complain about it. I have a few other pedals in my chain (Hermida Zen drive, Budda bud-wah, T-Rex Replica delay, and a Fulltone Fat Boost), and neither adds noise that even comes close to this one. I've tried it as the only pedal in the chain and it didn't make a difference.

This is the "Pedal Killer"! It will force you to throw away, sell, or otherwise remove any other compressor from your rig! It's not just a compressor, it's a booster, it gives you awesome sustain, it makes your notes both single note runs AND chords sound bigger, fuller, rounder, thicker....I'm not an electrician, and have no serious knowledge about what goes on inside that little box on the floor but it's for lack of a better word....magical!

The sound is unmatched in the world of compressors,...Ross......Ross WHO!!?? This thing is a godsend for those of us who want a "sound", not just a sound to identify us! I use this through a Peavey XXL head running through a TruTone 2x12 cab loaded with Eminence speakers, (Swamp Thing & Texas Heat) and it makes my cab sound 10 times bigger than it really is, it also tames the higher end of my amp's tendency to get brittle, I can get those bluesy riffs that seem to hang on forever!

Construction wise this thing is a TANK!! And I'm not just saying it because of how it looks feels, (which would be STURDY as H*LL!!) But I'm talking from 1st hand experience! About 2 weeks ago I was traveling along the highway that runs close to where I live, and unknowingly to me or my bass player the pedal was had fallen out of the back of the pickup we were driving, but it didn't just go overboard, it was tangled up in some other pedal's power supply cord and so it was dragged for about 2 & a half miles, when I got to the gig I was devasted, I thought I was going to have to replace it, but surprisingly it worked as if NOTHING had happened to it! I was so thankful!

I've never had to deal with Cust. Serv. even after my little "roadside incident" so I'm giving them a 10 for merit alone!

I play a mix of "Hendrix-Meets Metallica-Meets B.B.King" with an emphasis on the psychedelic blues of the past and a healthy does of power chords thrown in for good measure. I focus more on the fuzzy side of town as that's where for me it seems to all come together. I've been playing now for about 20 years, (and I still suck!...LoL!) If this pedal were lost or stolen I would DEFINITELY get another one, maybe even 2, so that I had backup. The only thing I would recommend for this pedal? (and this is more of a personal preference and has no bearing on the pedal's sound!) would be an option for different colors...other than that it really is the best compressor that money can buy, speaking of which it's nowhere NEAR as expensive as some other "boutique" pedals out there, yet it's construction and sound outpace them by leaps & bounds!!!

much easier to use than others that have knobs for attack, tone, etc. Dial in the volume, the amount of sustain, and then blend in how much natural vs. compressed sound you want out of it. I haven't used the internal pot control as I found a great tone on the outside already thus I'll give it a 9.

I hate to be one of these guys giving stuff high ratings all of the time, but this thing sounds great. The overall tone of your guitar changes none-very little with blend b/w zero and half way up. On their recommended "magic dust" setting (Blend and Sustain at 11:00), all you get is better sustain, the harshness of the E/B/G strings that sometimes twang on you if you don't strum a chord perfectly smooths out, and just an overall fuller (and did I say smoother) sound. I really like it on my Mesa Stiletto Ace. You get a tad of noise if you crank the knobs but I really don't crank 'em so it's fine. If you do crank the blend, you can get that compression "popping" noise when you hit the strings which is sometimes cool. It's nice to know it's there if you need it, or can completely dial it out if you don't want it. What it doesn't do is give you that big compression effect (like the Boss CS3 does). Maybe it would if I messed with the pot inside but I haven't. I'm leaving it on all the time whether distorted or clean.

yes

been playing in a classic rock band for nearly 30 years. Warming up and smoothing out a Mesa Stiletto was what started me on this quest, and I just can't stand a clean channel when you're strumming chords and one or two strings sticks out a lot more than another - thus compression. I bought this pedal based on reviews as no store near me carried one, and sure enough it sounds like a lot of the reviews. Very transparent, you barely know when it's on but you know when it's off. I'm just glad it's easy to dial in, you can set it and leave it and get back to playing.

3 knobs in sight, one hidden behind the backpanel. I allways like these surprising hidden buttons when you come home and bother reading the manual. The shopowner didn't even mention it so he probably didn't know. The knobs simply do what day say.

I can only confirm what was written 52 times before me. It's superb. I have to admit that I bought a behringer compressor to check if I needed one at all. The worst thing to do! I compared it in the shop with a boss cs3 and the effect on the overall sound was "cleaner" on the tone press. And that is what I expect. No tonal changes, only bigger sound.

It feels rock-solid. Metalcases have their weight as a benefit. They wont move if you stomp them a bit rough. I'm not gonna trie and throw it against the wall though but it might survive

hope i never need that

Finally, I've found my compressor. If my playing doesn't sound good from now I can't blame it to my sound anymore. It allready became friends with my danelectro collection (chorus, overdrive, wasabi delay), big muff, vox and fender stratty.

10/10 all the way!

Compressors are subtle, and so generally difficult effects to tweak. The more controls it has, the more difficult it is to know if you're getting the best sound from the unit. Even with just three knob with straightforward functions, this one is no exception.

The manual's descriptions of the VOLUME and BLEND controls are very helpful. Less so for the SUSTAIN knob, but after experimenting it seems that like the others, the effect passes the point of subtle after 2 o'clock. Even rolled all the way down, there is a bit of squashing and pumping though.

It would be nice if the BLEND control were on the right where your boot could get at it, rather than the center. Nicer still if you didn't have to loosen four screws and go underneath to adjust the COLOR pot. These two controls have most effect on the sound for me, since I only need only just the tiniest amount of sustain and smoothing. The controls are all very sensitive and responsive.

I play bebop and soul jazz on a Tacoma archtop with a Kent Armstrong single-coil, so I can't tolerate the loss of any attack, but I needed more sustain for playing heads in unison with horn players. This does this better than an Ibanez CP-9 or EBS Multi-Comp -- perfectly, actually. If I keep the SUSTAIN and BLEND below 10 o'clock, it doesn't add feedback or kill attack. VOLUME just over 12 o'clock gives me the boost I need for single notes, then I click it off to comp.

The pedal sounds very transparent, which is actually a bit of a disappointment since I like how compressors darken the sound of guitars. However, with the internal color pot rolled down to about 12 o'clock, the vocal character of my Polytone Mini-Brute IV really came through without loosing too much high end. Full on, the pedal can bring out the harshness in single-coils. I could get away with cutting the bass and boosting the treble on the amp as well. It also helps the amp to sound better when playing at lower volumes.

With my Mesa/Boogie Studio.22 it sounded a bit harsh. The amp naturally has more bite than a Polytone, so it's pleasing that the pedal should bring out the character of the amp, rather than imposing.

Recently I was bothered by some distortion when I used the pedal. It turns out the battery was dying!

The knobs are big and awfully close to the side of the pedal, and so the settings can get messed up easily. Also, one of the transparent gum-drops Barber used for rubber feet came off when I carried the pedal to a gig in a paper bag with some other gear. This is not a criticism of the pedal as much as it is an admission of clumsiness on my part. Oh, and the battery rattles around inside the case. Maybe the previous owner lost what might have been some foam inside there (like I lost the gumdrop)?

This is THE compressor for jazz. I have a virtual-friend who plays jazz that loves it, too. No one who hears me play says a thing about it which is just how I want it. Stomp-boxes are clumsy and embarrassing. So I like the fact that it's totally black and nondescript, because I really don't want other guitarists to know I'm cheating with a stomp-box!

The only thing I would change is the control layout and the LED color from red to blue because I like adjusting the BLEND knob with my foot and the color blue respectively.

It's got 3 knobs and a footswitch. Very clear. Very straightforward. I'm not an effects genius, though, as I'm a bass player by trade. I bought this to use with my acoustic on the recommendation of a friend. I was told that because of the blend function, it maintained the "acousticy" sound, which is true. However, it took me a little while of fiddling with the sustain versus blend knobs to get the right balance. For somebody better than I am with effects, it would probably very simple to get the right sound, so I'll give it a 10.

I play a Larrivee D-05 acoustic with a D-TAR wavelength UST pickup, into a TU-2, to the Tone Press, to a D-TAR equinox preamp. The sound is perfect. It was exactly what I was looking for to help even out some of the harshness and dynamic changes in my less-than-professional strumming. It also helps to smooth out the fingerpicking. Sounds great. Not noisy at all.

Haven't gigged yet. I only use it in my bedroom for now. However, seems built like a tank. Feels very solid. The inputs, footswitch, and knobs feel very well-made and sturdy.

Haven't had to yet.

I bought this to play acoustic worship music with (Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman). Sounds great. Just what I was looking for. I highly recommend it to any other acoustic players. My friend uses a Boss CS-3 compressor, which in comparison to the Barber, sounds like garbage. Once I got into good, boutique-esque pedals like fulltone and the barber, I'll never go back to Boss again. I higly recommend looking into this pedal. I wish it was a little cheaper, but if you want the good stuff, you gotta pay for it. It's totally worth it.

its easy enough to use and figure out. Ive had it for a few days now and feel ive found plenty of usable settings. It comes with a manual or piece of paper to be exact but thats all you really need.

I use it with my boogie rectoverb mostly to add sustain to lesser gain applications. Ive never owned any other compressors but have tried a few over the years and have found that I cant stand that clicking sound when hitting single notes. If you like that effect dont get this pedal. I tried to get the click but its just not there.
You may find it if you mess with the internal trim pot though. Like I said I dont like the clicking so I have found the factory settings to be just fine for me. Im able to get a tight compression or a very subtle one using the sustain knob but able to blend in more or less with the blend knob. Its a really nice feature ive never seen on any other compressor. The pedal is very quiet although I do get some noise when I max the blend and sustain knobs. The noise is very easy to live with and by no way would keep me from this pedal. I will give the pedal a 9 in this catagory simply because its not perfectly quiet at all settings which isnt really fair to it comparing it to others I have tried. I run it in my pedal board with a visual sound 1 spot daisy chain and it works well with it.

I believe I could deffinatly depend on the pedal in a gig. Seems plenty sturdy enough,,solid. I opened it up to tape some paper over the battery terminal like the manual said and the insides look nice and neatly done. It deffinatly wasnt just thrown together.

never spoke with them yet.

I play everything from blues to rock to metal. I find it works well in all these styles if your looking for more sustain. I pretty much just find the setting I like at the moment and leave the pedal on from there on out. Even playing the pedal with my boogies high gain channel 2 works very well,,the sustain on the amp alone is damn good but add this pedal and it will sustain till I turn the amp off if need be. I love the sustain I get when holding a note playing leads and power chords just ring on. I would replace the pedal if it went missing,,it really is nice and deffinatly unique.

Very easy and self-explaining, useful settings are shown on the instruction sheet.
Three knobs plus a trimpot inside. Though it??s a set-and-forget-thing for most users, this should be located on the outside.

WOW!

It does everything you would expect from a good vintage-style compressor, plus a few other things.

Basically, I use the Tone Press as a clean boost and sound enhancer rather than a comp effect.
The blend feature allows you to mix the dry signal with the processed signal, thus reaction to your picking attack remains unchanged while sustain and upper harmonics are increased. It makes the instrument simply sound bettter and I leave it on most of the time.

Build quality is excellent, best I??ve ever seen in a pedal.
No problems yet, none expected.

Can??t say, I??ve never dealt with Barber.

I used to hate compressors until I tried the Tone Press.
If it were lost or stolen, I??d order another one immediately.

Couldn't be easier to use. True bypass. 3 control pots. Single stomp switch. In and out jack sockets, standard Boss-type 9v tip-negative power socket. There's also a 'colour' pot on the inside of the pedal. Having this inside the pedal is no big deal because I feel its more of a set and forget thing. Once i had experimented with this control to find my desired overall operating...er...colour I don't feel I will be changing this very often if at all. However, if you use a battery, the need to remove the backplate (4 screws) is a minor hassle. Hence, I give ease of use a 9, although I couldn't care less because I don't use battery power. As for the 3 controls and dialing in the desired compression, it couldn't be simpler.

I agree with a previous reviewer about build quality. This has not been thrown together. You can immediately tell that this is a quality pedal and the PCB and wiring inside look exceptionally neat. The box is a sturdy Hammond-type case similar to those MXR use for their larger pedals such as the Phase 100. The Tone Press also has a quality paint job that is not the usual thin layer of silk screen that easily chips or rubs off.

The manual (if you can call it that - it's one piece of paper - simple pedal anyway) suggests some settings to get you started, which I found useful. When it comes to pedals, simpler is definitely better.

Have only owned it for a day or two and have only experimented with it as the only pedal in the signal path (although it shared a power source with several pedals that were on at the time). So far this pedal is totally silent in operation. No hiss and no pops or clicks when operating the switch. There was also no degradation in sound quality when using extreme settings.

My test setup was Fender US Standard Tele with Bareknuckle Yardbird pickups -> Tone Press -> Frenzel FM5E3 tube amp with custom 2x12 cabinet and spring reverb unit. Time will tell how it behaves with some of my other effects in the chain, but I don't predict any problems.

I was looking for a compressor that didn't have the usual feel of compression because I don't want to use it as an 'effect'. I wanted it to provide subtle dynamics control and/or sustain without giving the obvious gain reduction and pumping that I hate about heavy compression. This pedal achieves that goal superbly. It enhanced rather than squashed my guitar's tone which inspired me to noodle around for hours! I could also easily find settings where perceived level and tone were equal to that when the pedal was bypassed, but with extra sustain and subtle, very gentle control of dynamics. At slightly 'richer' settings the tone was sublime with piano-like sustain that really made we want to play on, and this was just going direct into my amp. Pushing the controls further, you can achieve the more obvious types of compression typical of the competetion. The trouble is, that's all they do. The Tone Press is just so versatile. As for the 'colour' control inside the pedal, this is a nice touch. The manual describes the highest colour setting as the most open, clean setting, which basically means its the setting which imparts the minimum of alteration on the tone of the original signal. Turning down the 'colour' pot actually increases the colour to more "vintage tones" which I found very nice indeed. I could set this to add just a touch of warm sparkle to my guitar tone (6 o'clock on the dial) which gave me the best of all worlds: warmer compression, sweet singing sustain but subtle (not squashy) control of dynamics. Bloody magic!

Too early to tell, but it's built like a tank and the controls all feel solid.

Haven't needed it yet so no opintion. I didn't buy the pedal direct from Barber, but I have contacted David Barber once already. That was just to congratulate him on a first class product which was worth every penny and gave me exactly what I was looking for and more. He replied within 24 hours to thank me!

I have been playing guitar for bloody years and I'm a certified tone junky. I am very critical when it comes to audio gear and nothing remains in my studio if it isn't earning it's keep. Overall I would say definitely put this pedal on the list if you are in the market for a compressor. Of course, everyone's tastes differ, but this one seems to cover so much ground and is totally silent in operation. Build quality is also better than most mass-produced pedals. The tone and sustain were so harmonious with my amp and guitar's natural tone that it really inspired me to play with no additional sound colouration other than my amp's natural tube breakup. A pedal that makes me smile in such a simple test is a keeper in my book. If I wanted to smother my natural tone and turn it into to a replication of the tone of the world and his wife, I'd buy a POD and a tranny amp. I can't wait to try this pedal out with some overdriven sounds. No pedal is likely to make a poor setup sound good so YMMV.

You're probably thinking "well, what a surprise, another glowing review and 10s all round for something on HC". Well, I'm not impressed easily and I have tried and discarded more bits of audio equipment than my arse has hairs. This pedal is here to stay.

3 knobs - volume, blend, sustain - that's it. Very easy to use. Inside you find a trim-poti for the colour of compression - from modern style compression (full clockwise) to vintage style (counterclockwise). You have to open the pedal for this adjustment by turning the 4 screws. This is the only disadvantage. Therefor a 9.

This pedal is by far the most versatile compressor i've played. You can adjust the amount of compression by tweaking the blend-knob. This knob mixes the original signal with the compressed signal. So you can adjust the amount of compression you need and the intensity of compression with the sustain knob . From little "angels dust", which enhances the Guitar-sound and the sound of rhythm-chords to full compression for country-pickers - you can have it all and in very good sounding quality. I had the Keeley compressor and the Analogman comprossor - both excellent pedals as well - but the Barber's advantage is its blend knob. A fantastic feature.
I use it together with an Analogman Juicer, RMC Picture-Wah, a RC-Booster, a Keeley TS9plus, a Xotic BB-preamp, sometimes a Fulldrive II, an Analogman Chorus and a Carl Martin Delayla XL. Amps are Fender Super-Amp and Marshall 6101 LM. The pedal is not noisy!

Barber Pedals are built for eternity - super-solid!

There was no need to contact Mr. Barber yet.

I play mainly Blues and Classic Rock (for about 25 years). I owned and own a couple of other "boutique" style - pedals. As I wrote above - there are a hand full of other excellent compressors like the Keeley and the Analogman, but no one has this blend-function the Tone Press has. That's the feature which I love - besides the good quality of sound.

I mailordered a TP due to the great things I've read about it here and the innovative design idea behind it. I think the idea of mixing the compressed and original signal is a good one, but the compression part of the circuit sounds very squashed and really colours my tone in a way I do not like. Not a bad sound, just not what I had hoped for. Sent it back and got me a T.Rex Comp Nova instead which gives me a subtle, uncoloured but effective kind of limiting/compression.

Very easy to use, three simple controls and trimpots.

The thing with a compressor is that's exactly it - everything sounds squished and compressed. Not this sweet little stomp box.

I've tried the ross compressor, dynacomp/mxr, and several others including your garden variety boss CS-3 junk and the likes.

This is the only compressor I'd leave on all the time. It is very transparent, yet providing that lovely juicy thickness and sustain to the tone without sounding over the top. Your picking dynamics are unchanged.

Solid rock.

not used.

This is the only compressor I'd use. It sweetens up the tone and makes it more musical. True bypass too. After you play with this, you will take your boss etc and put it in an industrial shredder.

this is to add a section that is missing from my previous review.

excellent.
transparent, and doesn't take away anything from the original sound.
smooth transisition from original attack (with blend knob tweaked) to sustained sound.

dirt simple to use.

Blend knob, is unique, and takes some experimentation to find the best settings for your particular style, guitar and amp

really works

haven't had it long enough to comment...
but i do have a Barber Direct Drive SS....
and it has hit the floor from the top of a stack, and is still kicking good as new.

i'd say, based on that, i'd place a large bet on the tone press lasting forever.

Dave Barber, one of the nicest guys in the gear business.

got a question, email, or in my case, i just called....
he answered, and was completely open and forthcoming on any of my questions.

got it to me, in no time.

as good as it gets for this kind of stuff.

at the price, it's a no brainer.

considering how it sounds, it's a winner even more.

(compared this against a Ross, dynacomp, keeley, Boss, Menatone, Maxon, and several rack mounted units.)

i've been playing and recording and gigging for 28 years.
would buy another one if it was stolen or lost.

As easy to use as any other compressor. My only complaints are that it's a pain to go inside to change the trimpot instead of it being on the outside. Also, you have to take the back off to change the battery instead of there being a little plastic backing that clips in/out of place like on wah pedals. It's seriously not a problem though, the pedal is so good.

Amazing quality. I use this pedal for clean arpeggios and chords, and some lead work. Great clean compression that's very transparent, not that uber squash you get from say a Keeley. I use this pedal with a Carvin Bolt with Duncan Distortion/59 and ESP KH-2 with Duncan JB/Jazz (both with coil splits) into the clean channel of my Traynor YCV-50 1x12 tube combo with Vintage 30. I prefer using it with the single coils, but it sounds great with the full humbuckers too. It only seems to get noisy with the sustain all the way up and as the notes have faded for a while, so the pedal is working really hard to make them sustain, which is normal for all compressors. I like the sounds of having the blend knob all the way to the right for that classic compressor sound, and at about 12:00 to a more transparent, subtle compressor. It's almost hard to know it's on, which can be nice.

I haven't had it that long, but it looks and feels to be extremely solid. Impressive! Certainly wouldn't need a backup.

Never had to deal with them, though I did send them an email telling them how much I like their stuff (also see my review for the Barber LTD Silver)

I use this pedal mainly for jazz and rock clean parts. It works amazingly. I've been playing for about 8 years and this is my favorite compressor to date, again, because of it's transparency. If it were lost or stolen, I'd buy it again, for sure. You won't find a better compressor for the money, especially. My favorite feature is the blend knob, allowing for transparency to be dialed in or out. I compared this pedal with the Line 6 Constrictor, TC Electronics Vintage Compressor, Boss CS-3, and Keeley Compressor, and it was by far my favorite.

Great, three easy knobs and a trim pot on the inside for voicing. My only complaints arethat the trim pot could have been on the outside as a normal knob and that it had an external battery compartment so I don't have to take the backplate off to get to the battery.

Great sound, particularly if you are going for transparency in a compressor and not the funky/country squash. Hi end and low end are preserved well. It can get a little noisy as the input signal gets low (as notes fade out). I use it with the (great) clean channel of my Traynor YCV-50 50w tube combo with Celestion V30. I play a Carvin Bolt with Duncan Distortion/59 and ESP KH-2 with Duncan JB/Jazz, both with coil taps, through a Barber Silver LTD, Maxon OD9, Dunlop Crybaby from Hell, Boss CE-5, Line 6 Echo Park, Line 6 Otto Filter, and Line 6 Verbzilla. I also play a 5150ii through a Mesa Traditional Recto 4x12 with V30s for my heavy stuff, but haven't used my compressor with that rig.

It seems to be built extremely well! Strong metal casing and sturdy knobs.

I've never had to contact them, but I did send them an email letting them know how great I think their pedals are.

This is a great compressor for clean sounds (I never use comp on dirty sounds). Brings clean solos to life, and lets chords ring forever. I prefer using it with single coils, but works with humbuckers as well. My favorite feature is that you can blend compression with the unaltered guitar signal for added transparency and subtlety. I've been playing for 10 years, and this is the best compressor I've tried. Again, just with it had the voicing trim pot on the outside, and a poppable battery box on the back. If it were stolen, I'd get another one for sure!