Barber Electronics Tone Press

Simple; Volume = volume. Blend = the amount of compressed vs uncompressed signal. Sustain = sustain .

I use with a few Andersons, PRS Hollow I, PRS Standard 22, Fender Strat, Fender Tele, Martin SPJC16 acoustic, Taylor NS6 acoustic. Mesa Nomad and Fender Evil Twin amps. Signal is TU2 - Tone Press - FD2 -DP1 - PW10 to front, ChoralFlange to DD5 in loop.

ZERO noise. Guitars sound natural. Better and most transparent sound than any other, including Keely and Carl Martin, due to blend control. I basically just leave it on.

No noise at all.

Built like a tank. I do not have a back up.

Call them up. You probably will talk with Mr. Barber himself! I did!

I play in a Jazz duo and a Rock group. Need pristine but warm clean, great acoustic sounds, and of course crunch and distortion. Like I said I basically just leave it on. I set the Volume at 1:00, Blend at 11:00 and Sustain at 12:00. You can't really tell I am using a compressor unless I turn it off. It just kind of smooths out the edges.

Impossible to get a bad sound. Really easy to use. Volume for...volume, Blend for how much original signal you want to compress, Sustain for how much compression you want. Although the Blend feature is pretty much unique to Barber - this is still much easier to use than most other compressors - really intuitive.

Used as a toneful clean boost for a Fender Tele-Sonic through a Marshall JCM 600 with 1965A cab. Totally silent in operation.

I was looking for a clean boost that added to my tone rather than simply adding extra, stark volume. Other compressors just take over but with this one you are in charge.

The result for me is added confidence when performing solos. I know that the second I step on the pedal, my tone will be absolutely gorgeous - like melted butter. I swear my guitar becomes easier to play!

Nice, solid pedal.

I can rely on it to make me sound good when it counts - at gigs!

I seriously doubt there'll be any need.

They have supported this customer by producing a high quality compression pedal at a reasonable price.

This pedal is pleasure to own. When I look down at my board and see the Tone Press I feel like the cat who got the cream. If you're wondering whether to buy one, do yourself a favour and...DO!

used in in my rig the week i got it. that is very rare. means it is simple, and responds very predictably. no top secret settings.

the only pedal that i would ever give a 10 in this respect would be a roccaforte bastard. one button. on/off.

it would be a cold day in H-E double toothpicks before i booted my trusty dynacomp, i told myself.
guess what?

BBRRRRRRRR!!!!!

the tone press went up against the best. i tried:
carl martin (owned and sold)
analogman original and bicomprosser
menatone JAC
t-rex compnova
boss old and new comps
dod milkbox
homebrew opticomp? (or was it the dls model..as you can tell, didn't leave much of an impression)

too bad i didn't try toad mr. squishy or keeley, but i heard toad and hear enough of keeley to get a good idea what that does.

i use strats. stock or hummer loaded.
main amps are mojave coyote or egnater tol 100.

this pedal has no noise at high levels. nice transparent high end. blend knob lets you add or subtract level of compression in parallel fashion. lotsa squish or none at all. you choose EXACTLY how much. maybe not quite as pumpy and dyna, or milkbox, or orange squeezer, but too much is too much.

i would say the JAC has a VERY SLIGHT tonal advantage and sonic vibe that makes it a taste cooler to my ear, but it pops when switching and is way more bank.

carl martin is excellent for acoustic gtr. tone press does both electric and acoustic well.

and it perfectly compliments my barber direct drive which is placed right after the press.

looks good.

good response. impressed by build, quality of sound and prices.

i'm a picky kook. gtr guy for 2+decades.
i've owned lotsa gear. use rack compressors weekly for work as soundman. own dbx 160xt and 376, alesis 3630, and rocktron 300G compressors, and use a presonus acp-88, focusrite stereo unit, and ashley 4.24 C dsp at work for live PA rack.

i'm a fan of compression. this one is good.

Very easy to use with just three knobs: volume, blend, and sustain/compression. Volume is obviously self-explanatory, blend controls the blend between your dry signal (pure guitar signal) and wet (compressed signal), and sustain simply controls the amount of compression/sustain. It takes a tiny bit of tweaking between compression and blend to find the "sweet spot", but it's really pretty much just a process of finding what sounds good to you. Very easy to use.

I'm always more than just a little skeptical when people automatically put "10" down on every category of a pedal, and so I'm not going to automatically put it down here without offering up a valid explanation as to why this pedal merits the score of 10.

First off, my setup: Taylor 614ce>Ernie Ball Vol>Tone-Press>Line 6 MM4>Line 6 DL4>DI box>PA system. I play strictly acoustic right now and NEED a compressor which will enhance my Taylor's beautiful tone vs. making me fight against the compressor to try to still get the tone and attack that I want. In my search for the "perfect" compressor, I've tried a Boss CS-3 (sucked terribly), Marshall ED-1 (didn't like the way it chopped off my treble and couldn't ever dial in the proper combination of attack and compression), T-Rex Compnova (great transparent compressor, but it's expensive and didn't seem to have quite the right amount of "squash" on tap for my needs with an acoustic), and a Keeley Compressor (for use with an acoustic, it's TERRIBLY over-hyped and under performing as it cuts out LOTS of treble, and has far too quick of a "squash" that's just too difficult to try to dial out without putting the sustain knob at "0"). After A/B'ing the Tone-Press with each of these pedals - either side by side or just on alternate days - the Tone-Press came out the CLEAR winner as it didn't cut off my treble anywhere NEAR what the other pedals ALL did, had absolutely BEAUTIFUL compression characteristics, and even more importantly, has the ability to blend YOUR amount of dry/wet signal. Truth be told, the T-P still cuts out just a tiny tiny amount of treble, but that's easily adjusted with the inside trim pot with which you can adjust the overall "color" of the compressor's tone to dial in a bright and snappy compression or more of a hollowed out "vintage" tone as the instruction manual puts it.

With an acoustic, I notice tonal degredation FAR quicker than with an electric. Whether it's the active vs. passive signal that makes the difference, the types of pickups (piezo vs. magnetic), strings, or what, I'm not sure. All I know is that tonal degredation is the bane of my existance with an acoustic guitar. I have no tolerance for it and this pedal is the answer to my acoustic tone prayers.

This pedal simply outperforms every compressor that I've tried, sometimes by alot (CS-3, ED-1, Keeley) and then by just a little (T-Rex - if it had a blend knob and was a little cheaper, I might have gone that route). I didn't compare it with a Dynacomp as I really want to be able to dial in attack like I want it, and as it's just a bit too similar to the whole Ross clone deal for my tastes.

The ONLY reason the Barber gets a "10" in my book is because of it's TONE TONE TONE and it's blend knob (why hasn't anybody ELSE thought of this??). It's by far the most superior compressor I've played to date.

Why buy an over-hyped Keeley Comp or something along the Ross clone lines when you can get THIS for $80 less and when it has FAR more adjustability, features, and performance than anything else out there? I'm quite frankly surprised this hasn't caught on more... Oh well.

I've only had it for a little over a week now, and have only played with it live through a PA on 3 occasions. Due to that, there's no telling as to whether this'll break in half or keep going until I have grandkids or not. After opening up the bottom of the pedal however, I must say that I haven't been that impressed by someone's workmanship EVER! Even after owning a Fulltone Fulldrive 2 and cracking it open, the Barber takes the cake for impecable construction. Absolutely beautiful in there. Everything has it's place, is placed there with precision and has absolutely spotless soldering holding it in place. Who cares what the outside of a pedal looks like if the interior looks like electronic spaghetti? The Keeley I just sold was clean inside, but in comparison to the Barber, it looks pretty messy. The Barber is just THAT clean.

I have no reason to think it'll be dying on me anytime soon. With attention to detail like Dave's put into this pedal, I dare say it'll last for a while.

Bought the pedal through an authorized dealer vs. going straight to the company. I did sent a few questions to the company via e-mail but didn't receive any responses however. Maybe they don't check their e-mail much, or maybe mine just fell through the cracks. Honestly, it's one of those "don't know, don't really care" kind of situations for me.

I play acoustic guitar for my church college group's P&W team. Lots of more "modern" P&W music along the lines of David Crowder, Chris Tomlin, Hillsongs, Matt Redman, etc... I've been playing guitar for almost 8 years now and play primarily rhythm with alot of flatpicking mixed in. No real "solo/lead" playing in that sense, but primarily rhythm(ish) type stuff. If this pedal were lost or stolen, I'd replace it in a heartbeat.

Basically, what I'm looking for in a compressor is something to act more as a volume limiter (vs. just wanting extra sustain). I want something that'll bring up the volume when flatpicking and then even it out when I abruptly start doing hard rhythm strumming. I don't want those huge volume troughs, but I don't want to compromise for smaller volume troughs by having a pedal that colors my sound more than it should. The Barber does everything I want it to and then some. You can read how it compares to the Keeley, T-Rex, etc. above.

I'm not going to follow the typical ol' trend here and automatically slap a "10" in every category because after all, this pedal is "un-proven" in the sense that I haven't actively gigged with it for over a year. However, based on what I've said above, this pedal is more than I was hoping for. I played a gig with the Keeley Comp about a week after getting it and although it does help eliminate those huge volume troughs, it's only as good as the tone that comes out the other end. The treble-killing aspects of it were simply more than I was willing to settle for.

I don't like to follow the trend of having the "biggest newest hottest pedal" on the market. I don't intend this to be a Keeley Comp bash at all, but rather to say that I purchased it based on the recommendations of nearly everybody in the effects forum here on H-C. Either NOBODY there has every TRULY played an acoustic through it, they have no ear for tone, or they're simply hung up on having a Keeley Comp on their pedalboard and view it as a status symbol that somehow magically makes them a better player - I don't know. All I know is that it certainly didn't/doesn't fit the ticket for an acoustic. For an electric, it might be all that, but for an acoustic, it leaves alot to be desired.

The Tone-Press most certainly doesn't.

Very easy to use. Adjust the 3 dials for a few minutes and you'll get the hang of it (volume, compression, blend).

Well I'm torn between giving this a rating of 9 or 10...I wish I could give it a 9.5.

It's easily the best sounding pedal compressor I've ever used - much better than my Boss CS-3 which it's replacing on my board. It retains your full fat tone & retains your top end while adding compression and sustain. It's also very quiet unless you crank up the blend and sustain knobs near full on. If you set the sustain knob at 3:00 or less, it's extremely quiet for a compressor. The blend knob is SO NICE...having the ability to mix in any amount of your unaffected dry signal is simply incredible. Great idea! Also, there's no popping sounds when turning the unit on or off and it works very, very well with all of my OD and distortion boxes - it works especially well with my Boss SD-1 and Fulltone FD-2 OD pedals. I also love how that old picky/clicky sound that I used to get from my Boss CS-3 is no where to be heard with the Tonepress. That added fake pick attack crappy sound used to drive me nuts!

So what more do you want from a compressor? Quiet - does not suck out your tone - true bypass - sounds great in any setting (forgot to mention you can set the blend knob to zero and use it as a volume boost). I'm going to give it a rating of 9 instead of 10, only because the unit is not perfect. If you dime the sustain and blend knobs there is a little noise...since that's not how I'm using it, that's not an issue for me. Also, this unit does not have a ton of compression in it (which is fine for me). It'll get you up to and past the point of squishy compression, but not much further. If you like experimenting with overly compressed tones for certain applications...you might have a hard time getting that out of the Tonepress. As I noted though, I really love how I can get right up to the point of compression or a little bit over if I want to...that's the sound I like when using distortion, so the unit works great for me.

Great clean tones - great overdriven tones! I love it.

Sure seems like it's going to last a long time. So far no problems at all. My CS-3 is my backup compressor but hopefully it'll stay in the gig bag.

I called Barber direct to ask about the types of AC adapters I could use with the unit. They called me back in 5 minutes! Extremely helpful and friendly.

I play mostly classic rock - also play some jazz fusion, heavy metal, oldies, blues, and country...bit of everything I guess. Been playing for 30 years. I primarily use a Les Paul, Strat or Tele plugged into a Fender Prosonic, Hot Rod DeVille, Deluxe Reverb, Mesa Boogie DC-5, or Marshall TSL-60 amp.

My effects chain is:
-Vox wah
-ProCo vintage Rat
-Tonepress
-Loooper (ab box) signal split to Boss TU-15 tuner
-Boss SD-1
-Fulltone FD2
-Tonebone Hot British distortion
-Boss Super Chorus
-Boss Flanger
-Boss DD-2

+ an ART effects processor for reverbs and delays thru my amp's effects loop.

If it were stolen I'd replace it immediately with another Tonepress.

Over the past 30 years of playing and gigging I've come to realize the importance of compression in my signal. The Tonepress is everything I've ever wanted in a pedal compressor. I've played some rackmounted compressors that sounded a little better (and I truly mean a little better)...but the Tonepress is in a pedal league of it's own IMHO. I a/b'd it against a vintage MXR Dynacomp, and my CS-3, and also checked out the new Digitech compressor (which I liked btw). The Tonepress stood head and shoulders above the rest. I've had "perma-grin" since I bought it.

Here's an exact quote from the bass player in my band when he heard it 2 weeks ago at rehearsal - "Wow, a pedal compressor that doesn't suck out your tone..and doesn't suck out your top end." He's been a musician for about 35 years - and he owns 2 vintage Dynacomp compressors that he's now selling. I highly recommend this pedal. You can't go wrong for $149!

Don't know

Don't know

Don't know

Now the reason for this exercise. I got the unit home, put in my adaptor wall wart and ....... nothing! I checked the connections and to make a long story short realized I had fried my Tone Press with an AC adaptor! I sent a panicked e-mail to the company. I figured if repairable, maybe 50 dollars for the repair would be appropriate. They sent me back an e-mail. Deal with the shipping charges and they would make it right. Wow, I can't believe it. I've just ordered a Direct Drive unseen and unheard. How can I not do business with a company like that? They protected me from my own stupidity!

Review to come in a couple of months. For now, I just had to express my delight at the customer service of these people.

easy. 3 knobs. simple instruction sheet.

i went on a compressor hunt. i wanted to find something that would make me want to part with my longtime friend, the dynacomp.
i don't give a rat's nard what anyone says about the dynacomp, it's a great pedal and the one many have sought to improve on.
i don't think analogman improved on it with his compressors. have not ried keeley yet but frieds that have say it's similar to analogman, so no thanks for that kind of $$$.
dod milkbox was surprisingly cool, but sorta cold versus dyna.
had and sold a carl martin. too sterile and harsh when driven.
t-rex compnova...no thanks. homebrew compressor...nah. heard mr. squishy and the slow rise is interesting, but i heard no magic bounce and pop in it.

then i stumbled onto a contender...the menatone JAC. GREAT sound. super quiet performance. it had the old school bump and squish with more top end clarity. true bypass, and although it popped when the button clicked, in my mind i thought BINGO!

but i had heard of one more i really wanted to hear and i'm glad i waited cause it saved me 120 bones! the tone press was 95% of the JAC and less than 1/2 the cost, which translated into one proud tone press owner! and no "pop" when stomped on.

so nutshell is, the JAC is the superior sounding unit, but the tone press is so close and still clearer than the dynacomp, while maintaining the coolness factor and performance of the dyna ala bounce and squish.

i'm gigging live with it.

called up barber and they answered my question instantly.
yes it runs on boss style 9v barrel power supply.

i take my cleans dead serious. the foundation of great tone is great clean tone. i run the tone press like i did the dyna; on in the chain at all times. i play pop ballad/blues/alternative rock/classical/funk r&b/folksy music and the tonepress is the heart of it all.

Barber really impressed me with this and the direct drive, both of which i bought that day, because the cost allowed me to. the tone pump II is also great to my ears! And the new Echelon amp is outstanding!

SOOOOOO damn easy to use. Love it. From right to left controls are Level/Gain (volume) mix (adjusts mix of compressed and dry signal) and sustain amount. Nuff said.

Killer. Thank god I bought one. Does what its supposed to do and you can adjust how much of the dry sound you want allowing you to RETAIN how much of your original sound you want.

Seems reliable, only had it for a few days.

HAven't used them.

Beats the crap out of A LOT of the overpriced compressors. I had a Blackbox Oxygen that was pure crap. Everything sounded compressed. Was totally un-usable for rock / distorted sounds without cranking the gate all the way up....which in turn killed your sustain. This pedal is awesome, your tone is retained and it works well AND IS VERY QUIET. Can't ask for anything more. The friggin' Oxygen was over double the price and wasn't worth it at all.

Took two minutes to get what I wanted...

Wow, was this thing ever made to order! It's exactly what I was looking for, because it is absolutely NOT a compressor in the Boss CS, MXR DynaComp, Ross camp. I think it's already been mentioned, but you need to think of this as a nice clean boost with just a touch of the flavor of the above named pedals. It gets right up to that clicky comp sound (which I hate), but doesn't go over.

...AND HERE'S THE COOL PART: It has a blend control that allows you to balance between the "dry" and "wet" signal, while retaining the boost. I agree with others who say "Why aren't all compressors built this way?

This has replaced my Sparkle Drive (TP is definitely more transparent) and my old compressor. I use clean boost a lot, but only need compression for a couple of songs, so a "standard" comp just takes up space on my board. All I had to do was set up the TP at 3:00 - 4:00 or so on the volume control for a nice clean boost, "blend" at 11:00 (more dry than wet), and toggle the sustain from 11:00 (for a big clean tone with a bit more sustain) to full-on to get a singing-yet-articulate solo sound. It works wonderfully with my Tonebone Hot Brit, and I've found that the old HB nasal-factor is GONE.

With the Sparkle Drive, I always had to jack the HB volume up to meet the clean boost and it would add a shade of nasaly mids...somehow, the Tone Press boosts in such a way that it doesn't really alter the HB's tone, just gives more of it. However, cranking the sustain adds a nice cutting mid that's perfect for solos. It's like the two were built to go together.

The only downside I hear is that it seems just a hair more noisy than the SD, HOWEVER, it is far quieter than any comp I've ever used (keeping in mind that it doesn't go to the extreme squish that other comps do either). The noise is such that it will be invisible at gigs...it really doesn't spoil the experience for me at all...even here at home.

I can easily compare this to the first time I got glasses...it made me say "Oh, now *that's* what I've been missing!"

Nutshell: If you want a traditiional comp, this ain't it, but if you want a box that is subtle enough to go unnoticed, but will be infinitely useful, it's well worth $139.

My third Barber pedal...all have been well built

For me, it couldn't be more perfect.

3 Knobs...Sustain, Blend, Volume...If you can't figure this out, you should maybe get a different hobby.

First of all, this is just an evolutionary step beyond typical compressor pedals. Very quiet, very clean. None of the thud, splattering or grunge like many of the other units. (Not that those are always bad traits-sometimes a little trash ups the funk factor)
Super sustain, but not a squash-y as a dyna comp-esque unit. Great for chicken pickin' but needs to be maxed out to really spank it. I use a Tom Anderson Hollow Classic and /or Hollow T Classic into a PTP Budda Superdrive 18-112...awesome...everything from Brent Mason to SRV to EJ to Robben to Carlos...literally amazing sustain...155 total with tax and shipping from my dealer in Indiana...also KILLER with my Taylor K14C...very sustainy but clean...

looks very rugged...looks easy to repair if a solder lead ever came off...

After purchasing this, I am also planning on picking up the Direct Drive.

Ok this thing is a whole new ball game when it comes to compressors.
It takes some tweaking to get the feel of what it does. You have to kind of blend together a class A boost pedal with a great compressor, thats how you have to look at this thing.

Volume - No need for explination
Blend - blends the compressed signal with the clean signal but also adds a class A feel with more harmonics as you turn it up kind of like the Fulltone Fatboost.
Sustain - Just what it says, like any other compressor.

The manual is good and gives you sample settings that really gives you a good idea of what this thing can do.

It does take some getting used to there are a tone of great options for tone in this puppy.

Setup is Strat, Tele & Paul into a Teese RMC 3, to the Tone press, to a FD2, to a MXR 6 band EQ, to a Marshall Supervibe for Leslie FX, to a Digitech X Series Digidelay, into a RI 59 Fender Bassman.

The Tone Press is quiet and clean and no pedal compressor can come close to this thing. Its only noisy when the sustain is maxed passed 3/4 of the way up. You can very easily leave this thing on all the time with the right settings, Its that quiet.

It can go from clean boost to squishy traditonial, the middle of the road settings are stellar there is no explaining how good the TP is you really need to hear it to belive it.
I've been playing for almost 30yrs and have been searching for the ideal compressor all that time. An I must say I found it.

Truly amazing.

the clean and loud setting and the Magic dust for single coils are great Tele players the TP is a must.

It also adds bounce to any RI amp to give your amp a traditional hand wired 50's or 60's feel very nice.

You can make notes jump off and be percussive or squish the hell out of them to sing for days, and be nice and quiet at the same time, NO NOISE.

Only had it about a month, but it looks well built and should hold up fine. Time will tell

Talked to Dave a couple of times and he's very helpfull and right to the point.

I play just about everything music wise, and the TP can do it all.
I would happily shell out more $$$$ for another if stolen. The blend feature is what should of been done to a compressor along time ago, to be able to dial in the attack you need plus add more harmonics! is just a God send!
I cant stress enough on how quiet this pedal is, It really should be put in a class of its own, it blows away the traditonal compressor thing.

We need a new classification for this pedal Its the first ground breaking pedal in years, Very Cool!

Three knobs and easy to get good sounds out of. Now getting the sound you want is the challenge. The blend control had me psyc'd a bit for the first couple of weeks but I now have it dialed it just right.

I think this is the best compressor I've ever owned. I use a comp for two things. Limiting my guitar from overdriving the tube amp and two, adding sustain without distortion. The tone press provides the most subtle, quiet, functional, compression I have heard to date. What really makes it work for me is the ability to blend the original dynamic back into sound. My first trials with the pedal were a little disapointing as I didn't experiment enough with this feature. Settings with this control too high can really make the effect seem more like a clean boost, but once I began reducing the blend and letting the compressor work it became obvious to me that this is a really useful box. I don't leave this pedal on indescimenently. I do use it sparingly. In the past I stopped using compression because of the way the effect homoginised my attack and tone. The last thing I really want playing Blues guitar...of course.
I'm also very impressed at the level of noise it produces. Noise is not an issue for me with this pedal, even with the sustain setting quite high it's very quiet.

I play for a living. Mostly blues but also a little bit of everything. 30 years now. I have the regular quality equipment including Fender Guild Gretsch Vox Fulltone. I would buy another Tone Press for sure it it vanished. It's the best product of it's kind out there for me, compared to the MXR, Ibanez, Boss, product I used before aquiring this.

The controls on the Tone Press are as follows, Volume, blend and sustain. For the most part this compressor/clean blend/boost is pretty easy to setup . The blend knob is very smooth and seamless but be sure to remember if you need those squishy ross/dyna comp sounds of the past you have to MAX the blend knob. I also noted that the sustain knob seems to really "kick in" near the end of the range which I liked better than the way my old Ross worked. I would say the Tone press is simple, but take your time with the blend and sustain controls or you may just miss some of the power of this unit.

I play a 68' tele that has been my old friend since the early 70's, also use a 82'Gibson 335 at times, my amp is a 66 super reverb. I have been using the Tone press for about a month now and have been more impressed every night, I can get great natural sustain without loss of pick attack, best of all I don't any added noise. I have also used the Tone Press to sweeten and boost my Tele slightly for an overall improved sound! I can dial in great slide and country tones at any volume, being able to get that "amp on the edge" sound at any level was an added bonus I never expected. I finally have a compressor that does not round my treble off or add noise. From old faithfull compression to new sounds I never thought possible, this unit has delivered.

The TP looks to be built like a tank, no problems so far. the pedal has switchcraft jacks,nice solid feeling footswitch and smooth pots. I will depend on it! I would have given this a 10 but I have only had it a month, only time will tell.

The guys at Barber have been really helpful and always fun to talk to on the phone. I ordered early and it still took almost 5 weeks to get this pedal, it was worth it!

I have been playing for over 25 years in R&B/country/blues/rock bands I have tried loads of gear over the years and find I am pretty set in my ways. I mostly like the old tried and true gear by Fender and Gibson. I had heard of Barber from a friend who has a Direct Drive that he just raves about. I talked to Craig at Barber and decided to try their new compressor after years of working with Ross and MXR dynacomps, I can say I can never go back to those old units they served me well but the Tone press is far beyond them in sound quality and tone/sustain shaping abilities. My tone is far sweeter with the Tone press I can actually leave this unit on all night for an extra confident feel when playing clean or overdriven. Great price and performance, Highly recommended!

Three knobs: sustain, blend and volume. Tweaking the blend knob is the key.

Here's the catch: if you're picking up the Tone Press expecting it to produce a traditional pedal compression sound, you're going to be disappointed. The Press is really more of a clean line booster than a compressor a la Ross, DynaComp, etc.- you have to dime the compression and blend controls to get an effect on pick attack, and that adds noise which you won't get from a good Ross clone at a parallel setting. In that sense, the compression circuit is almost an afterthought, though I have no complaint with the signal:noise of the boosting effect with Tele single-coils.

Seemed reliable enough, the switch and pots are good quality and the internal wiring was clean enough.

Dave Barber seems like a nice guy. The company got backlogged just before I placed my order and apparently had to hire more hands to meet demand.

I had this box for two weeks and sold it. As a line booster, it's a step up from something like the old MicroAmp and it's much more neutral and full-frequency than a Rangemaster-type box. As a compressor, it's not going to give a script DynaComp or Ross clone (both of which I've used on gigs) a race for the prize.

That said, this might be just the box for the guy who wants boosting and limiting, and dislikes the sound of classic guitar-level compression- anyone who plays with multiple TS-type overdrives or a hot channel-switching preamp might really appreciate what Barber's come up with here.

It's easy to find desirable settings. The manual serves as a good guide.

Strat, Tele, LP, Baker RF, TCM Taurus into Guytron, Fender Bassman RI, Carr Rambler, CAE 100.

Transparent. It's not at all noisy.

It's good for both long-sustaining overdriven solos or short chik-pik bursts. I think both Knopfler and Santana would love this box. It's that flexible. I can't turn it off either.

1 week old. Looks, feels and sounds like quality, but I'll reserve judgement until I've kicked it around on some gigs.

I had no contact with BE on this purchase. I bought it through the Perfect Note.

I play blues, jazz/fusion, classic rock-type stuff (Robben Ford/Scott Henderson)- about 11 years. This unit really fits the bill. My phrases are more articulate and lively in live and studio settings. Even my bandmates have noticed. I use to play a Carl Martin, before that, a Ross. I prefer the Tone Press because it is quieter, offers more flexibilty and does more, and is transparent and true by-pass. Most of all, it sounds better. I've backed away from my distortion because my clean sound is so nice now - very sweet and natural. Not too expensive either.

Couldn't be easier. 3 knobs: volume, clean boost/blend, sustain. Can be used as a compressor, a clean boost or both. You can blend/mix in or out as much effect(s) as you want. I found it impossible to have an unlikeable setting on this box. The manual is short, sweet, and right on target - like all Barber manuals.

I use my Tone Press with Suhr solid and chambered Strats and Teles and a PRS Custom 22. I am using the Tone Press with vintage Fender amps and a Carr Rambler.

The pedal is true bypass, plays in-phase, uses a Class A blend circuit and couldn't be quieter; no noise comes from this box. My guitars and amps already sounded awesome to me, but the Tone Press makes them sound even better. My PRS Custom 22, which I'd never been able to get a good clean sound out of, now sounds great going through the Tone Press and straight into the amp. I play my PRS clean now!

Pristine, sparkling, shimmering, ringing sustain and boost without the wind and hiss or the pick click and thud of a typical compressor. The Tone Press is far different from even the best compressors I've owned or played - you know which ones. I came to so dislike the noisy baggage of pedal compression, I stopped using the pedals. Because this pedal has a clean boost/blender function and because of Barber's reputation - he insisted that the Tone Press was like no other and that I wouldn't be able to turn it off, I gave it a try and it is working in spades. He was right. Now, I always have this pedal running in my signal - just a little higher than unity with the amp if I want some extra zing and sting and I play with OD/distortion far less than I ever did. When I use an OD pedal, I torque it with the Tone Press on the front end; man, my OD's sound better now, too! Just wicked!

Sturdy inside and out. The best build quality I've seen. Would gig without backup, but, if it ever went out, my tone and I would suffer for it.

Barber spent 20 minutes on the phone with me, explaining in great detail, the concept, design, and build of this pedal. Then he talked about tone............

I play all kinds of music - blues, jazz, surf, funk, Tex-Mex, Spanish, rock, world, etc...and this pedal is always on! I do mostly studio work, where I have access to the best studio compression plug-ins available. This pedal is better.

If lost or stolen, I would immediately get another. Can't record without it now. $139 is a pittance for anything this good - and for what is my favorite pedal.

Compared to Keeley, Carl Martin, modded Dynacomp, modded Boss CS2 and CS3, and some other unmemorable ones. None come close. The Barber is in it's own league.