Barber Electronics Tone Pump

Very easy to use. There are two channels available with seperate volume and drive knobs, and a shared 2 knob EQ for bass and treble.
Mine is the newest version with 6 knobs and 2 switches and 2 LED's.

Really does sound better, clearer than any other overdrive Ive heard, and that includes the MJM Blues Devil among others. Both tone knobs are useable over their entire range, and the sound quality is very good- theres very little noise, and the tones are smooth and complex, and sustain well, with lots of harmonics. The Barber Tone Pump is sort of the ultimate tubescreamer, but with true by-pass switching and 2 channels with seperate volume and drive controls, and 2 tone knobs. The only overdrive pedal that I own that can compete with the Barber Tone Pump is my Blues Pearl Blues Screamer, and possibly my Boss BD-2 Blues Driver, but not my Reverand Drivetrain.

The wires soldered to the batery clip appear fragile and may eventually require re-soldering, though the location is far enough away from the circuit board for an amateur like me to attempt such a simple repair.
Otherwise the build is fine, the components are top-notch quality.

Great. Mr. Barber answered my e-mail questions right away, within the same day sometimes!

I play blues and rock and have been playing for 20 years. I own a Gibson Paul and a Fender Strat and run them thru a Marshall 50 watt AVT amp. Some of my other pedals that I own that are not mentioned above include the Fulltone Soul-Bender, MJM Britbender, Wells 5:00 Shadow fuzz, Roger Mayer Spitfire and Axis Fuzz pedals, Blues Pearl Blue Balls distortion pedal, Austone Fuzz Nutz and Textone fuzz pedals, and a vintage EH Big Muff.
The Barber Tone Pump costs a little more than the average overdrive, but its flexibility (2 channels and 2 tone knobs) and sound quality (excellent) make it well worth it, and it proudly joins my gain pedal collection.

This pedal is super easy to use. This is the new version with 3 knobs for each channel (6 total). The first channel is volume, tone, pump ( distortion). The second is volume, bass, pump ( distortion). Two LEDs indicate which channel is on, even the light for the second channel lights up even when the first is off to let you know it will be on when you activate the first channel (NO SURPRISES!).

I currently use 2 Fender roadhouse strats (1997) with Texas Special pickups and a 1974 Fender Mustang with an Orange AD30R class a 2x12 30 watt amp. I love the sound of my amp by itself (no pedals), however as with any class A amp, they sound best when cranked and then they get great distortion. Most of the gigs I play I cannot turn up that loud, causing me to rely on distortion pedals. I have tried most of the pedals under the sun into many different amplifiers. This is the best one I have heard. The first channel has a real natural warm sound to it without getting too harsh. You can dial in anything from classic rock to modern rock/pop to a hard rock sound easily. The second channel is a boost primarily for thick compressed soloing or chordal work. I do not neccessarily like the second channel for a solo boost. There is too much bass even with the bass knob all the way down. Instead I use an EQ pedal for a volume boost, not necessarily an EQ change. Just for volume. If you cannot crank your amp, or you need a great distortion pedal,then this is the pedal to get.

I use this pedal without a backup. If you look inside the pedal like I do with every pedal or rackmount unit, then you will find that this is handmade out of the finest materials known to man. The parts and components are all quality. The battery adapter is a swivel metal holder that will probably never need replacing and makes it real easy to change your battery. The only downside is that you have to unscrew four screws to access the battery. However it is worth it for the quality. The knobs and pots are durable and it appears that they will last a long time. I have used this pedal for about 20 gigs and haven't changed the battery yet.

I called Dave to order this pedal and found that there was a 4 week wait on it due to his parts manufacturers. I then went on the website and found a dealer and he sent it to me in a couple of days. The first time I called, Dave was really helpful in answering questions. The next time I called I left a message and got no answer in a week and a half, so I called back and my questions were answered. Overall it is good customer support. You talk to the guy who handmakes EACH pedal and not some kid making $7 an hour who doesn't care.

Overall this pedal is a great unit for the price. It will give you a natural, uncolored (almost), tone. I have compared it to many other pedals, even the fulltone fulldrive 2, and have found it to be the best uncolored distortion out there. I am not too fond of the second channel, but just the first one is worth the $200 paid. If I were to lose it somehow I would buy another one and maybe even some of the other pedals there too. This pedal is made of quality componenets you cannot find in the mass market machine made pedals. I have been playing rock for 12 years and am satisfied with this pedal. If you have tried the rest and are still looking, it won't hurt to try this. The worst thing that could happen is that you resell it online. They have a good resale value.

great. 3 knobs. these pedals rock. i have 3 tone pumps and3 burn units. here's the deal with barber pedals. in the bedroom they sound darker and have less gain. live, at least through a tube amp other than a twin reverb, you have to dial back the tone and gain or they will be way too bright and have way too much gain---it's wild. my tone pump settings of tone at 3:30 p.m and pump at 2:30 p.m. at home are too dark and not enough gain. live through my top hat club deluxe using my lindy fralin loaded custom relic ash strat w/ rosewood/maple neck the pickup has tons of gain and bite. the same with my burn unit 2. at home i set the volumes at 12 o'clock, tone at 3 o 'clock, dynamics at 5 o' clock, burns at 12 o' clock and 5 o'clock. live i have to dial the burns back to 9 0' clock and 3 o'clock, volumes at 9:30 and 11 o'clcok. this gives me a rhtyhm marshall sound and a searing, raging marshall lead sound!! killer!!

greta. i like barber's pedals. voiced perefectly, great volume and gain. these pedals are meant to be played live...i have too many boutique effects, fulltone, PE, voodoo lab, analogman, teese, vaughn cost ts-9 mod, etc...my barber pedals are my favorite

very reliable, very few parts. solidly made.....

excellent. i have bugged dave barber, he never seems to mind!!

killer. i play blues and classic rock. my gear is all boutique stuff. my tone has never been better. i ususally have 2-3 barber pedals in my pedalboard to handle every concievable sound..

Real easy to get a good sound out this pedal, it brings the natural sound out of your amp, does not color it.I did not get a manual with this pedal, but there is no need for one, Homer Simpson could use it and get good sound out of it.

A few players say the Tone Pump sounds good only with a Fender amp and Strat, that's being partial.

Set up 1;
`73 Marshall Super Bass through a Marshall 4-12 from the same era, the guitar`s are a Gibson Les Paul, Fender strat.
The Les Paul, the Marshall, and the Tone Pump work beautifully for big tone mojo, it`s a work of art when all these guys are combined,you can adjust the gain to your liking, or use the Pump as a clean boost, prior to this Tone Pump I was using two old TS9`s, now the Pump does the same job with one pedal...but it has more clarity amd definition and simply great tone.
The Strat works well with this combo too, for different reasons.I`m using some old Van Zandt pickups in the neck and middle with a hot early `70`s rewind in the bridge, so I`m getting a little closer to a older strat tone(except the bridge)to compare with.I`m getting some killer srat tones with the gain(pump) around 2:00,treble around 10:30, volume about the same, the controls are very sensitive and tweeking is easy, the Tone Pump has a great consistant bottom end that compared to a Fulldrive II that I tried.The Pump works well for roots rock, retro, blues, classic Cream, Bad Co, Hendrix, and much more with this amp setup.

Set-up 2;
Wizard Metal 100, Gibson SG, Gibson Les Paul. I know what your thinking... "no the Tone Pump can`t be good for a high gain amp set-ups"...thats what I thought for a two months, when my main pedal I was using with the Wizard kacked out, and was given the chance to try the Tone Pump with the Wiz.
Yeah, she worked far better than I would expect, I don`t know why I would not expect it, but anyway, it boosted the great sound of this amp, of course you really only need to boost it, so a little gain(pump)around 9:00 is all that`s needed, treble about 9:00, and volume at 3:00.
Again the Tone Pump works well in a high gain amp setup, great for Hard Rock, Rage Rock, Hardcore and Metal.
The Tone Pump is a great tool for any Guitarist in lots of situations.

It`s built like a brick...you know what.
Sure a have a back up(not a Tone Pump)
It will have to be seen if it`s reliable or not, it seems like a trusty device.
I have back up for everything I use,the last place you want ot chance no backups is at a gig or session.
The Tone Pump in very well built, it may outlast grandkids if I had any.

I haven`t dealt with the company, but I`ve heard Dave Barber goes the extra mile with his buyers.
I can only give it a an 8 since I have no experince with them.

I play everything from Roots Rock to Metal, the last thing I need was another drive pedal to match whatever amp being used, now I can carry one.
The Pedal was taken on a partial trade for a Fender amp, it came out of the blue, I was not looking for one, I`m really glad that I the chance to try one,it`s an integral part of my tone for the time being.
The fellow that traded it soon wanted another one.
I`ve tried a lot of pedals, and own a fair amount, the Tone Pump maybe a keeper.
I would buy one again if lost or stolen.
I`ve compared it to the FulldriveII(another good pedal and similar purpose)and I prefer the Tone Pump, it`s more simple, and not as cumbersome.
The Tone Pump DOES not sound like a TS9.
I`m trying to be critical as here as well, but the only thing I can say is; that there are decals instead of real paint.
But I don`t care about that, the damn thing works for me.

I want to mention something others have not. I love the way the LED indicators work on the Tone Pump. They work the way I would have designed them to, and that's more than I can say about some other boutique pedals I've owned. The green (ON/OFF) LED is on when the pedal is on; off when bypassed. The red (STATUS) LED is on when the boost mode is on; off in normal mode. The red LED stays on to indicate boost mode is on even if the pedal is bypassed (green LED off). That way there's no "Suprise, I'm in boost mode!" when you turn the thing on. So intuitive, so well thought out, so easily overlooked. I really appreciate these details.

This is everything you want in an overdrive and nothing you don't. Lower pump settings give slight compression and barely driven clean sounds. This is perfect for smoothing out an overly dynamic clean tone. More pump gives you more overdrive to your hearts content. The volume control lets you match bypassed levels or drive your amp a little harder. Tone control is really tasteful with nary a bad setting in the entire range. Boost mode is just what you need: simple, reliable umph for single note lines. I think the simplicity of the preset level, compression, and eq change is a breath of fresh air in boutique pedal land, and it sounds terrific! Very quiet pedal.

This is the most thoughtfully and carefully constructed pedal I've ever seen. The wiring is beautiful, and the PC board construction is a cut above anything else on the market. It has plated through holes on the circuit board! That being said, I broke the boost switch within 15 minutes of playing the pedal for the first time. It's a good quality switch too, and I didn't stand on it or anything. Just a quick, sure smack, and it broke the body off of the threaded shaft. David Barber confirms that nobody makes an indestructible switch, but seeing how this one was put together, I wonder if he shouldn't look to another manufacturer for a heavier duty one. I don't think you could afford to "stand" on one of these switches. It needs a real battery holder too.

After my problem with the switch, I emailed David Barber about getting a replacement from him. I bought this pedal used, so I figured I would have to buy the switch from him. He responded within minutes, voiced his frustration about nobody making an industructible switch, sent me a switch for free, offered to fix it himself if I would send it to him, and thanked me for buying a Tone Pump! This guy is going above and beyond.

Incredible quality and beauty of construction (inside). The stickers are a bit cheesy, but the knobs are great! Beautiful, clear tone. Not peaky like a TS-9, but more full range and even. Very controlled and useful, like a good tube amp. It's like a transparent secret weapon for tone. It would make any guitar and amp combo better.

Ridiculously easy. Standard three knob overdrive with volume, tone, and pump. Extra boost channel button in addition to the obvious on/off switch.

Of the same ilk as the Fulldrives and Tube Screamers. Familiar sound to the Fulltone, but with a little more "hair" on the boost channel. Very warm and articulate tones. Excellent with all types of guitars.

Top-notch components. Boutique and bad to the bone.

Barber is accessible. Just hard to get really quick service because of the wait times for this pedal.

Beautiful clear overdrive sounds. Definitely equal to the Fulldrives and Tubescreamers of the world with subtle tonal differences. Try them all out and pick the flavor you like best. The Tone Pump is a wonderful no-risk pedal with versatile musical tones. Hype approved.

activation is quite simple,i like the fact that you can get 2 different tones out of one pedal.3 knobs; level, tone, and pump(overdrive). it is a stock tone pump I've had it 8 months.

I mainly use les pauls and teles, p-90,humbucking, and tele single coils all stock. I own 5 lp's and 3 teles. I play through stock 50 watt plexi 4 input non-master volume heads through 4x10 cabs. NO MODS!
I do tons of sessions, I own 60 different pedals(40overdrives,fuzz,boutique) I was impressed with it the first time, and i must say it was the first pedal to ever really make me say YES at last. My main pedals were the ts-808, fulldrive2, fuzzface, and matchless hotbox, i would use them in combination with and without eachother.that was 8 months ago. this is all i use now along with dave barbers "burn unit" (just as mind blowing) it is the quietest and most responsive pedal. allows you to enhance, modify, or just simply attain great, great tone. allows the tone of the guitar to really shine through. Live for instance,chn 1 I use my LP's and chn2 I use my teles, very flexible. I use both channels frequently, I must say that I use chn2 mainly for leads. I personally have never had a problem with muddyness or harsh fuzziness. Keep in mind I play every style with the exception of speed metal, Thrash, or punk.

130 sessions(countless hours in studio)
150 shows( in and out of town)
extremely reliable and the tone has not wavered
I have never had to have a back up but i'm considering another.
I appluad dave for his creation that has suited me perfectly in EVERY way

I have never had to call, And believe it or not I got my pedal second hand through my friend jeff at tonefrenzy.comm he had 2, so i did a session for it for him

i would have to say that For me personally i have found thee pedal.
EZ to use, sounds wonderful, and all my vintage pedals are now sittng and i don't know what to do,(unless there is need for an octavia or some ugly sounding fuzz) This may not sound like an objective review, but believe me when you own many pedals, and have tried an eazy 120 ovedrive/dist pedals both vintage and custom and are in constant demand to produce all kinds of tones and styles for sessions only the right tones will do, I feel at this period I have found the right overdrive, Until then I'm not sure this pedal will be topped for a loooong time to come. I 'd say I'm pretty darn happy

Simple! Bypass switch, Boost switch, Level and Drive knobs. There are absolutely no bad settings on this pedal

Is thing on? Hello? EASY AS PIE!!

It is SUPER quiet. The sound is not a TS-9 clone. A lot of work when into designing this pedal.

Boost off: great for crunchy leads or rhythm. No mid hump or scoop. It it sooo smooth, you'll just have to try one out.

Boost on: best thing I've used for solos EVER. Period. Thank you.

It seems very sturdy. I looked inside, and everything (components, wire, etc.) is of the highest quality. I would depend on it at a gig with no backup.

N/A

I play a unique style of pop/rock which really calls for something that "hasn't already been done." This pedal gives me that smooth creamy overdrive...oh yeah! It is very musical sounding and the harmonic structure is wonderfully pleasing to the ear.

***This is an addition to my earlier post regarding the Barber Electronics "Tone Pump" overdrive pedal. As the earlier post stated, I am happy with the pedal but it's second / boost channel did not please my ear because of the way it was EQ'd and compressed. I thought I would drop an email to owner and creator David Barber and ask him if I had any options regarding the sound of the second channel. Much to my surprise, he responded right away and said that he would be happy to help me with this situation! He has offered to tweak the pedal in hopes of tailoring it more towards my personal taste. Needles to say...I was stunned! I did not think this type of service existed any longer. David Barber has truly gone 'beyond the call of duty' and I wanted to make that known on the same forum I had posted my earlier review on.
As my review stated - I was very pleased with the first channel's sound and with David's help I am certain the second channel will soon make me just as happy!-
If you need a good overdrive pedal from a company that truly cares about their product I urge you to check out this pedal when you are making your decision. It just might be what you need... Contact for the pedal: barberelectronic@hotmail.com

Another take on the classic overdrive sound that so many guitarist are seeking. 3 Knobs - Volume,Tone,Pump (overdrive) - 2 foot switches: on/off and another overdrive stage. Simple to find useable sounds right out of the box. If you've used an overdrive type pedal before there are no surprises here control wise...

The Tone Pump is being used with a Fender Am. Std. Tele and a Fender Strat Ultra with Rio Grande Vintage Tallboys P/ups into a Fender Twin amp. For the past two years I have been relying on the Fulltone Fulldrive2 pedal for all of my overdrive needs. I am currently using a Fulldrive2 with the latest FM mod and have been pleased with it. So it's only natural for me to compare the Tone Pump against what I have been using for the last couple of years. After reading many reviews on the net from Tone Pump (TP) users singing it's praises (especially compared to the FD2), I decided to pony up my $175.00 and get on the 5-6 week waiting list with Dave Barber - owner of the company. He apparently hand makes these babies all by his lonesome so it can take a while to receive one. Ordered it over the phone directly from David and he was very friendly and helpful. But anyway...How does it sound..? Well - it sounds good. I compared it with my FD2 and was surprised how incredibly close they are to each other sound wise. I could easily set the FD2 and the TP to sound damn near identical through my rig. The TP tended to have an overall "brighter" sound to it but not by much and with the tone controls I could dial the two pedals into almost perfect copies on one another... I am somewhat confused as to why many of the net reviewers swore the TP sounded so different then their FD2..?? Perhaps they were not using the FD2 with the FM (flat mids) mod..? There is certainly a sound difference between the two when you engage the TP's second channel. Much like the FD2, the second channel will boost the signal and change the EQ characteristics. I believe David Barber said that it's not really a higher gain channel it's simply the same overdrive signal being fed into a different path that alters it's EQ and compression level. That is instantly obvious when you click it on. The bass signal is noticeably boosted and the overall sound is much more compressed. This causes the sound to become a bit darker, fatter and sustained as the compression ratio is cranked up. Personally - I do not enjoy the sound of this channel. It's too much low end for me EQ wise and the compression ratio is not to my liking. It tends to muddy up my sound when I am playing chords and the compression tends to cause my pick attack to disappear too much on the lower notes. I miss the gain control for the second channel that is offered on the FD2 pedal. Having that control really offers you much more sonic flexability with the second channel. So, for me, the TP will most likely be a one channel pedal. The TP does offer a very nice gain control that is useable all the way up and down the dial from low gain to full bore overdrive. There are no annoying dead spots in the gain range and it is a warm overdrive sound that is never too "buzzy". (keep in mind I'm talking about the first channel only) The tone control offers a very useable EQ range. The volume knob surprised me a bit. I have to set it at almost 2 O'clock to find the unity level with my amp..? My FD2 is at 12 O'clock where you would expect it to be... This is not a real big deal as there is still plenty of volume to go after the 2 O'clock setting but I was surprised none the less. The foot switches are silent when you use them on the TP which is something I prefer over my FD2 as it will audibly "click and pop" through my amp most of the time I engage it or activate the boost channel.

Reliability - hard to say... only had it 4 days. I can say this - when the pedal arrived it was broken. It was very well packed and the box was not overly beat up by the Postal folks but none the less both footswitches were rendered inoperative by the time the package showed up at my house. I honestly do not understand how this happened because the mail package was not visibly damaged to any great extent..? If normal mailing caused not one but both of the footswitches to break then I have to wonder how the pedal will enjoy life on my pedal board for the next few years..? We shall see - David was very helpful with a replacement unit and even managed to ship me a new one after he had just broken his collar bone! Thanks David! The unit is a bit "rough around the edges" finish wise. It does have that hand made vibe which I happen to like. Inside, the wiring looks well done and clean. I'm not so sure how the adhesive Tone Pump stickers will fare over the coming years..? Most stickers I've run across tend to look a bit shabby after a while... But I don't really give too much of damn about that - I bought it for audio not visual.

As I mentioned in the last category. David Barber answers his own phone and replies to email in a very timely fashion. He was apologetic when my unit arrived damaged and replaced it without hesitation. He is a very polite and friendly man which still counts for something in my book as I have not found all the 'boutique' pedal makers to be this way...

To sum it all up - The Tone Pump is a good overdrive pedal. I have owned most of the big boys (808, FD2, Klon) and it certainly holds it's own against those. The fact that the second channel does not please my personal ear kind of cuts the pedal's usefulness in half for me. If I had to pick either the FD2 or the Tone Pump I would not hesitate to take the FD2. They sound incredibly similar to each other and the FD2 simply offers more features and control. Even if I liked the sound of the TP's second channel the lack of control over it (gain wise) is annoying after so many years with the FD2. I also am a tad worried about the durability of the TP after my recent mail experience. It's a relatively new pedal so time will tell how it holds up over the years. The Tone Pump offers a nice, warm, useable overdrive sound and like the FD2 is true bypass. The Tone Pump didn't really take me anywhere I had not already been before... If you're looking for a good overdrive pedal this will do the trick. Try it against the Klon, Fulldrive 2, 808, etc.. and pick the one you like best. They are all variations on the same theme.