# Barber FX



## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

I ordered a couple of drive pedals off of David before the holidays and got them in yesterday.
I got the Gain Changer and the Direct Drive (compact).

First off, these are some of the most reasonably priced units out there, Timmy prices.
I don't know why they've fell under my radar for so long, too long.

There's a lot going on in these little units.
Both have two toggle switches, along with the usual volume, tone and drive knobs.
The toggle switches act as gain stages and voicings.

The GC is a nice O/D, but can be juiced into more gain with the toggle.
If I weren't in a band, it might be all I would need, but switching a toggle,
or even to remember to do so, could be a recipe for trouble. 
I could get close to the Tim, pretty transparent, a bit of hair.

The DD is more of a distortion, though you have many options.
Lots of gain on tap, nice and thick, plenty of harmonics and dynamics going on.
It does seem a bit more compressed than the GC,
but it's nice to have the two distinct voicings. 

Overall, a good experience with these so far and David was really great to deal with.


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

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## TWRC (Apr 22, 2011)

nkjanssen turned me on to a few of David's pedals and I feel the same way he does. He'd probably sell more if they were at least double the price as his pedals are criminally underrated.

After demoing some of his pedals, I was sold on the GC and DD. Bought both of them and couldn't be happier with those drives as they're everything you stated. The Direct Drive hasn't made it on my main board, but will probably be on my mini-board as the main go-to drive. As for the Gain Changer, it knocked the OCD off my board as I thought it was way more transparent and responsive than the OCD (which is a great pedal in its own right).


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

I agree guys about the pricing.
A lot of people think that if it's not $$$, it can't be any good. Wrong!

I actually like the understated graphics, though I can be a sucker for a pretty pedal too,
I'm looking at you, Dr Scientist!

With all the options on these pedals, I think that you could even double up on one of them and cover your needs.
Though it is nice to have the two different units as the GC seems a bit less compressed.

I found the GC to be really transparent, like the Timmy, in the flat mids and low gain mode.

The DD is nice in the low gain and high harmonics setting too.


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## Bobby1note (Jan 6, 2014)

Geesh Sulphur,,, now ya got me thinkin'.:smile-new:

NICE pedals. The GC especially, seems to get a lot of love over at TGP, and I'm blown away by the price.

How did you ship it to Canada, and was that part of the transaction expensive?


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

There's no Canadian dealer, which I thought was weird, so I ordered direct off of David.

He ships them USPS, so no couriers at the border to deal with.
The total for both pedals shipped was $259.90.

I've spent more on one pedal, more than once.


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## TWRC (Apr 22, 2011)

Just email him and he'll get back to you right away. Great guy to deal with for sure!

Check out how clean the Gain Changer is:


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

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## Bobby1note (Jan 6, 2014)

Have any of you guys tried the Barber 1/2 Gainer? The product description sounds intriguing. (purr)

http://www.barberelectronics.com/halfgainer2011.html


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

nkjanssen said:


> Barber is the most underrated pedal maker out there by a wide margin. If he put his dirt boxes in fancier enclosures and charged $500 each, he'd probably sell more.


Dave makes a great product, sells at reasonable prices, doesn't rely on hoopla or fancy ads to sell them. If there is anything holding him back, it is probably the fact that he doesn't really make anything besides pedals that boost, colour or distort. Not that that is a BAD thing, but it is far too easy to get lost in that particular market, like Waldo without his toque and shirt.


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## hardasmum (Apr 23, 2008)

I had a Trifecta for awhile. Great price and he was offering free shipping to Canada as a promotion at the time.

It was a very cool pedal, it didn't quite fit with my rig and I had some fuzz "overlap" so I sold it.


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## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

nkjanssen said:


> Barber is the most underrated pedal maker out there by a wide margin. If he put his dirt boxes in fancier enclosures and charged $500 each, he'd probably sell more.


X 50! 

I've loved every Barber I've tried, and David is awesome to deal with. His pedals are rock solid and pure tone. I'm in a holding pattern for the small box Tone Press, which should be ready to ship real soon. I've also just re-acquired an older one that I had and let go a couple years ago - the Barb EQ. I just realized I was about to sell an amp that I love to chase the Blackface sound, when the Barb EQ will let me EQ the amp that way when I want and level the outputs of my Tele and Blues Master...win-win. 

Bob - there's a guy selling a 1/2 Gainer on Ottawa Kijiji.

Awesome stuff, Jock...looking forward to a live review on the GC ;-)


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

I've got a Tone Press that I love. It's the only compressor that I've kept for more than 3 months (it's going on 3 years!)

I've been looking at the Gain Changer myself for a while. Barber definitely makes some very nice stuff. What I like about their pedals and designs is that you can dial in decent, usable tones very easily. Not like some finicky pedals that sound like angels singing in one particular setting that's impossible to find without a map, and in every other setting sound terrible.


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## NB_Terry (Feb 2, 2006)

hollowbody said:


> I've been looking at the Gain Changer myself for a while.


I was a dealer for Barber 8 or 10 years ago; I'm not anymore. 

The Barber Gain Changer is one of my favourite OD pedals. Very very nice for low gain stuff, and the high gain sounds are good too.


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## blam (Feb 18, 2011)

TWRC said:


> nkjanssen turned me on to a few of David's pedals and I feel the same way he does. He'd probably sell more if they were at least double the price as his pedals are criminally underrated.
> 
> After demoing some of his pedals, I was sold on the GC and DD. Bought both of them and couldn't be happier with those drives as they're everything you stated. The Direct Drive hasn't made it on my main board, but will probably be on my mini-board as the main go-to drive. As for the Gain Changer, it knocked the OCD off my board as I thought it was way more transparent and responsive than the OCD (which is a great pedal in its own right).


I was going to ask you about that. I kind of caught the tail end of that conversation at Kents and forgot to bring it up that day


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## TWRC (Apr 22, 2011)

My take on both pedals is pretty much bang on with Sulphur. The thing that I love best about both pedals is how the EQ is set pretty flat and works great with both single coils and humbuckers. The tweakability in both pedals is also a major plus as I think it really would work with most peoples' rigs.

Prior to purchasing the GC, I read a lot of people knocking it when stacked with other pedals. I found it to be the complete opposite as it stacks well with all of the dirt pedals I have on my board. I basically use the GC as my "clean" sound, so it's there for a bit of bite and I clean it up with my volume knob...so far no complaints.

As for the DD, I find that it's a good all in one sort of overdrive to distortion pedal. It definitely has a lot more gain on tap than the GC, but it does compress a bit as you add volume and gain - not super great for driving an amp or for subtle overdrive sounds, but it sounds great wide-open. Again, another great stackable pedal.



blam said:


> I was going to ask you about that. I kind of caught the tail end of that conversation at Kents and forgot to bring it up that day


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## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

The drive I had a lot of fun with before foolishly unloading it was the small fry - lots of sting in that box.


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## Nork (Mar 27, 2010)

I had both the LTD-SR & A DDLG (big boxes) a while back and liked them both. Kinda regret selling them. Always think about picking up the two new OD's, but considering I'm quite happy with my current OD section, it's hard to justify. But Barber is one of the best products out there without selling at hipster prices. It's very tough not to just pick up both of them just for poops and laughs.


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