Welcome to another edition of the Steelbender Spotlight.  This installment focuses on the new Direct Drive overdrive pedal for guitarists from Barber Electronics.  David Barber designs and produces his effects in the Baltimore, MD area.  Much of his publicity has originated from Internet-inclined guitarists who spread word through forums about his high-quality and toneful products.  My first encounter with Barber Electronics occurred about three years ago when I obtained his original Tone Pump overdrive to be followed by the purchase of a Burn Unit.

Boutique pedal manufacturers are a dime a dozen these days, and merely positioning one's self as such does not necessarily equate with making a stellar product.  Barber has maintained longevity relative to the territory by producing straightforward and tone-oriented devices, with attention to craftsmanship and customer service.  These are all admirable traits for any builder; but it takes more than that to stand out in the crowded field of trendy pedals where guitarists routinely buy something one day and sell it the next.

Overdrives, in particular, are found in abundance today with new models being released quite frequently by both mass-production companies and smaller builders.  It seems to me that many boutique designers have been heavily-influenced by the famous Ibanez Tube Screamer sound, and they have attempted to offer their own variants of the principles embodied by those notorious green boxes such as a warm and harmonically-rich gain structure with pronounced midrange (the famous "midrange hump" if you will).

I feel that I have enough TS-style pedals to suit my needs for a long time.  Make no mistake, a warm and compressed overdrive that excels at dynamic and sustaining tones will always be of great use to someone like myself who plays a cross-section of styles.  However, I find that my pedal pursuit these days has me looking for overdrive and distortion boxes that go above and beyond the call of TS duty.

Enter the new Direct Drive pedal.....
 
 

Based upon my conversations with David Barber, he is passionate and opinionated about what he wants to engineer, but not to the point of being egotistical or denying the good attributes of other manufacturers' products.  With the Direct Drive, he set out to build a highly-dynamic overdrive box that would be more "amp-like" than any other pedal he had made to date.  Plugging straight into an amp that produces its own gain has a certain immediacy (a directness...no pun intended) of feel and tone that is hard to replicate with an effects pedal.  Barber wanted to rectify (the amp references just keep coming...sorry) this by designing a unit which would respond actively to the guitarist's touch and volume knob adjustments, much like a good amplifier does.

In fact, here is the mission statement of the Direct Drive in Barber's own words....

"The Direct Drive was meant as the highest expression of tone that I could
offer (regardless of price), it was also built to the highest build quality
standards (20 gauge solid copper wire) no traditional PC mounted pots or
jacks.

OK now for Tone: The Direct drive gives the best of American and British
overdrive with the lowest compression artifacts. the Direct Drive has a
strong but VERY clear bass response. The Pull tone control when switched in
gives the Direct drive a second voice based on the great California style
tone made famous by a few top blues and fusion players (think Robben Ford and
Larry Carlton) all with the reduced compression still in tact!  The price was
decided last, after the product was designed...the price is our ode to
players who work every night and barely make rent...this could have easily
been a $350+ pedal (it cost exactly the same to build!) we simply decided to
play fair ball (actually we are playing in favor of the guitar player on
this one!)"
 

Let's discuss the price issue for a moment, since Barber emphasizes it in his description.  At the time of this writing, the Direct Drive could be purchased for.........drumroll.......$99 (not including shipping)!   First and foremost, I will pay good money for something that I like and feel will contribute positively to my music-making.  While I have a budget like everyone else does, I usually decide that paying for quality (even if it's a bit expensive) is worth it to me.  If the $99 Direct Drive pedal was not a toneful device, then I would either sell it or not buy one in the first place.  $99 for the sake of $99 means nothing to me.  However, the good news is that the Direct Drive, especially when compared to other units of its ilk, would be fairly-priced at a higher amount.

Like David Barber, I believe that current pedal prices for some products are incredibly inflated, though the market seems willing to support what is available today.   I certainly do not begrudge any individual a fair profit.  Profit is acceptable and it keeps people working.  Gouging  is all a matter of opinion I guess, and I would not insinuate that there is a proliferation of it; but when a product can be had of the Direct Drive's quality for $99, it makes me wonder just how much profit other builders are making per unit.  Furthermore, Barber still has to be making a profit on this or else he wouldn't be offering it.  $99 is just icing on the cake and is such a good price for this product that it threatens to overshadow the primary appeal of the unit which is and should be its performance.

While demand for this pedal is steadily increasing and the unit is starting to appear in selected dealer stores, I was able to have David build and ship the pedal to me in about 10 days.  I believe the wait times are naturally longer at the moment due to the current buzz about the box, but I recommend contacting Barber Electronics for the current status.
 

Now that the preliminary comments are completed, let's take a deeper look at the Direct Drive.....
 
 

Here are some convenient links to points in this article or you may view everything in order by simply scrolling down the page:
 
 

NOTE:  I have also scanned the manual into a PDF format which can be downloaded by clicking here.

[If you need a free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view PDFs, please click here to download .]
 

Here is the owner's manual in David Barber's  own words...note that this is a preliminary instruction sheet accompanying the early run of the model:
 
 

Controls are Volume, Tone (you can pull this knob to switch in the "fat harmonics" mode) and drive.
Volume is usually 12 o'clock for a starter on the normal setting.  When you pull the tone knob, try setting the volume to 10 o'clock.  Tone usually 3 o'clock is a good starter and drive set from 9 o'clock to 12 o'clock.

Here are some pre-suggested settings:

1. Clean drive-  Vol, 12:00  Tone set to max (pull for fatter boost) and drive set between min and 7:30

2. Country rock-  Vol, 12:00  Tone 4:30  drive 8:00-9:00

3. light electric blues- Vol, 12:00  Tone 12:00 to 4:00 (pull for electric delta setting) drive 8:30-10:00

4. 808 killer!-  Vol, 12:00-2:00  Tone 2:00-5:00 (pull for 808+Tweed!)  drive 11:00-1:00

5. Vintage Marshall-  Vol, 12:00  Tone 3:00-4:00 (pull California rhythm)  drive 1:30-3:30

6. Hot Modded Marshall + early 90's R.F.-  Vol, 12:00  Tone 4:00-max (pull R.F. tone) drive 3:00- max
 
 

1.  Volume adjusts overall level of the Direct Drive

2.   Tone adjusts brightness

3.   Pull engages Fat Harmonics mode for Expensive California amp tones

4.   Drive adjusts sustain and harmonics
 
 

Always leave a battery connected to the battery snap or wrap a small piece of paper around it for insulation.

Questions?  Help?
E-mail us at barberelectronic@hotmail.com
Or call 410-374-5101

Thank you for purchasing the Direct Drive.
 

Like a lot of small-scale pedal builders, Barber has used basic Hammond-style enclosures for his designs before graduating to bigger and more unique cases with professional graphics as conditions would allow.  The Direct Drive is highly-reminiscent of the original versions of the Barber Tone Pump and Burn Unit, featuring a simple and durable casing with minimal graphics.  The footprint is identical in size to a Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive.

I might add that my particular unit is one of the early pedals.  Attesting to David Barber's accessibility and desire to please, I asked if he could make a basic plain black box version without graphics which he happily obliged.  He is also producing Direct Drives with very neat hand-drawn graphics (see below) and might eventually offer the unit in larger powder-coated boxes along the lines of the current Tone Pump and Burn Unit.  I do enjoy the uncluttered look of the Direct Drive and find it to be physically appealing.
 
 

The pedal feels sturdy, yet lightweight upon initial investigation..... most likely because it is not shipped with a 9volt battery.  In addition to battery power, a 9volt DC jack is hardwired into the unit (power supply not included) and works fine with a BOSS PSA-style adaptor or a unit similar to a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power.

As noted in the manual above, controls are Volume, Tone and Drive.  The tone knob pulls up to engage the "Fat Harmonics " mode.  Switches and knobs all exude an expected feel with good quality and smooth action.
 
 

The interior layout of the Direct Drive is very neat and professional looking.  Components seem to be organized efficiently and the unit looks as if it would be easy to service by a trained technician if needed.  I have yet to encounter any mechanical problems with my other Barber pedals after several years of considerable use. I would expect the Direct Drive to perform similarly.  The $99 price tag is not readily discernible in the high-quality vibe of the construction.

Let me preface this by saying that my preliminary experiences with the Direct Drive have been with 6L6 and 6V6-equipped amplifiers.

The Direct Drive is what I would call a very "tonally conscious" pedal because it preserves the essence of the particular guitar that is being used without imposing too much of itself onto the sound in an undesirable manner. While I have pointed out on many occasions that the purpose of an effect is to affect the signal, the Direct Drive does a fine job of supplying a wide range of overdrive textures without yelling out "Listen to me!  I'm a pedal!"  It seems to be a natural extension of the amp, so in a way, Barber has achieved his intent to create some amp-like attributes with this design.  He also set out to build a product that would work well with a variety of different amplifiers.

More specifically, the Direct Drive provides a wealth of tones ranging from a clean and mild grit to aggressive (yet not harsh) Marshall-y style tones.  Folks, this just might be one of the pedals that finally delivers on the oft-promised ability to do the Tube Screamer thing while effectively allowing the reduction of midrange and compression enough to get a truly "open" and useful Marshall-style tone in a pedal.  (I say might simply because tone is subjective and everyone's mileage may vary.  Furthermore, everybody uses different guitars and amps among other things in their signal chain.)  The Direct Drive does not get the heavily-scooped death metal tone from hell.  It does offer a very rich and harmonic level of gain that goes noticeably beyond the Tone Pump and Burn Unit.

The tone control is very good on this box and allows a lot of options...all positions complementing the gain structure of the design..  I find that settings in the 9:00 to 12:00 range roll off a lot of highs as one would expect, but it does not result in a muddy sound or loss of clarity.  I sense a stronger midrange as the tone is rolled back, thus I believe it is easier to get a nice TS-style response in this area.  As the tone control is increased, treble is more pronounced as one might expect .  Personally, I rarely dime the treble on a higher-gain box.... whereas I might prefer more treble capabilities from a clean booster.  As far as the Direct Drive is concerned, I think it has plenty of high-end cut for the sounds I like, but keep in mind that this pedal is still coming from the smooth part of town.  It does not have the brightness of some other pedals on the market at the highest tone settings, but the control still allows for a clear treble response.  In fact, I think the higher frequencies are what set this pedal apart from a lot of the other overdrives I've played (once again...especially in this price range).  The sounds are musical without resorting to the thin or "ice-pick in the ear" tones that many units exhibit.

The Direct Drive is quite responsive to the guitar's volume knob.  At higher pedal gain settings, there is a smooth transition from full-out raunch to semi-clean tones as the guitar's volume knob is decreased.  Picking attack definitely affects the intensity of the gain throughout all ranges of the Direct Drive.  This is a characteristic desired and found in many good tube amps, therefore the dynamics rating for this unit is high.  Chords also tend to retain a sense of clarity as the drive levels are increased.  This makes the unit ideal for power-chording as well as for fluid and sustaining single-note lines.  (The audio demonstration below should give a better idea of how the Direct Drive responds.)

To be honest, I feel there are other pedals available that will do a better pure and transparent clean boost than the Direct Drive.  Nonetheless, it is easy to get some very usable low gain sounds with just a tiny bit of breakup.  I found that with the Direct Drive's gain set to minimum , volume at 12:00 and the tone all the way up at the highest treble setting, the sound tended to lose some volume and fullness (versus the bypassed tone) while pronouncing an ever-slight nasal quality.  Moving the drive level up just  a hair above minimum to about 8:00 and up, though, resulted in much of the frequency range being restored with an accent on the bottom end.  This effect was accentuated with the Fat Harmonics mode in operation.  It's still not a transparent clean boost, but all of these sounds are very musical.  (At this moment, I will bow out of the tone description contest because it's all up to the listener.)
 

Switching seems to be on par with other boutique overdrives and reasonably quiet and smooth, though an audible "pop" is much more present as the switch is engaged at higher gain levels.

I have noted in the past that David Barber puts a product on the market and will sometimes make refinements or offer modifications to players who aren't getting exactly what they want out of a pedal.  Not only does this reflect pride in a product, but it also indicates a desire to make customers happy while improving the bottom line of sound quality.
 

Now, before I begin to sound like a million other Internet guitar hacks out there....let's quit using all these vague and subjective descriptions of tone and simply listen to the thing......
 

The following sound samples were recorded by Jason Barker using a variety of instruments including a John Suhr Strat-style guitar w/ 3 single-coil Suhr S-90 (soapbar) pickups, Gibson Historic 1957 Les Paul w/ '57 reissue humbuckers, and a Gibson ES-335 w/ '50s reissue humbuckers with through a Barber Electronics Direct Drive straight into a Carr Rambler amp.  They were recorded with a close-miked Shure SM-57 and fed to an Alesis ADAT XT-20.  There is no noise gating or suppression of any kind on these files, nor are there any other effects involved except for a little amp reverb.

SETTINGS	MP3 SOUND FILES
---	Introductory Comments
---	Footswitch & Noise Test
Volume-    12:00   Tone-   max    Drive-    7:30 [Fat Harmonics engaged on lead solos]	Clean Drive w/ Suhr Strat-style Clean Drive w/ Gibson Les Paul
Volume-   12:00 Tone-   4:30  Drive-    8:00 [Fat Harmonics engaged on lead solos]	Country Rock w/ Suhr Strat style Country Rock w/ Gibson Les Paul
Volume-    12:00 Tone-   4:00  Drive-   9:00 [Fat Harmonics engaged on lead solos]	Light Electric Blues w/ Suhr Strat-style Light Electric Blues w/ Gibson Les Paul
Volume-  12:00 Tone-   2:00  Drive- 11:00 [Fat Harmonics engaged on lead solos using Suhr strat.  None used on Les Paul sample]	TS-808 Killer w/ Suhr Strat-style TS-808 Killer w/ Gibson Les Paul
Volume-    12:00 Tone-   3:00  Drive-    3:30 [Fat Harmonics engaged ]	Vintage Marshall w/ Suhr Strat-style Vintage Marshall w/ Gibson Les Paul
Volume-    12:00 Tone-   max  Drive-    max  [Fat Harmonics engaged ]	Hot Modded Marshall w/ Suhr Strat-style Hot Modded Marshall w/ Gibson ES-335

 

The Barber Electronics Direct Drive is an absolute bargain at $99.  Will it make all other overdrive pedals obsolete?  In my opinion....no.  However, it is noteworthy because it is a very satisfying total package full of tonal versatility and the level of quality I've come to view as a Barber hallmark.  In fact, I will go on record here and say that the Direct Drive would make a realistic "desert island overdrive" for many guitarists because it will do very amp-like low gain textures and open up into a much more aggressive and equally-toneful realm minus the heavy compression that "limits" a lot of other alternatives.  It also does this with a very simple and intuitive control layout.

Nonetheless, if high-gain with compression is your thing a la Eric Johnson or Robben Ford, the Direct Drive's EQ and Fat Harmonics switch will offer up nice representations of those sounds.  David Barber has never been too coy about his admiration for the tonal response associated with the famed Dumble amplifiers.  Having been around Dumbles, I can say that while no pedal can capture the experience and feel of playing one in totality, the Direct Drive actually does a very credible job of approaching some Dumble-esque sounds at certain settings.  At $99, the Direct Drive rates as a no-brainer in my book.  As with most boxes, if you don't like it.....send it back!

David Barber has laid down the gauntlet to other manufacturers to build something of equal caliber in this price range.   The Direct Drive is truly a professional piece of gear.
 

For purchasing information contact Barber Electronics at:  barberelectronic@hotmail.com

or

Visit their Web site at:  www.barberelectronics.com  or call 410-374-5101