Barber Direct Drive

[ocelot]

Does anybody know about these pedals ??

[j0shua]

Do you have any link or picture.... ?

i never hear before!

[ocelot]

http://www.barberelectronics.com/directdrive.htm

Somebody was raving about them on

http://www.tdpri.com/

[Ben N]

I have never seen a schematic, but I have and use the pedal.  Very nice build quality.  Based on statements by Dave Barber & others, it is a TS variant in which the bass is de-emphasized before the clipping stage and then boosted back up to get a >/< flat eq.  Clipping is symmetrical.  The basic character of the pedal is supposed to be like an overdriven vintage amp, with a minimum of compression and no mid-hump, and I think it gets pretty close.  Not a stunning sound, but a very useful one, IMHO.  Noise is quite moderate.  I paired it with a SD-1 for basic rhythm overdrive from the Barber with a boost in front from the SD-1 for leads.  I don't know if it is still in the archives, but there was a more detailed thread either here or at Ampage a while back--do a search.
Ben

[ocelot]

Just wondering if it was just another TS variant.

A schem would be nice to look at any one out there ?

[cd]

It's not a TS variant.  Barber makes excellent products at reasonable prices (and contributes here and other forums from time to time) - look for a deal on a used one.

[Rob Strand]

It depends on how you define a TS variant.

It's less of a TS variant than say a FullDrive for example, and it doesn't have a TS tone control,  but it is an opamp + diode clipper sort of deal.

Check out the GMArts overdrive it's a bit more like that with the addition of feedback clippers on the first opamp and different post clipper EQ (yes, more of a bass boost)

David Barber made a request to the group to keep schematics off the web.

[Xavier]

Just purchased a DDSS one week ago. Not a TS clone for sure, but still is an opamp based OD. Really, sounds close to a Rat. It is like a refined RAT (clearer highs), but with a little less gain. When tested side by side, the difference was surprisingly small..... I thought it would wipe the Rat off my board, but it won't. The internal trimmers are useful but I have found that the setting I like the most is all of them at "zero". I don't get the harmonics trim, it doesn't seem to have a noticeable effect other than mudding the sound. The bass trim is tricky to use, as it seems to add kind of a sub-bass frequency, it is hard to explain. The presence control lets more highs into the clipping section, but it gets piercing when you go past 12:00. I'm gona try some mods on it.

oh BTW, as the opamp comes socketed, I tried some of the Burr Browns I ordered and you know what? I couldn't tell the difference. OPA2604, 2134, TL072.......all sounded the same to me.

[Ben N]

Close to a Rat?  Hmmm, I don't get that at all.  To me, a Rat is compressed, constricted and heavy, and the DD (I don't have the SS version, but my understanding is that it is pretty much the same pedal, with some more tweakability) is very open and uncompressed.  Also, the drive ranges are quite different, with the Rat pretty much picking up where the DD leaves off.  But that is with vintage style single coils, so I could kind of see where higher output pickups may get something closer to what you are describing.
Ben

[swt]

hope that people respect Dave's request about posting schems, at least on this forum. I'm still thanking him for his "stacking op amp thread". My ts and rat are amazing with that.