Barber Electronics forum.

Has Barber ever tried a pedal with an actual tube as the drive or distortion,sort of like Maxon/Ibanez has done with a tube series pedals...The guitar pedals blend a subminiature tube stage with a solid-state distortion circuit. Unlike other tube overdrives, these overdrive pedals employ a unique "pre-tube" circuit configuration, where the tube comes before the solid-state distortion circuit in the signal chain. By cascading the tube stage into the distortion stage, a more realistic tube-amp tone is achieved. The result is a warm yet powerful guitar tone that is extremely interactive with the player's performance and responds exactly like a hard-working tube amp. I do not have a dirty bomb yet but i will..and i would love to have the tube warmth with a tube air feel...as a tube amp repair guy myself i was just wondering has Barber ever dipped into the tube field?.Besides the echelon tube head?....not that you guys need to..I would rather have a barber Delay "hint!! hint!!!....

Man after that selling pitch I should try one...

I never really like those units with tubes in them... I save that for the amp.
That's just me...

Ronni wrote:Man after that selling pitch I should try one...

I never really like those units with tubes in them... I save that for the amp.
That's just me...

From what I read(I'm not much of an electrician or engineer) the big problem with them is most people don't get the plate voltage for the pedal right, and it melds real ugly with the amp. I tried out an EHX English Muff'n(had two 12ay7s) and it did have that amp-like attack to it, but the EQ was really nasty. I'd never encountered a pedal that had ugly bass, treble, and mids all in one package.

There are a few that have done well though, I think Kingsely makes one, and there's another called the Stage Hog, but I saw the gut shots, they might as well be amps(tube tech. pedals seem to get pricey). It's basically adding a nice pre-amp to your amp, but then why not just have a nice amp, ya know?

I don't know anything thing about tube circuits that aren't for overdrive though.

Jerich wrote:Has Barber ever tried a pedal with an actual tube as the drive or distortion,sort of like Maxon/Ibanez has done with a tube series pedals...The guitar pedals blend a subminiature tube stage with a solid-state distortion circuit. Unlike other tube overdrives, these overdrive pedals employ a unique "pre-tube" circuit configuration, where the tube comes before the solid-state distortion circuit in the signal chain. By cascading the tube stage into the distortion stage, a more realistic tube-amp tone is achieved. The result is a warm yet powerful guitar tone that is extremely interactive with the player's performance and responds exactly like a hard-working tube amp. I do not have a dirty bomb yet but i will..and i would love to have the tube warmth with a tube air feel...as a tube amp repair guy myself i was just wondering has Barber ever dipped into the tube field?.Besides the echelon tube head?....not that you guys need to..I would rather have a barber Delay "hint!! hint!!!....

I have nearly 30 years of repairing, modding and designing tube amps, I love them! but Tube pedals just don't get the job done (what is that super popular tube pedal?). The output impedance of the plate is too high, opamps to convert the imp defeats the purpose of the tube, not to mention the weight, price, size etc...Tube amps sound fat and warm, tube pedals just miss the mark...so far.

I am not allowed to design any more overdrive or distortion pedals for a little while, dealers want wah, delay, whoosh whoosh, bamp bamp bamp, first.

see...that's what I like to hear a commitment to the tone of the amp.... every manufacturer and designer has been copying the holy grials of pedals...it is always good to see/hear of atleast some people go outside the box...Like Barber Electronics...as a pedal junkie/Beta Consultant for a few pedal manufactures, i am always compelled to try every pedal i get my hands on and there are a few i enjoy..but there are far more that are plain JUNK!! heheh!! I always compare my pedals to my DD or SS....it seems to be my rule of thumb..I was just wondering how everyone felt about the involvement of these new tube pedals...Thanks Ronni...n...Mr.Barber!!

My list of greats....

Barber Electronics-so far everything i have i lOVE!
Brian Wampler-OD
Myth Effects-Boost
Vox electronics (saturator,Time machine)
Ibanez -Airplane flanger
Keeley-MT2 Mod
damage Control-"demonizer,& "Womanizer",& "Glass Nexus"
Pigtronix-"echolution"

Tried to post a couple of days ago, but it did not work.

Anyway, I have an all tube Matchless Hotbox and it works well and sounds nice. Is there something different about these that makes them work better?

thanks

dc

Why would David want to ruin his great sounding pedals by using tubes?

DC1 wrote:Tried to post a couple of days ago, but it did not work.

Anyway, I have an all tube Matchless Hotbox and it works well and sounds nice. Is there something different about these that makes them work better?

thanks

dc

Lets see if we can help answer your question, can you post a sound clip of the matchless into an amp set to a "squeaky clean" tone so we can hear just the pedal's sound? That will help us talk about the sound you are hearing better, and allow for better informed discussion by all.

I wish I could. Sorry. I've been out on a big project and now I have to write a proposal for another one. (I design systems and studios)

I play it through my Blues Star amp, set totally clean and the distortion sound is really nice. Big, clear and powerful. A very nice sound. I don't know how he is driving the line, but it works.

I may be able to record something next week.


take care

dc

David Barber wrote:I am not allowed to design any more overdrive or distortion pedals for a little while, dealers want wah, delay, whoosh whoosh, bamp bamp bamp, first.

If they are as good as your dirt pedals, bring them on... and let me test them first