Barber Electronics forum.

Here's my little, tiny and small review of the Barber BarbEQ pedal:



my amp only has one tone control which can either cut highs or cut lows. It can also be taken out of the circuit completely. This means my amp is quite mid heavy... which can be a beautiful thing when using a Fuzz or dirt pedal to get a really smooth tone - but sometimes you want that crystal clear Fender clean tone or a more scooped sound for crunchy stuff.

that's where this pedal comes in.

to begin with.. it is REALLY quiet. there's no added noise when switching the pedal on. this pedal doesn't only add one kind of tonestack to an amp but three. you can choose between a '59 Bassman tone stack, a '60 Blackface tone stack or a late '60 Marshall kind of tone stack. In the following file I'm going from Bypass to Bassman to Blackface and to Marshall - first with OCD - and then the whole thing again without the OCD to give you an idea how it sounds clean.

http://www.leftoverlasagne.com/demos/BarbEQreview.mp3

this pedal is REALLY great. I'm not sure if those tonestacks sound exacly like the tonestacks inside these old amps because a) I don't own those and b) it would be hard to know how much difference in tone comes from the tone stack itself.... but that being said all of them sound great... I like the Bassman and the Blackface setting the most... the Marshall one is great for dirty stuff though (as you'd expect - the bass is not over exaggerated like in the tweed mode)

there are however two small things that I wish were different.

the three settings all have a different volume so you can't simply switch between the settings without adjusting the volume control.

and the mid knob of the push pull kind which when pulled simulates the bright input of those amps. Another mini toggle switch would've been better from a user point of view. I simply don't like push pull knobs.... they feel flimsy and it looks stupid when they're pulled.

and one more thing (keep in mind though that most of my negative points are pretty small things) the plastic washer used on the footswitch is something I never like with any pedal. Is there ANY advantage to plastic washers at all? they look cheap and amateurish imo - metal washers ALWAYS look better and they've always worked for me just fine.

PROS:

noisless
versatile
three great sounds

CONS:

volume differences between the three different modes
push pull knob for the bright channel
plastic washer

Thank for the review!

The volume differences are due to the loading of each tone stack.

The push/pull switch is a matter of preference, there really is not much space left for additional toggles above the knobs. If we locate toggles too far below the knobs they get hit by footswitching feet.

The plastic washer does keep the switch tight without over-tightening issues. The switch manufacturer recommends the use of their washer (go figure). One known builder swears they prolong switch life by absorbing some shock (testing data please!) . Most importantly the plastic washers hold up well and keep the switch from coming loose, I care about function over ultra-prettiness.

Ronni puts metal industrial looking washers on his polished aluminum custom shop versions. Metal washers of your subjective choice can be had from McMaster-Carr for 5-10 cents.

Hi David,

yeah I figured that an extra switch might be harder to fit in... was just stating my preference.
maybe a mini switch right next to the input jack - where it makes sense...

and yeah I know it's easy to exchange washers....
however the funny thing is it's hard to find a place in europe that sells these especially without a footswitch as an unneeded bonus.

I can live just fine with the washer on the Barb EQ though... somehow the white lettering helps...

I think the plastic/nylon washer thing is fine. But, for some reason, I've always kinda thought they might be a "glo in the dark" plastic. Wouldn't that be cool? (No, David, I'm not actually asking you to do this--I'm just sayin' it'd be a cool idea. Your pedals are fine cosmetically as-is.)

Now, as for those "polished aluminum custom shop versions" that Ronni's making???? G.A.S.!!!

hobbyist789 wrote:I think the plastic/nylon washer thing is fine. But, for some reason, I've always kinda thought they might be a "glo in the dark" plastic. Wouldn't that be cool? (No, David, I'm not actually asking you to do this--I'm just sayin' it'd be a cool idea.

now that would be a good idea for gigging musicians - good thinking

I've always kinda thought they might be a "glo in the dark" plastic.