Thoughts On The Barber Gain Changer?

seems to read like a very versatile pedal, but the prices on them are not coming down. Looking for some input from users before I jump on one sight unseen.....

soundchaser59 said:

seems to read like a very versatile pedal, but the prices on them are not coming down. Looking for some input from users before I jump on one sight unseen.....

Click to expand...

GREAT pedal!! Great low - medium gain pedal. It can get pretty gnarly when turned up. Lots of tonal options, most are VERY usable. Yes, very versatile. Great price too. If I had to make some comparisons... not as creamy or mid heavy as an 808? Not as harsh as a TS9? Not as warm as a Timmy or Mojohand fx Rook? I've owned well over 50 overdrive / distortion pedals in the past 5 years, I've dumped most of them but will not dump the Gain Changer. Sounds great in front of overdriven or clean amps. I've used it to push my minirec gain channel into super saturated but tight territory and it sounds fantastic! Sounds great in front of my clean Marshall JVM to get a nice overdrive.

TimeSignature said:

GREAT pedal!! Great low - medium gain pedal. It can get pretty gnarly when turned up. Lots of tonal options, most are VERY usable. Yes, very versatile. Great price too. If I had to make some comparisons... not as creamy or mid heavy as an 808? Not as harsh as a TS9? Not as warm as a Timmy or Mojohand fx Rook? I've owned well over 50 overdrive / distortion pedals in the past 5 years, I've dumped most of them but will not dump the Gain Changer. Sounds great in front of overdriven or clean amps. I've used it to push my minirec gain channel into super saturated but tight territory and it sounds fantastic! Sounds great in front of my clean Marshall JVM to get a nice overdrive.

Click to expand...

Good to know. Sounds similar to all the reviews going around. Can't wait to try it. THANKS!

Had the gain Changer, but traded it in favor of the MI Audio Super Blues Pro.
Much more versatile pedal, although I've had all Dave Barber's pedals at one time or another.
(and all of Michael's too for that matter)

I stopped counting after 180 dirt boxes over the last 4 years.....

FLYING V 83 said:

Had the gain Changer, but traded it in favor of the MI Audio Super Blues Pro.
Much more versatile pedal, although I've had all Dave Barber's pedals at one time or another.
(and all of Michael's too for that matter)

I stopped counting after 180 dirt boxes over the last 4 years.....

Click to expand...

I'll have to check out the Super Blues Pro! I've owned a lot of MI Audio stuff and didn't care for any of it.

Had the Gain Changer for almost a month now. Unfortunately, as with every other Barber pedal I've had, I am having trouble bonding with it. When I set it to give me the kind of sustain I'm looking for, it is too gritty or fuzzy or something. It also sounds a bit compressed for my taste, compared to my other pedal. It's a nice sound, just not exactly what I was hoping for. I think the Barber pedal that I got most friendly with was the Small Fry, but I ended up letting go of that one as well.

It's not a pedal people hear much about on the forums, but the OD that's been on my board the longest is the Subdecay Supernova, and the GC isn't going to unseat that one. Since I don't need a huge variety of sounds, I'll most likely be parting with the GC.

Oh that's a bummer. Were you running the GC in front of a Boogie? Run it in front of a Fender or Marshall and tell me whatcha think! What I've noticed is that most Boogies just don't take overdrive pedals very well.

Yeah, I ran it in front of a Monsta Modded DC-3 and a Subway Rocket44 and a Mini Rec. Even though the GC sounded like a good pedal, the Mesa amps just don't seem to need it, it was kinda redundant since I could get a tone slightly closer to what I wanted just from the amp alone.

I used to have a Frenzel 5E3 and a Hotbox, and I'm sure the GC would sound great with one of those. Or in front of a Champ amp, it would probably be sweet.

OTOH, the Supernova seems to have a character to it that most amps don't offer, kind of a gutteral, visceral, clean grit sound that reminds me of early Terry Kath growl, and I think that's what I'm drawn to with it. Haven't been able to get that sound from any of the Mesa amps plugged straight in.