Anyone familiar with both the BB preamp and Direct Drive?

  • Thread starter Thread starter argonaut4
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argonaut4

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I'm looking for a new boost and have tried and really liked the Barber Direct drive. I love how it doesn't change the tone of the amp.

How does the BB preamp compare?

I have a ver.2 OCD that I'd work in a trade if anyone has either for sale. :yes:
 
I work at a dealer for Xotic, Barber, and Fulltone too.

The Direct drive is more in your face and thicker
VS the BB which has a bit of compression on the attack and is a bit brighter


ALSO.. The Barber pedals are consistant as hell
But the Xotic stuff will vary a bit ( I have owned 4 BBs & 3 RCs!), all will be in the ballpark, but have a bit different vibe.

That said, I have 2 BBs (1 is a back up) that are my go to pedals... Pretty much all I use as a boost
Though I like the Direct drive better with some amps (VHT comes to mind)

Hope it helps!!
 
yo man,
i have both.

bb can get much more sinister and compresses in a legato-ey way if set that way. i hear more stringy marshall zing in the bb.

the direct drive has a drier feel, which can be good if your amp is inherently thick sounding.

but you can also set the direct drive for a really cool mid gain dumbly vibe with the tone knob pulled.

i bought the DD because it was half the price of the maxon OD820 although i liked the maxon better due to increased headroom, more controlled mids, wider bass, and not having to push the gain as much on the 820 to obtain the same amount of single note looseness, but scored a cheap 820 on ebay so the dd is sidelined for now. they are both tube screamer like, but the maxon is more SRV blues, and the DD sounds more snarly in the mids and voxy to me.

and after using the bb for a while, i returned to my tonebone classic for a more sax like lead tone
 
Thanks Lance and Pat! Your descriptions are very helpful and much appreciated.
 
mentoneman":3a2d6 said:
yo man,
bb can get much more sinister and compresses in a legato-ey way if set that way. i hear more stringy marshall zing in the bb.
Click to expand...

Yep!
 
PLease more info on said Direct drive..

i am interested!

Brae
 
Like most pedals I'm sure it depends upon the amp you're plugging into. With that said I like the DD better! I'm using the DD straight into a Suhr 18 watt Badger amp. The DD sounds bigger and more open than the BB. The BB has more of a compressed feel which is not a bad thing. The DD also sounds more organic through the Badger. Every now and than I'll break out my OD pedals and compare them to see if I can dethrone the DD. Hasn't happened yet and heres the list of pedals I've put up against it.

Keeley modded rat
Keeley modded TS9 baked mod
Keeley modded SD-1 5 star
SCOD
OCD vs.1
BB preamp
Zvex box of rocks
(Forgot to add in) the MI Audio Tube Zone

I have an HBE Power Screamer on order so we'll se if that can knock the DD off my pedal board.
 
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