ATTN: Barber Tone Press Owners

[polishcomedy]

I got one recently, and am having trouble figuring out what some good setting on it are, especially in correlation with specific amp settings, and according to style of music. Could you guys help me out? As of right now I'm not sure it was worth the purchase. My amp sounds great when I'm slamming some clean crisp funk, but when I hit the tone press i lose a lot of edge, and it just sounds kinda mushy. I thought it was supposed to make the notes pop. Should I adjust the pot inside the pedal? What does the sustain knob do really? Thanks!!

 

[plan-x]

I have never even adjusted the internal vintage trim. As for the external knobs, I was setting the blend at 10:00, the sustain at 2:00-3:00 and the vol. set to match the off vol or unity. This setting is pretty transparent but adds some sustain. Noticable by hitting a chord and letting it ring/sustain, while turning the pedal on or off and hearing the difference in sustain vol appearing(on) and then disappearing(off).

Using the same settings but increasing the vol up more starts to drive the amp (boost) into some more saturated semi clean tones. You can further clean boost by turning the blend all the way to the left, 7:00ish and vol above unity and to the top. This pushes the amp into some natural OD. Also the settings work in the drive ch pretty good.

The setting I'm using at the moment is blend at 12:00, Sustain at 3:30, and Vol at 2:00 which is about unity. This works good for pushing a low/med gain (pedal or ch 2, or both) into a sweeter slightly higher gain. Of course it's sound is more compressed and is great for chord or lead work. Increasing the vol, just pushes it further.

Hope this is some useful stuff and remember, this is a subtle effect pedal, the blend moving to the left will help regain lost dynamics.

 

[creekhed]

I set my blend about 9:00 or 10:00
Set my Volume a TAD above what it would be with the unit off
Set the Sustain pretty high...3:00 or so

It IS transparent and I would NOT play without it...it's subtle but REALLY REALLY NICE!

 

[polishcomedy]

One thing I noticed is the sustain knob adds a LOT of noise. When I turn it past 12 it becomes really apparent. Would you guys agree this is a noisy pedal?

 

[djw]

One thing I noticed is the sustain knob adds a LOT of noise. When I turn it past 12 it becomes really apparent. Would you guys agree this is a noisy pedal?

No more than would be expected. Compressors, like distortion boxes, are noisy, especially when set to increase sustain. Ain't no two ways about it without using a fancier unit that incorporates a gate as well, but even this won't kill the increasing buzz as your note decays (until you've cut your signal); the exception would be something that selectively cuts certain frequencies, and THEN you're really messing with your tone. :shock: Not worth it at that point, to me anyway.

To the contrary, my experience has been that the Tone Press is hands down the quietest and (most importantly) most transparent-sounding compression pedal that I've used. It's not silent, but it's darn quiet for what it is. However... I use my TP more as a boost than a sustainer. I set Volume around 2-3:00, and both the Blend and Sustain at 9:00 -- so just a hair of compression & sustain, but most of the money goes into pushing that input. I have not messed with the internal trim pot.

You're using a tele, and I'm assuming those are true single-coil pups, right? It's definitely going to be buzzy, no question... but that's to be expected, isn't it? The power at some venues will exacerbate this problem more than others, but it's a simple fact of life.

 

[thirstypirate]

Did you buy it new or used?

The reason I'm asking is because a previous owner might have changed the internal pot. To get the most open sound it should be turned fully clockwise. As you turn it counter-clockwise the tone gets more squashed and dark sounding.

 

[polishcomedy]

Did you buy it new or used?

The reason I'm asking is because a previous owner might have changed the internal pot. To get the most open sound it should be turned fully clockwise. As you turn it counter-clockwise the tone gets more squashed and dark sounding.

Brand New. I'm gonna mess with the pot later.

 

[plan-x]

New ones are usually set to the open feel, not the vintage comp.

 

[polishcomedy]

music equipment is funny. i don't know what i did today, but adjusting the knobs on the tone press didn't add any noise, even with the sustain cranked.

 

[ja22y]

What does the sustain knob do really? Thanks!!

In principal, it keeps the volume at a constant level as a note is decaying (dropping in level) by increasing the volume accordingly. Much like when you hold a note and turn your guitar volume knob up to keep the note going. The side effect is as you boost a low level signal, you also boost the floor noise.
The Tone Press is not super quiet but not noisy to me. Sometimes a simple thing like a bad connector/solder in one of the patch cables can introduce noise.

 

[thirstypirate]

What does the sustain knob do really? Thanks!!

In principal, it keeps the volume at a constant level as a note is decaying (dropping in level) by increasing the volume accordingly. Much like when you hold a note and turn your guitar volume knob up to keep the note going. The side effect is as you boost a low level signal, you also boost the floor noise.
The Tone Press is not super quiet but not noisy to me. Sometimes a simple thing like a bad connector/solder in one of the patch cables can introduce noise.

It also knocks down the volume of a loud note.

 

[Billo]

LSS 112 combo newby here. Used the tone press with my old amp, but can't bear to use any of my pedals with this beauty. Also have a Barber Custom B Cool and Launch Pad...none of which are even close to being used as I'm still way in a honeymoon/overwhelm phase. Too busy playing with the amp to take the time to dial in the Tone Press with this rig...seems as though there is some compression inherent with this amp? Did try backing off the internal pot half way...no help... agree too dark.

 

[plan-x]

Nice stuff, and welcome aboard.

 

[polishcomedy]

LSS 112 combo newby here. Used the tone press with my old amp, but can't bear to use any of my pedals with this beauty. Also have a Barber Custom B Cool and Launch Pad...none of which are even close to being used as I'm still way in a honeymoon/overwhelm phase. Too busy playing with the amp to take the time to dial in the Tone Press with this rig...seems as though there is some compression inherent with this amp? Did try backing off the internal pot half way...no help... agree too dark.

I noticed that, too. I saw a lot of people raving about the Tone Press, especially in conjunction with this amp, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I backed the blend off a little and bumped up the sustain, and I've got the volume at about unity or slightly higher. I really like the sound now, although for ultra skank rhythmic strumming I like it better off. It's great for country, and rockabilly, and some other things, though.