EarthQuaker Devices ⋅ Barrows ⋅ Product manual ⋅ English ⋅ 🇬🇧

Barrows

Controls, jacks, and indicators

The Barrows features two elegantly simple controls that unlock a universe of fuzz possibilities:

Level

Use the Level control to adjust the output volume of this device. Unity gain sits around noon, but you’ll find plenty of volume boost available when you need to push your amplifier into blissful submission.

Attack

This is where the magic happens! At lower Attack settings, this device provides singing, amp-like distortion with superb touch sensitivity. As you rotate the control clockwise, the circuit transforms into an increasingly aggressive fuzz monster, building to crushing, sustain-drenched tones that seem to go on forever. The wide range of this control means you can find everything from gentle breakup to full-on sonic annihilation.

Pro Tips

For best results, place this pedal first in the signal chain. Like most classic fuzz circuits, the Barrows has a very low input impedance and works best when it sees the guitar directly at its input.

DO NOT PLACE A BUFFER BEFORE THIS DEVICE.

This device responds beautifully to your playing dynamics and the guitar’s volume control. Try rolling back your guitar’s volume for cleaner tones, then dig in or roll the volume up for more aggressive textures. The germanium transistors give Barrows a uniquely musical response that reacts to your touch like a living, breathing entity.

Switching

Barrows uses mechanical true bypass switching.

Power supply

Current Draw

10 mA

This device takes a standard 9-volt DC power supply with a 2.1-millimeter negative center barrel. We recommend using a pedal-specific, transformer-isolated wall-wart power supply or a power supply with multiple isolated outputs. Pedals will produce extra noise if there is ripple or unclean power. Switching-type power supplies, daisy chains and non-pedal specific power supplies do not always filter dirty power and may result in unwanted noise.

Do not run this pedal at higher voltages!

Technical specifications

Input Impedance

10 kΩ

Output Impedance

100 Ω

Technical specifications

Product height symbol
44 mm
Product width symbol
51 mm
Product length symbol
 mm

↻ 2026-06-14

Jamie Stillman

This manual was written by Jamie Stillman. Jamie is the founder, president, and lead product designer of EarthQuaker Devices.