Bring Back Barney! UPDATE

 Using every ounce of charm I possessed, I was able to obtain a new red Evans practice pad directly from D’Addario. I was advised that it would be the same as the original Barney Beats pad, but without Barney’s  image in the logo. The new pad just says “Evans RealFeel” and otherwise it’s the same pad.

My original Barney pad, at left. Stained and shows its beausage (“Beauty Through Usage”). At right, the new Barney pad, whose packaging still says “Limited Edition.”

There appears to be the same thickness of rubber on both pads in almost every place I checked, and the feel and weight are the same.

I noticed that the logo on the new pad is the same as that being printed onto the new 6” red Evans pad now being sold through Sweetwater Music. Does that mean that we may see a 12” Barney pad I’m them soon? I have no idea. But if enough clamor is raised through folks emailing and calling D’Addario (Evans’ parent company) to convince them to bring back the thicker red pad as a regular stock item, then one can hope. Meanwhile, if you have a red Barney pad, hang onto it. I’ve yet to see one sell used online.

Happy chopping!