A couple times a year, the entire pedal community gets in an uproar about the latest and greatest effect that’s just been or is about to be released. Admit it, you’ve probably gotten caught up in the hype at least once or twice, no? One of the big fellas this year comes from 1981 Inventions, and is the focus of our review today. The DRV is an overdrive and distortion pedal, one with a look inspired by a certain time-traveling vehicle that needed to get back to 1985. Not only does it look sleek and futuristic, is sounds really, really good….the hype is real here, folks.
Designed as a collaboration and with engineering by Jon Ashley of the famed Bondi Effects, the DRV features uniqueness in both design and sound. The three controls present are DRV, CUT and VOL, with DRV adjusting the gain, CUT acting as a treble cut control and VOL setting the output level. The DRV and CUT knobs are intrinsically connected, very interactive and full of a multitude of settings and tones to explore. The CUT setting acts very differently depending on where the DRV is set, so constantly moving and tweaking these two parameters is key. As for the VOL, the DRV wants to be played LOUD, so feel free to let it rip, but know that it can also be mellowed out for in-home/bedroom use.
As for the sound/tone here, it’s kinda hard to pinpoint where it sounds the best, or with which settings. As everyone’s tastes, gear and setups are different, it will be solely up to us as individuals to determine how to use it to its maximum potential, but for only having three knobs, the sonic choices available are beyond count. With the DRV control down lower, the CUT works to even out the sound as you turn it up; conversely, as you crank the gain, the CUT will help with auditory balance as you back it off. With each small increment of adjustment for all three knobs resulting in differing results, you’ll never be bored figuring out how to utilize this pedal in your favor.
The DRV also features an internal charge pump, to double the voltage while using a regular 9VDC adapter, improving the quality of the sound and beefing up the drive at the same time. We decided to add a little power and distortion to an otherwise mellow tune in the demo below, attempting to showcase how good this pedal can sound even when used in a somewhat unusual setting, but it can work for country, rock, doom, pop and more, adding sparkle and shine to any rig you mix it in with. Cheers to Matt, Jon and the 1981 Inventions team for a spectacular-looking and amazing-sounding overdrive distortion – don’t forget to click below (and subscribe), and then go and order your own ASAP (if you can, the small batches sell out pretty quick!).
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