What does it take to create a truly iconic drive pedal in the modern day gear world? Well, take one potent pinch of obsessive and ultra-meticulous tone chasing and mix that with a delightful dash of timeless design sensibility and you get the incredible DRV by 1981 Inventions.
Envisioned and brought to life by prolific “Relient K” guitarist Matthew Hoops in 2018, the DRV delivers an impressive range of driven tones, from jangly and chimey clean boosts that’ll bring any amp to life, to beautifully transparent and present overdrives and all the way to grinding and growling distortion. It’s all housed in a highly aesthetically pleasing enclosure that shows how effective true minimalistic design can be. The DRV is so far the only product in 1981 Inventions lineup, but it just goes to show that you don’t need more to make a name for yourself when you do things perfect the first time around.
“Unless you’ve been living under a wi-fi-less rock the last couple of years, then you’ve encountered the DRV. It’s been an absolute social media smash hit, so much so that you would think that this pedal is just a pretty face, right? Well, it is pretty, but the tones follow suit big time! Which is why I just had to have it. Once you’ve played and heard this thing in real life, felt the truly delicious natural compression and gloriously rich harmonics, then you’ll know why the DRV continues to be the talk of tone town.”
-Stefan