1981 Inventions DRV Overdrive Distortion

The 1981 Inventions DRV Overdrive Distortion is a small-batch overdrive/distortion pedal designed by Matthew Hoopes and Jon Ashley¹. It began life as a mod of the RAT distortion circuit rather than a from-scratch design, and it has been sold only direct from 1981 Inventions, in small-batch colorway drops, since the first run launched late one night in 2018 and sold out by morning¹.

For a player, the DRV sits in the territory between an overdrive and a full distortion: a RAT-derived circuit voiced and refined into something reviewers have treated as its own sound rather than a clone. Delicious Audio described it as "sonically unlike anything I have ever heard, especially in the lower gain and boost settings," with "a subtlety that feels more like a vintage pedal than a modification of a classic"².

An overdrive built on the RAT circuit

The DRV's family tree runs through the RAT. Delicious Audio reports the pedal was "born as a mod of the RAT distortion circuit"², and Guitar.com's 2019 review credits Hoopes and Ashley with turning that starting point into a pedal the site rated 10/10¹³. The circuit has since been documented by independent builders: Tagboard Effects' layout of the DRV notes the build details down to the wiring, including dual links on the board where two wires are needed at one point⁴.

What that lineage means in practice is a hard-clipping distortion architecture, the same broad family as the RAT, but re-voiced. The maker's own variant pages describe the standard DRV circuit as the base that later mods depart from: the DRV MONO runs the standard DRV circuit⁵, while the MOD 2 HYPERFADE changes it with a considerably larger input cap for more low end, which the maker calls very noticeable, and a hybrid clipping section using two different diodes, a bat41 and an LED together⁶.

Colorways, reruns and limited versions

The DRV is as much a series of drops as a single product. Guitar.com's review noted the pedal came in "vaporwave, blacked out, pink, solid silver or any other of the myriad colourways offered," with the reviewed unit being the original design on white¹. RockBoard's PedalPedia catalogs the colorway runs side by side:

The bass version deserves its own note. 1981 Inventions describes the DRV BASS MOD V2 as one of several released DRV BASS iterations, a distortion pedal that "just makes your bass guitar growl," usable as an always-on pedal or for added low-end thickness. It runs lower gain overall than the guitar DRV but can get into near fuzz territory while retaining more clarity and punch than previous versions³. Players comparing it against the standard DRV will find it a related but distinct voicing for bass.

The Professional DRV w/ DeLorean was the first variation of the DRV to offer its spec, and the third DRV version the reviewer had owned¹¹.

What reviewers said

The DRV has one of the strongest review records of any small-batch overdrive of its era¹²¹³¹¹:

• Guitar.com, December 2019 (Michael Watts): rated the DRV 10/10¹².
• Guitar.com, 2020 year-end awards: "Far more than an Instagram sensation, this is one of the best overdrive units we've ever heard"¹³.
• Guitar.com, 2023 (Jason Mays, reviewing the LVL): recalled that the DRV was given "a rare perfect score when we checked it out in 2019"¹²¹⁴.
• Pedal of the Day, April 2025 (Professional DRV w/ DeLorean): "the Professional DRV w/DeLorean might just be the best version yet"¹¹.

Pedal of the Day has also praised the standard DRV across its coverage, describing it in 2023 as a pedal with "a lot of meat and potatoes to it" and urging players who had never tried one to make it a priority¹⁴. The same outlet's 2025 review noted that in the seven years since its release, the DRV had been "at the top of many 'best of'" lists¹¹.

The DRV earned strong notices from the press: Guitar.com gave it a rare perfect score when it reviewed the pedal in 2019¹².

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