The dsm-noisemaker Drive Maker is a drive pedal with an octave up effect and a footswitchable boost, built by Chile's DSM Noisemaker, a company that made its name with the OmniCabSim cabinet simulator1. The maker positions it as a response to current trends in boutique pedals and recording gear, aimed at players who want to find their own voice through control over touch, harmonics and dynamics2. Physically it is a compact unit: Bass Musician Magazine's reviewer Jake Wolf described it as "a pedal roughly the size of a bar of soap"1.
What sets it apart from a standard overdrive is the combination. Alongside the drive circuit you get an octave up effect the maker describes as covering "sitar tones to sax-like textures, down to weird fuzzy drives"2, a boost of up to 30dB, three clipping modes, and an internal FX loop for hooking up other pedals.
Controls and what they do
The Drive Maker's control set covers gain shaping, EQ, the octave effect and noise management. The maker's page and the Bass Musician Magazine review together describe the following1:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Gain | Somewhat clean boost at low settings up to a full-on saturated drive at the upper limits1 |
| Level | Overall master volume for gain staging1 |
| Voice | Pre-gain tone control: bass boost at minimum, treble boost at maximum, flat in the middle2 |
| Mid switch | 700Hz scoop, 800Hz to 2kHz boost, or flat response1 |
| Boost thumbwheel | Up to 30dB of continually variable boost1 |
| Gate | Noise gate that tames higher saturation tones1 |
| Clipping modes | OD, DIST, BROKEN2 |
| Octave modes | Low, Normal, High1 |
The Voice control is the distinctive one. Because it shapes the tone before the gain stage rather than after it, its position changes how the drive circuit reacts, not just how the pedal's output is EQ'd. Flat in the middle, it leaves the drive character alone; toward either end it pushes the circuit harder in that part of the spectrum2.
The three clipping modes and the octave
The maker describes the three clipping modes as follows: OD for transparent, soft clipping characteristics, DIST for higher gain, more aggressive tones, and BROKEN for a unique, very asymmetric clipping that responds to your picking style2. In the review, Jake Wolf found OD to be "a lower gain creamier OD that offered a variety of soft clipping overdrive sounds," while the higher gain Dist mode "serves up considerably hotter, more saturated sounds"1.
The octave up sits on top of the drive circuit and has three modes of its own: Low, Normal and High. Wolf found the Low position "adding a little less of the upper octave sound with a slightly different midrange characteristic," while the High octave "brings in a ton of upper harmonic content and in is the most interactive with the higher gain drive modes"1. For players chasing fuzz-adjacent textures, that High octave plus DIST is where the Drive Maker gets its most aggressive sounds.
The boost and the internal FX loop
The boost is footswitch activated and delivers up to 30dB, set by a tiny black thumbwheel21. That is a large amount of extra level by pedal standards, enough to push an amp or another drive pedal much harder, and the thumbwheel means it can be dialed back to a smaller push.
The internal FX loop is the feature that makes the Drive Maker work as a hub. It lets you plug other pedals into the Drive Maker so that they activate together when you engage it, rather than requiring separate footswitch taps. The loop can also be assigned to the boost channel only, so the looped effects come in only when you hit the boost2. The review also notes the pedal has a 1/4" FX loop that allows you to plug other pedals into it1.
The FX loop assignment matters for how you build a board around this pedal: with the loop assigned to the boost channel, your looped effects (a delay, a reverb, anything you choose) switch on with the boost footswitch rather than with the main engage switch2.
Using it with bass
The Drive Maker is not guitar-only. An internal switch lets you choose between two types of output voicings, one designed to work with guitar frequencies and one with bass2. Bass Musician Magazine's reviewer, writing for a bass audience, concluded:
"Bass players should definitely consider the Drive Maker when looking for an overdrive pedal for their rig, especially"1
The quote is truncated in the published review, but the recommendation is directed at bass players who like to tweak, which fits a pedal with this many switches and voicing options. Players comparing dedicated bass drives can also look at DSM Noisemaker's own Sub Atomic X-Over CMOS Bass Drive, a bass drive/distortion pedal with a Drive Voice switch offering High Boost, Mid Boost or flat response options on its high side3.
Where it came from and how to get one
DSM Noisemaker is a Chilean builder whose profile rose with the OmniCabSim cabinet simulator, a tweakable cab sim whose design philosophy is to let the user create their own cabinet response settings rather than rely on presets1. The Drive Maker extends that tweak-everything approach into drive territory. The maker's page lists the price as $249 USD plus shipping, and directs players who cannot find a dealer to contact the company directly, noting this applies to Chile only2.
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Questions
Can the dsm-noisemaker Drive Maker be used with bass?
Yes. An internal switch lets you choose between two output voicings, one designed to work with guitar frequencies and one with bass. Bass Musician Magazine's reviewer recommended it to bass players looking for an overdrive pedal, especially those who like to tweak.
How much boost does the Drive Maker give?
The boost is footswitch activated and delivers up to 30dB, set by a small black thumbwheel. The maker describes it as a continually variable boost, so you can dial in less than the full amount.
What do the OD, DIST and BROKEN modes do?
OD gives transparent, soft clipping characteristics and lower gain, creamier overdrive sounds. DIST is for higher gain, more aggressive and more saturated tones. BROKEN is a unique, very asymmetric clipping that responds to your picking style.
What does the internal FX loop do on the Drive Maker?
It lets you plug other pedals into the Drive Maker so they switch on together when you engage it, instead of tapping each one separately. The loop can also be assigned to the boost channel only, so your looped effects come in only with the boost.
Sources (3)
- Review - DSM Noisemaker Drive Maker Pedal - Bass Musician Magazine, The Face of Bass, Bass Musician Magazine, 2017-07-16
- DRIVE MAKER, dsm-noisemaker.com
- Sub Atomic X-over CMOS Bass Drive, DSM Noisemaker
