Neo Instruments Drive In

The Neo Instruments Drive In is an analog overdrive pedal from NEO Instruments, a red stompbox built to cover the classic overdrive territory and then some. Neo Instruments says it gives you all the typical overdrive sounds, and that it can sound like the green original, a reference to the vintage green overdrive circuit it draws from. The maker also claims more than that: "thanks to its sophisticated circuitry, it offers a more open sound, that is more defined with clearer high frequencies."¹

Delicious Audio's review, with a demo by Mike Hermans, framed it as "a rich and nuanced medium gain drive for blues and rock players," and noted that it "masters the classic overdrive sounds, and is just as convincing at producing different distortion variations and a considerable variety of overdrive sounds."² The review added that it "has been designed to appeal to the more discerning player who loves rich, deep smooth sounds that blend wonderfully" into a mix.²

Controls and the Color knob

The Drive In provides the usual level, drive and tone controls, plus a fourth control Neo Instruments calls Color. That extra knob is the pedal's main departure from the classic design. "Whilst a classic tone control dampens the treble range of a classic overdrive pedal, the COLOR control on the DRIVE IN mostly changes the frequencies in the bass and mid range," according to Delicious Audio's review.²

Neo Instruments describes the Color control as "perfect for even more powerful overdrive sound," since it addresses the mid boost and bass loss rather than simply rolling off highs.¹

Using it on a board

The maker also suggests the pedal works as a boost into an already pushed amp: "By placing the DRIVE IN before amp distortion, you can easily change the sound spectrum and adjust DRIVE IN for different" amps.¹ The housing is described as rugged, protecting the circuitry, with a footswitch designed for tens of thousands of stomps.¹

Where it came from

The pedal's PCB layout is credited to "a special PCB layout by boutique guru Uli Rodenberg (Rodenberg Amplification)," according to Neo Instruments.¹ The name reaches back further than the circuit: Delicious Audio's review ties it to the drive in restaurant era, when, as the review puts it, "the sounds that a guitar could produce changed radically too," with amplifiers first overdriven and the first effects pedals introduced.²

For how the Drive In sits among its neighbors, see the site's pages on Overdrive Pedals, Distortion Pedals and Boost Pedals, or the comparison of the Boss SD-1 vs Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer.

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