The Nine Volt Nirvana Dino Drive is a fuzz pedal from builder Joe Gagan. Guitar FX Layouts, which published a DIY tagboard layout for the circuit in November 2017, describes it simply: "Another fuzz from Nine Volt Nirvana, Joe Gagan," and "It's another modified Fuzz Face."1
What it does
As a modified Fuzz Face, the Dino Drive takes the familiar two-transistor fuzz foundation and alters it. The circuit's later commercial descendant, the Drunk Beaver Voznesensk Dino Drive, is described by Guitar Pedal X as retaining "the unique transistor gain stages and signal clipping that deliver an incredibly versatile range from a sweet, light drive to a rich, mid-gain fuzz and distortion."2 That places the design in territory shared with overdrive and distortion as well as straight fuzz.
The DIY layout
Guitar FX Layouts posted a vero and tagboard layout for the Dino Drive on 14 November 2017, making the circuit buildable at home.1 The site later carried a correction from a reader about the published layout: "I think I see a small error: the 2k resistor and 22 uF cap off of Q2's emitter connect to Q3's emitter rather than straight to ground."1
Builders working from the Guitar FX Layouts tagboard should note the reader-reported correction: the 2k resistor and 22 uF capacitor from Q2's emitter connect to Q3's emitter, not straight to ground.1
Related pedals
Nine Volt Nirvana's fuzz range includes other Joe Gagan designs covered on this site, such as the Nine Volt Nirvana Tone Dog, the Nine Volt Nirvana Nitroburner Fuzz and the Nine Volt Nirvana BrontoBoost. The Dino Drive itself is another modified Fuzz Face design, sitting alongside these as one of Gagan's fuzz circuits for the company.1
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Questions
What circuit is the Nine Volt Nirvana Dino Drive based on?
Guitar FX Layouts describes the Dino Drive as another modified Fuzz Face from Nine Volt Nirvana's Joe Gagan. The Fuzz Face is a classic two-transistor fuzz design, and the Dino Drive alters that foundation. The circuit later resurfaced in commercial form as the Drunk Beaver Voznesensk Dino Drive, which Guitar Pedal X notes was based on the long discontinued Dinosaural Tube Bender pedal.
Who makes the Dino Drive?
The Dino Drive is a fuzz from Nine Volt Nirvana, the pedal brand of builder Joe Gagan, as reported by Guitar FX Layouts when it published a DIY tagboard layout for the circuit in November 2017.
Sources (2)
- Guitar FX Layouts: Nine Volt Nirvana Dino Drive, Guitar FX Layouts (tagboardeffects.blogspot.com), 2022-11-27
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2026-04-22
