DRV MOD 1

Blog, Deep Dive, Gear Nerds, etc

Hey everyone! I just had a lot of thoughts, and thought of some things that I'd like to write down and thought I would do it over here. I realize that not all of you may be pedal nerds / fanatics / guitar players in general, so I’ll try to keep this relatable, but I’m also going to give myself space to speak in a little longer form that I typically do. Also, this post is not meant for commerce, but I will provide a link at that bottom if this sounds like something you’d be into. I’ve recently opened up some more slots for this release, and the final number will be right around 100 units, making it more collectible than most.

My pedal company 1981 Inventions has been such a positive thing in my life. I’ve learned so much, challenged myself, expanded my range, and did some really difficult tasks along the way. I’m very grateful for the opportunity to do this, and I think about that every day. I love building guitar pedals, working with guitar pedals, and putting a part of myself out there into the world (although doing that is usually the most difficult part for me to do). Some things I’ve done are exhausting, some things require a lot of blue-collar Ohio grit, which I luckily have a little of. I realize that I could have taken easier paths along the way, and I’d like to think that I’ve learned something through my mistakes. I’ve struggled with the company becoming part of my ego, and I’ve fought back against that, through awareness and presence mainly.

Ok, so a little story time about what I’m doing right now. I had worked on and off on the concept of my first pedal, DRV, for about four years before its release. I can honestly say that without Jon Ashley from Bondi Effects, that I don’t think any of this would have been possible. Not only did he design and engineer the circuit, he connected me with people in the industry, helped me figure out my business model, production, and even taught me to solder via FaceTime from Australia lol. The last few tweaks of the circuit took me the longest to decide on. Mainly the low-end cutoff, the amount of preamp gain going into the distortion, and lastly, the minimum gain of the distortion side (the DRV knob). In hindsight, this was one of the most embarrassing examples of my ego getting in the way. What I mean is that I had a tight grip on my own control of one particular decision, one outcome, and I think I was kind of an asshole about it. I can also see now, I was in a triggered state. Jon and I disagreed on this one part value, and it really threatened our long-term friendship. Luckily, I was able to let go in a peaceful way. I was able to see that he was right, and that regardless, it was important defer to his experience and insight in this decision. So the standard DRV is what it is, and it is great. But I am doing this project as a bit of a what if? And I have Jon’s blessing to do this by the way…we are still friends, and actually have some ideas for a collaborative effort this year that I am really stoked on.

Why MOD?

One thing that I’ve learned about designing a pedal, is that it is a little bit like mixing a song. Meaning that making one small change can affect the entire thing. If you’ve ever modded pedals, or mixed a song, I think you might understand what I’m talking about. It’s like, you change the level or the compression setting on the overheads, or the bass, or EQ the guitar differently, and all of a sudden, everything is out of balance. Now you can’t hear the lead vocal, or the kick drum, or the overall sense of the mix changes in an undesirable way. I also think this is a beautiful balance when you get it right, whether on the mix of a song, or on the design of a piece of gear. I’m happy to say that even years later, I still love and use both of my pedals all the time (DRV + LVL). I haven’t gotten sick of them, and I think that has a lot to do with how much time and effort I put into making sure that they were great on the front end.

For DRV MOD 1, changing one part not only changes the lowest gain threshold of the knob, it actually changes the entire range of the pedal. It’s overall a bit darker, warmer, fatter, the range of the CUT (tone) knob is slightly different. I think that for most people this will be a welcome change, and I honestly love it, but honestly I love it just as much as the standard circuit. It’s clearly a little different, but I think in a good way. The only complaint I typically hear about the sound of DRV is that it is maybe a bit too bright for some people, depending on the rest of their rig, and how bright they set the clean tone on their amp, what guitar they are using, etc, etc. So I think that this change addresses that issue nicely.

ZERO-GAIN MODE

Ok, so this is a bit of an Easter Egg, a secret boost, and I think it’s really cool, although like everything, it won’t be for everyone. When you turn the DRV knob (gain) all the way off, at the very bottom of the sweep of the knob, all the gain just goes away. When this happens, you are only hearing the preamp section of the DRV circuit (which is always on). The voicing of this particular circuit is a bit dark sounding, because the preamp was specifically designed to add warmth and thickness to the distortion side. So essentially it was never meant to be heard alone, but guess what? I think it’s actually pretty cool sounding! In order to get a usable sound in this gain-off mode, you need to completely turn down the CUT knob, which is a high-cut. Then on the VOL knob, as you may have guessed, it is best when it’s very loud, or extra points for all the way up! In this mode, you are getting almost zero clipping from the diodes or op-amp from the distortion side of the circuit, and it is extremely punchy, raw, and thick. I like to compare it to a really nice sounding solid state amp, when it’s pushed just beyond the point where the speakers can handle it. As you can imagine, this is preferable for people who play raw styles of music, even blues, etc, but is also very cool into a distorted amp, or pushing another gain pedal. With another gain pedal after, you can get a sense of how the DRV preamp affects other gain stages, and that in itself is a really cool thing.

A NOTE FOR BASS PLAYERS

While I have been asked countless times to make a bass-specific version of DRV, I have not released one. I’m not a bass player by trade, and I think I thought it would be easier to tweak, but, as mentioned earlier, tweaking can have some unintended consequences to the overall sound of the pedal. So, long story short, I have never released an official BASS DRV version, although there are a few prototypes out there in the world and on tour with some of my friends’ bands. Anyway, what I’m getting to, is that while this DRV MOD 1 is not specifically formatted for bass guitar, but it is very cool sounding. Throughout the range of the pedal, I think the darker voicing helps how it translates on bass guitar. But, on the zero-gain mode, it actually has very little to no low-end loss. I have several bass playing friends who use this mode as an “always on” part of their bass signal, and they tell me that they love it! It’s more subtle than the distortion side of the circuit, but it’s also unique.

WHY NOT LVL?

Exactly, my second pedal, LVL, has taken on several forms before the final version. It started as a boost. I wanted to tailor the preamp from DRV to be a standalone circuit initially, but as the process went on, and after trying several different approaches, I landed on the current LVL circuit, which in my mind is a bit more of an overdrive than a boost. There is a subtle midrange bump that increases as you turn up the gain, as well as no perceptible loss of low-end, even on a bass guitar in my opinion. Even as low-end is shelved as the gain increases, the perceived low-end stays constant. I can’t hear a difference even running it on a bass guitar direct. I am currently working on producing more of LVL, but have been in a bit of a lull after the board house I was using lost their lease. But don’t fear, I will be making more!

pictured: an early prototype of LVL

OP-AMP OPTIONS

One last thing that I included on this release, is three different op-amp options. These were essentially my favorite ones, after trying as many as I could get my hands on when developing the DRV. Of course there are others that you may like, and I approve of trying different things out if you already have a DRV! Just for fun of course. I still love the original TL072 op-amp, and still go back to it as my favorite. The difference between the other two options, and any that you might want to try isn’t night and day, but it is definitely noticeable, in the feel and sound. I haven’t heard of other pedal companies including different op-amps to try out, and this won’t be an ongoing thing for the future of DRV production, but I thought that some people might enjoy messing around with it and feel a part of what it feels like to tweak a circuit.

A QUICK RUN THROUGH OF THE OPTIONS INCLUDED

TL072 - This is the standard, probably my favorite overall. It has a warm and soft low-end character, is very clear, and does the job nicely.

NE5532 - This one is used in one of my all time favorite pedals - the Bondi Effects Sick As. And while it doesn’t necessarily cause DRV to sound more like a Sick As, it adds a different midrange character, and tightens up the low end. Palm mutes become a bit more punchy, with a little more push, and a little less smoosh (to be technical), but it’s also a very good sounding option, clearly!

OPA2134 - I’m also making this one “Hi-Fi”, just for fun! This is a higher fidelity chipset, made by Burr Brown, and has a lower noise floor. I’ve previously only used this chipset in the Nickel-Plated DRV LTD version, as well as the recently released “PROTOTYPE”. This series will also be limited, and even further differentiated sonically. This version gets a little smoother on the midrange, warmer, fatter overall, and reacts noticeably different in zero gain mode, where it is even cleaner.

Also, something I’d like to include, which I will go into further detail about in the future - is highlighting the differences between the DRV and the RAT. I may have done something wrong by initially expressing the inspiration for DRV, and I hear some people call it a modded RAT, but it really isn’t that at all. There are similarities to be sure, but there are no typical RAT mods used, and many differences. I bring this up now to highlight that if you try the fabled LM308 (RAT) chip, I think you will find (like I did), that it doesn’t sound very good in the DRV. lol. This is mainly due to an elegant filtering stage, designed by Jon Ashley, which was meant to mimic that high end loss that occurs in some of my favorite RAT pedals, which we traced to the fact that the LM308 op-amp was just not operating in the normal tolerance in my favorite ones.

Bonus points for anyone who made it through this! It isn’t often that I allow myself to write in long form about gear, and I plan to do it more. Let me know if you enjoyed this! Anything you’d like to hear about?

As always, thanks for reading, listening, creating, and for strumming your guitar.

-Matt

Grab one of the last remaining DRV MOD 1’s here - and I love the standard No3 color enclosure, but hit me up if you’d like this circuit in a different box and I’ll see what I can do.