1981 Inventions DRV2 (No.3)

DRV2 is the new standard enclosure and circuit from 1981 Inventions — still handmade in the USA, and the most classic 1981 release rebuilt from the ground up.

Matthew Hoopes spent more than a year reworking the V2 circuit. Rather than exactly copying the original, he made deliberate changes — and in his words it's the best guitar tone he's ever had. It's now built in surface-mount (SMT) format, redesigned and engineered by John Snyder of Electronic Audio Experiments (who also designed the LVL).

The low end has far more thump, palm mutes are deeper and thicker, and there's a satisfying fatness to the whole voice. The noise floor is much quieter than the original while keeping the character of a real distortion. The CUT knob has been revoiced and is considerably less bright — you can roll it back below halfway without losing your head to high-frequency content.

At its core it's still the standard DRV circuit, with two circuits inside: one distortion and one preamp boost. Runs on 9V or 18V from a standard Boss-style supply; an isolated power supply is recommended. Battery clip and power supply are not included.

This unit: DRV2 No.3 — white enclosure with three coloured stripes. Hand-assembled in Nashville, TN.