The 1981 DRV (And How To Use Rat-Style Distortion In Your Rig!) // Pedal Demo & Review

[@danpalance105]

Love that you played Be My Escape as an example!

[@grimlyfiendish7474]

Picked one up on Reverb for $150. Love it!

[@morganghetti]

Just built one for about 12 dollars.

[@tacdoc8736]

I held off for a long time, because of the slick marketing and I felt like they were selling a ton based on looks and limited availability alone. I couldn't have been more wrong and I'm really happy with mine. It's so much more than a RAT and considerably more versatile. It sounds great alone and stacks well with other pedals. The build quality is also top notch & It's built like a tank. Pretty much the opposite of the best RATs.

[@joelwilson7908]

It really takes the essence of the Rat but runs with it so much further. It's such an impressive piece of engineering, I think. Cheers mate!🤙

[@boimesa8190]

So how is this more versatile with exactly the same controls

[@0megalul309]

@@tacdoc8736 it's a simple cut knob, tell me your haven't played a rat

[@tacdoc8736]

​@@0megalul309 it's not the same as a Rat. It has a preamp and considerably different circuit architecture. I own multiple vintage and modern Rat varieties. None of them can do the low gain or more full high gain thing as well as the DRV. Nearly the entire sweep of the cut and drive controls is useful, unlike a Rat. Tell us you know nothing about pedal circuits..

[@0megalul309]

@@tacdoc8736 pedals are cheap solid state components designed to be a poor man's tube amp, it doesn't matter how complex or different the circuit is when it sounds the same in the end. I guess you spend more time on Instagram posting about your overpriced pedals when cheap pedals fundamentally sound the same in the end since your amp and cab have a bigger effect on your tone.

[@rascaltwitch22]

Have watched a few of your pedal reviews and have to say I really appreciate your review style, particularly walking through how the settings work/interact and demonstrating *how you prefer to use the pedal* in your signal chain. IMO, most reviews are too decontextualized to be all that useful, but you do a really nice job of adding the right amount of context back in.

[@Johnsalad]

One of the best 1981drv demo👍 Please do Brown Amp Protein next :)

[@joelwilson7908]

Hey mate, yes!! I'd love to do a demo on the Protein but unfortunately my local dealer is out of stock at the moment. I'm hoping I'll be able to pick up a Version 3 sometime soon to try out 🤟

[@jamesbohn9659]

I second that, the protein is something else. If you were in the states I’d send you mine to demo I have the 2.2

[@gafarbello107]

Was that “ This is a Call” I heard? Lol. And Be My Escape? Loved the tones! #Song2rips

[@joelwilson7908]

Hey Gafar, it was indeed! I wanted to use examples of artists/tracks that used Rat-style distortion for the playing and tone examples in this video so great catch mate! 🤙 (Although the rat may only have been used on the bass track for Song 2, but I'm not sure)

[@ivanlubinski6626]

I’ve never even heard of the 1981. But that was the year I was born. I do like Rats though. Good video and good sounding pedal.

[@joelwilson7908]

Hey Ivan, cheers mate! Glad you enjoyed 🤟

[@RicardoLopez-ce9cj]

Great demo and explanation of this great pedal. Sounds killer with the benson preamp as well.! Congrats!

[@joelwilson7908]

Cheers mate! Glad you enjoyed 🤙

[@calebgrundyson2688]

I got this pedal recently and am going to put it on my next pedalboard build! Thanks for the video!

[@joelwilson7908]

Hey Caleb, that's awesome mate! I'm sure it'll be great for you and let us know how it goes! 🤟

[@huntermulberry3095]

Dude, killer video. Great demonstration of many different settings with familiar tunes to provide context. Good job mate!

[@Clive007]

Fantastic demo, thank you. Love the Foo Fighteresque demos!

[@paulblanchet542]

Nice demo! Every time I hear a Rat style pedal, I automatically think of Soundgarden.

[@elijahnalley2458]

Relient K riff goes hard 🔥

[@James-kj9hw]

Appreciate the this is a call demo 😂. Exactly what i play with my rat

[@HerroYuy246]

Awww yeah throwing in that Relient K goodness.

[@Stboser]

This review is truly awesome… I hope you didn’t get de-monetized though

[@bellsclubsbarsandbows76]

My big question was gonna be does it Grohl but you totally answered that multiple times in this video 😂

[@carlostriana7557]

I did the same thing: just watched every video on KZbin and then bought it. It worked for me the first day, but I can see how it takes getting used to. I would recommend to anyone to just buy it right away even if you can’t demo it; you won’t be disappointed. This guy knows his stuff and it’s a great review :)

[@wolfsoto]

Sounds a lot better with humbuckers than it does with single coil. There's not enough body, in fact it's a thin sound with single coil. Especially when compared to other high end Rat clones pedals like Big Ear Woodcutter, Jam Pedal Rattler, Snobel Ratatouille, and Walrus Audio Iron Horse.

[@eliwilsonmusic]

Aye, some Reliant K in there! love it!

[@jan_777]

RELIENT, it’s RELIENT.😂

[@WillVRam]

The quality of your sound record is amazing. How did you recorded it? 6:30 nice 9:36 nice

[@geet77777]

seems like a sound you could get from almost anything but could easily get a better sound from almost anything too.

[@DoobTube71]

DudeAbides! 0 seconds ago I just bought a 1981 Inventions DRV overdrive pedal (gold w/ black text) off of Reverb and look forward to using it. I think 1981 Inventions need to do a “1994 Re-Inventions” Klon Centaur clone next, honoring Bill Fennigan’s design, using the same box and three knob control layout as the 1981 DRV layout! 🤣🙏🏼

[@eddieh311]

I just got mine and it sounds a little thin, even adjusting the cut knob. I'm gonna try out some of the settings you were using, as well as with different amp/guitar combos. I think after some experimenting I'll be pretty happy with it. Thanks for the awesome video!

[@salvadorsilva7253]

The sound from the first chord of “tasty overdrive pedal” sold me. WOW.

[@sashafury2422]

This was a solid and helpful demo, even if you say you're new to pedals. :)

[@stoneysdead689]

See- I kind of shied away from this because everyone kept calling it a boutique Rat and I had my old Rat from the late 80s, still working great- no need for that tone. But this is far more versatile than a Rat- and just sounds better to me. I think this might be my next drive. I'm working with an old Digitech DF7 right now- which does a Rat emulation- along with 6 other dirt pedals- but imo it just doesn't sound that great. Actually- you know what, it can sound amazing. The issue is that it has a parametric EQ for the midrange and if you don't 1. understand how to use a parametric eq and 2. understand how to set the midrange just right for each emulation- then you can't make it sound right. For instance, the tube screamer everyone knows has a midrange hump in it- so you know you need to turn the midrange up a bit for that emulation- but what frequency of midrange? Midrange can be busted down into a frequency band- and that's what this pedal does- and you have to select the frequency and then select to either cut or boost it. I realize it doesn't sound like much but- it's difficult to make it sound right., I would prefer to have the eq curve baked into the pedal- set by someone who has a great ear and knows what they're doing. I play- I'm not a sound engineer and don't want to be bothered with it. A simple tilt eq is fine with me.

[@SimonSawal]

Very cool how you've recorded this video

[@MrTaroo1]

Great informative vid man. Thank you

[@WhatsUpWhitey]

Great review!

[@cotton2173]

A video like this on the Death By Audio Fuzz War or Black Arts Toneworks Pharaoh would be cool!

[@TNTales]

How is the noise on this one? I tried the Wampler Ratsbane and it is incredibly noisy. Also with the way you describe the volume pot it sounds like it's pregain instead of output volume. So does the drive knob control output or is this designed where the volume hitting the circuit is also tied to output volume? Nice demo.

[@joelwilson7908]

Hey Chris, I haven't found the pedal to be that noisy, even when at higher gain levels. And from my understanding the drive knob controls the level gain that then hits the preamp circuit which is controlled by the output knob, which also controls the overall volume of the pedal. Hope this helps! Cheers 🤙

[@allanmiguel8319]

Bloody ripper tones mate! Do you use the class 5 and HRD in stereo? Can you please share your amp settings on both? Cheers!

[@joelwilson7908]

Hey Allan, cheers mate! Unfortunately I don't use the two amps in stereo but I have been looking into trying to stack the two recently, so maybe sometime soon! My settings for the Marshall are: volume 5, treble 10, middle 3, and bass 4. My settings for the HRD are: the clean channel with volume 2, treble 8, bass 6, mids 5, presence 8, and reverb at 3. Hope this helps! 🤙

[@ak2112]

Mate, RATs clean up great with your volume pot

[@mattg082]

Ooof…I just bought a Tone King and can be picky with some distortions. But have seen this one with that style Fender amp. It sounds so damn good! But the $250 price is a bit sticker shock…and I know I just bought a $2600 amp. But only distortion I have is on a Jekyl and Hyde V1. Overdrive is nice and I have the Morning Glory distortion. But this thing is an always on Indie Rock pedal as a main for all songs. I def have FOMO

[@the92project]

I think it’s fair to update about the reverb prices, it’s nowhere near that. The market is saturated with these pedals and you are lucky if you can get 230 for a used one. I’ve been trying to sell mine for 4 months with no luck.

[@watcherofthemundane]

If you can find one try a dod harmonic enhancer as a post boost

[@LewWelchThePoet]

🤘👍🏿

[@tendingtropic7778]

Can you please elaborate where you use this on your board now? Do I understand correctly you have another drive pedal before it, and one after?

[@deanbradley5499]

Kurt played a Boss DS-1

[@SturrStruck]

Was that relient k for a sec?

[@Subtle-System]

I also stack it with my conspiracy theory and sounds amazing... the 1981 an 0 on gain and the conspiracy theory to taste is my foundation taste ... and I gotta say I was also disappointed at the beginning ... didn't like the high end harmonix but a few days later I loved it...

[@GuitarBailey]

Switch your pickups to neck setting turn gain all the way up and treble all the way up thank me later

[@Felipe-pb9gu]

Is it noisy?

[@Ryane994]

Just bought a $40 clone of this, hopefully sounds similar to the real deal 🤞

[@salvadorsilva7253]

Thoughts? Where did you get yours?

[@Ryane994]

@@salvadorsilva7253 sounds good to my ears, just bought it on eBay as someone was selling it pretty cheap and the design is the same as the original 1981 pedal

[@BITESIZEJONES]

Sounds like it can get pretty fuzzy.

[@existDFN]

It would be the best demo of this pedal if you didn’t play that nirvana riff

[@lickysixx]

Esthetic is the last thing I consider when buying a pedal.

[@BananaMan311]

So Relient k

[@Fernando-ry5qt]

Sounds like a Turbo rat for me but.... ok

[@billwilkie6211]

Clean isn't clean

[@BigJayBrownTown]

I really hate that the “instagram guitar world” is a thing

[@joelwilson7908]

I can understand that, and I've been influenced a lot more in my pedal purchases by Instagram than I'd like to admit 😅 However, it's great for the possibility and reach that it gives boutique builders that they otherwise wouldn't have, so I guess, as with all things, there are positives and negatives. Cheers mate 🤙

[@CMHobbies]

Alot of good playing and quick lessons on there, though. Pros and cons, though it can turn into wealth porn.

[@0megalul309]

It only exists within pedals so that's thankful. I'll quit if people do cringy Instagram amps or guitars

[@Skkyyyyyyyyyyy]

This pedal however is very good. Have one of the first models and it’s incredible.