Diamond Pedals DRV-1 Drive Overdrive

We’ve long been fans of the gear that Diamond Pedals has been putting out for years, and they’ve been big supporters of Pedal of the Day since our inception. We recently got the chance to check out their Vibrato, which is hands-down one of the best we’ve come across – today, we’re going to switch it up and go into a bit of dirt territory. The DRV-1 Drive is is based on the J-Drive Mk3 from Diamond, but with improved low gain and a brighter voicing. Here we go!

Consisting of three control knobs, the DRV-1 has a fairly basic parameter setup. Gain sets the Overdrive level, and Volume adjusts the overall output. The Warmth knob, however, is not just any old typical tone control, no sir. The circuit here acts as a low-pass filter coupled with gain boost as the frequency drops, resulting in a unique and welcome sonic flavor. The brighter tones come at lower settings on this knob, while both darker tones, bigger harmonics and more gain are produced as it is turned up.

There’s a toggle switch on the DRV-1 as well, labeled “BRT” for Bright. This allows you to switch a high shelf filter in or out of operation, with the Down position increasing the treble to brighten up humbuckers or dark-sounding amplifiers. The pedal itself has been overhauled to really improve those low gain sounds, along with re-voicing to bring out some natural brightness and a more overall open sound.

Following in the footsteps of the Diamond Drive, Drive SE, original J-Drive and J-Drive TR pedals, the DRV-1 Drive continues Diamond’s quest to create the ultimate overdrive, and they just keep crushing it with each new model. Going from a mild overdriven sound to a heavier, amp-driving powerhouse tone, the options that await are numerous and exciting. Cheers once more to Aimish and the Diamond Pedals‘ crew for yet another well-crafted, responsive and beautiful-sounding effect, one that’s sure to turn heads for years to come. Be sure to hear it in action in our demo video below, and stay tuned for more rad Diamond pedals coming to Pedal of the Day very shortly!