Origin Effects RevivalDRIVE User Manual

4
Introducing the RevivalDRIVE
Boost, overdrive and distortion pedals come in many flavours – there are probably more of
them out there than all the other types of effects pedals put together. But for us, and for
many others, the ultimate overdriven sound comes from plugging straight into a vintage,
non-master-volume valve amp that’s turned up loud.
When we decided to design an overdrive pedal of our own, this is the sound we wanted to
capture. But what if we could reproduce the sound of not just one amp but many, with
controls that would allow you to explore the differences in tone, dynamics and playing feel
that are the result of each amp’s circuit design? With the RevivalDRIVE, that’s exactly
what we’ve done.
Another motivating factor behind the RevivalDRIVE was to address a shortcoming of
most, if not all, overdrive pedals. Whether consciously or unconsciously, pedal designers
will usually voice an overdrive to work with their own amp of choice. If you happen to use a
different style of amp, then you’re out of luck. Either you’re left with a sound that’s too
harsh or too muddy, or you end up sacrificing the amp settings you’d really like to use for
your clean tone to accommodate the overdrive pedal.
We’ve built a range of EQ adjustment features into the RevivalDRIVE to make it flexible
enough to sound great with any amp – or even a flat-response power amp – with no
compromises.
HOW IT WORKS
With the Cali76 compressor, we took the sound and response of the legendary Urei 1176
studio compressor and reproduced it in a pedal, following the same analogue circuit
topology but adapting the components to work in pedal format. We’ve applied exactly the
same approach to the RevivalDRIVE.
Unlike the majority of overdrive pedals, which feature a relatively simple circuit that
combines EQ with gain and clipping stages, the RevivalDRIVE is a complex device that
recreates the entire signal path of a valve amp. This includes not only the preamp, phase
inverter, power amp and rectifier stages, but also a synthesised mains power signal and a
speaker-emulating reactive load.
In developing the RevivalDRIVE, we analysed a wealth of classic British and American
amps to find out what made them sound they way the do. We examined circuits, plotted
frequency response graphs and, most importantly, we listened.

Origin Effects RevivalDRIVE Specifications

General

Bypass	True Bypass
Technology	Analog
Inputs	1 x 1/4"
Outputs	1 x 1/4"
Power Source	9V DC power supply (not included)
Input Impedance	1 MΩ
Output Impedance	1 kΩ
Type	Overdrive
Controls	Output, Blend, Highs, Lows, More/Pres, Gain
Channels	Mono