1981 Inventions is a Nashville, Tennessee-based boutique guitar pedal company founded by Matthew Hoopes, guitarist of the rock band Relient K. Hoopes launched the brand in 2018 after spending four years developing his debut pedal, the DRV, a RAT-inspired low-gain distortion pedal designed and engineered in collaboration with Jon Ashley of Bondi Effects. The DRV features a unique dual-circuit design — a distortion circuit paired with a fixed-level always-on preamp — that occupies an unusual sonic territory between clean boost and full distortion. The first production run sold out overnight, and the pedal quickly gained a cult following, with dealers dubbing it "unobtainium" due to demand far exceeding the handmade supply.

The company's second pedal, the LVL, is a full-range overdrive with a circuit designed and engineered by John Snyder of Electronic Audio Experiments. 1981 Inventions also produces special editions and variants of the DRV, including the DRV2 and the MMHMM 20th Anniversary edition, which pays tribute to Relient K's 2004 album Mmhmm — the record whose guitar tones originally inspired the DRV circuit. Every pedal is hand-built in Nashville by Hoopes and Jack O'Shea, guitarist of the band Bayside, and released in limited batches with unique colorways, each unit hand-numbered and tested before shipping.

1981 Inventions has 3 products cataloged on Equipboard, including Distortion Effects Pedals and Overdrive Effects Pedals. Their gear is featured by 13 artists, with the strongest followings in Rock, Pop, and Reggae. Notable users include Jack O'Shea, Frank Iero, and Ray Toro.