Sinvertek Drive N5 review

Need a dirty channel for your clean amp? Take 5 with this superlative distortion pedal

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Sinvertek Drive N5 review
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Guitar World Verdict

A super-tweakable distortion pedal that offers a wide variety of drive tones and actually fulfills the promise of an extra gain channel for your amp.

Pros

  • +

    Comprehensive gain structure.

  • +

    Does both US and British drive styles.

  • +

    The mode select switch is a formidable weapon.

Cons

  • -

    Could be too much bottom-end for some amps.

  • -

    On that note, you might want to check out Sinvertek's new Drive N5+.

You can trust Guitar World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing guitar products so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

Countless drive pedals purport to cram valve amp sound and dynamics into a stompbox, but results vary widely. 

You may be skeptical of similar claims from Sinvertek - the company behind the TG Best Buy-winning Fluid Time MK II analog delay - that the Drive N5 acts as a ‘tube amp overdrive channel’, but this feature-rammed stompbox is one of the few that actually delivers on its promise.

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Michael Astley-Brown
Michael Astley-Brown
Editor-in-Chief, GuitarWorld.com

Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism from Cardiff University, and over a decade's experience writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as 20 years of recording and live experience in original and function bands. During his career, he has interviewed the likes of John Frusciante, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello, Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Joe Satriani, Tom DeLonge, Ed O'Brien, Polyphia, Tosin Abasi, Yvette Young and many more. In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.