Arion MDS-1

its easy as shitting to get a good sound out of it bro. plug the sukker in. i wouldnt change anything in this
there is a manual. that is fine. somethings are misspelled but i dont thrash the ppl maken em! they got gameboys ta make!

i get sortof a warm, good distortion out of it, like everyone has benn saying, its like... well basic distortion, if u want juss a backup or just the sake of having a pedal like i did, y not? its distortion fer cheep, and i havnt got any feedbak n im using a firstact for my practice amp! i love the sound this thing comes up with tho. real nice, basic. i run it thro a paul stanley apocalypse and an epi les paul standard and this thing rele lights up, man im tellin yea its worth the mone. i mainly got it for my crate powerblock cuz i wasnt sure of the distortion that was going to have, but i am pleased with both of em

well, i depend on this thing, i mean, it feels like a FEW TIMES u could literally stomp on this thing, but its not a ds-1 that EVERYONE has. i couldnt afford that shit at the time, and personnaly, didnt rele want a steel grungy pedal, i thought id wait, but i guess waiting is over. i would use it AS a backup at a gig, but at most gigs i dont even use a pedal cuz im scared as hell peeing my pants skared to death of a crowd of 20. playing for 2 years makes that even sadder, but i have the ability to play lamb of god songs (not rele on this pedal tho, i usually play my cousins rig, hes got loaaaaaads a money, hes got more pedals n amps then a friggin music store.) its pretty reliable for what u expect a 10 dolla pedal to b

never never. dont go to them. rip ur own stuff apart if it breaks. have some fun. get solder in ur eye.

i love it, you will too. buy this stuff, gnarlysickradphycidellic dude.

3 knobs and a foot switch about as easy as you can get.

Sovtek Mig 50s and strats.I use 3 types of distortion,a tubulator,Ibanez TS 7 and this pedal.The tubulator gets me the softer violin type sustain and tones that i like for fusion.The TS 7 gets me a harder edged tone of the tubulator and the Arion MDS 1 gets me (what i consider over the top,for me anyway),the distortion for songs that require a lot of rapid power chording.It can also get you in the ballpark if you're doing some early ZZTop stuff once you've turned down the dist. level to about 9 or 10 o'clock.I bought this on a whim just to see what it was like since i like Arion stuff.And even though we don't do a lot of songs that require this type of distortion it's a good add on just in case.Once again,it beats Boss hands down and for the price,you can't go wrong.What i don't like about this pedal is the same thing that i dislike about Boss distortion and many other distortion pedals and that is (too much of a clipping diode section) buzz.They have a tendency to sound like an early Peavey amp fuzz circuit.Synthetic almost.If you use it with a compressor or a reverb it does take a little bit of the buzzy buzz away and that,i can live with.For this reason i have to give it an 8 for sound quality.

It's never broken but we'll see.After all,it is a plastic case.

Never had to use them.

Blues based rock and roll with some fusion.I've been playing for 33 years.If it were stolen i probably would not replace it simply because i really have no use for this type of distortion.See above comments.

Three knobs...Level, Tone, and Distortion. Hm, this sounds familiar, just like any other distortion pedal.

I've seen more simplified pedals, but if you can't work this, then you're in trouble.

Not bad actually. At least not for fifteen bucks. I was expecting some HORRIBLE, trashy, thrashmaster/metal maniac/DOD Grunge type of thing, but nah, this thing is quite alright. I'd say this is three times as good as any of those DOD Grunge and Death Metal pedals are. It sounds like a beefed up DS-1 with lots of highs and midrange, and lots and lots of fuzz.

It pretty much sounded like an equal plain between my DOD Classic Fuzz (think a tamer, more natural sounding Big Muff) and my Mesa/Boogie Distortion channel on my Behringer GM110 (heavy, rough, destructive, thick distorted tone). Add a little high end and a tad of shrillness and you have the characteristics of this pedal. Like I said, not bad for fifteen bucks.

uhhhhhh I've never really trusted Arion pedals. The footswitches are cheaper than food stamps and if you dropped it on cement from five feet up or more, it would be history. That's why I'm trying to weed out all of my Arion pedals.

I play alternative and hard rock. This thing rocked my world for awhile. However I already had my desired distorted tone so I sold it for some cash.

It was fun while it lasted. I almost contemplated keeping it because it was such a neat little box. It totally shreds when you crank the tone knob to full and rip it up on the high registers. On the other hand, if you throw the tone knob the other way, and play some palm muted Drop D powerchords, you'll have sludgemania.

This thing is unbelieveable for $15. This is probably the BEST distorted tone you can get in this price range. It totally womps the Danelectro T-Bone; that thing is a shame to distortion pedals. It also sounds better than the DOD Death Metal and Grunge pedals. I wouldn't pay more than $30 for this though, you might be disappointed. The $15 smacks you pay for it is worth the curiosity alone. And hey, if worse comes to worse, and Musicians Friend won't take it back, sell it on eBay for a profit! I did!! ;-)

God Bless!!!

easy , 3 knobs

Sounds a bit sterile and fuzztonish to me , but thats compared to the Arion tubulator which has a much more natural sound. I guess this thing sounded pretty good for very distorted sounds. I may just prefer an OD pedal to a distortion.

its plastic and smells like an automobile tire , but seems ok enough as long as you dont dance on it or spill beer on it.

arion doesnt exsist

It only 15.00 and would probablly suit many players needs who dont need more warm tube like overdrive. In the below review it mentions the tubulator having the same chip. These 2 pedals dont sound too much alike to me. Still a good value

too easy.
its the good ol' 3 knob configuration. Level, Tone, and Distortion (should have been labled "fuzzy-ness)

I am basing this rating because i was expecting a simple distortion. i spent only 20 bucks, but figured it would at least cover the simple bases.

now, it sounds more like a fuzz than distortion. sounds great for single-note riffs on the low strings, and lead actually sounds o.k. but dont even bother with palm-muting chords (or hard metal). it reaches a high distortion level, but it is so fuzzy and loose. i didnt expect a tube-amp sounding distortion, but at least a little clarity when palm muting chords. now if i would have been expecting a fuzz, i might give it a better rating.

not to mention the computer-like distortion. if you do try to palm-mute a little ditty like this for right before the chorus:
P.M.---------
-----------------
-----------------
--7-7-7-7-7-7-7--
--7-7-7-7-7-7-7--
--5-5-5-5-5-5-5--
-----------------

you loose definition. you can still tell its a chord because of the pitch, but you cant hear definate nuances. not to mention if you play that slowly, you hear a metallic "ping" with each muted chord.

i wouldnt gig with a 20 dollar plastic pedal. i'm not knocking it, i knew what the build was like before ordering.

i dont know

if you need a cheap fuzzy sound that is very hard for single-note riffs, this pedal is o.k. for practice. but stay away if you play any rock'n'roll.

you cant really roll back the distortion level for a lighter distortion, the only change is down about 3 and then you still get the computer-like metallic ping, only a little less harsh.

but for the price its got its place, i dont hate it. i just cant use it much. not very versatile at all.

3 knob,level,tone,distortion

Bought this out of curiosity for 20 bucks at the Friend.Oh Yeah!Has the JRC4558D chip and is very smooth,not bright sounding,transparent and you don't loose the bass.This is as good as many pedals 3 times the price.I use this with the Arion MTE-1 Tubulator which also has the JRC4558d chip and emulates an overdriven tube amp quite well.I recommend both pedals.Played 35 years and I'm using a Peavey 120 watt 212 Ranger with a Strat.

These should sell well since they are priced right and have a great sound.I play rock and blues and it's good for both.Has decent sustain without running over itself and the tone is not lost.Recommended!