Arion MTE-1

Easy.

Standard 3 knob Stomp box

I'm actually reviewing a mod I did for this pedal

Not sure if the mod has a commonly known name but it was very simple.

In short, normally there are 2 diodes that clip the signal (One on the positive end and and 1 on the negative).

All I did was add an extra diode in series with one of the stock ones so that there were 2 on one side and 1 on the other. This should cause the waveform to become assymetrical (and hopefully sound like real tube clipping).

(If your looking at a mod to do for one of these, this is a good place to start since its so simple and diodes are easy to find/ultra cheap)


Just FYI, I've owned this pedal in its stock form for about 4 years now. Its been so good I never thought to mod it as I didn't want to alter the sound too much. Then I heard of this mod and it sounded brilliant so I tried it.

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OTHER GEAR:
DEAN ML w/ Duncan Distortion bridge stock neck pickups.

BOSS SD-1 -> TUBULATOR -> BLUE TUBE

I put these into the loop return on my Marshall MG100HDFX so I can bypass the preamp (and all the extra noise).
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The tone is still generally the same. Some people I've heard say it makes the tone slightly brighter..I really don't know if thats it, but I don't need to push the tone knob so high any more when I want a lot of bite. I think its just that the mids just come through clearer. It is subtly more aggressive but still retains its overall warm nature. It is a little sweeter. It's really hard to put it all in words because it is STILL a tubulator but at times it just sounds a little more alive and "3-Dimensional"

When I push it with my overdrive in front of it, the sounds are freaking awesome! In fact I think the differences are more apparent to me when it is being pushed. It's got more character overall. More juicyness. Sometimes when playing notes down low, there would be a sterile and lifeless *Thud* when I picked, this has been improved so the attack on bass notes is a little more toneful and musical. Pinch harmonics are tonaly fluid and never ear-piercing. I can't say much more than it just feels friggin' good to play it. It CUTS THE MIX Clearly and BEATIFULLY! It is seriously unbeleivable that sound like this is available so inexpensively!


Gave this a 9 for sound, but I mean 9 on a scale of perfection. The response is still a little bit slow for some harder chuggy-riffs but thats about it.

The only real drawback to the darn thing.

My gain knob is usually irrelevant. Unless I press down, it defaults to max gain.

My battery clip fell apart. I'm just powering it by squeezing the leads between the battery and the clip.


I'm glad these are so inexpensive but you've really got to maintain them carefully. However, I've never had mine stop functioning.

I've gone through lots of gear in the last 4 years. I never had the urge to drop this pedal from my rig. Its far to usefull for many different kinds of music.

I play classic and modern rock type of music and I play both rhythm and lead parts on this pedal. It is honestly the backbone of my gear. I would replace my tube preamp or my amp itself before I replace the tubulator.

I've played praise and worship music at several churches and seriously, I've had to play on a small 20 watt amp with 8" speaker but it sounded GREAT because I brought the tubulator along (this was pre-mod too)


I know its difficult and sometimes pointless to try to describe sound in words so if your curious and want SOUND CLIPS email me and I should have some available.

Super easy to use, like most distortion boxes. Turn the Tone and Dist knobs until you find a sound you like, and adjust the level appropriately.

I'm playing an Agile AL-2000 Les Paul copy into a Crybaby 535q wah, this Arion, a Boss Blues Driver, a Boss Metal Zone, and a Digitech Digidelay.

This pedal sounds great. When I first got it, I didn't think very much of it and let it sit on top of my amp for over a year. I just tried it again out of curiosity and wondered what on earth I was thinking dismissing it like that so long ago.

Doing an A-B comparison now with the Blues Driver, this thing can come so close it's UNCANNY. I matched up the settings on the two and it's ridiculous how similar this $15 plastic Arion sounds to a $100 Boss. The difference is subtle -- a little more roundness from the Arion, a little more clarity and aggressiveness from the Blues Driver. I would rate the Blues Driver a little better soundwise, so thinking of that as my gold standard, this is a 9. But honestly, if I had known this sounded so good before I bought the Boss, I don't know if I would have shelled out $100 for another overdrive. It's that good.

There are also mods for this floating around on the internet that are said to improve its sound even further. I'm really looking forward to seeing what this can do once I mod it a little, since it's already very impressive.

It's cheaply constructed, no doubt about that. One of the little battery springs inside mine has already fallen off despite it having been used very little. Luckily, I use a power supply :P On a pedalboard, this thing shouldn't have a problem lasting. If you're toting it around loose, you might have cause to worry.

That said, this is not a complicated pedal, so it would be pretty easy to transplant this thing into a metal box, put a nicer metal switch on it, and replace the pots and knobs with sturdier ones. It'd be a worthwhile mod IMO, but not vital to the pedal's survival unless you're really rough on your gear or transporting it without a pedalboard.

The company's out of business now.

I bought this pedal for about $12. It was a phenomenal buy at that price, and that's the context of this perfect 10 rating. Since then, its price has climbed considerably. I wouldn't recommend paying MORE for this than a Boss or an Ibanez, since it's basically a cheaper build of one of those, but anything less and this is one hell of a deal. With a little care this thing should last a long time, and a couple easy mods will put it up there with the best distortion pedals out there.

Turn knobs until you find the sound you like, quite easy.

my Chain is MIM strat>korg dt-10>small stone>MXR zack wyld overdrive>small clone>boss dd-20>line 6 dl4>boss RC20XL>Orange AD30.. I bought this pedal from a flea market with hopes of being about to make really nasty sounds with such a cheap pedal to use in loops. There is nothing nasty about this thing. Minutes after first trying it I was yelling "I finally found it" about my need for a good overdrive. It sounds quite good with the orange's clean channel, but when layered on the dirty channel this thing sings. I want to buy another one To be able to use two at once! No metal tones but indie, classic rock, southern rock, blues, etc. it thrives.

Its made of plastic, seems reliable enough but if it comes down to it even i could afford to replace it. I haven't had it long enough to judge too much..

Completely blew me away. if you see one, buy it.

Extremely easy to get a good sound out of, tone control well voiced.

This is the greastet distortion pedal ever!! It sounds so alive and has so much soul, it's everything I'd expect from an Arion!

I already have two Arions (HU-8500 Stage Tuner & SCH-Z Chorus) and they are built great. The Tubulator is equally as good. The man who got me into Arions has a HU-8500 and a SCH-1 Chorus that are about 15 years old!! Arions will hold together well for a long time if you don't abuse them (you're stomping a pedal not a group of Wolf Spiders)

Company's out of business and even when they weren't it was hard finding company information.

I bought this because a plug broke of in my chorus pedal's input jack and I had to replace it. But when I tried the pedal I bought I fell in love with it. Now it will be replacing my homemade Ross R-50 clone on my pedal board when I get another Arion to rip apart and fix my chorus. Can't wait for this amazing pedal to sit with my other amazing pedals: an Arion Hu-8500 Tuner, a Digitech Bad Monkey Distortion and an Arion SCH-Z Chorus (powered by the awesome Godlyke power supply). Another winner from Arion!

eezy peezy

this is definitely an overdrive, not a distortion or a fuzz, so buy it if that's the sound you're looking for. a "midrangey" kind of focus, and kind of gooey and rich.

I did the 808 mod on mine and I like it better that way. (details in the review just below me). stock it was good but kind of "generic" sounding. with the mod, which I ordered from ztone mods (great seller and a good deal) it sounds a little more refined and particular. it cuts some bass (you can change one cap for more bass if you want that) like an original tubescreamer is said to do, but the overall tone is quite pleasant, lots of harmonic overtones and character. sounds great with a strat neck pickup. I settled on the 808 mod, the stock JRC opamp (the replacement opamp sounded good with the asymmetrical clipping), the stock bass-cap value (might try the mod again), stock diodes (didn't quite prefer the asymmetrical clipping mod), the "nicer capacitors" mod, and the "slight gain boost" mod. ztone gives you all the parts for these. it's really just a few small changes

I should probably be spending money on small amps I can crank up to distortion, since that's the ultimate sound, instead of my OD/dist/fuzz pedal farm... but this thing was ten bucks brand new and I wanted to tinker with it, so I'm glad I have it around. I'll probably use it here and there, I've recorded it a bit. doing the mod was fun, it was fun to plug it in and hear the effects of all the little changes, and to get the experience

kinda similar to the vintage rat more than any of my other pedals. (reverend drivetrain - super smooth and transparent with full bass, throbak stonebender - 60s fuzz, white stripes fuzz, boss DS-1 - "distortion", nice and glassy yet bassy with grit; the rat - fairly warm, fairly full, fairly smooth, a nice all-arounder; and a nasty puke blue homemeade fuzz thing you don't need to read about). with the wah pedal my favorite is the DS-1 and the throbak

plastic jacks, plastic case, plastic everything, battery cover barely stays on. I don't think I'd tour with this thing

Very easy to use. 3 knobs: drive, tone, distortion.

I thought it sound Tubescreamer-like but it was weak compared to my custom TS-808. So I did the classic TS-808 mod:

Socketed the IC - put in an RC4558
Replaced R20 with a 10k resistor
Replaced R21 with a 100 ohm resistor
Replaced C17 10uF cap

Wow! It makes a HUGE difference. Definitely better gain and warmth. I A-B'd with my custom pedal and it's not quite there but good enough. I paid $150 for my custom. I'd put the Tubulator post mod at about $50-75 worth of improvement if I were to use my custom as the benchmark.

Pre mod, I give it a 7, post mod I give it a 9!

It's plastic... get over it! If you're not jumping down on it, you'll do fine. Take care of it and it will take care of you...

For the value, I rate it high. If you mod it, it's a 10! I'd definitely recommend a Tubulator as a cheap way to get a good Tubescreamer sound... especially if you mod it.

I've had mine for 9 years and it still sounds good . I got it in a dumpy Store in New Bedford MA. Back in 1998 I payed $12.99 for it I didn't like it at first but I had a crappy amp at the time then I got a peavy and it still sonded bad then I got a Fender amp that is when it sonded good.I play the Blues,Classic Rock,& Pop. It looks like cheep plastic junk but it's not I stomp on it some times and it lasted 9 years and I still play it every day when I first got it I Thought this thing will not last long I was wrong.

The sound Quality is good.

Good Reliability

Comstomer Support sucks

I am glad I got it.

Simple 3 knob pedal, level, tone and gain. Power supply sold seperatly (any old 9V will do).

This pedal reminds me of a tube amp with a rectifier tube, it's as if theres one inside the pedal. It has a softer, spongier character thats not grainy or spiky like other overdrive pedals. It's one of a kind and I do not belive there is another pedal that can get do what this one does. It's not a Metal pedal, great for blues and rock, classic rock etc. or Indy. It does seem to slightly dull the highs at times but this is mostly un-noticable. It complements tube amps real well, especially Fenders.

This is a cheaply built pedal, all plastic and would propobaly not hold up under abuse but for the price (often sold for $10.00) you could by several.

never used them

This probaly does not have a true by-pass when switched off and that would be nice.

Update to my submission 4 years ago - still going strong, great sound after counless gigs, turn the knobs and tweak

It's an overdrive with smooth harmonics, not for metal, great for classic rock and in lower drive setings kills for country leads - have used with various amps, seems to work best with tube amps, no noise, doesn't seem to suck tone in live situations, used primarily with gibson guitars (LP, SG, V) through either a Mesa Heartbreaker or Pignose G60VR (for smaller gigs)

I have depended regularly on it for four years now with no problems at all, usually about 30 hours/week usage

unknown

for the price, sound and reliability, it can't be beat - has outdone my boss and ibanez overdrives - been playing pro/semi pro since 1976, and I think this is some of the best money I ever spent

Very simple. Three knobs: Level, Tone, Dist.

I try for my own sound, so no favourite artists. This overdrive (it's not a distortion pedal) is very smooth and usable for all of the range of all of the knobs. Very clean sound, but there is some slight treble loss. I play a Squier Standard Stratocaster through a Fender Champ 12.

Yes, it looks depedable, but treat it carefully and buy a backup. It is cheap enough. I've had mine for two years.

Never dealt with them.

I play calypso-based music. It fits this quite well. Been playing on and off for 35 years. I would replace it if I had to. One of the top overdrive pedals in this price range. You can't go wrong. If you are thinking of buying it, do so!