Arion MTE-1

Very easy, just don't be gung ho and go cranking the dials too high then wonder why it sounds like turds.

Sound quality is great.
I've owned this pedal for a few years now and having compared it to about a dozen others, it's by far the best pedal you can get for overdriving an amp, granted that amp already has a good distortion and voicing. Raunchy harmonics and detail are attained with this pedal. If your amp is versatile, you can use this pedal for any style.
It sounds like the old Rocktek DIR-01, it's probably the same circuit.

It's a far better pedal than the wide variety of tube screamers out there. I did however slightly modify mine. Put in a better chip and changed the tone capacitor but that's it.

It's a plastic budget pedal but will serve well in the band room and bedroom. It's worthy of the stage but you'll likely be replacing it once a year or so.

I've been playing a long time and modding/building gear long enough to know what 99% of players want from pedals used to overdrive their amps dirty channel and this is it.

The only thing I REALLY dislike is it's plastic. The circuit could be refined a bit more but in this case I simply mean better parts, not actually changing the circuit design.

I know it's a cheapo but you should really pick yourself one up if your need from a distortion pedal is to push your amp over the edge.

It's not difficult even if you're absolutely unfamiliar with the concept of dials. Although they are similiar to buttons, they are not the same, but are no more challenging. I suppose the LED will help some with unclear hearing. Electricity or a battery will be needed. My pedal came with a battery which I found very self-explanatory. To activate the pedal you press the 'pedal' and to deactivate the pedal you can simply, again, press the pedal.

I tried this effect with both tube and solid state amps and had good results with each. Tube is obviously better to many people, but the effect is a warm distortion and has an agreeable sound with my small transistor practice amplifier. I was going to take it apart and fool around with it because it was so cheap, but I ended up kind of liking the sound and have used it to dirty up some recording chains, and also just to jam out at low volumes but with an overdriven sound.

I think it sounds better than many other overdrive pedals, with many much more expensive stomp boxes sounding worse.

It is not "true bypass" and when meticulously compared to your signal without it in between your guitar and amp it is slightly detectable even when not engaged, which is true for every Arion pedal I've tried, and which is merely a reality of economy production in this case I believe. If this is a pedal you're going to use, your best bet is to just leave it on maybe. It can be set to subtle levels.

Too bad it does suck a little tone when off, but good sounding when on.

It's plastic but kind of sturdy feeling. I've had an Arion phaser for about 3 years of use without any issues, other than it's less than impressive as a phaser.

N/A

It suits my playing when I use it. I have several distortion and overdrive pedals and this one falls into the smooth but slightly lo-fi catagory, which is better than alternately being cold or harsh like some others. In my opinion this sounds as good or better than anything else under $50. I don't know that it will last as long as a metal pedal, but it's relatively sturdy for being plastic. I don't switch it off and on too much any way, and it is certainly not my only overdrive pedal. It's not even my main one, but I do use it at home pretty often. It replaced another pedal that was kind of like a Big Muff in tone. This is smoother and I felt better sounding.

It is cheap but has a good sound. Not much variety, but has a lively character, and like I said the best part is that it's not very harsh or cheap sounding.

Three knobs -- couldn't be easier. It's a tube screamer type pedal so it has different levels of overdrive to a pretty nice crunch. As other's have noted, the manual has good comic value.

I use this with either a modified MIM strat (fender fat 50s pickups)or a Les Paul Classic with Duncan Antiquities. It works well with either one. I also run it in the following chain: Dunlop 535Q wah-
->Tubulator->Marshall guvnor 2-->Dano EQ->Ernie Ball Jr. volume pedal->Voodoo Labs trem->Arion DDM1 Delay (Excellent btw)->Boss CE5 chorus-->amp: several depending on need/mood/axe--Crate Palomino 15 watt class A; Epiphone Valve Standard 15 watt class A (both of these are killer little combos); Roland JC 120--The Tubulator sounds very good with all these, but as far as its "tubiness" is concerned, I LOVE the sound of my LP into this and then into my Roland JC, it sounds absolutely tubelike--thick, singing, cleans up well etc. It really does give a tubelike sound even in front of a solid state amp.
Here's what I've done side by side comparisons with: Ibanez TS9DX--compared to this pedal, the tubulator has a more transparent sound--not as dark, and not as much of a mid-range hump--it's flatter eq, the tubulator actually sounds BETTER than the ts9; Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive -- I can get the tubulator to sound identical (IMO) to the Voodoo--the main difference is the abiliy to mix in the clean sound on the voodoo, making the sparkle drive a tad more versatile, BUT for me, the voodoo isn't worth 5-6X as much $$; Fulltone Fulldrive II special edition of some sort (It was tan colored)-- The Fulldrive is built way better, is way more versatile,(but I didn't like the boost-it was too powerful) but as far as the core tubescreamer sound at the drive and volume levels I usually use the Arion at (drive btw fully counter-clockwise to about 10:00 and volume at unity gain with clean), the tubulator is, again, very comparable, and it's 10-11 X less $$; Also, since I tend to run my pedals at unity gain with my clean sound, I either use my Dano EQ or whatever slack I have left in my Volume pedal as a boost. Thus, on a pedal like the fulltone, I would probably never tap its potential--especially since the sound that I'm looking for from an OD I can find in the tubulator and the Fulldrive's isn't any better--nor the Voodoo's for that matter. (I know I might possibly risk getting shot for that last comment)
Basically, my tests confirmed the fact that not only is the Tubulator a good pedal for the money, but it is actually a VERY GOOD OD pedal based on the TONES it gives, and it can hang easily with some of the "big names" in the OD category. If someone wants to use it as a strictly clean boost, however, be forewarned: you can't dial the drive completely out.
As far as noise goes, this pedal is dead silent when engaged, and I don't notice any tone sucking when it's disengaged either. The only "problem" I had is that when I added a chorus pedal to the power chain, I had to remove the Arion from the power supply and revert to batteries to remove the chorus' oscillation sound out of the signal (that is, when the chorus was "off" ). That's o.k. though, b/c the tubulator doesn't eat batteries very quickly.

Plastic, but it's held up fine for the past couple of years I've owned it--but I've got it velcroed to a pedal board. I always use it w/o backup, but I think I'll give a shout to musician's friend and score a couple more because I just noticed that their moving them for $12.95 right now plus shipping. so I'll end up paying about $16.00 a piece.

I play blues and rock (like everyone else it seems) plus I'm in a praise band at church and we cover a lot of sonic territory and styles--from "easy listening" to country gospel to rock to U2ish to hard rock and 'power pop'type stuff. This pedal fits right in nicely.

THESE PEDALS ARE VERY HIGH QUALITY SOUND WISE AND AN ABSOLUTE STEAL FOR THE MONEY!!!!

Like others, I've rediscovered this pedal again.

A friend gave me a TX9DX and a Boss DS1 as gifts, so I stated using them. The problem I found was that since I used the TS9 in turbo mode, it was way too much for some songs. And it's a pain to have to reach down and switch the modes. So I figured I grab one of the Tubulators out of the closed and put it back in the chain.

Ok, the next story. A friend plays in a band and the other guitar player's amp does not have overdrive. He had a TX9 that broke, so my friend asked to borrow one of my pedals. I gave him a Tubulator and told him to just give it to the guy. I had a bunch of them. Both of them liked it so much, they both wanted to keep it. The other guy said he like the tone of it much better then the TS9.

This thing sounds fantastic. It can play head to head with my TS9 without any problems. They both have slightly different qualities. The TS9 is a bit more muted, or creamy as some call it. The Tubulator gives a bit clearer tone, but it does not loose any of what it was designed for.

The Tubeulator into the TS9 really sound great!

I had my first one for about 4 years now. The other two about 2 years. I just gave two of them away, so I only have my first one.

They are plastic, but they don't seem to break.

N/A

These things sound great, and at $20.00, you can't beat it. You can't even build a box for less.

Great tone, great value.

If anyone ever looks down on your playing with one of these things, just play. Their jaw will drop as soon as they hear it.

Here is a head to head if you want to listen for yourself. Left is TS9, right is the Tubulator. http://photoweborama.com/jams/ts9tube.mp3

It doesn't get any easier than this.

This is an often overlooked unit. I use two in series on my main rig, which goes from guitar-->Boss CS3 compressor-->Arion tubulator1-->Arion tubulator2-->Boss DS1 distortion-->Fender Blues Deluxe. In the amp loop, I have a Boss DD5-->Boss CE5 chorus.
The first Arion has the distortion set low, about 9 o'clock; the second distortion is set higher, about 2 o'clock. With this setup, I can get increasing overdrive that just sings.

Both these units have been completely reliable. I've had them for almost 2 years.

Never needed...

I would have to replace these, if they were ever stolen or died. They sound too good and work to well. I know I can always get the tone I want w/o having to hunt for it.

Very easy to eq. easy to set the level. distortion knob isn't any trickier.

I have recently rediscovered this pedal. I originally retired it in favor of a marshal guv'nor, and later an Akai Shred'o'matic. The guv'nor was versitile and 3d and by all rights a damn good pedal. The Akai is an irreplaceable one trick pony and the size of a small pizza. Unfortunately the akai doesnt like my guitar, which has a p90 in the neck and a piezo in the bridge. Setup is Eastwood Delta 6 out to Akai intelliphase to digitech reverberator to arion tubulator to seymour duncan pickup booster out to modded epiphone valve special. This pedal gives me a very full flat output that is a relief from the INSANE midrange hump of my shred'o'matic and a very nice soft edged distortion that compliments the edge of breakup setting I prefer to play the amp at. I couldn't have been more pleasantly surprised. This guitar isn't supposed to sound good going into a distortion/overdrive, somehow it sounds great. The tubulator is the second channel to my Epiphone VS just as the Akai is with my solid body guitar and Gibson Goldtone. The sound is very full and adds to the amps tone, there is no better compliment! I think a resonance control or some way to tweak the attack would be the only improvemment to this great sounding soft distortion. This pedal can do the smashing pumpkins thing very well by the way, think mayonaise.

I bought it used with no battery cover and I don't anticipate any problems. It works. I have a Wasabi Rock-a-bye that has more problems straight from the design board, this plastic pedal will do it's duty very well.

Right now I'm playing a 335 style resonator, into a 5 watt tube combo. The goal is a detailed sound that is thick and complimentary to complex chords and pretty well rounded. I really like the pedals flat eq which allows me to get the point accross very well. I run a phaser and reverb through it and when they come out the other end into the amp imput it's like a milk shake. Rich.

Easy enough, but setting the level so that distortion volume drop off needs to be noted. I keep my volume between 2-3o'clock which is a bit louder than clean.

Custom strat with bill lawrence pups into several distortion pedals. This one sits second in the chain. It's a bit hissy, but nothing out of the ordinary. Not a metal monster, but you can still get away with rock if this is your only pedal. Kind of a "soft" distortion, nothing harsh about it, almost fuzzy with much less gain and with plenty of mids. Definitely a good "boost" for other distortions in your chain or amp. Other people seem to really love the sound, I think it's a bit muddy (tone for me is just above 3 o'clock, gain on around 1 o'clock), but it does it's job. My biggest issue is that it picks up radio signals occassionaly at certain venues. Not wonderful, not awful, a real blue-collar type of pedal.

Hasn't failed on me and the switch works great. No scratchy pots, no loose in/out jacks (because they're mounted directly on the board - which can be a problem if you happen to snap it off somehow), and the plastic has no signs of cracking or breaks. I have lost the cover for the battery compartment as it comes loose easily, but I use power adapter and haven't had a problem with a 9volt falling out.

Nope

A nice easy generic overdrive that costs very little. It's a supplemental pedal and probably not desirable for anyone who wants some kind of monster distortion. Sometimes not suitable for gigging as it picks up radio signals at certain places (notably a college campus IME), but it's sturdy and cheap enough to not give a damn about.

Theres three knobs, it sounds good with most positions except with both tone and gain on 10 (and even then it's really harsh but still usable in certain situations.)

I play an Epiphone Casino and a Fender Duo-Sonic through an old non-master volume tube amp from a long defunct company. It sounds like fender cleans with marshall drive though I swear. Anyway, no noise from the pedal to speak of. You can really nail a woman tone, and it's also good for any other tube driven sound. Like a tube screamed with a tab less mid, a tad more bass, and less spiraling. The only reason I give it a nine is because i'm not giving out a ten until I hear a pedal that actual sounds like a good amp.

Uh... it's plastic. One of the knobs wobbles. I think it should last at least five years or so, which is really the only reason this isn;t as good as a tube screamer which will last a lifetime.

Uh? customer support?

I play blues and classic rock. I've only been playing two years but when something sounds good it sounds good. And, come on, this thing is CHEAP. If it was stolen I would replace it immediatly with the money in my pocket at the time.

This is the best pedal for it's price in the world! It sounds as good or better than most $40 overdrives out there. It is certainly better than a Boss DS1. In fact, it sounds better than the drive side of my beloved Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive. I believe it sounds better than the new ProCo Rats. (The old Rats were killer.) The main thing I like is the added drive of the Tubulator. It can give a nice boost, great mild overdrive for blues; but turn the dist. control all the way up and it rocks hard. Yes, it sounds tubey too. It will give a solid state amp a tubey sound but it won't make it react like a tube amp. The Tubulator sounds great but it doesn't perform miracles. It loves single coils & translates them into rockin', bluesy musical nirvana.

I don't gig.

Don't know.

This box is an incredible bargain! I've joined the chorus of those chanting it's praises in case anyone has any doubts about the claims here. If your on a budget, you just can't beat this unit. If your doing national tours, you might want something more expensive but you could keep an Arion Tubulator in the studio and use it on your next CD! It's that good.

Simple to use. No manual necessary.

Strat through the Tubulator into a Peavey Classic 20 amp. Not very noisy. Effect sounds a little like a Tube Screamer, but less shrill and with not quite so much of a midrange hump. Tone control works a lot smoother, seable across more of the range than Tube Screamer or Boss units. Nice distortion. Doesn't provide extreme level boost for overdrive. I actually like the distortion on this unit. It's better (in my opinion) than the Tube Screamer at a fraction of the cost.

Seems reliable. Plastic casing, but seems solid.

Haven't had to deal with them yet.

I play rock, blues and a little jazz. Been playing 35 years or so. I've tried a lot of other overdrive/distortion units; Tube Screamers, Boss Units, Ibanez DS7's and Visual Sound Jeckyl & Hyde. This one's the cheapest but the most useable (go figure.) I'd buy it again; might get another anway. Great deal. I think other products are overrated and hyped. The Tubulator does the trick for me, despite its lack of pedigree and low price.