Arion MTE-1

This thing is simple and to the point. Level to control amount of overdrive, a high-pass tone control to trim extra bass out and give more bite, and distortion level control. Plug her in and she's ready.

I have a Fender Strat with 11's---->Rocktron Big Crush compressor---->Arion Tubulator--->Boss Tuner--->Boss Octave--->Line 6 Modulator---->Line 6 Delay--->Fender Blues Deville 4x10. I read some of the reviews on here and was skeptical at first, but for less than$20 shipped brand new at Musician's Friend, HOW CAN YOU GO WRONG? This thing sounds incredible! I began by turning down all the EQ of my amp, than adding mid and treble to taste, and finally bass. It overdrives the tube amp very nicely ala SRV, believe or not. Too many people out there think that more money equals better sound, let us not forget that when the Ibanez Tube Screamers came out, critics said they were cheap Japanese crap, and, well, you get the point. Try one out if you like to play blues, jazz, funk, classic rock. This is NOT a metal-friendly pedal. It is also amazingly quiet!~

It's hard plastic, but I can afford 4 backups...lol

Haven't had to deal with them, and I really think I'll forgo the phonecall and buy a new one!

I play blues, jazz, funk, reggae, classic rock, and I plan on having 2 of these in my signal chain because I'm so happy with it! I searched and searched and it's funny to me how so many people are egotistical and smug when they talk about their gear. Give me a break, folks, if you suck BEFORE the pedal....chances are you will suck AFTER the pedal. This thing is $15.00+S&H, enough said. Try it out, don't over-EQ your amp, don't expect to sound like KORN, and I think (if you approach it with an unbiased attitude) you'll be just as amazed as I was. This thing is the Tubescreamer of its day, and 1/5 the cost!!!

If you use it in a string of certain effects it works fine. But for some reason it doesn't like my ts5 when I hook it in line with it I get a bad
hiss noise from my amp, very wierd. But it might be something I can correct I just havn't figured it out yet.

OK this is crazy I always seen this petal in musicians friend and always thought cheap means Junk right. BIG DEAD WRONG! I been playing for over 25 years and have been using a modded tube screamer, I have to say this petal took me by surprize. It has the same effect as a tube screamer but it's different in some ways. first my Tube screamer is a little cleaner
sounding and my picking dynamics respond better. BUT I like the vibe of this petal as well, it has it's own sound. I don't want to say that it sounds worse than my tube screamer because it dosen't. In my opinion it cuts through better in a live performance and is louder, it pushes my amp
harder.someone said it has a balanced eq sound I have to agree with that, that is right on the money, were the tube screamer has a more mid range hump. You will have no problem being heard when you take a solo. I still am new at this petal and haven't try different settings. don't turn the gain passed 1 oclock because it starts to get noisy. I would say buy it it's worth having this boost petal, I have a feeling when they stop making this model it will go up in value.

Buy it!

3 knobs. Very simple

Very low gain OD tone. NOT distortion. I have that same tone in about 5 other pedals so I find it reduntant. More full bodied that a midrangey tube screamer clone so I find that appealing. It is a bit noisy when switched on even at low gain...not unusable. I give it a 7. The Tone knob actually works. Cleans up when you back down on guitar vol. I was just looking for a different OD distortion flavor... for 12.95 at Musicans Friend I couldnt pass trying it out.

Probably fine... flimsy plastic. But just be careful.

Gonna return it to Musicans Friend for a nasty distortion/fuzz to get wierd sounds. Why sound like everyone else?

Fantastic Value for $12.95... actually usable and functional! I have a bunch of high end stuff: pro endorser and this is just fine.

This thing is extremely easy to use. A moron or even a lead singer can get great guitar tones.

MAN! I can't believe it! The Tubulator is FREAKIN' AWESOME! You will sounds just like the jerk(me) who paid $170 for a TS-808! The Tubulator REALLY does sound extremely close to a TS-808! It is truly unbelievable that this pedal is so incredibly cheap. I have a reissue TS-808 that is supossed to sound just like the original. Supossedly the reissue uses all the same components of the original. I compared sound of the TS-808 and the Tubulator and I will say that you can pretty much get every sound on the TS-808 using the Tubulator. The differences are very, very minute. One difference I notice is the TS-808 has a slight and i mean very slight, more mid-range bump. So the Tubulator is a little more level on the EQ compared to the 808. And some people might prefer this sound. But the difference is so minute that a small adjustment on the amp would probably give you the same TS-808 sound anyway. This pedal just sounds unbelievably good and especially because the price is SO good!

Well I own three Arion pedals and one of them I've had a long time. They all still work. The one part of this cheap plastic pedal that might actually break is the battery cover. I think if you just take good care of the things they'll last.

I play many kinds of music and this pedal would be useful in any kind of music. Well of course not death metal. Or black metal or speed metal. I have about fifteen different distortion/overdrive effect pedals and I know a good sounding pedal when I hear one. This is one. The Tubscreamers have a legendary sound. So I guess the Tubulator also has a legendary sound. So for $170 you can get a TS-808 for that sound or you can spend under $20 dollars and get a Tubulator for the same legendary sound. There is nothing more to say. Everyone should go buy one.

Distortion pedal, 3-knobs pretty dead simple
The manual is quite amusing if you are into the whole engrish thing..."do not charge or analyze a batery" etc...

For the price this is very nice. It sounds a lot like an unmodded tubescreamer, like the ts-9 or ts-10 (does have the JRC4558 chip) but,
it sounds too bright and trebly to me personally. With a strat it's kinda shrill and harsh on the ears. Even with the neck position pickup alone

Plastic case, the battery cover has already taken to not latching. I would still use it out, but I'm not too hard on gear anyway.

No Idea

For the money it's great! I would highly reccomend it to beginners as a "my first distortion", it's very basic and is really a great intro how distortion sounds/behaves much better than some of the more "specific" distortions eg. Boss metal zone. And for bedroom players that want the tubescreamer sound for CHEAP. But if your going to use it often invest in a sturdier pedal.

The Arion Tubulator is very easy to use. There are only three knobs, gain, tone and distortion.

This is a great value for the money. I knew very little about it when I bought it, but I?ve learned a lot about it in the last year or so.

First off, if you want a cheap Tubescreamer device, this is it. It sounds great and will make any amp shine. I?ve found it makes any solid state amp really come to life also.

I got my first one over a year ago, and just bought two more. One for my 10-year-old son, and a second one for me to experiment with. My son uses his with his Vox Pathfinder 15R amp and either his Squire Butterscotch Telecaster, or his Gibson Les Paul. It really makes that amp sound even better than it already does.

I have a couple of Fender Strats and a Fender Telecaster. I use it into a Kustom 65 watt amp.

I?ve been testing it with two Tubulators in different positions with my compressor. Lots of fun to experiment, and it cost almost nothing.

So far it has been a very reliable device, but I don?t know how long it will last. The case is the weakest part. It?s all plastic and can be prone to breaking. I?ve never broken mine, but that?s the nature of plastic.

I?ve been able to depend on it so far, but now I do have a spare. Since they are so cheap, no reason not to have a couple of them around, just in case.

NA

I used to play when I was a kid in the 70?s and stopped. I started up again in 2001 and have been having a blast ever since.

I play mostly blues and some rock so I really need a device like the Tubulator for the sound I need. I was going to save up for a Tubescreamer, but decided to try one of these in the mean time. I?m glad I did. I doubt I?ll buy a Tubescreamer now.

Ok.. Nuts and bolts?Right on the box it says ?Copyright 1995, Stringer Industries, Inc.? From this I came to the conclusion that the basic technology was probably licensed from Stringer. Stringer puts out the popular ?Snarling Dogs? line of pedals, which uses the same basic technology as the Tubescreamer.

Inside, it appears to be a hand wired circuit board with a JRC 4558 opamp. This is the same opamp used in the Tubescreamer and the Snarling Dogs pedal, as well as a ton of other pedals. Of course, they all cost a lot more than the Tubulator. So your pretty much getting similar guts as a lot of pedals in a cheap, plastic case.

I did not come up with all of this information on my own, my friend John is much more knowledgeable on this stuff and educated me on the opamp information.

Basically, whatever you do with a Tubescreamer, you can do it with the Tubulator. I?ve been experimenting with two of them in different sections of my chain. Most can?t afford two Tubescreamers to play around with, but almost anybody can afford a few Tubulators.

This effect is pretty easy to use, level, tone and distortion (gain).
It does come with a manual. Easy to use, I give a 9.

I bought a Arion Tubelator for my Arion pedalboard that I recieved as a christmas present back in the early 90's. I finally got around outfitting the pedalboard with Arion effects. I own a real 79 TS-808 and a TS-9 modified to TS-808 specs by analogman. I must admit that the Arion is really nice sound tube emulation in comparison to the Ibanez models. However, the original TS-808 has a harmonic that I've never found to be emulated, EVER; I haven't compared the new re-issue TS-808. The Arion really does sound like overdrivin tubes, as you dial up the gain it starts to saturate. I think the Arion sounds very "glassy" and transparent. I tested mine unit out on a Roland Cube 30 which is a really good solid state clean , flat sound. If you like the classic distortion sounds, you'll love this pedal. I find the noise on the effect , normal and acceptalbe; all distortion pedals will be noisy if you're not playing them at the moment.

So far, it's holding up really well. The housing is made of high impact plastic. I suggest you invest in a pedalboard and this will help the longetivity of the pedal. I don't recommend un plugging and plugging them in and out on every time you play; you'll wear out any jack doing that. I would always try to have a back up , but it depends how hard you are on your equipment. I give it a 7 since it's plastic, average.

Never had to deal with Arion, I'm sure they're OK. Most companies deal better than the dealers in my opinion. These models are made in Sri Lanka/indonesia, not japan anymore. I give them a 8 , for being average.

Overall, great pedal, incredible value. I would purchase 2 for the low price in case one fails in the future, or if they go up on the secondary mkt. I got a feeling if they stop production , everyone will want one of these units. Really, great tone; very distinct as well. It almost sounds more real than my TS-9 tubescreamer; but I'll never go back on the original 79 TS-808. I was blown away at the sonic emulation of the tube distortion from the Tubelator by Arion. If you like overdrive, I would get one , especially for the price.

As easy as any other overdrive to use. Just patch it in, turn it on, and twist knobs until it suits you.

I'm using this with several guitars, mostly an older USA Strat with a DiMarzio SDS-1 in the bridge and Fender Texas Specials in the middle and bridge postions. Silent when bypassed, nearly so when on except when the drive and level controls are maxed. My current signal chain: Guitar-->Tubulator-->TS5 Tubescreamer-->MXR micro flanger-->original Crybaby-->A/B box to either a Marshall 5212(50w, 2x12) or JMF Spectra 212-T(120w, 2x12). This is less bright than my TS5, with a little more drive. This is the overdrive tone I've been looking for without having to mod the unit.

We'll see. So far so good. I always take at least one backup.

Haven't had any problems as of yet.

I originally bought this on a whim while ordering a pickup, with the intention of modding it. It sounds good enough that I'm not going to bother. This is a good unit for the straight-ahead rock and blues that I've played for the last 21 years. I've got several other ODs and distortions, but this and the TS5 are all I seem to use lately. For the price, if it was lost I'd pick up two more.

Very easy to use, 3 knobs, one increases level of pedal effects to already amp sound, one tone, and one distortion(from dirty total tube sound to clean with the grundge distortion at the end that tube amps give)BTW, I play through a TD50C Crate Tube Drive.
Manual very straightforward.

Excellent sound, distortion(from dirty Iron Butterfly style, total tube sound to clean with the grundge distortion at the end that tube amps give)BTW, I play through a TD50C Crate Tube Drive. It adds a little more depth, which I didn't think was possible, this amp already has a nice spring reverb and chorus for the brightness. Sounds great when I play Deep Purple classic rock and it even sounds good playing Ozzy songs.

It has been very reliable. It is plastic but it could be made of adobe clay for all I care, I don't abuse my equipment and I don't play on the road to have to worry about others breaking my stuff.

No experience with, never needed and don't expect I will- seems like a very nice product.

I play classic rock and it RULES for classic rock, I have used it through my solid state Dean Markley and it adds TREMENDOUS depth of sound and on my Crate Tube Drive 50, it does the same but not as much since that amp already has a tube preamp. I also have Dod American Metal and Ibanez Sonic Distortion(SD9). This was my first Arion product and definitely not my last. These folks make it easy for people who don't play enough to get a really nice variety of pedals for less than the price of one high end pedal. Granted, I'm sure it wouldn't compete with a Tube Works or any brand that uses a real tube or two but for a "tubeless" Tube pedal, it's GREAT. The fact it can duplicate the same dirty classic rock distortion or a clean sound with added distortion at the very end and depth regardless- well, I like this little guy a lot. You can't go wrong for the price!

Simple. Rock the tone and distortion till you get something that just grabs the note.

I run a tex-mex strat through a '67 fender bassman with a Laney 4x12. This pedal is best surprise I ever got. I needed $10 more dollars on my order to get free shipping and picked this basically at random.

Works great as a compression boost, bring out highs at low volume and is great to give you extra boost/punch when you're allready cranked up to 9 (which is what you should be doing with your bassman anyway) Brings out the individual strings during heavy overdrive. It's perfect to bring that extra 'presence' when you need to cut through.

This thing should sound like crap but it never does! It's even decent as a guitar preamp. I play my strat into the tubulator and then to a tascam 4trk and it is amazingly decent sounding.

Has worked for four months and counting.

The people of Arion must be good people to have made such a sweet pedal at such a remarkable price. Best value I've come accross in gear shopping.

Been playing eight years and this is now in my setup every time i play. I play a type of post-indy-punk-mathcore-bullshit and this has been an important piece of my puzzle. THankyou Arion.