Arion MTE-1

You need to spin the dials! And then you need to stop spinning the dials when you hear something you like... Don't make me repeat myself!

Describing sound in words is like describing the color red to a blind man....so I won't! I will tell you that I use a Marshall Shredmaster, A Marshall Drivemaster, An Original Marshall Guv'nor and an original Reverend Drivetrain..I love all four of those pedals. This pedal makes that list. Call me crazy, thank you, but to this pedal geeks ears it sounds amazingly like an overdriven Marshall plexi through both of my Siverface Fender Bassman 70's and 66' Super Reverb using a Strat. Anyway, at $19.99 at musician's friend, just buy one, hell buy two. you can't beat the sound. No noise, nice tone sweeps, and it has a distinct transparent sound. Not as much gain as the Shredmaster or Drivetrain but it has the same bite and crunch as the Guv'nor and the Drivemaster.Reminded me of Angus on "Back in Black" but I could also get some cruchy Hendrix stuff happening with this pedal and a rotovibe.It's got a nice blues vibe as well, I think blues players will love this pedal on a lower gain setting. Buy one before they're discontinued and you have to buy one on Ebay for $75.00 to $100.00 next year.

It's hard plastic, if the pedal breaks, I'll just take the guts and stuff em in a Hammond box...I might just do that anyway.

haven't needed to call them. for $20.00 don't think I will either.

I don't think this pedal was meant for any form of the metal type's of music(How many are there now?). But for those of you who like Hendrix, SRV, Gilmore,May, early Pretenders, Dream Syndicate...etc, etc, ya know..crunchy rock and roll...Then buy this pedal. You cannot go wrong for $20.00

3 knobs, clearly labeled -- simple as can be. Also has easy access battery compartment -- but it's kind of flimsy.

Nice smooth "tube screamer" like overdrive. When the effect is on I love it. I would have rated it higher except for the fact that it kinda sucks your tone even when the pedal is in the off position. Excellent for the price though.

I got mine from Musician's Friend and I'm glad they have a 45 day return policy. I used the pedal maybe 6 or 7 times during the 1st 45 days, just noodling around in my living room -- hardly a pounding. Even though, it simply stopped working on Day #45. The battery was fine, the indicator light lit strong, the cables were fine -- it just wouldn't work. I opend it up to find that the input & output jacks are right on the PC board -- if I had to guess I would say that that's what caused the problem. MF sent me a new one without even asking for the defective pedal back. I got the new pedal right away and have used it once without issue. I'm not excpecting much but I guess time will tell whether or not this one holds up. I guess I shouldn't expect too much from a $20 pedal made of plastic.

Having never dealt directly with Arion I can only rate the Customer Support of Musician's Friend. They may not always have the absolute lowest prices (although they are always competitive) but they are an absolute pleasure to deal with. Good web sight and catalog, easy to order, immediate shipping in most cases, they email the tracking information (EXCELLENT communications overall) -- the best. Music 123 could learn a thing or 3 from MF -- they are the opposite -- low prices and that's it.

For the money its OK but I would NEVER gig with it. I got a used Ibanez TS-7 ToneLok Tube Screamer for $15 that sounds better (especially when the effect is off) and is built like a tank. I keep the TS-7 velcroed to my pedalboard and use the Arion for messing in the livingroom. If you like the MTE-1 you might want to get a few as back ups.

Easy to use. Level, Tone, and Distortion. Turn 'em and play.

Sounds good to me. It's not exactly a distortion pedal. In fact it's supposed to simulate an overdriven tube amp. Having never really heard an overdriven tube amp up close and personal with my guitar, I can't say if it's accurate at doing that. BUT, I CAN say that to me it sounds pretty good with my Epi Les Paul Standard and my Marshall MG10CD. If you're looking for a heavy distortion, this isn't your pedal.

I have 3 Arion pedals, and they seem pretty good.

Wish they had a web site...

Nice pedal.

3 knobs, pretty basic stuff. Level, Tone, Distortion. The distortion knob control is pretty uniform from the lowest setting up to around 3 o'clock then kicks in hard the last little bit so is a bit touchy.

I like it. Not noisy through the clean channel of my amp but there is a definite hiss through the overdrive channel you can hear when not playing. Wouldn't use it that way. It's more for adding some crunch on the clean channel. Definitely tone varies on equipment you use. I'm primarily using it with a Crate GX212 combo and Schecter guitar with stock "Duncan Designed" pickups. Tried it through other amp/guitar combinations and as you'd expect, sounds different with different stuff.

Can't rate this with a number haven't had it long enough to say. It is plastic but case seems well built. Knobs seem like the probable weak link. Better than I expected based on price but would probably not hold up to sustained abuse

Been playing 32 years. Rock, blues, punk and metal. Sounds good for blues and rock. Good crunch, good overdrive. Ran it into a Boss OS-2 and got some really smooth overdriven sounds. Like any other effect, experiment with it and you may find something that works for you. I like the sound better than my Boss DS-1. Not as versatile as my Boss OS-2. Can get some really good sounds with the right settings. I'm rating this a 9 overall because for $20 new is a great value.

it dosent get that much easier, tone, volume and dist.
the manual is for idiots that can't understand how easy it is.

i am running this through a very cheap setup: SQUIER ANFINITY STRAT, (THIS PEDAL), AND A KUSTOM KGA 30 WATTS.
i don't like to use many effects i am sorta a meat and potatoes kind of guy. like most gear as you turn the dist. up you get a fair share of noise. but not terrible. the pedal is'nt noisey at all.
i play a lot of AC/DC, LED ZEPPELIN, BLACK SABBATH, LYNYRD SKYNYRD, im really into the blues which you can nail with this.
it sound nice with a little reverb. not to much on alot of effects, although i do plan to get an effects processor for chistmas, just so that i have alot of things to dick around with.
this this really sound cool with the tone at 10, dist at 5, with my strat bridge pickup, with just a little bit of reverb. it give a nice little 60's sound.

it's plastic, but good plastic.
i don't plan to give it a good stomping, it's not like it's a big muff, so don't be stupid if you pound on it then of course it will break. i would definetly gig without a backup, mostly because im to poor to aford anything else.

i don't really know, never had a problem from musicians friend.

i play blues to 70's metal to southern rock. it does it all well, i don't like alot of distortion so this thing is ideal for that. but if you are thinking about buying this remember one thing THIS EFFECT IS NOT FOR PLAYING NEW METAL, THE MOST DISTORTION IS CAN HACK IS ABOUT A LEVEL 7 FOR MOST DISTORTION PEDALS. i love it. if it were stolen i would probably buy the same exact pedal. the batery slot for it was under the "TUBULATOR" plastic pannel, it took me a minnute or two for me to figure it out.

Turn knob,play guitar,hear sound,rock and roll!

Strat through Peavey Ranger.I had to see if the reviews below me were right since I've played through almost every overdrive known to man........AND THEY WERE RIGHT!.......The only other OVERDRIVE I like is the Zoom Power drive and I'm using that as a clean boost with the tubeulator to give it more sustain.The MTE has the JRC4558d chip and it's not to sharp and not to squishy......it's just right!The tone has a nice flavor to it and it doesn't get to trebly or bassy......it's just right! This ones a keeper even if it is a cheap,plastic,chinese made imported diamond in the rough.I can get the sounds of the 60's like stones,cream,SRV..............but most of all,I sound just like me!

Have played 35 years mostly Rock and Blues.I would buy one again if lost,broken or stolen.Has a nice WARM,FAT,FULL TONE like my good German woman Hilda.If your a blast from the past and an old faht like me,you need to get one..forget the Voodoo Lab sparkle drive,the Fultone Fulldrive,the Visual sound etc.Seriously though,you won't get a lot of gain but it does come close to an actual overdriven amp similar to a Vibrolux vol.on 3 or 4.I like it!

Very easy. 3 knobs. good location for the battery cover and usable with optional ac to dc power pack.(wall wart)

The sound quality is superb. I play a variety of music styles and was able to find a useful sound for everything. Best of all I can get an exact BB king sound going as well as Stevie Ray Vaughan and older AC/DC. Really with older bands/artists the possibilities seem endless. Tube emulation it definately does! Loud plunky bell tones while still remaining clean. I have been getting a sound exactly like the Fender Hotrod Deville which has one hell of a good classic tube sound as well as modern gain sounds. It will give you thick groaning mids and plenty of ear bleeding treble too. Definately ment to be matched up to an amp with gain though for an overdriven tube sound. Up close to the amp with gain and volume on full which you'll likely need to get a ronchier gain when matched with your amps, it can be a little noisy. I found simply keeping it away from the amp, guitar too, will keep the noise down. This pedal gives a great older hollow tube sounding gain and is also capable of that gutsy groaning mid sound as I mentioned already. It's a very versatile pedal that sounds and reacts like a tube. I am very impressed.

Well so far so good. It is pretty heavy though it is plastic but I've had plastic pedals before that yes eventually broke but it was do to electronic failure not foot pressure or whatever. Never gig without a back up!

Wouldn't even know how to contact them. I can find nothing about them on the net.

Overall a really great pedal. My amp wont give me a full on heavy metal sound with it but damn close. I can get plunky CLEAN sustaining BB king out of it bell tones and all which makes it a really great pedal. This thing is really great for Blues, Hard Rock and Jazz but a different amp or even some mods could probably take it even further. I'm damn impressed and if anything happened to it I'd replace it without second thoughts. This pedal is exactly like a tube cept for a little noise. Your true playing abilities will shine or your flaws will be exposed with it. No covering up or blending and smoothing sloppy playing with this pedal. It does what it says very well. Emulates a tube. So well infact I am dumbfounded. I would like to see a higher gain version of this pedal with a 3 band EQ but they would definatly need a noise circuit for a hotter version.

3 simple knobs. If your looking for any real amount of gain though your always gonna have output and gain maxed. Its very easy to get a good sound out of but don't expect it to be versatile meaning it can be used for different types of music but the tone won't do crap for varying the distortion sound it gives just tone. Best of all I got it onsale for 12.99 which its usually 30 bux in the catalog and 20 on the online catalog.

Well with my cheap 50 watt single 12 the sound is unbelievable!!! I own higher to mid quality gear and bought this pedal suspecting it would work well with the Rogue I just mentioned because my amp has a very vintage gain sound. Not much hum at all but its still mildly there though I max out volume and gain so just barely backing it off had it noise free. I am pretty good at quieting equipment but I give credit to this pedal(grounding equipment, exc.). If it seems noisy then it's USER ERROR or it just isn't going to mesh with your amps gain channel. As far as the tube emulation THIS
PEDAL SOUNDS EXACTLY LIKE A TUBE!When it came down to it this pedal did EXACTLY what I thought it would when used with my amp. It DEFINATELY did not blend well with my Crate head but honestly I didn't spend much time trying to get it to. I have played on many tube amps and infact built my own tube Per-amp the most renowned one ever infact and this still gave a better tube sound but with less versatility. Its tube emulation sound is actually better than the Crate flexwave 5 amps out now today but that is matched with my amps gain I must add. Don't expect to pull different sounding distortions even though its great for blues, hard rock and even some heavy metal you won't be playing death metal with it or really overdriven punk rock. Its distortion is definately not a stand alone sound for modern rock or metal but I agree with what another review said, its what the tube screamer should have been. Simply put, extremely tuby sound with just a hint of a fuzz box(almost background sounding), screaming sustain and harmonics even more than my already ultra modified guitars and equpment were giving me and did I mention how much this pedal sounds EXACTLY like a tube with my amp? If you can pick up a cheap cabinet simulator this pedal could cover most any music I would bet. Very impressive for 12.99 plus shipping from musicians friend. ( No denying I will likely modify this pedal with higher value potentiometers for the volume and gain and possibly get a diffeent value capacitor for the tone.)

OK here's the big crap in the face. I plug the pedal into my power pack and start jamming along in amazement tot he tube sound I have. After about a half hour I decide to try it with a battery. Low and behold I pop open the battery cover(excellent location I might add) and there's even a cheap but new battery with it. Plug it in and the damn thing goes dead!!!
Let it sit five minutes and it works with the AC adapter but try the battewry again and same thing. Comatose for five minutes. Obviously I call Musicians Friend and say hey I've had this thing for like just over an hr blah blah blah and have them sending me a new one as I type. Quite honestly it sounded so damn good I wanted another and how can you go wrong when your buying a pedal from the ppl who made The Hot Watt?? Anyway as far as construction it actually a heavy pedal with a plastic body and a metal floor plate similiar to DOD, exc. I myself actually don't mind plastic for the reasons that the things sit on the floor and plastic means less worry about moisture meaning a longer time till the electronics currode and die.(the original Russian Big Muffs were known for this) I have a 6 year old Zoom 505 and my friend at the music store were shown to stand on it for sale demonstration(my friend jumped up and down on the sale model!) Oddly I recreated this the other day and the thing turned on afterwards with a 225 lb man having played Godzilla on it! I probably should have waited for writing this review but I am so enthused by this pedals tube emulation I wanted to do it now. Hell if I do have anymore problems I exchange it a second time but anymore than that it goes back. Remember
this, the company doesn't give you 30 days it's the damn FEDERAL LAW. Maines implied warranty act its called that became federal an eternity ago. It simply states that your goods or services must do what they claim and within your expectations or you have 30 days to return for a full refund or exchange. There is an amendment for media though(cd's,dvd's, vhs, exc.)

Haven't dealt with them just the Musicians Friend guys which oddly has been one of the same guys now for a number of years. They are always very cool about returns and may sometimes act like they are doing you a favor by exchanging it but remember what I mentioned about the federal law. THEY HAVE TO AND THEY KNOW IT SO ANYTHING YOU BUY NEVER LET THE SELLER BULLY YOU AROUND!!!

Overall if you are a more experienced or older player you should really enjoy this pedal. You can't beat it for the money and it sound is rather exceptional.....did IU mention how much this pedal sounds EXACTLY like a tube??? Well with my gear it does but I suspect it will with most vintage
or amps with a vintage sounding gain(not overbaring like most new designs) The sustain is very impressive and without jacking up the volume and gain to the max it is noise free. I play Blues, Metal, Jazz, hard rock you name it. I have been playing for about 8 years steadily and own and have owned quite a bit of music gear. This pedal doesn't sound better than my Crate head but does infact give a better tube sound and a bit more sustain. I own a basic Crate head with 120 watts(if u call 120 watts basic!) which I run through a custom built 4x12 cab loaded with 2 Carvin British series speakers and two Carvin Bass 12's. Its VERY loud and VERY clean and clear. I own a Frankencaster strat(rebuilt or modified strats nick) an older Kramer strat, Rogue/Gibson hotrod strat style(no pickguard basically an Ibanez) Squire Showmaster neck thru(unbelievably nice guitars!) an old Court acoustic and well thats all I can think of offhand but there might be one or two I'm leaving out since I only play the Frankencaster now days. I also own the Rogue amp I mentioned earlier and a small variety of processors/pedals...damn my arsenal has severely depleted! Am I glad I purchased this pedal? Hell yeah! AM I pissed I had to exchange it? Hell Yeah! But would I recomend it.....Yes but with hesitation till the new one lasts 3 or 4 months. I can add this though, the pedal should have a little more gain and a voicing channel for a bit of variation but I suspect it will be quite popular so a second version will likely surface. Want tube sound without tube price this is definately it.

Plug it in, tweak the knobs, it don't get any easier...

I just tried it with my Les Paul Classic through my Mesa Heartbreaker, 4 x 12 cab, it has an excellent sound quality. Lower distortion level settings very similar to my ts-10, higher distortion settings much more crunchier than the ts-10 or boss od-2r, not as harsh as boss ds-1, but not as fuzzy as dod flashback fuzz. In fact, it gets almost the same tone as channel two on my amp in the low gain setting with the pre gain maxxed! It doesn't seem to color the tone of my guitar like the afore mentioned boxes, it just seems to be what a tubescreamer ought to be!

the box is plastic, but i've owned arion products befor and have had no reliability problems before.

N/A

Been playing rock and roll for more than 25 years, and this thing will work really well for my style of music. For the price, you can't go wron. This thing will replace the overdrive and distortion on my pedalboard.

Three knobs, as easy as it gets.

Played with a Strat, Tele, Dano 56-U2 through a Fender Studio 85.

This little box sounds great, very similar at low drive levels to my TS7 (in TS9 mode). I've compaired them quite a bit. I actualy like the Tubeulator a bit better. It has the same op-amp chip as the TS 7, the covetted JRC 4558, the one they modify the TS9 reissues with. The main differnce I can detect is that the Tubeulator has slightly more crunch at higher drive levels than the Tubescreamer.

I think it sounds really good with my set up. It lets the sound of my guitars come through, responds well to picking variations and volume changes and keeps the integrity of my Fenders excellent clean sound. Couldn't ask for much more.

If one wanted to make it sound more like the Tubescreamer, putting a capacitor(51 pF)across a diode like the Tubescreamer has is supposed to take some of the sharp edges out the overdrive at higher levels. Since I only paid $12.99 new, I think I'll buy another to try this mod.

I mainly use an overdrive just to add a bit of character and sustain to my clean sound and this inexpensive pedal does that very well. This whole thing about creating a tube like sound is kind of silly. All tube amps sound different, so what do you want from a pedal? Does it sound like a tube amp? I don't know, which tube amp? I do know this pedal sounds very, very good with a non-harsh non-solidstate sounding overdrive. Far better than the overdrive in my amp.

At higher drive levels, you can get a sound very similar to ZZTOP'S "My Heads in Mississippi", a pretty cool sound, but not one I use fequently.

Cheap plastic box but the workmanship on the board looks good.

n/a

It's not perfect but I like inexpensive gear that sound almost as good as what people will spend hundreds on. This will become my main overdrive unit, replacing my TS7, and I'll nver have to use the distortion channel on my amp again!


If you care, I'm 51 and have been playing since my early teens.