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.

______
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).
________

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!

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.

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.