Arion MTE-1

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.

No brainer-3 knobs and a stomp switch

Sovtek mig-50s, 9 different strats.I have 5 or 6 arion pedals that i use that i bought for the price.The tubulator is 1 of 3 distortion pedals that are on my pedal board.I use the tubulator and a TS-7 ibanez the most.With the mte-1,a holy grail reverb pedal and the low gain channel on my mig 50 cranked to about 12 oclock,i can nail Eric Johnsons tone right on the mark with no hisses or noise.Of course,that is not everyones tone goal.If you're a "grunge guy" this pedal is not for you.I will take an Arion pedal hands down anyday over an over rated,overpriced Boss.Advice to the younger players,simply because it cost more does not mean it's better.Trust me.I have yet to get a decent tone from a Boss and i have been playing for 33 years,i should have learned something by now.

Yes i depend on it.Everyone seems concerned about plastic enclosures.I use my gear alot and have never had an arion break on me.Of course i treat my gear kindly like any caring player should.I don't think you're supposed to be leaping into the air and landing full force on your pedals,even if it does look cool,this stuff cost money.But that's just my opinion.

Never had to use them

I play blues based rock with a mix of jazz and jazz fusion.I would buy another if it were stolen.As stated earlier i looked at several different pedals including Boss,DOD,Digitech and Ibanez and found that the Ibanez and Arion gave me the tones that i am happy with.Digitech a close second.People buy Boss but they just don't sound good to me.

As most distortion units go, this is self explanatory. Three knobs,
Level, Tone and Distortion. I am using this directly out of my steel guitar, before the volume pedal. I want distortion at all levels of volume, so I found the Level control turned to maximum gave me the most even distortion at all volumes. It seemed a bit muddy when not full on. The tone control gave a wide spread of tones, a bit too much midrange for me, but OK. The distortion control went from mild to medium levels of distortion...less than many of the pedals I have used. BUT, it is more than adequate for my needs. It compares with other OVERDRIVE pedals...distortion is a bit lower than "distortion"
pedals. It couldn't be easier to use. Finding the "perfect tone" is the fun, sometimes difficult part. This pedal, fortunately, has the "perfect tone" for me.

I'm using this effect with a single neck, 12-string Zumsteel Universal
Steel Guitar, running through a Peavey Nashville 400 amp, a few stomp boxes (flanger, phase shifter, fuzz, analog delay, and an IVL Steel Rider Synthesizer with Korg Sound Module.
The Tubulator is silent when in normal, clean mode ( a must for me),
NO tonal change in "off" mode and begins with slight distortion in the "on" mode. I had hoped it would be clean at minimum, gradually gaining distortion as you turned it up. No, there is some distortion at all times when turned "on"...at least the way I'm using it. The sound quality of the distortion is excellent,
gives a nice true tube amp distortion and gives me the tone I want if I dip the mids on the amp...easy and no problem for me, one twist of a knob. I have been using a Boss Tone distortion unit since the late'70s and am used to the unique, fuzzy distortion of that effect This Arion is true tube distortion with the unique tones of the steel guitar coming through clearly and accurately. I have a custom wound pickup, wound to vintage Sho Bud specs...the sound is there, giving my steel the distorted lap steel sound I want. I can also get the harmonics and overtones of a guitar with this...something new for me. I have quickly found at least 3 great tones, depending on the music I'm playing. The Arion is better than most other units that I've experimented with, name brands and bigger price tags. Rate it a 9...could have a scooped, less midrange tone and "no" distortion in the minimum setting. Still, I'm impressed.

I have been using it for some time now. I'm extremely careful with my equipment and have no reservations about using this without a backup.
The case is plastic, a little cheap looking but designed well.
(The battery compartment is very easy to use and well placed.)
Since I turn my floor effects units on and off with my hand, I don't foresee any problems with durability. On the floor, standing, using feet as these are made for, it will be likely to fail unless you're careful.
If you abuse your stuff and care more about looking cool while stomping, you should go buy a metal box and pay 4-5 times the price. In my opinion the sound won't be better in most instances. I'll have the 27 year old Boss Tone as a back up, but frankly feel I won't need it except when I want that smooth, barely on fuzz...still a great tone for a steel. I rate it an 8 for the normal way it would be used. For me, it'll probably not be an issue unless the electronics fail. Since the price is so low, lower quality components may be a factor. So far, no problems.

No experience here. I paid $14.99 for this. Just sending it somewhere would not be cost effective. I have a great tech guy who could keep this running forever...he's my support. I'd have him repackage the guts to my specs, as he has done for me in the past with another pedal. I'd still have the sound of the unit in a better package.
Otherwise, I'd simply buy another.

Overall Rating 10. I play classic country, "Americana",
western swing, "alt country", blues, jazz
and with the synth, I have done most everything at one time or another, onstage and in the studio.
I've been playing professionally for 38 years, 30 on steel as main instrument (bass guitar as well). I have the above mentioned equipment, have had 2 other steel guitars (Sho-Bud); Musicman , Fender, Roland, Peavey amps; many effects units of all types, several basses. I have experimented with other distortion units and with the exception of the RAT 2, this little box has what I need for the slide and blues work I do. I get a lot of positive comments about my tones. Nothing unique, just constant listening and experimentation with effects and combinations. I am hard to please.
Overdrives are what I feel give me the best tone. This is a good sounding overdrive. It will NOT have enough distortion for the average rock guitarist seeking metal or higher levels of distortion but if you're after a smooth overdrive, I think it will be in the running as one of the better sounding pedals. I became interested when I saw the price. It's worth buying two for that kind of $ and having a spare. I also tried an Arion MDS-1 Distortion pedal,
again $14.99. It had way too much distortion, was thin sounding, fuzz
more than distortion. I couldn't get the distortion level down to 0
so I could add just a small amount. The Tubulator has the lower levels to begin with but I can get the thing to distort far beyond what I would usually use at the upper end. By varying the tone and distortion knobs, I can get this to sound like the MDS-1 and still have the tube sounds I have to have at lower levels. Good range of tones for my needs, more than I'll use. I have read that these units have the Tubescreamer "chip". I have to say that the Tubulator has a lot more character and variety of sound than the Arion MDS-1 or the Tubescreamer. If it was stolen, lost, etc., I would order another right away. It blows away the Boss DS-1, Ibanez Tubescreamers, Maxon DS 2, Guyatone distortion pedal...all priced higher. I have reverse snobbery...if I find something that works, AND it's obscure or cheap, I feel like I've discovered something special. This qualifies. I would like it to have a more scooped mid section, or the option of sounding like a wah wah set in the nasal sounding tone you can get, but I come close using this with a flanger set in a slow rolling setting, with flange
engaged. The tone knob goes from a mild, somewhat dead low end to a thin, very "live" high end. Between those extremes is a range where I found what I want. I am extremely concerned with my tones and stick with something when I find it. This should do me fine and for $15, it's the value of the month. If it crashes, I'll make a few modifications to the switching, packaging and use the circuit board as is...or buy another. It was a nice surprise to find such a good sound for this price. Doesn't happen often.

very easy to use , 3 knobs

Sounds great , real smooth and rich. I set it at 12:00 12;00 and gain all the way down. Very tubey. It does sound similar the the ts7 but with not as much gain. Quiet. I use a tele and a hot rod amp

Its plastic , but good plastic , I have other plastic pedals that have lasted years.

I dont think arion in around anymore. musicians friend has good suuport

This is a very nice o/d pedal , Ive tried quite alot of pedals (botique and mods) This and the ts7 are really the only ones ive liked so far. For the price you absolutely cant go wrong

Easy to use.

This pedal simply blew me away.

My Gear : Fly-V w/ DD and EMG boost into rackmount --> Gainiac preamp, peavey FX, and stereo Poweramp.

I have the tubulator placed AFTER the preamp and before the effects. I think that's backwords compared to the way most people use overdrive pedals. I first did use it before the preamp and got great sound using it as a boost but I found that this way is more convenient for me because I already had a volume pedal between the preamp and FX so all I needed was a patch cable. Plus, it acts MORE LIKE tube-amp simulation if it occurs after the pre-amp anyways.


I bought this pedal because my gainiac can sometimes give me insane feedback so I wanted an alternate overdrive to use and didn't want to spend a lot of money. This solved that problem, but it also gave me a much more versatile setup. I fell in love with how PERFECT it is for adding a touch of crunch to a clean channel and for low-gain distortion!! It sounds very rich and responsive. It doesn't have great hi-gain sounds on its own (hence the rating of 9) but even then it still sounds pretty decent.

I also found that if I set my preamp for a lightly scooped rhythm sound then this pedal is perfect for going into a lead (kind of like using a tube-screamer in reverse) because it has plenty of mids to smooth out the sound. Very hot and sweet tone!



Just for reference, I play mostly hard rock but also contemporary praise and worship, some blues, and occasionally some hard-corpsish metal stuff.

Would you use it on a gig without a backup?

well....hmmm funny this is that I bought this to be the back-up. But it just sounds so gooood, I can't imagine that I would leave it sit around.

I've never owned anything from Arion before so i cannot really comment.
If it breaks (hope not) I'll post later.

Don't know this either

I've been playing for about 4 years now and have mostly had to play through solid-state amps. This pedal is the answer to sterile sounding clean and low-gain tones if you have transparent SS amps.

It would be nice if you could get a little more guts with its high-gain sound because the low-E string sounds a little SS fake-ish but it's definately nothing to complain about. I mean dude, this thing is only 15 freaking dollars new and you get some pretty aggressive crunch.

You get huge sound for such a low price! I give it 10 overall considering the low cost.

it is analog with three pots (level, tone, dist) and a switch, so it is easy to use. no manual needed. the tone control has a narrow band of usefull sounds (see below).

low ourput single coil guitar (ibanez rs 135 start type) / high output humbucker guitar (ibanez 72 telecaster thinline custom mod) => mte-1 "tubulator" => yamaha g50-112II (solid state amp)
boxes for comparison: ibanez mt 10 ("mostortion")
the mte-1 is a low gain overdrive to distortion box. like other products of this type it works well with humbuckers but sounds somewhat weak with single coils (say crunchy, not distorted). with humbuckers the dist control gives you sounds between slight crunch - aggressive crunch - mild distortion. with single coils and dist at min it works as a clean boost, with humbuckers it has some distortion already with min dist. it is not noisy. when turned off, there is no change of tone (real bypass?). the distortion does not break off but fades quite continually. there is one major drawback: the tone control is almost useless for my taste. at max ("high") it gives a trebly, almost fuzzy distortion sound (not very musical), with any setting below 3 o'clock you get muddy dark sounds without any higher overtones (and my amp is set at max treble plus bright!). So it just works fine in the "range" from 3 to 4.
as compared to the mostortion overall gain and distortion is a bit lower.

this one was built in sri lanka. the box is made of a sturdy plastic, both switch and pots look well. the switch feels more reliable than ibanez 9 or 10 series. i always take more than one overdrive box, so there is always a backup.

never dealt with them

i have been playing blues to hard rock for 30 years now on a low technical level. this box is a one trick pony like many overdrives are. i feel good about it with a neck humbucker and max dist (just that singing sound). for use with a strat i recommend a preboost (e.g. marshall drivemaster). to my taste it is not versatile enough. i prefer overdrives with three band equalization (mostortion, drivemaster and the like). the tone control of the tubulator is not well set up, just one usefull setting. if it got stolen or lost i would not actively look for a replacement. but it is certainly worth its price. if you can get it at about 10 USD/Euro it's okay.

Three knobs, not that difficult at all. And it was very easy for me to get good tones. I'm a kind of guy who likes a lot of knobs and choices, but their's a good variety of tones with just the three. Never even looked at the manual once.

I use a cheap SX les paul copy into a Marshall MG250 DFX combo. The MG has good built-in distortion, but you only really get heavy gungy tones from it. (which is good) So I needed more of an overdrive/tube-like tone as well. This baby is perfect for that! I found myself coming up with all sorts of beautiful tones with ease! It reminds me of an old Fender Bassman combo I used to use. It really makes my amp more versitle. And what great value too! An because it costs $15, I'm giving it a 10!

Seems very sturdy. But I literally just got it today, so who knows. Again $15..... I think I can afford another!

I ordered this from Musicians Friend like everyone else. But I've never had to contact them or Arion.

I've been playing guitar for over 10 years. I've owned tons of different pedals in the past. I also sold a lot of them too. A lot of pedals try to be something theire not, and I'm usually disapointed by them. Not so here, this thing does exactly what it should! And does it well. I would buy another if it went ba bye. I play all kinds of misic other than country, and it works perfect for all them. Get one while they still cost $15 fast!

Only three knobs, gain, tone and distortion. Good thing it has tone. The manual is a hoot--what a translation!

This thing sucks out much of the lows and highs and focuses on the midrange. I don't like much distortion, just a tinge, so I keep that knob down. I keep the tone past 12 o'clock because the unit really pulls out the treble. It's sort of a one-trick-pony but it's pretty good for a mellow tubey sound. If you want a hi-fi thunderous buzz- saw sound buy aBig Muff.

I have three other Arion products and they're still working although I haven't played out much recently.

I've never dealt with the company. Don't really know how, anyway. Do I call someone in China?

I started playing in the 60s so I know a lot about that era of distortion effects. When the Stones came out with "Satisfaction" everyone had to have fuzz box. First was the Maestro Fuzz and that was a buzzy affair. I soon bought a round Fuzz Face which was smoother, they may have re-issued those. Had a Univox and a Boss Tone (I think that is what it was called). It was a small plug-into-the guitar unit that had legendary powerful smooth distortion. They were unreliable though. The Arion unit is OK but I like the lead gain from my amp better. It keeps the wide tone range. The Arion has its place though.

There are three controls, like virtually every other overdrive unit. It's quite easy to use.

I have two main guitars I play. One is a custom black guitar with one Carvin humbucker, Floyd Rose, and a scalloped neck. The other is a cheap Kramer Strat that I put a couple of humbuckers into. They both sound nice through this, into a small all-tube combo. I run my Tubulator at 3 to 4.5 volts with an adaptor, reducing the headroom and high-end a little, and I like it that way. Like others have said, it sounds like a Tube Screamer with a little more gain.

It hasn't failed me so far. You could gig without a backup, but you might as well buy two because of the price.

n/a

For the money, it's a great deal. I'm planning on buying a higher-gain tube amp and I probably won't really need the Tubulator then, but it's a keeper.

Easier to operate than the computer you're using.

Les Paul, Strat, Tele and 335 clone all sound great through this. It does the job it's supposed to, using a variety of tube and SS 1X12 50W combo amps.

I got this for Christmas... Christmas 2002. So, I've been using it for over a year with NO problems. I've gigged with it, sams backup. It has never failed.

Never bothered with customer support. If it needs repair, I'll do it myself.

Bought from Musicians Friend. I decided to post this review after doing my guitar room "house cleaning."

Playing the aforementioned guitars through my Ibanez TS9 w/BROWN mod, Ibanez TS5, Boss SD-1 and the Arion Tubulatior overdrive, it was no contest. The Ibanez's had to go. The Arion sounded every bit as good as the Tube Screamers. (IMHO, FWIW, YMMV.) It has more low end, more gain and less noise. The Boss SD-1 has more high end crunch so I kept it for certain applications.

The Arion is 1/5 th. the cost of a TS9. Like someone below said; buy several before they're all gone.

I've been playing guitar since the Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan.

This is real simple, level tone dist. couldn't be easier. All knobs work well and have a good range. The manual is funny. Whatever you do "Do not analyze for remodel the product!"

This sounds great. It is basically a tubescreamer tone with a bit more gain. I use a vox valve tone and wanted to get something a bit thicker sounding. I played these back to back and can get them to sound identical. The valve tone has a bit more nasal 'vox' quality, and i can get a bit thicker with the tubeulator. I like it with the level on 10 and the drive at 0 into an old fender bandmaster. I use either a 60's SG or Melody Maker. Mixes well with fuzz and wah, this is basically what I needed.

Well here is what I am unsure about. This thing was only $19 and the casing is a cheap plastic. I am a bit worried that the jacks, switch and pots may break at some point if you are gigging/touring like I am. But for under $20 what do you want? If they upgraded all that it would cost $100 like a tubescreamer does. I think this actually sounds better. Since I gig, I will bring my vox valvetone as backup.

If it dies I should be able to fix it. For $20 I won't bother contacting them.

Overall this thing is great. The sound rivals boutique tubescreamer clones, it just doesn't have the quality jacks, etc. I play garage/blues/psychedelic/rock'n'roll music and it is just great. Sounds perfect into a cranked up old fender with my old SG. If it dies I will probably get another one. Before this I purchased a 'botique' tubescreamer clone for $150 that was defective so I sent it back. I decided to try this and honestly it sounds better to my ears.

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.