Arion SCH-1 Stereo Chorus

Man, I don't know how I came into this--it was either given to me or it was left behind at an electric open mic I hosted in the '90s...and all applicable statutes have expired, and I am selling it now, even though it is a purely delicious pedal. I never knew! Sitting in the closet for years? When I'd see it, I'd say, Whose IS that??" When I finally plugged it in several weeks ago, I was pleasantly blown away by the rich lushness of it all.

Easy? Sure Depth Rate Tone. Cheaply built.

Really sweet--the slow chorus is beautiful, the fast chorus "leslie like" is among the best I've heard. It's a pearl, man, a pearl. I'm selling it 'cause it has some cult cachet (not quite as much as the Gen 1 Whammy pedal I got a 300% return on lat year but some) and I won't something else. I am already regretting it. This is one of those flukes. I could see people going to great ends to keep this healthy and in their rig.

I like it dark, but the tone knob gives it quite a bit of versatility

Is a bit of tone sucker when switched out. I think it wisest to use this in a nice loop, which will also save pedal well--remember the this is a really cheap pedal.

Ooof--careful there! Try to find one that is not missing an original knob or two, or the battery cover.

Who? Ashurbanipal K H-L III that's whom.

I fyou like modulation effects, you will love this. Simple.

Huh. I don't even know how I got this thing. It has been sitting in the spidery closet off my studio for a fine number of years, looking cheap and stupid, next to a DOD compressor that I never use either. Did I mention I don't even know how I got it? I am quite sure I didn't buy it. I don't recall anyone giving it to me. Best supposition, I guess, would be that it was a "leave behind" sometime during this years I hosted a weekly electric open mic. Could it perhaps...BE YOURS???

Speed depth tone, with the requisite missing knob (tone in my case). This is the black box, not the "coveted gray."

Pretty sweet, pretty animated. I might just be incorporating this into my live rig, though I'd like to get a loop-master or something so it is no in line all the time. As someone else mentioned, it does the Scofield toilet warble brilliantly well.

I'm impressed!

uh, cheap cheap cheap

Brilliant

I am tempted to sell it because it looks like I might be able to get 70 or 80 bucks for it.

Really easy. What pedal isn't?

The sound quality is great and bright for a chorus pedal.

I found this in a dumpster so It's as reliable as dumpster trash is... some static here and there and also the battery door broke off. This thing really is delicate feeling but It still lives after many years.

Didn't use.

Good sound except for the static. The case Is cheap plastic. I can't believe these are worth more than 10$ on eBay. Again, I found this in a dumpster.

RATE DEPTH TONE

Excellent all the chorus tones are here

had it 20 years still working

never used

This is a brilliant pedal if you find one buy it

Three Knobs; rate, depth and tone wich is quite usefull, stereo with a direct/stereo switch (altough i've use it mono). Simple Pedal, bought it used. It's pretty old, bought new in the eighties so i've been told.

This came as a surprise. Quite analog sounding for a digital pedal. Warm and thick, i quite agree with people here saying it's almost leslie sounding. You can get pretty a good leslie sound out of it. I find most of the Boss's, EH or MXR (the ones i've tried) to be quite artificial and thin, this one sounds less metalic to me. Very nice indeed.

Well, i would complain about the plastic housing... but this thing is about 20 years old, looks very beaten and still works perfectly. So i would say it's reliable altough plastic sucks.

don't think they are in business anymore

I play anything from blues to heavy rock and for my personal taste, and my 10 years of playing, i would chose this over any mid priced chorus. I can't really say about the insanely expensive ones because i've never tried one but i definitly find it better than all the new boss, EH and MXR stuff.

Controls are self explanatory

I used my guitar teacher's, he says that he's never found a better chorus and I could see why. It has a sweet analog pitch shifting that is amazing. It's nicer than my Korg Chr-1, which is still a high quality unit, but I'd rather have the korg right now beacuse it has a phase shifter in it.

Lasted roughly 15 years of gigging and practices.

Can't find a way to contact Arion

Amazing tone, cheap, durable, and built to last. we have a winner!

If you know how to use a chorus, or any modulation pedal for that matter, you'll be able to get a decent sound in no time.

I'd heard a lot about this pedal, and really wanted to hear one for myself. All I can say, after having obtained both a grey box and a black box (both Japanese made) version is...Wow!
In general, I'm not much of a chorus guy, but occasionally I get a want in me to play some Police, Pink Floyd, or bad 70s fusion and, when I do, this little box does the trick perfectly.
Over the last six months I've had the pleasure to own a few good chorus pedals (in particular a Boss CE2 & DC2 as well as an old Ross R88) and have been able to compare the SCH1 to all of them.
It is, by far, the most versatile - the addition of the tone knob allows me to get those bright CE2 sounds as well as the darker Ross ones - and the depth and rate knobs allow me to conjure up anything from a slow, Univibe-ish swirl (albeit subtle) to fairly convincing fast Leslie sounds (I also own both an H&K Rotosphere and a Sweetsound Mojovibe so am in a good position to judge as far as Univibe and Leslie sounds go).
Regarding the grey Vs black box debate - there is a subtle, but definite difference between the two. I agree that the grey box version sounds nicer; slightly less noisy (although both SCH1s are very quiet anyway) and less detuning as the depth gets increased (therefore better for the fast Leslie sounds).

This is my only concern. I wish they were in a metal case with a heavy duty switch. I know FXdoctor is able to put the guts in a better case and make it true bypass, but it's pretty costly so I'll just have to risk it. Never broken down on me yet, though...

Overall, a very versatile unit that's probably as good as anything else out there chorus-wise. If it were more heavy duty and true-bypass it would be perfect - hence the 9.
I can see why people are starting to pay a lot of money for these - try and grab one before they start fetching silly prices!

rate, depth, tone. pretty straight forward.

it is a little weaker sounding than mxr or electroharmonix. but, it blows the newer (90's-prestent) dod's away! i was suprized of this. it sounds pretty good. i used to play bass through this thing! now, i am on guitar. i like using 2 chorus pedals at once. i use this with a small clone.

granted, it is plastic. but, big fat hairy deal! i have owned this thing for 19 years now! and it has yet to break on me! as long as you are not brutal with it, it should be fine! the knobs wear out easy. not the pots, mind you, just the knobs. i consider it to be reliable.

never tried it. it is on a pc board, so i am sure it is hard to work on. but, like i said, i have had this thing almost 2 decades and it has really held up!

it is interesting. i mean, i thought if i tried other choruses, i would like them better, but this thing has stood the test of time, and i like it!

This pedal is as easy to tweak as it gets!

I play strats mainly, I lean towards single coils as I find I get better definition with them.
The drawback with some single coils, strats especially, is they can get too bright & clanky when doing leads in the upper registers of the fretboard when using distortion.
I fixed this by using a big muff, & the Arion is the only chorus I liked with distortion sounds, all others sounded metalic, some may like that sound but I don't, the Arion can be tweaked to simulate a Fender vibratone amasingly well, it just won't ramp up or down like the real thing.
I use the Arion to simulate a univibe mostly & although it doesn't nail the exact modulation, it warbles differently than an actual vibe, but I love the sound it gives me for Gilmour leads!!!
The tone control is very musical & is incredible for fattening your tone, this is what really gives you a univibe sound, it fattens up the tone like a real vibe does.

I'm not a big chorus fan to begin with, but the Arion will go beyond the chorus realm, thats why I wouldn't let this pedal go, I sold all my other chorus pedals, Boss dimension C, TC chorus/flange,as they only did one thing I liked & that was to just give me a nice stereo spacial spread which is a nice effect when you are using a stereo rig, but I've since found that a mono rig creates less issues in a live situation so I don't bother running stereo any more.

The Arion SCH-1 covers all the bases for me, & if I decided to run stereo it does that pretty well too!

I use it in a bypass loop switcher, it's made of plastic & if you are an aggressive stomper, it will break, it's just a matter of time.
This is the only drawback with this pedal.
It's definately worth getting a bypass loop for this pedal!

NONE.

Ive been playing 25+ years, & I'm a blues rocker/very aggressive rock type player, I've been through thousands of dollars worth of gear over the years, & have sold many things that I wish I didn't.
I'm not about to make that mistake with the Arion.

I would hunt for one if I lost this one for sure, I love the sound of this chorus, even though traditional chorus isn't really a sound I use this pedal for, I use this pedal for the vibe type simulation & it sounds so warm & musical.
If you get a chance to get one of these, it deserves a try, believe me!

piece of cake

this thing is stoopid phat, yo. i've had the original tc chorus pedal, the ce-1, 2 ce-2s, a small clone, EH MM deluxe w/modulation, ada flanger, mxr flanger, digitech whammy II, intellifex, quadraverb, boss se-70, replifex, g-force, m2000, and have spent quality time with the tc 1210 and 2290, analogman clone clone, fulltone choralflange,

and this cheap little runt just speaks to me. it's magic every time i fire it up live. the sway is so deep, it really does create a dizzy underwater vibe, but maintains that telltale guitar twang through it all. huff and landau sitting in a tree.....

it can get a little hissy if you open up the high end on the tone control. i think it best to keep the tone knob at 12:00 or less....let's face it; this is not a transparent hi fi tc deal, but it is a very rich sounding chorus that will not be ignored! don't aim at subtle, try to hypnotize your audience with this pig! it also has a boost in volume when engaged. some feel uncomfortable with this feature, but i think it's ingenious.

most times when you kick on a typical box chorus in the full soundscape of a band, the phasing diffuses the impact of the guitar sound somewhat. not with this pedal!

i've used it with my egnater tol 100 and mojave coyote and they both LOVE this pedal.

you can also use it on distorted tones with much success.

it is a cheaply built pedal...if it didn't sound like a million bucks, i would never even consider using such a flimsy pos live, but the tone is undeniable.

again, i am a chorus nut, and this thing kicked everything else out of the hizzouse.

the ce-2 is a runner up for analog sound in a compact mono enclosure, also good for distorted tones.

for transparent pristine, i'd get a fulltone choralflange.

for old school, it's ce-1, retrosonic chorus ensemble, or AM clone clone with fat switch.