Arion SCH-Z

This is the latest update of the Arion SCH1 Stereo Chorus pedal; it is extremely easy to use and has an excellent 'ready-to-go' all-purpose chorus sound. Now made in Sri Lanka; still available to buy new, still cheap, still plastic. Very easy to use. The 'manual' is hilarious. And it came with a battery, too.

I tested this with a modified Strat System 3 against an old Arion SCH1 (made in Japan), into a modified Vibrochamp. Sound really is identical except that the old pedal has more treble in the tone control; where the new SCH-Z has tone full up, the older pedal has it on about 3/4. Takes away the harshness. It is not noisy and there are a range of useful settings/sounds - easy to get an Andy Summers-type sound, and with a compressor in front those clean L.A.session sounds are there too. Putting an od/dist in the middle of the chain didn't do it for me, there are other choruses that go better with distortion I would think. So if you are after the SCH-1 chorus sound, here it is. It doesn't get a '10' but that's sort of the point - this is a workingman's chorus!

Buyer beware; it's all plastic and a size 12 tripping over or stepping on this on a darkened stage will very likely break it. You can wiggle the pots/knobs from side to side, but don't. It's a bit fragile and in fact I will be taking a (metal case) backup to the gig. As for reliability, see above - it's going to break eventually, and sooner if you don't treat it well. This pedal is worth it for the sound and because the plastic casing makes it cheaper to manufacture and buy. It's built well enough for what it is, but don't sell your other chorus either. Can I mark it down because it's not in a metal case? I guess I have to. But it hasn't gone wrong on me yet.

When you buy from a retailer in the U.K. there is still often a 1 yr guarantee on most things, however these days you have to read the small print. There's no warranty or guarantee slip with this and I would expect no more than 60 days warranty from the retailer, although it might be possible to email the company and deal with their rep if it went wrong. As it's cheap it would not be worth getting it repaired anyway, you might as well buy a new one.

I play jazz, rock and blues in a covers/function band and have a couple of improvisation projects; I have been playing over 33 yrs and like most guitarists have been through quite a bit of gear in that time. I currently use Fender amps and guitars for the most part. If this was stolen or lost I wouldn't necessarily replace it at once, but buying a new one is so cheap that you can afford it. As far as (analog)stereo choruses go, I also have the 2 DOD ones, the MXR re-issue, a Peavey bi-chorus, a Marshall Supervibe and really they're all different, and all have their strengths and weaknesses. This is a very good generic chorus and I'd grab this or the DOD65 in a hurry as the others take more time to set up. My Boss choruses are in an SE50 and SE70, i.e. digital with menus.

Can take some time to dial in just the right sound, but not to hard to tweak once you have it set up.

This this is awesome, let me tell you, it's better than the Korg chr-1 (see my review on it), the Boss ch-1, the Boss CE-5, the Electro-Harmonix Clone Theory, the Electro-Harmonix Small Clone, the Electro-Harmonix Small Clone Nano and the Ibanez cs-9. It's so nice and sweet and mysterious sounding and can go from dark and smoky to very bright sounding. It is very comparable to the original SCH-1 which is the pedal that made me interested in checking it out. Arion went out of business shortly after I bought my first Arion (the HU-8500 tuner pedal) and I found this on ebay (shipping included) for $60, back when you could get these from Musicians Friend they were $25 a pop, but this is still a better deal than any of the pedals listed above (even though the Nano is $53). If you are fortunate enough to find a NEW one on ebay or elsewhere buy it, I wouldn't suggest buying a used pedal, my first chorus was a Korg Chr-1 and it just dyed, that's why I got this one, stomp boxes have a relatively short life for audio equipment so you shouldn't buy them used!

Don't know about the specific quality of this one, but my Hu-8500 tuner pedal has held up well so far and the man who inspired my to get into Arion has a SCH-1 & a HU-8500 (check my review on it) that are roughly 15 years old. No worries for reliability here as long as you don't abuse it.

Can't find anything on customer service, but Arion makes quality products.

Incredible I haven't found a unit that compare to the sound quality this thing produces, the closest I've come is the ch-1. Get One!

I think it is a very easy unit to get a great sound. It just takes a little time to adjust your settings and the tone knob. The manuel is
useless and has no sample settings at all.I may get it upgraded to the sch-1 and would like it to have two switches for the different
speeds,since it is very leslie like.

the sound quality is very good and I owned one eions ago(remember when
chorus was cool)and from what I remember sounds a lot like the sch-1.
It seems they changed the tone control and I remember the sch-1 being a little fatter at 12,oclock but also got a lot muddier with the sch-1.The unit seems just as quiet as the original and has a little what they call a zipper effect but no more than any other chorus.The thing I hate compared to the original is the slight volume boost but is great for the distortion,as it puts the effect out front of you.I am running it with a jackson dxmg with all AMERICAN electronics and Duncam pickups.I also have a okay crate gt1200h and old carvin 4-12
with celestions in it.I am putting together a new board at present time and have a line 6 uber metal,arion chorus and a guyatone delay.
I like real transparent effects and into gilmours clean sound with the
delay and chorus.I have just ordered the maxon od881 and hoping it will make my distortion more natural and transparent.Love the old ts-808 and the sd-9 but always hated the mid hump and the feeble tone knob,so hoping the 881 will give me these sounds as well as new ones and have better control over the sound with a real tube and better eq.

It seems dependable and if it is like the original will not need a backup.I have not gigged with it but assume it will be fine.The thing that really bothered me was people here said it would not run on a power brick,well mine does just fine and seems to be smoother being regulated properly.

never have and from what people said,could contact George Bush easier,lol.

I play progressive type metal,with pink floydish clean sounds and need a chorus for mainly broken chord work.It seems to work great and will be better I think with the od881 as the uber metal colors your sound too much and has the crappy mids that are like the metal zone and I just hate.I may have it modded to the sch-1 but seems okay to me
at the present time and only hate the volume boost but seems clearer than the original tone circut.Having the bbd chip I can get just about any old chorus sound.Think the secret is the tone knob,even though the boss ce-5 and ch-1 have one,just seems thin all the time.
Have owned almost any chorus you can think of and can get ce-2 boss chorus with the tone backed at 12 or 11.Prefer the tone at 1 o'clock
as it clears it up and most chorus pedals sound like 12 0'clock to me
with ethier to much high end or not enough.I feel like full circle as this was my first chorus pedal I bought and have tried evrything but the ce-1 just about.I love old rush and alex had one and can get that sound with a little tweaking,think hemispheres very inspiring for me growing up.No pedal is perfect,so I will give it a 8 because of the slight boost but for the money no complaining here.I think it is the best chorus out there and even though I have never played the ce-1(rarer and more expensive like a binson echo)have supposedly heard it on rush albums and sounds like this and the ce-2.Just use the tone knob to make it unclear and grainy like most boss choruses if you want.

It's not hard to use ... just a few knobs. It's just not easy to get it to make any decent sounds

I'm have a Jazzmaster, Jagmaster, and two Teles ... all but one of the Teles outfittted with Seymour Duncans. I'm playing through either a Traynor YCV-50 w/EL34s swapped for 6L6s and retubed with Groove Tubes 12ax7s or a Blues Junior with a Jensen.

Yeah, this thing makes a chorus sound, but the net effect is a thin lifeless sound, not the full, rounded effect I'm looking for.

Maybe some day I'll find a reason to use it ... I'm certainly not reaching for this pedal when setting up for a gig.

three knobs easy

Shit! It cut's out your notes while playing. Haven't any of you guys noticed that? Or did I just get a lemon? It doesn't let the note sing out, it cut's it in and out, no matter what setting I gave it. it was driving me nuts so I got a dana electro milk shake and that chours just blows this Arion SCH-Z
away HANDS DOWN! I am happy that you all like it and it works for you,
but I have to say this is without a doubt the worst chours I have ever heard.
I also bought there mte tubulator and that thing is fantastic way better than this unit. Sorry arion you need to work on this unit.

throw it in the trash.

Easy to use chorus pedal. Just take some time to turn the dials and experiment with the different types of chorus you can get with this pedal.

What a pedal. I have not tried the original SCH-1 that everyone loves, but I sure do love this pedal. It gets several different chorus sounds. However, I leave mine set on a leslie type vibe all the time. It nails "Cold Shot". For $30, there is no reason you should not have 2 of these for different settings. There is no signal loss with this pedal. It actually boostes my sound when engaged. I find no fault with the sound of this pedal.

??? Plastic? Come on. I am afraid everytime I play with this pedal. When I am flying around clicking this pedal and that pedal, I don't have time to think about being careful with the Arion. If this think was built like a tank, it would be a perfect 10. But it's not.

Never needed them, but I don't think I could find them either. I have never seen a website for them. So, I don't even know if they still make pedals.

If this pedal was lost or stolen, I would cry. But then I would realize that it only costs $30 and would go buy another one. It is an important part of my sound. If you want a great chorus, don't worry about being hip and having the older one. This pedal is a great value and sounds great. I have a $100 Boss Chorus that sits next to the Arion on my board that wishes I used it half as much as the Arion.

Its a chorus, Rate, Depth and Tone, with extra high boost and mono/stereo switch, it doesnt get more easier than this

I used mine , used i will explain later, with this config: either a leas paul copy, ibanez strat copy or iceman to a morley bad horsie , boss ds-1, ibanez tubescreamer, arion sch-z chorus, arion digital delays, peavey bandit 112 . Let me say this pedal amazed me , it had a great sounding chorus, very deep and lush it was beautiful while it worked.

Unreliable as heck, this is a piece of shit pedal made of plastic that crapped out on me after a couple of months and after the musiciansfriend warranty expired, i had waited for it for a whole month because of the back order and after 46 days it crapped out on me, so if you can buy something else because it may happen to you.
If your wondering what the problem was with it, it woulnd mix the dry signal with the wet signal no matter the position of the depth control, and since it was so cheap, i didnt even care to fix it, got me another pedal:)

I dont even care to deal with the company , its japanese and their website is almost imposible to find , i found it once i think and that was it, anyways i put my miserable pedal to sleep a long time ago.

This pedal may sound awsome, but what good is an awsome sounding pedal if it doesnt work? , so do yourself a favor and steer away from it unless your a qualified technician, and you want to spend money trying to make it more dependable, which is simply stupid with the amount of used and in good condiotion choruses on ebay.

wow to eas-z to use. great sound. go's great with my chaine of pedals .manual really don't need it.this pedal is great for what i use it 4.

ibanez scream demond-mt2-dan-e.q-flanger-sch-z.dd-3-marshalljcm2000 dsl-marshall cab 1960.all i can say that this pedal is great i love it.. it is made of plastic but not worried about that .. the sound that counts to me..ok u can get a lot of sound out of this baby- great pedal got mine from musicans friend -on friday of june10-05-killer pedal ....

i can depend on this not a problem ...no need back up

never delt with them . some people said that u can't get a hold of them at all . so not really worried. for 29.99 can't go wrong.

i play metal -jazz progrestion - and lead and i find this pedal to be up there with the big ones..i tried this pedal out before a while back and i think this pedal is just as good as the boss pedal and some others- it do's make a diffrence in your sound to get a great sound of the chorus- i think for the price u should grab it .. and 4 the sound - o-yea...great pedal....just get this pedal -and try 4 your self ...

3 knobs-tone for the tone, the rate for the speed of the chorusing and depth for the thickness or wideness of the chorus. There is a stereo switch which gives you stereo chorus (suprise). This sounds good with headphones and with an amp capable of stereo (makes the chorus nice and spacial). For this you have to change the output (one for direct, one for stereo) as well as using the direct:stereo switch on the unit. Could be confusing, but you get use to it.
There are four main sounds in this thing:-
1)A shiny tone- With rate at nothing and depth at full
2)Light chorus- Rate and depth at half way
3)Chorus- Rate at half depth at three quarters
4)Psychedelic chorus- Rate and depth and full
I have the tone always at halfway

Peavey raptor special into Crybaby-big muff(russian)-boss Ds1-Arion schz-zoom 505 11 into an mg series marshall. Good sound- best on a clean tone. Not a beautiful warm chorus, but warmer than the one on the zoom 505 11. Kind of brittle in tone, which you might like or dislike. Beautiful for arpeggios (the best use for a chorus). Better than the Boss ce-5, and you can nail some pretty good eighties chorus sounds. Good with a light distortion on the bridge pick-up-very Pretenders like. Nice with the wah done slow-a very unique-phase like effect. With a heavy distortion (DS1) and the tone rolled down on your guitar, you can get some cool space like effects. Makes the flanger effects on the zoom nice and luscious and thickens them up. I use a power supply - this thing eats batteries for breakfast.

The battery case on mine is broke and the plastic would not survive any one who stomps too hard. Although i tend to find you only stomp distortions and overdrives hard (you can't help it - it just comes naturally!). Not the most dependable box, but probably reliable enough to gig without a backup. Definately not up to the standard of a boss.

Never used them.

It suits my tastes just fine, as i mentioned it is perfect for arppeggios and contempary chorus, although you can combine pedals to make unique tones. If i lost this, i would probably replace it (hopefully at a cheaper price, as i naively bought this when i couldn't be bothered to wait). I wish it was slightly warmer but after all it is digital (or at least it sounds it). Indeed, analog choruses tend to be warmer. Best used on the neck and middle pickups for the 'warmest' tones. I tried a boss after i bought this one(thinking my naivity was a mistake) and found little difference and that i personally prefered the Arion. Still good for the money (although i bought it second hand at a first hand price).

This unit isn't that difficult to use, it's got a one input, and 2 outputs for "stereo". It's got a switch for "direct" (mono) or "stereo". I think it's got 3 knobs, depth , rate and tone. The tone knob is interesting in that it either add's bass or add's treble, so it's pretty suggestable you can match your tone. the effect does have manual with everything you need to know including the specs, etc.

For the value, this is the best chorus pedal i've found. I've got a original Ibanez CS-9, BC-9, and this arion model sounds pretty good in comparison. I've also got a Johnson chorus, that's not bad , but the arion kicks it's butt especially for the value. I found this chorus to be a really nice lush sound, classic japan like engineering. It almost sounds like a Roland/Boss chorus, but I like it better. It has a incredible stereo pan field , if you use the stereo option. However, the caveat is the amount of signal boost the pedal will exhibit, it will boost your sound , so the sound tech is going to go nuts if you don't use it all the time. The effect is not noisy, and sounds really crispy and clean, alot of sparkle. I still like my original Ibanez CS-9, but if I didn't have it, I actually would prefer this chorus. I tested mine with a Roland Cube 30's run in stereo, very impressive chorus , better than the roland stock chorus on the amp which is still good in my opinion.

Again, the Arion stuff is high impact plastic, so it's not going to be banged around , and inserted and re-inserted the inputs alot. I recommend using a pedalboard if you're serious for effects, it also drops set up time tremdously! A seven rating for average

I'm sure Arion is probably pretty good , most manufactuers will stand by their products. 7 for average rating

Great effect for the value, it might even be the key to your sound, very crisp, clean sparkle with lush sound, there's not alot of "de-tuning" like in other chorus pedals, nice balance. Beware of the signal boost. However, the stereo application is impressive to say the least. Nice to have the tone feature as well to match the sound. If you want a nice inexpensive chorus , this is a good place to start.

I really relish chorus for my sound and I think If I didn't have the Ibanez CS-9 original pedal, I probably would lean for this pedal or a Boss.

Modulation pedals are not like distortion or overdrive pedals where you pretty much know what settings you want and how to obtain the sound you want. You are going to have to play with this pedal for a few minutes to dial in the sound you want, but once you get it, it's very worth the super cheap price of only $19!

I've had mine for alittle more than a month, and I'm actually pretty surprised with this cheap, crappy chorus pedal, it's actually got a very good chorus sound. The thing I really like about this pedal is the tone knob, you can get a boost for your highs or lows, very nice added touch. I only use my chorus pedal occasionally, and it's usually only used with my clean channel. I, too, bought this pedal only because I don't use chorus that much, so I went with something cheap, I wasn't going to buy something expensive and not use it much. It works, actually better than I expected it to, great with my clean channel. I have it set to a shimmering chorus with the tone knob at about 2-ish to have pronounce the highs a bit more, which sound great for the shimmering chorus effect. I use an Epiphone Elitist Les Paul Standard Plus, Peavey HP signature guitar, and a Fender Strat (rarely use the Strat), it sounds great with humbuckers. My pedalboard is ->Dunlop GCB-95 (Dunlop 535Q wah on its way, just ordered) -> Digitech Whammy -> Boss SD-1 (gain boost) -> Boss DS-1 (Danelectro Fab Tone on its way, just ordered it) -> Boss AC-2 -> Arion Chorus -> MXR Dyna Comp -> Delay -> Peavey Classic 50 full stack. I sometimes throw my talk box in after the Boss AC-2 when or if I need to use it. The chorus pedal works good with my DS-1, but I never use it with distortion.

It's plastic, even the input and outputs, so you better be careful. It's not a super strong plastic, but is fine as long as you aren't jumping on your pedals. I don't bring backups for any of my pedals, I have backups, but don't need them. If the chorus was to die on me, no big deal, I barely use it, and it only costs $19, well worth it.

They are one of the many small companies that many people haven't heard of, I don't know if they have a website and don't really care.

For $19, it's an unbelievable deal, you're not going to get anything better for only $19. There are better chorus pedals out, but you are gonna have to pay a lot more than $19. This pedal really isn't bad, if you don't use chorus a lot or just use it for your clean channel, check this thing out, it's actually pretty good, just take the time out to get the sound you want, it'll be worth the money and time.

3 knobs and a direct/stereo switch. It will take you a little bit to find the sound you want, but you can get it. There's no volume knob, only rate, depth, and tone, I think they should have added in a volume knob.

This definitly isn't the best chorus pedal around, but a very good deal for only $20. You can get a nice shimmering chorus effect, something close to a vibrato, flanging, to almost a rotary speaker sound. I really don't use chorus that much, I only bought it because I rarely use chorus pedals, I just bought something cheap that will work for when I need it too. I only use it to add to my clean channel for certain songs. It doesn't work too well with my amps distortion or any of my distortion or overdrive pedals. If I used chorus a lot, I would have went with the Boss CE-5 pedal, but I have other things I need to buy, and a chorus pedal isn't at the top of my list, so I could settle for something cheap since I rarely use it. It has the 2 outputs to go stereo, i never really use that unless I am going to record. This is the cheapest pedal I ever bought, I have all very expensive pedals on my custom pedalboard, seeing this little black plastic box is pretty funny.

It's made of mainly plastic, but seems durable if you aren't real rough with your equipment. The knobs are pretty crappy, but won't break unless you try to break them. The battery compartment is on the front of the pedal, very easy to get to, I don't use it, but seems more convenient that most other pedals. I use adapters for all my pedals so I don't have to deal with batteries.

It's one of the cheapest chorus pedals, it's nothing great, only get it to use on your clean channel. If you don't want to spend a lot of a chorus pedal because you won't use it a lot, go with this pedal, it's worth the money.

3 knobs: rate, depth, and tone.

One thing peculiar about the tone is that instead of just cutting treble (like many tone controls) it boosts lows or highs (depending on if you turn it counter-clockwise or clockwise). The middle position of the know is the neutral position.

Sounds great. I've compared it to other brands that cost up to 3 times more than this pedal, and this one is either equal, or superior to them. It goes from lush with the depth and rate set low (very nice sounding) to wacky underwater when them turned all the way up (not so useful). Turn the depth down and rate up for some shimmer, or turn the depth up and the rate down for a nice deep oscillation.

It doesn't sound as good with my amp's distortion. However, that's with the distortion after the chorus. When I put a distortion in front of the chorus in the signal chain it sounds better. But I actually prefer chorus on the clean sounds anyway.

Not too noisy, no more than any other analog pedal.

The tone control isn't that useful in its extreme positions. I put it a little to the left for a slight bass boost--just enough to fatten up the single coil without changing the tone too much.

I've read all the reviews that claim it's not the same (and not as good as the SCH-1 model). Well, the SCH-1 is now hard to come by, and because they're sought after, they're now pricey. Unfortunately, I don't have one to compare too, so I have to judge this one on its own merits. And based on that, I still recommend this.

I don't know. I tend to treat mine pretty well, so I doubt it'll break on me. If you're hard on pedals, you should note that this doesn't look like it'll hold up to a Boss.

No idea. I don't think the company even has a web page.

I find that a chorus is nice sometimes, but it's not something I use all the time, only when in the mood. Therefore I didn't want to spend a whole lot to have a chorus just to play around with.

If that sounds like you, then I think you'll find that this pedal meets and exceeds your expectations, and you won't need to spend another dollar on chorus pedals. I've owned another pedal, much more expensive pedal, and this is superior; I could've saved money and hassle by trying this one first. I was scared that its low price meant it would suck--but after the dissapointment with the other, I figured I didn't have much to lose and bought this. Now I'm happy.

These are so inexpensive that if you're looking for a chorus you might as well just pick one of these gems up (and they periodically go on sale, making them even more affordable).

If the chorus is such an integral part of your sound and playing that you just cannot do without a boutique or super high-end pedal, well you're probably not shopping for an Arion anyway. (And if you're slathering chorus onto every song, well you're probably living in the wrong era anyway).

Only three knobs, and you can clearly see the results when toggling with it

Very warm chorus sound, haven' t tried any other but this one sounds just great, I use it everywhere I have to use clean guitar tone!

The backup wasn' t very solid so I threw it away very soon, but the pedal has never let me down, though it doesn' t look very solid

Never dealt, so I can' t tell you sorry :-)

I think chorus is the best effect on earth, and this one just woks fine. It it got broken or stolen, I would maybe try a BOSS, but The SCH-Z is really great value, a nice Chorus sound for 45 bucks!

Very easy to use. Three knobs, tone, depth, and rate, plus a switch that lets you go between stereo and mono. Other than the "do I need a manual to help me with this" test, I perform a second test on all pedals I consider buying, which is "can I set all the dials to 12 o clock and have a good or normal sound?" This pedal passes both tests. I give it a 10 because it's easy to use and I can't think of any ways to make it easier.

I use a modified strat or sheraton, run through a bumch of pedals, which always include a vox wah and a visual sound Jekyll and Hyde and which end up either at a Peavey classic or Behringer V amp. This is the most lush, vibrant chorus pedal I have played on that isn't in the botique price range. It gets close to a leslie-type sound, especially if I put a tad of tremelo on it.

As for the tone knob, it tends to get a bit boomy if you turn it past about 10 o'clock. I heard the SCH-1 is better in this respect, so I think I'm going to try to swap out some of the transistors and capacitors and resistors to make it sound more like the SCH-1. But with the tone knob at 11 o'clock or higher, it sounds great.

It's a little noisy, but it uses BBD chips, which are analog. Basically it doesn't sound any more noisy than any other analog pedal. I might worry about some of the analog noise of this and other pedals if I were in the studio, but for live playing, there are no issues. I give it a 9 because no analog pedal is going to sound perfectly quiet.

It's in a plastic housing, so it might be a little delicate. I've also heard the battery cover has a tendency not to stay in place. However, it looks sturdy enough. I'd say it looks as reliable as an Ibanez tone-lok pedal, not as tough as a boss, not as cheap as a danelectro. You could gig without a backup with this thing, or for the price you could buy 2!

There isn't customer support for Arion. They don't have a website, and the pedals are all manufactured in Japan. The instruction manual gives an address for the company in Japan, but no phone number, so I doubt you'd be able to get a response from them. If you're worried about customer support, buy this pedal from a local dealer and rely on them.

I play a bunch of different stuff, mostly contemporary Christian. This pedal gets all the chorus sounds I'll probably ever need, and it certainly puts a tube rotosphere on the low-priority list. I wish it sounded more like the SCH-1, but I'll mod it for that. And lastly, if it were stolen, I'd buy a new one.

Easy to use - you don't have to be in Mensa

Used with Groove Tube Trio with Celestion Century Vintage 12" with 1960 Strat with Fralins

Fragile construction - all plastic - handle with care

They don't have a website - you can't find them anywhere

I play all styles for over 30 years so I know good from bad. - I bought this unit as a replacement for the SCH-1 that was stolen from me. DO NOT BUY THIS UNIT AS A REPLACEMENT OR SUBSTITUTE FOR THE SCH-1 - it doesn't compare. I am telling you guys this because of the tremendous value I've had in reading your reviews on other products. The tone knob changes your EQ Radically. The chorus is brittle - not warm at all. The Vibrato setting gets nowhere near the SCH-1 and Boss CE_1(the reason I bought the SCH-1 in the first place: If you want a cheap chorus then it's useable in your bedroom -
I would not take it out on the road. Don't let Arion or unscrupulous dealers con you into buying it based on the SCH-1 reputation which IS a gem.

This is a basic chorus pedal it has three knobs rate/depth/tone.It also has stereo outputs for true stereo chorus .very easy to get the sound your looking for . The tone knob is very usefull turn it clockwise for treble and counterclockwise for more bass .I keep my tone knob at about the 2 o'clock position

I play clean country/gospel I have a fender blues jr and a 78 fender princeton reverb . On the blues jr this thing sounds beutiful a very strong chorus I havent played it on my princeton yet .I play teles with emgs that are totaly quiet so I would here any added noise and I dont notice any with my setup .This chorus sounds better to me than the boss ch1 and others that cost way more .I had a tc electronics about a $300.00 pedal wich is suposed to be the best chorus pedal out there and to be truthfull this thing runs neck and neck with it I am not kidding !!For $34.00 brand new delivered to my door I might order another one just for a backup .This pedal does just what it is suposed to do and in my book it has a beautiful chorus effect that sounds better than most that cost way more !!!

I dont know I havent had it that long but I had an arion chorus a couple of years ago that I picked up used for about 10 or 15 dollers it looked a little beat up but it worked perfect the only thing that I know are a problem on these are the plastic battery covers they break pretty often but thats not a big problem just get out a little tape

dont know

I have been playing about 16 years I have had about 20 amps 35 guitars have wasted thousands of hard earned dollers looking for the perfect sound I have tried and owned a lot of effects and useless gadgets some are ok to mess with at the house but I have noticed that when taking them out you spend most of your time trying to got them dialed in and less atention to the music. In my expereance and with my ear after playing thru many different effects I will say this pedal will hang in there with any chorus pedal out there!!!!!!P.S dont play that ugly devil music play for JESUS!

Easy to get a good sound. Don't need a manual. Has a tone knob...How many of those do you see on a chorus pedal? Nice option. It also has stereo output jacks - for a two amp setup.

Nice crisp clean and clear sounding chorus -it's not noisy at all. I use a '93 Les Paul Studio (classic 57's) through a Silverface Vibrolux Reverb or a Carvin MTS 3212 combo. Sounds excellent through both. The chorus is not weak -just adds that typical sparkly chorus sound we all know. I noticed the chorus remains clearer than other choruses especially when applied to an overdriven or distorted guitar tone. I found most other chorus pedals are obscured or muddied when distorted.
Sounds big and even better in stereo running to two amps.

It has a plastic enclosure but seems pretty tough. The only thing I don't like is the battery cover. I see some of these missing. It is convenient for changing batteries..but I use a Furman SPB8 powered pedal board anyway.

never dealt with them.

I sold my TC Elect. chorus since I had this. I also have an Analogman clone clone chorus which is nice but still not worth 4x the price of this pedal. The Clone Clone is a more subtle chorus sound and doesn't do the crystally 80's sounds as well. The SCHZ has a slight boost which may be my only beef -but then, it can work for me if I step on it for a solo that has chorus. Great pedal and you can't beat the price.

Three knobs= Rate Depth and Tone. Very easy to dial in a good tone.
Also does an excellent leslie. Very deep and the volume boost is just right. It may be a hair more that my sch-1 but not enough to really matter.The tone knob on the "Z" is different that it adds some bass as you turn it counter clockwise, which I really like! The sch-1 as good as it sounds, getts muddy as you turn the tone counter clockwise more like an actual tone knob, so I see this on the "Z" as a added bonus if you like to deepen your sound. Real Cool

Not noisy at all threw my rig, I use a "57" reissue strat into a boss sd-2 > visualsound Jeykll & Hyde > arion "Z" or sch-1 > boss DD-5 > boss tremelo > fender deville 2X12. Works good w/some overdrive as well. I'am giving this pedal a 9 because it has a sweet smooth analog sound and I really like it!

It's a hard plastic case and have never had any problems with any thing breaking, you may loose the knobs and battery cover though if your real hard on you gear.

never have had to deal with arion. There pedals are cheap enough to replace if they break

I've played for about 30+ years, Contemperary, Rock, Blues, country and some alernative music and I will deffinatly buy this pedal again if it breaks or gets stolen. I like every thing about this chorus and even more so the tone control gives you some different sounds along with the rate and depth. does a great leslie

Three knobs, Rate : Depth : Tone ,Direct/Stereo switch. Pretty easy to and doesn't take too long to get a cool sound.

I havn't done a review in a long time(got bored with doing them!) but felt that the Arion SCH-Z is a pretty good sounding chorus pedal and is a great deal(only $29.99)and has gotten a bad rep ! The SCH-1 is a very good sounding pedal but the slight volume drop always killed me ! Not so with the SCH-Z,it has a volume boost which comes in handy when gigging and is great for soloing. While it's not my Boss CE-1 it's a kickass little leslie wannabe ! It will do The George Harrrison Leslie thingie with no problem and than do the SRV Cold Shot .The tone knob is a BIG improvement over the SCH-1,it will add more bass when needed.The SCH-Z is great for cutting through the mix.It's a very warm sounding pedal that's ALL ANALOG !

Plastic, but tuff ! Not a Boss but still dependable.

Who knows ?

I own many chous pedals(Boss CE-1,CE-2 ,DOD 690,460 and Arion SCH-1) and this little cheapie can hang with most of the chorus pedals on the market! Bob Bradshaw might have to start puttting these in his racks. But for $29.99 you can't go wrong! It's not a high class Analogman Clone Clone but a great sounding chorus pedal.Don't knock it,till you try it ! If anything else it has $25 in BBD chips !

Easy to dial in a good chorus tone.

Way too much hiss to give this any more than a 3.The chorus sound is very good, coming reasonably close to a t.c. electronics chorus, but it adds an incredible amount of hiss.

Not keeping it.

Not keeping it.

Play mostly clean with Strats and Teles through a variety of amps. This adds way too much hiss to be of any use to me, so it's going back to MF. I heard this pedal gives a great sound for the price, but if you're looking for a quiet pedal this ain't it.

3 knobs, very simple, but it's not as good as the SCH-1.

The sound of this new Arion chorus is not bad as far as chorus's
go, but compaired to the earlier sch-1, this new sch-z is a
move in a bad direction for Arion for a couple of reasons. 1)
The new pedals boosts vol enough to be a problem. 2) The tone
control instead of rolling off high end when turned to the right,
now boosts bass--and sounds silly compaired to their earlier
design. 3) I contacted musiciansfriend cause I ordered (what
I thought was a sch-1 Stereo Chorus) but I got the new sch-z.
I told M.F. I didn't like false advertizing, and they said they
only post whats supplied by Arion. I looked around on the net
and realized almost all Arion dealers are posting the same thing.
So it seems Arion is trying to ride their earlier sucess with
the sch-1 by trying to pass sch-z off as it. Not cool Arion!
Whats up, if you now people like the the model so much, why
screw with the design? And since you decided to change it, why
try to pass it off as the earlier model????

These pedals are pretty tuff despite the plastic casing.

Well after seeing the way Arion tried to pass one model off as
another, I don't think they're too cool.

Over all it seems to me that a company like Arion was just
pissing in the wind when they came up with the sch-1, cause
all the other pedals I've tryed of theirs (flanger,delays,
distortion, the new sch-z) sound like what you'd expect from
a pedal in a cheap plastic housing, but the sch-1 was probibly
a special little blunder that Arion just stumbled on by chance.
It's a shame that Arion seems to know that alot of people including
some top professionals like and use the sch-1, but then go and change
the design (probibly cause some ding-dong said it would be even
better) I hope Arion as well as other effects makers under-
stand that to just keep being able to consistently manufactuer
there top products untill the market has been filled is VERY!!
important. And if you decide to change a model, don't try and
pass it off as the tried and true if it's a new design. People
will know.

Easy enough to use for a pedal, but if you have a SCH-1 you may
find it easier to dail then newer SCH-Z. Not that the SCH-Z is
harder to dail-just the tones aren't in the same places earlier
owners are use to. The SCH-Z is a VERY slightly different shade of the same flavor. They're not totally the same-they're not totally different either. That's OK, variety is what makes certain era's of pedals special. And the SCH-Z is still a good pedal-which one is right for you is dependent on what gear you use and what your trying to do with it.

Even though it dosen't sound exactly like the SCH-1--the SCH-Z
is still a very good chorus effect. It nails David Gilmore'ish
type chorus sounds as well as the better chorus sounds of the
SCH-1. The SCH-1 was able to get a cool vintage vibrato sounds
that I can't seem to get with the SCH-Z. Also the tone control behaves in a different way than the earlier model (I like the
the SCH-1's tone control better). There is also a slight volume boost when the SCH-Z is on (I perfer it not drop or boost the signal).
But despite these differences the SCH-Z also has it's strenths in
some areas--in my opinion. Not the same--but another good shade
of Arion Chorus--especially since it was only $38.00 NEW shipped to my
door. Looks exactly like the SCH-1

Never seen a broken Arion yet, and I've seen some really beat
ones in the city. All sound great and work fine-despite their
plastic housing.

Never used them, don't know.

If you have never heard the SCH-1 you would probibly think the
SCH-Z was one of the best chorus's out there, if you do own
and love your SCH-1 the SCH-Z might be a surprize, whether that's
a good or bad suprize is a matter of taste. I do like the vintage
vibrato/chorus sounds of the SCH-1---but think the SCH-Z's tones
are happening too. For the money it's still a great effect, dispite
the differences listed above--you can't go wrong with either one of
these!

this is a review of the -> SCH-Z <-
(a newer version on the sch-1)

newer is not necessarily better
Gave it a 8 because its a litte harder to dail in a sound than my 80s arion Sch-1

I bought this SCH-Z thinking I was getting the SCH-1 nope! not exactly.

See by review below on the Arion Sch-1 4/23/2001
They are nearly identical visually.
But I have found some tonal differences (call me chourus crazy)
I A/B my old SCH-1 against my new SCH-Z
The tone knob on the sch-1 when turned clockwise boosts the high eq frequencys,and to the left is just lower the treble,so it did very little to mess with your signal,not so on the Z.
The Sch-Z on the other hand,its tone knob is much more sensitive,giving bass boost when turn left and treble to the right,Im not sure if I like this,I seemed to make lower notes boomy and less clear when turning the tone to the left.
There is a significant volume boost when the SCH-Z is turns on!
Not so with the SCH-1! This could be a help,but not if you want to keep vol. levels.
I compared the two for about a hour. The Sch-1 is slightly more "watery" shimmery,chrystal like,more so than the Sch-Z.
Again you really have to listen closely, but so far I prefer the SCH-1 over the new Z.Maybe in highvolume gigging my opinion might change

plastic,see review below

I bought it as a backup to my SCH-1,its dam close to it and should do the job, Just Wish Companys wouldnt MESS with A GOOD thing! :/
Heck its $50 so it still a decent chourus.
Dont know if I dig the vol. boost on the newer model or its bass/treble tone knob.I find it a little harder to dail in the same great chourus as of the SCH-1.
If anyone else compared the two and hears what Im hearing let me know.

(Nothing is ever a 10 never!Only in toneheaven!)