Arion SCH-1 Stereo Chorus

The Arion chorus is a mono in, stereo out chorus with a wide range so it can also get you that faux-leslie type of tone. It can be run in mono with a little switch.

The pedal became famous because some LA-studio players started using it, it's cheap (although they are fetching bigger prices on Ebay now) and has a great sound if you want THAT sound.

There are different versions available and the internet-rumour says that the grey box sounds best. I owned them all and had 4 of them at a certain point, kept the best one which is a black box...

UTILIZATION

The setup is straight forward, the 3 control work well together. The rate and depth work well to fine tune the chorus tone. Running the rate high will get you that faux-leslie sound, works great!! The tone control is powerfull enough. Although I owned one with manual, I don't remember it, don't think I ever looked at it.

I have used the pedal on my board and in a rack setup. 1 annoying thing, the pedal is always off when you power it, so when you have it in a rack, you always have to remember switching it on!



SOUND QUALITY

I usually run the rate at about 10:30 for chorus sounds and have the tone a little above 12:00. When using it for leslie tones, I have the rate and depth up but keep the tone lower, around 11:00 for a smoother tone.

In bypass, it does suck some tone so there are modded-version available. Put it in a looper and it's no longer an issue. I currently have it in my rack but am considering picking up a modded version to put on my board.

OVERALL OPINION

It's a really cool pedal if you are looking for that tone. THAT tone would be the Michael Landau chorused clean sound he used to get from his big rack system. It's not 100% nailing the tone but close enough for rock 'n' roll!

The settings are:

3 potentiometers settings:
_vitesse
_profondeur
_tonalité

A switch for a stereo effect

This is an analog effect, provided with three 6.35mm jacks (1 input, 2 outputs).

All is good.

UTILIZATION

Usage is childish.

SOUND QUALITY

The response of each potentiometer is determined.

The effect is very realistic.

Personally, I use it more as a vibrato (speed min) than traditional chorus effect.

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for more than 15 years without having any worries of operation.

Like any analog effect a slight hiss is noticeable without affecting the timbre of the sound received.

The price / quality ratio is very good although I had paid dearly for that purpose at the time.

The different models I tried at that time had not convinced, probably a matter of taste, only the ce1 Boss was interesting, but unfortunately inaccessible.

For a chain effect analog, I think I do it again the same choice.