Arion MTE-1 Tubulator boost and overdrive (Tube Screamer family) - Japan concept - Made in Sri Lanka (1980s)

The Arion Tubulator MTE-1 is one of those cult Japanese overdrives from the late 1980s and early 1990s that quietly borrowed the core ideas of the Ibanez Tube Screamer family while adding its own circuit quirks. It follows the classic 4558-based soft clipping architecture found in the TS-808 and TS-9, but Arion introduced its own diode configuration and a differently voiced tone network. This gives the Tubulator a slightly broader upper-mid response, a smoother low-end rolloff, and a unique grainy edge that sets it apart from the usual Tube Screamer curve. The feel is lively and elastic, with a character that is clearly in the Ibanez lineage yet still distinctively Arion. For this release there are three captures: Boost, Drive, and Full Drive. On all captures the Level control is set at 5, and the Tone control is set around 7. The Drive setting changes depending on the capture and is set to 0 for Boost, 6 for Drive, and 10 for Full Drive. These captures were created using a Matribox II as the DI interface. They join the rest of my personal archive and are offered strictly for non commercial use.