The Good, Bad, and oh so Ugly!
Ugly isn't it, and if you're thinking it looks cheap, well you'd be right. The Arion SCH-1 chorus was created for a sole purpose - to make money. The plastic enclosure and printed circuit board could be assembled in under a minute keeping costs down and profits up. This pedal was first released in the early 80's as a cheap alternative to the BOSS range of pedals which have always been of a higher quality than this, though that wouldn't be too difficult. It was expected that if you wanted a chorus pedal, but couldn't afford the £60 for a BOSS CE2, that you'd pay the £29 for an Arion SCH-1. What wasn't expected was the big grin on people's faces when they plugged it in. Organic and lush chorus from serene to insane, the SCH-1 became an instant classic and is used to this day on the pedal boards of many top international artists.
They're boxy, but they're good.
The Arion SCH-1 has two very big plus points. The first is its active tone control that gives you the ability to boost the top end which is really effective when fine tuning your tone. The second and probably the biggest appeal is its faux Leslie simulation. Turn up the depth and rate and you get a really cool sounding rotating speaker Leslie effect. It's not going to replace your original UniVibe, but it does sound great thanks to the use of bucket brigade devices which is an old delay chip used in many classic analog modulation effects. Funnily enough, Arion released another chorus, the SCH-Z, which gives you the ability control the bottom end as opposed to the top. Problem is the tech dept who can't ever seem to let well enough alone got a hold of it and made some changes. The SCH-Z sounds significantly different to the SCH-1. It's noisier and has less of an organic feel to it, so when you go hunting for one of these, make sure it's the SCH-1.
How much should I pay?
After guys like Clapton and Landau rediscovered them, the SCH-1 is now very collectable. There's an entire range of Arion pedals like this that would be lucky to fetch £10 on EBay, but these go for considerably more. You're going to pay at least £60 for one in any way decent condition. That makes this even more expensive than an old Boss CE2, however, the Arion does have the edge when it comes to flexibility. As with all vintage pedals it's always better if you can try out a unit before you buy as after nearly 30 years they will all sound just a little bit different. In the world of effects the SCH-1 is your best mate's girlfriend's best mate. Even if she aint so pretty she does have a lovely personality!
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