My rig, 1987 style...

Babyfrank

https://goo.gl/photos/fZoCAkisRMfyWiLP6

• Enormous sheet-metal pedalboard with built-in preamp/buffer that I designed and built as part of my 1st year Electronic Engineering college course.
  
  
• 1970s (?) Coloursound Wah/Fuzz/Swell that I bought 2nd hand from Macaris in the mid-80s while on a trip to London.  Still have it, though it doesn't work anymore. My first ever effects pedal.
  
  
• Arion Metal Master pedal... they were cheap and cheerful, doesn't really do anything other than High Gain. Still knocking around somewhere in my old gear box.
  
  
• Arion Flanger... again, cheap and cheerful but worked fine and pretty versatile.  Still have it, but the plastic cover for the battery went missing years ago, as seems to typically be the case with these pedals.
  
  
• Ibanez Digital Delay.  Cost me an arm and a leg in December '85, £95 then, the equivalent of about £260 today. Yikes.
  
  
• Enormous Park 2x12 Valve combo that weighed the same as a collapsed neutron star.  Sold it to a collector in the early 90's for more than twice what I'd paid.
  
  
• Westone Spectrum DX with proprietary locking trem system... still have it today, and still a very playable guitar

(Dodgy 1970s era carpet courtesy of my Mum and Dad)

therose789

Nice! 

vasselmeyer

I had one of those Westone Spectrums. It was great to play, and you're right about the vibrato system bring proprietary, but it stayed in timew no matter what you did to it.

Octafish

Cool! Did you know you can still buy replacement battery covers for Arion pedals http://www.allparts.uk.com/collections/pedals-pedal-parts . Were they particularly good pedals? I see them still changing hands so assume they must be desirable despite being housed in plastic.

Cabicular

I loved my Arion Flanger... it was surprisingly good

Cabicular

My '91 rig
Rak Overdrive > Real Tube Over drive Pedal > Boss Pitch shift delay > Arion Stage Tuner > Peavey Stereo Classic Chorus
PVC trousers and Swiss Formula hair repair

Cabicular

Sassafras

Octafish said:

Cool! Did you know you can still buy replacement battery covers for Arion pedals http://www.allparts.uk.com/collections/pedals-pedal-parts . Were they particularly good pedals? I see them still changing hands so assume they must be desirable despite being housed in plastic.

I hate chorus effect but the Arion Chorus pedal is the only one that doesn't sound absolutely sickening. I believe it's got a bit of a cult following.

english_bob

Sassafras said:

I hate chorus effect but the Arion Chorus pedal is the only one that doesn't sound absolutely sickening. I believe it's got a bit of a cult following.

Yep. Apparently a lot of the 80s session guys really liked it. I know Michael Landau used one.

thecolourbox

I was born in 1987

Nice carpet though, very Jackson Pollock

Babyfrank

Octafish said:

Cool! Did you know you can still buy replacement battery covers for Arion pedals http://www.allparts.uk.com/collections/pedals-pedal-parts . Were they particularly good pedals? I see them still changing hands so assume they must be desirable despite being housed in plastic.

Thanks for this, I had no idea they were available. Must pull it out of the loft and have a listen.

Strangefan

Brilliant picture, especially the hand made board. 

dogload

Cabicular said:

My '91 rig
Rak Overdrive > Real Tube Over drive Pedal > Boss Pitch shift delay > Arion Stage Tuner > Peavey Stereo Classic Chorus
PVC trousers and Swiss Formula hair repair

Great amps! Ludicrously loud. 

Thinking back to my rig circa-1991, I think it went: Tokai Strat (usually) into Boss CS-1 compressor, Schaller volume pedal, Boss SD-1 overdrive, Jen Wah, Ibanez BC9 Bi-Mode Chorus, MXR Phase 100, Boss PN-2 Tremolo, Electro Harmonix Deluxe Electric Mistress, Arion DDS-1 Delay into the Peavey Classic Chorus 130.

The Arion pedals are/were really nice. I still have the DDS-1, as well as the DCF-1 chorus/flanger (which is a great bit of seriously underrated kit) plus a couple of the old SAD-1 analogue delays - which still gets used for self-oscillations. On the whole they can be picked up pretty cheaply (apart from the old chorus ones, of course) but can be a bugger to sell

peteri

My board from the same time would have been nearly all Arion since my mum could get them from her catalogue. 

I had - distortion, metal master, delay and the chorus. 

And a Pearl Octaver. 

I have no idea why I got the octaver it wasn't even that good. 

End of 87 i got a Marshall jubilee head and discovered volume and rack systems. 

Then it all got a bit surreal. 

I remember the Westone guitars as pretty good for the era - certainly better than most 

dogload

peteri said:

My board from the same time would have been nearly all Arion since my mum could get them from her catalogue. 

I had - distortion, metal master, delay and the chorus. 

And a Pearl Octaver. 

I have no idea why I got the octaver it wasn't even that good. 

What! :0

Those Pearl Octavers were great! Mind you, I used to use mine for flute! Sounded great through the Octaver into the Electric Mistress and a WEM Copicat. Very organic and synthy. I've never been a fan of guitars!