Pigtronix introduces Philosopher’s Tone 2 Compressor/ Sustainer
Pigtronix let us know that they’ve introduced the Philosopher’s Tone 2, a compressor/sustainer with footswitchable Grit that they say “elevates the groundbreaking optical compression of the original Philosopher’s Tone to a new plane of tonal enlightenment”
It features a refined implementation of the overdrive circuit first heard in the limited-edition Gold version of this compressor pedal. The unique germanium distortion found in the Philosopher’s Tone 2 is designed to deliver smooth top end and rich midrange response, tailored to match the characteristics of the optical sustainer driving it.
In addition to Volume and Sustain controls, the Philosopher’s Tone 2 features a parallel clean Blend knob that lets you mix your instrument’s original tone with the compressor/sustainer effect when the Grit circuit is bypassed.
When the Grit circuit is engaged, the Blend knob is automatically bypassed, imparting a “colorful distortion” to your sound in both Germanium and Silicon modes. This nonlinear diode-clipping can range from subtle overdrive to overflowing distortion, all without unwanted feedback.
A Treble control located just before the master Volume provides 6db of cut or boost at 2kHz for fine-tuning the frequency response of the effect.
The Philosopher’s Tone 2 features true-bypass switching and internal 18V power rails for maximum clean headroom that is ideal for use with hot pickups, active bass, synthesizers and other line-level sources.
Controls:
- Volume: Sets the overall output volume.
- Treble: Boosts or cuts treble at 2kHz.
- Sustain: Sets the amount of sustain.
- Blend: Mixes your compressed effect with your clean signal. Note: This control is only active when the Grit footswitch is turned OFF.
- Grit: Controls the gain of the overdrive stage. Note: This control is only active when the Grit footswitch is turned ON.
The Philosopher’s Tone 2 is available now for $199.
