Optical compressors are known for making guitars sound smooth and musical – a truth well-captured in the latest Pigtronix offering, which adds greater sound-sculpting capabilities to their groundbreaking Philosopher’s Tone pedal.

A compressor is useful for everything from taming aggressive volume fluctuations to adding sustain or a professional sheen to one’s sounds. The Philosopher’s Tone 2 is a straightforward design that gives essential functions including Volume, Sustain (the threshold, or degree of compression), Treble (to brighten the sometimes-dulling effect of compression), and Blend between colored and uncolored tones. The new Grit control lets you dial in anything from light overdrive to distorted tones, which can be further colored with the Voice switch, which adds a silicon or germanium texture to the sound.

The Philosopher’s Tone 2 works as advertised, serving as a useful part of any toolbox. Turn Sustain up for twangy funk and country textures, or back it off under noon to let your tone breathe. Grit is cool if you want to rock-up your instrument without deploying a full-on overdrive or distortion pedal. Blend allows the player to precisely set the mix of compressed and natural flavors. Add true-bypass and 18 volts of clean headroom, and it might just save your next gig or session.

This article originally appeared in VG’s September 2024 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.