Five Fast Facts About the PC-2A Compressor

The PC-2A is the ‘go-to’ compressor for guitarists Adrian Legg and David Gilmour. In fact Adrian and David’s tech (the other Phil Taylor) were involved in audio testing the PC-2A in it’s early days. You can hear the PC-2A’s signature smooth, velvet sound on their albums and the Pink Floyd’s latest album “The Endless River”.
The PC-2A utilises a tiny vintage tube to do its stuff. These tubes were manufactured in the U.S.A. by Sylvania and are arguably the finest ever made rivalling even tubes made by the mighty RCA. The tubes were originally intended for military purposes but ended up being stored at Howard Hughes’ (that’s right, the eccentric, maverick aviator) facility in Williamsport before Phil had them shipped over to Effectrode in Stoke-on-Trent.
The PC-2A is 100% made in Great Britain. Each tube is tested for noise and microphony by Phil (the designer) and the tubes are fitted by the assembly girls – Kim, Chevonne and Jane. Phil also audio tests each and every PC-2A before it’s packed and shipped… sigh, usually by playing “The Wall Part 2” guitar solo.
The PC-2A is not just for electric guitar – it works superbly on bass to add punch and depth, takes the edge off classical and steel strung guitars fitted with piezo pickups and can effortlessy handle transients from ‘difficult’ instruments such as duclimer, harpsichord and Ukrainian Bandura.
The PC-2A Photo-optical Tube Compressor will be back back in stock shortly.

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7 COMMENTS

Danilo February 7, 2020 at 02:07:07 Log in to Reply

Hi Phill. I have a 2A PC and it is not working well. In the first 10 minutes (Approximate Time) it works well, after that it seems to "lose its strength" it loses its shine and all the "magic" it provides to the tone a little. Any idea what it might be and how should I try to fix it?

Phil Taylor February 8, 2020 at 01:43:12 Log in to Reply

Hi Danilo, The only thing I can suggest is that you email us direct requesting a returns note so you can send your pedal for inspection/repair. Best regards, Phil

Danilo May 25, 2018 at 12:14:44 Log in to Reply

Hello Phil, are all PC-2A's with Sylvania's subminiature tube 6111? I am about to purchase the PC-2A "1278" and would like to know what the valve is. Grateful for the attention.

Phil June 2, 2018 at 12:21:48 Log in to Reply

Hi Danilo, Yes, the PC-2A compressor, and all our other small effects pedal designs utilise new old stock Sylvania subminiature tubes. Best regards, Phil

Joshua Metzger November 30, 2017 at 02:44:28 Log in to Reply

I’m a def. curious about the pc-2a I really like the simplicity of this comp. Compared to a Bogner Lyndhurst , but I’m also curious about this project x comp and the added perimeters . Ya , I may be indecisive ,so I have a question , what will be the advantage of using this project x comp , compared to the pc-2a and like I said I really dig the simplicit futures , but am curious if I can make use of the added futures of this new Line of comp you are putting out in the near future ? Also will I be able to get enough boost to track clean toned guitar without the inhernit hiss that I found inherit in clamping down on the signal then boosting it to taste ?

Phil Taylor November 18, 2018 at 11:55:10 Log in to Reply

Hi Joshua, The PC-2A compressor will give you a beautiful compressed tone and is very quiet. The new LA-1A Leveling Amplifier is based on the same side-chain circuitry, however the signal path is built on parallel tube circuitry which makes it stunningly quiet. It also has a few additional bells and whistles, such as dynamic eq to give heavily compressed tones more of a jangle and a transformer isolated output for recording direct.

Troy November 23, 2017 at 01:54:17 Log in to Reply

Anyone needing a compressor/limiter to tame the powerful dynamic output of a powerful envelope-following filter like the Mu-FX MuTron/TruTron 3X (or its predecessor the MusiTronics MuTron III) while still maintaining sonorous sonic fidelity throughout the audible frequency range look no further. Also essential for protecting speakers from the outputs of octave-divider pedals. Wah-wah pedals also benefit hugely from being fed into the PC-2A.The volume drop present in many vintage modulation pedals (as well as the volume boost that some more modern albeit otherwise vintage-based modulation pedals exhibit) can be remedied by being placed before compressors as well - either by the actual compression or by turning up the volume control. While the Tube-Vibe doesn't suffer from either of these issues (as it has a volume control & decent level) & sounds great without a compressor, when using clean tones it definitely pairs up nicely with the PC-2A.I have two other non-Effectrode compressors that I still keep around as they have their uses although they are no longer my "go to" units. As good as these are compared to most other compressor pedals (for my tastes & requirements), both ultimately detract from the end result when employed to the above demanding tasks. This was immediately clear from the moment I first test-ran the PC-2A. Sonic enhancement all around rather than the sonic compromise that I'd had to juggle with till that point. Even with the compression rolled all the way down (with volume adjusted to compensate) the net tonal gains are quite apparent.

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