Nels Cline playing the Pigtronix Philosopher’s Tone

Pigtronix just posted this interesting video of Nels Cline playing the Pigtronix Philosopher’s Tone compressor. It’s not a great demo of the pedal due to the sonic textures that Nels is playing, but it’s cool to see what that guy can do creatively at an instant. I wonder why Nels prefers the Boss CS-3/CS-2 compressor over others. He’s definitely had that compressor on the board for some time.

For those of you that aren’t familiar with the Pigtronix Philosopher’s Tone, here is the official description:

The Pigtronix Philosophers Tone is a state-of-the-art analog compressor/sustainer, providing endless clean sustain. With variable Sustain (threshold), Blend (ratio) and Treble controls, the Philosophers Tone offers a huge range of compression sounds for the discerning musician. The Philosophers Tone also contains a smooth diode clipping distortion with a blend control for clean or dirty compression sounds and any mixture of the two. While the Philosophers Tone distortion rocks on its own, it is designed to play well with other dirt pedals in order to create your ultimate distortion tone that sustains forever.The Philosophers Tone is an ideal front end to any guitar pedal rig and a perfect companion to the Pigtronix Mothership Guitar Synthesizer or any other pitch-tracking musical equipment, resulting in even more accurate tracking and increased note duration. Pigtronix Philosophers Tone is unlike the common compressor. This pedal has more sustain and less noise.The dynamic range, touch sensitivity, overall transparency and outright sustain of the Philosophers Tone is un-paralleled in the crowded world of compressor pedals.Practitioners of the mystical and ancient art of alchemy long sought an element called the Philosophers Stone, believing that, if found, it could turn lead into gold and bestow immortality upon the man who wielded it. For such a tiny pedal to create so much sustain, we feel that this device represents a musical equivalent to this mythical substance in the world of guitar pedals.People have been trying to get clean sustain from a pedal for decades, and the alchemists at Pigtronix seems to have found the secret to make it happen. Art Thompson, Guitar Player Magazine

The Pigtronix Philosopher’s Tone can be picked up for $169 at Amazon.com