The Aion Compressor spans the sonic range from warm and smooth to bright and jangly, subtly enhancing your guitar's tone or acting as an effect in itself.

Designed with a no-compromise philosophy in sound quality, aesthetics and durability, this pedal will be with you for the long haul as a valuable part of your tonal arsenal. Handbuilt in Des Moines, Iowa.

Treble modes: "Normal" is the classic circuit, comparable to a Keeley Compressor or other Ross-types. "Jangle" turns it very nearly into a JangleBox. Very little of the treble is compressed, so it brightens the signal and response in a way that an equalizer can't really match. "Sparkle" is about halfway between the two settings, allowing some treble through without being overly bright.

Recovery Speed: Allows you to fine-tune the reaction time of the compressor (Slow, Fast or Medium), which is how quickly it lets go of the signal after it falls below the threshold. This is generally perceived as attack on the next note rather than recovery from the last, hence the more common labeling of this control as "Attack" on similar circuits, but it's the same control.

Input trim: An internal control allows the pedal to be used with high-output instruments like active pickups, keyboards or other electronic sources. If you find that your instrument is causing the compressor to clip, you can attenuate the input signal to compensate.

True bypass: A relay bypass circuit is used to allow true-bypass switching via a soft-touch switch, so you won't get any stage noise like you would with a standard 3-pole bypass switch. It's still true bypass in every way—it just takes the "stomp" out of "stompbox".

Illuminated control knobs: Instead of having an indicator LED on the front, the knobs themselves light up when the pedal is engaged. Useful? Maybe. Cool? Absolutely.

Small footprint: Your pedalboard real estate is valuable, so the Aion Compressor uses die-cast Hammond 1590B enclosures, which is as small as it gets (without going to micro proportions, anyway).

WHAT'S UNDER THE HOOD?

No compromises on component quality: Switchcraft jacks, 1% metal film resistors, polystyrene capacitors for low values, metallized polyester capacitors for high values. Everything that went into this pedal is top-shelf and was selected for quality over cost.

Improved 6-transistor design: The classic Ross circuit has been modified slightly, adding a sixth transistor which eliminates the harmonic distortion from the rectifier portion of the circuit. I won't take credit for coming up with this, but to my knowledge, the Aion Compressor is the only Ross-style compressor available to buy with this improvement.

Secure PCB mounting: The PCB is mounted to the pots and switches, while the input, output and power jacks and the stomp switch are mounted only to the enclosure and connected by wires. This reduces stress on the PCB and nearly eliminates the possibility of failures due to stressed solder joints.

Built to last: This pedal also doesn't have a single electrolytic capacitor in it. Electrolytics are generally the weakest link of a circuit as they tend to leak and drift after 15 to 20 years. Instead, I use more expensive tantalum capacitors. As a result, nothing in this pedal is subject to degrading or drifting over time.

Product specs