Union Tube & Transistor LAB

The Union Tube & Transistor LAB is a compressor pedal from Union Tube & Transistor. It takes its inspiration from the Teletronix LA-2A, the classic studio leveler, though as That Pedal Show's Dan and Mick put it, it is "a very analog version not not a direct la2a clone or anything like that but inspired by it indeed"¹. Optical compression of this kind is one of the slower, smoother approaches among compressor pedals, sitting apart from the faster studio-style limiters it is often compared with.

What it does

The LAB's main player-facing control is a switch on the back with two levels: a slow recover and a fast recover. This sets the release behavior of the compression, that is, how quickly the pedal stops working on the signal once it drops back down. On the March 2024 That Pedal Show episode it was set to the stock release time, the slow recover setting¹.

What reviewers said

The LAB was featured on That Pedal Show's compressor episode of 22 March 2024, which looked at compressors beyond the MXR Dyna Comp and Boss CS-3, alongside units such as the UA LA-2A and the 1176³. Mick was emphatic about it:

The pair described it as his pick of the show, the easiest no-brainer setup, and the closest cross between a boost pedal and a compressor overall¹. That framing tells a player a good deal: it is a compressor that can be left on as a always-on leveler and gain stage rather than an effect you switch in and out.

Videos

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Questions