PRS Mary Cries Optical Compressor Pedal

£199.99

Also available on — Andertons, Gear4music, Reverb, Amazon, eBay

Fresh on the menu for 2026 are the Guitar Pedals, freshly added and carefully selected. These New units are available to order online with fast, secure delivery from trusted UK retailers. Read on for full details, specifications, demos, videos, reviews, and the best places to buy the Guitar Pedals today.


Description

Fresh on the menu for 2026 are the Guitar Pedals, freshly added and carefully selected. These New units are available to order online with fast, secure delivery from trusted UK retailers. Read on for full details, specifications, demos, videos, reviews, and the best places to buy the Guitar Pedals today.

Designed from the ground up by PRS Guitars in Stevensville, MD, the Mary Cries Optical Compressor is inspired by the famous hand-wired, tube based LA-2A compressor. Designed to thicken your tone, add lengthy sustain and tame signal peaks, the Mary Cries pushes your tone to the limit without losing definition or clarity.

With only two controls for Compression and Output Gain on hand, the Mary Cries makes compression incredibly simple. It’s natural sound and response will have you forgetting that it’s even turned on, but you will definitely notice when the pedal is bypassed! It may even become your new “always-on” pedal! The Mary Cries also features a handy LED that indicates how hard the compressor is working as you’re playing!

Accolades

“I can be snobby when it comes to compressor pedals. Compressor pedals with only a few controls scare me as they can often squeeze too much too quickly. Mary Cries doesn’t do that and reacts to my playing in a musical way. I actually liked using it as a clean boost with a touch of compression!”Corey Congilio 

“A good compression pedal is one of the most crucial components to my pedal board but often overlooked because it’s not nearly as sexy as a crazy delay or wild octave shifter. The new PRS Mary Cries does a phenomenal job of keeping all the notes and tones from all over my fretboard tight and balanced. For anyone who utilizes compression for fingerpicking or all-over the-neck-two-hand-tapping, this thing is my new favourite. I really appreciate the blue compression light coming on to show me when and how hard it’s working. That feedback is fantastic for knowing when the pedal is digging in. Entirely lovely and a wonderful new addition to my board.”David Knudson

Specifications

  • Pedal Type: Optical Compressor
  • Analogue/Digital: Analogue
  • Inputs: (1) ¼” instrument
  • Outputs: (1) ¼” instrument
  • Bypass Switching: True Bypass
  • Amperage: 8mA
  • Power Sources: 9V DC Power Supply, regulated and/or isolated (not included)
  • Batteries: (1) 9V DC (not included)
  • Length: 4.7”
  • Width: 3.7”
  • Height: 4.5”
  • Weight: 1.1 lbs

Additional information

Weight 2 kg

Category

Guitar Pedals

Tags

Boost

A boost pedal does one simple thing brilliantly — it makes your signal louder, stronger, and more alive. Whether you’re pushing a valve amp into natural breakup, lifting a solo above the band, or adding a touch more presence to your core tone, a clean boost gives you extra headroom without changing your character.

Use it at the front of your chain to drive other pedals harder, or after your gain stages to raise volume without adding distortion. Subtle or powerful, transparent or slightly coloured, a boost is one of the most useful tools on any pedalboard — small box, big difference.

Compressor

A compressor pedal evens out your dynamics, smoothing peaks and lifting quieter notes so everything feels tighter and more controlled. It adds sustain, clarity, and balance — making clean chords ring longer, country licks snap with precision, and funk rhythms pop with consistency. Subtle or pronounced, compression shapes the feel of your playing as much as the sound.

Use it at the front of your chain to tighten your core tone, add sustain to leads, or keep complex passages sitting neatly in the mix. From gentle polish to unmistakable squash, a compressor is one of those foundational tools that quietly makes everything sound more professional and dialled in.

Delay

A delay pedal records your signal and plays it back after a set time, creating echoes that can range from tight, slapback repeats to long, atmospheric trails. It’s one of the most versatile effects, used to thicken tones, add rhythmic depth, or build spacious, ambient layers. Analogue delays offer warm, decaying repeats that blend naturally with your tone, while digital units provide pristine echoes with precise control over time, feedback, and mix levels.

From classic rockabilly and tape-style echoes to modern looping and shimmer effects, delay pedals have become essential tools for shaping sound. They can make solos soar, rhythms pulse, or transform simple chord progressions into cinematic textures. Whether used subtly to add dimension or boldly to create soundscapes, a good delay pedal can completely redefine the feel and atmosphere of your music.

New

This is brand new, fresh in, and a UK warranty is included. New Gear always comes from trusted UK music retailers.

Octave

An octave pedal shifts your guitar signal up or down by one or more octaves, blending the altered pitch with your original sound to create a fuller, more complex tone. It can add a deep, bass-like layer underneath your playing or a shimmering high octave on top for lead lines and solos. Classic analogue octave pedals often produce slightly gritty, organic sounds, while modern digital versions track more precisely and can offer multiple octave ranges.

Octave pedals are great for thickening single-note riffs, creating synth-style textures, or even mimicking bass parts when playing alone. They pair well with fuzz or overdrive pedals for massive, harmonically rich tones. Whether you’re after vintage Hendrix-style octave fuzz or a modern polyphonic sound that tracks chords cleanly, an octave pedal opens up a world of creative possibilities and adds real weight and character to your tone.