Strymon | Zelzah Phaser

Strymon Introduces Their "Way Back Machine!"

Founded as Damage Control in 2004, Strymon assumed its current name in 2009, but the mission has always remained the same: to bring boundary-breaking technology to music and, in the process, inspire players to achieve more with help from powerful processors, progressive design, and the absolute best components. No compromises. 

Classic Phaser Tones, Sensational Strymon Quality

The Strymon legacy continues with the true stereo Zelzah Phaser, a dual-channel effect with four- and six-stage phasing you can use independently or together to create tones both old and new. Kick into four-stage for phasing or vibrato. Try six-stage for phasing, chorus, flanging, and more. Or adjust the LFO and put them together for expansive stereo multi-modulation like you’ve never heard before. 

4-Stage

  • SPEED - Adjusts the LFO rate of the 4-Stage phaser.
  • SWEEP - Selects the style of the 4-Stage phaser.
    classic: traditional rising and falling LFO voicings that change in character as the DEPTH knob is adjusted.
    barber: rising or falling LFO. Polarity is adjusted via a live edit function.
    env: touch sensitive envelope phasing effect with range set by the SPEED knob and sensitivity set by the DEPTH knob.
  • MIX - Adjusts the balance of the dry signal and the phase- shifted signal from mild phasing at min to 100% wet at max.
  • DEPTH - Adjusts the LFO range. A deeper phasing effect is achieved as the knob is turned clockwise.

6-Stage

  • SPEED - Adjusts the LFO rate of the 6-Stage phaser.
  • RESONANCE - Selects from three settings of regeneration that add color and intensity.
     off: smooth response.
     mild: enhanced frequency peaks.
     strong: prominent frequency peaks.
  • VOICE - Sweeps smoothly from pure phaser voicings on the left to flanger tones past 12 o’clock and chorus tones on the right.
  • DEPTH - Adjusts the LFO range. Higher settings result in more dramatic phase and/or time modulations as set by the VOICE knob.
Strymon Zelzah Multidimensional Phaser Pedal Effects and Pedals / Phase Shifters
Strymon Zelzah Multidimensional Phaser Pedal Effects and Pedals / Phase Shifters
Strymon Zelzah Multidimensional Phaser Pedal Effects and Pedals / Phase Shifters

Strymon Zelzah Multidimensional Phaser Pedal

$499.00
Step on Zelzah, play one chord, and you’re instantly taken back to a world of classic phaser tones as they were always meant to sound, perfectly voiced, with tons of vibe and pristine audio quality. Vintage four stage and six stage phasing, vibrato, gorgeous flanging and chorus, and new sounds never heard before—all instantly musical with great tone all the way across every dial.

Two Effects At Once.
Zelzah’s four stage side gives you a wide array of classic tones ranging from phasing to vibrato, while the six stage side provides phasing, flanging, chorus, and more.

Dial in a chorus on one side and barber pole phaser on other, or a phaser on one side and tremolo on the other. Use the two sides independently or together in a variety of configurations. Zelzah may become the only modulation pedal you keep on your board.

True Stereo.
Each side of Zelzah is true stereo, meaning that under the hood each half of the pedal actually has two phasers running side by side (two four stage phasers and two six stage phasers).

The LFO offset between the left and right phaser on each side of the pedal can be adjusted, opening up a world of possibilities for creating a huge stereo image with a single pedal.

Four Stage Sweep
The four stage side gives you a choice of three phase sweep types: Classic is a single LFO with a warped triangle shape for a familiar vintage sound. Barber can create a seemingly continuous upward or downward sweep, and Envelope allows the phase sweep to be dynamically controlled by your input signal.


Six Stage Sweep
The six stage sweep is carefully tuned, and behaves differently as you change Voice, Depth, and Speed settings. Dial in a slow Chorus and you are getting a true triangle wave sweep, but as you turn the Speed up, the LFO distorts and gets uneven for Leslie type sounds.

Six Stage Voice: Groundbreaking New Phaser Algorithm
The Voice knob on the six stage side simultaneously controls over 30 different parameters, all working in harmony for an inspiring musical experience.

Not only do you get thick, juicy, phasing with pure vintage vibe, but as you turn the Voice knob clockwise, our groundbreaking new modified all-pass structure expands the time response of the cascading all-pass filters seamlessly and continuously, adding spaciousness and airiness to the sound.

Explore a range of fresh musical tones that are not merely a mix of phasing and flanging, but actually something entirely new. Turn the Voice knob further for luxurious true flanger effects, and continue to the far end of the range for lush vintage chorus sounds.

There are inspiring musical sounds at every point along the dial, and so many ways to make a sound that is truly yours.

Four Stage Mix
The four stage Mix control can be used to dial in a surprisingly wide variety of sounds. With Sweep set to Classic, the Mix control gives you a range from subtle phasing to full-on classic phasing sounds, and then onward to some quite pleasing phase vibrato effects.

With Sweep set to Barber, higher Mix settings with lower Depth settings can get into harmonic tremolo territory, while with Sweep set to Envelope, higher Mix settings can result in interesting pitch shifting effects.

Two Pedals In One, Any Way You Like
Want to use both effects at once? There are three ways you can do that! Choose Series and the six stage phaser runs into the four stage, just like two pedals on a pedalboard. Or choose Parallel and your dry signal will be processed by each phaser independently and mixed at the output. Or choose Split and hear the four stage phaser on the left output and the six stage phaser on the right.

Sound Design
Our goal was to capture the rich phasing sounds that were introduced in the 1970s that work so beautifully with electric guitar and electric piano. In addition to providing the best possible version of the vintage phaser sounds we grew up with, we also wanted to expand the sonic possibilities in a way that was unique and unexpected for a phaser.

To do that, we developed an architecture that contains a modified all-pass filter as the basis for the 6-stage phaser. A phaser is a filtering effect made up of cascading all-pass filters. There are no delay lines. But with our modified all-pass structure, we are able to expand the time response of the all-pass seamlessly and continuously. On the four stage side, we wanted to provide the classic sounds you expect from a premium four stage phaser, while adding barber sweep and envelope controlled sweep, and a Depth control that is tuned to deliver great phasing sounds even at very shallow settings.

Sound Design
  • Two independent effects that can be configured and controlled separately and used one at a time or simultaneously in series, parallel, or split configurations 
  • Vintage 4-stage phaser with three phaser sweep modes: Classic, Barber, and Envelope 
  • Groundbreaking new 6-stage phaser algorithm with a continuous range from classic pure 6-stage phasing to flanging to chorus, all with adjustable resonance 
  • True stereo operation means under the hood each half of the pedal has two phasers running side by side (two 4-stage and two 6-stage) with independently adjustable stereo spread for each 
  • All controls are carefully voiced to produce musically useful sounds at any setting
  • Adjustable input level switch to allow for both instrument and line level signals
  • Selectable Buffered vs. True Bypass 
  • Full featured MIDI accessible via TRS supporting MIDI CCs, MIDI clock sync, access to 300 preset locations (requires Strymon MIDI EXP cable or MIDI > TRS interface)

Ins, Outs, Switches
  • High impedance TRS input for mono input or stereo input when used with a TRS adapter 
  • Audio input type switch for selecting mono vs. stereo input 
  • Individual left and right stereo outputs 
  • Expression pedal input allows the connection of a TRS expression pedal, MiniSwitch, MultiSwitch Plus, or TRS MIDI connection 
  • USB jack for controlling via MIDI from a computer or for performing firmware updates

Audio Quality
  • Premium JFET analog front end
  • Ultra low noise, high performance 24-bit 96kHz A/D and D/A converters provide
  • uncompromising audio quality
  • Super high performance ARM DSP
  • 32-bit floating point processing
  • High impedance ultra low-noise discrete Class A JFET preamp inputs
  • Low impedance stereo outputs

More
  • True Bypass (electromechanical relay switching) or selectable transparent Analog Buffered
  • Bypass
  • Strong and lightweight anodized dark purple aluminum chassis
  • 9V DC power supply included
  • Power requirements: 9V DC center-negative, with a minimum 300mA of current

Dimensions
  • 4.5” deep x 4” wide x 1.75” tall
  • 11.4 cm deep x 10.2 cm wide x 4.4 cm tall
  • Designed and built in the USA
View Details

Strymon may call it the “way back machine,” but the Zelzah Phaser is here and now, and you can get it at the Chicago Music Exchange. Preorder today. 

SHOP STRYMON PEDALS

Strymon Multi-Plug Daisy Chain Cable Accessories / Cables
Strymon Multi-Plug Daisy Chain Cable Accessories / Cables

Strymon Multi-Plug Daisy Chain Cable

$13.00
Strymon 9V Power Supply Accessories / Power Supplies
Strymon 9V Power Supply Accessories / Power Supplies

Strymon 9V Power Supply

$28.00
Strymon Zuma or Ojai Power Cables Accessories / Cables
Strymon Zuma or Ojai Power Cables Accessories / Cables
Strymon Zuma or Ojai Power Cables Accessories / Cables
Strymon Zuma or Ojai Power Cables Accessories / Cables

Strymon Zuma or Ojai Power Cables

$28.00
Strymon Riverside Multistage Drive Pedal Effects and Pedals / Overdrive and Boost
Strymon Riverside Multistage Drive Pedal Effects and Pedals / Overdrive and Boost

Strymon Riverside Multistage Drive Pedal

$428.00
Strymon TimeLine Multidimensional Delay Pedal Effects and Pedals / Delay
Strymon TimeLine Multidimensional Delay Pedal Effects and Pedals / Delay

Strymon TimeLine Multidimensional Delay Pedal

$642.00
Strymon Tap Favorite Preset & Tap Tempo Switch w/TRS Cable Effects and Pedals / Controllers, Volume and Expression
Strymon Tap Favorite Preset & Tap Tempo Switch w/TRS Cable Effects and Pedals / Controllers, Volume and Expression

Strymon Tap Favorite Preset & Tap Tempo Switch w/TRS Cable

$71.00
Strymon Orbit dBucket Flanger Pedal Effects and Pedals / Flanger
Strymon Orbit dBucket Flanger Pedal Effects and Pedals / Flanger

Strymon Orbit dBucket Flanger Pedal

$428.00
Strymon Ojai High Current DC Power Supply Effects and Pedals / Pedalboards and Power Supplies
Strymon Ojai High Current DC Power Supply Effects and Pedals / Pedalboards and Power Supplies
Strymon Ojai High Current DC Power Supply Effects and Pedals / Pedalboards and Power Supplies

Strymon Ojai High Current DC Power Supply

$242.00

Related Posts

Introducing | Spector Basses

Founded in New York in 1976, Spector began in a Brooklyn Woodworkers Co-op. Guided by Stuart Spector’s design ethos, the Spector NS has become one of the most recognizable electric basses in history! Learn more about Spector Basses on the Soundboard Blog or visit us in the BASSment at Chicago Music Exchange today!

View Details

Gibson Custom Shop | "CME Spec" Models

Chicago Music Exchange’s relationship with Gibson Custom Shop reflects a shared philosophy—individually crafted guitars, built by hand. Before each new “CME Spec” Custom Shop batch goes into production, our guitar gurus join forces with Gibson to select new top woods, finishes, fingerboard materials, neck profiles, pickups, hardware—you name it—everything that goes into each “CME Spec” guitar.

View Details

Fender | Player II

Named for their player-friendly features, Fender Player II Series instruments feature Modern “C”-shaped necks with rolled fingerboard edges, 9.5”-radius fretboards, and medium jumbo frets—plus, a new neck tint for a more classic vibe.

View Details