Review : Strymon Zelzah Phase Shifter

Hello readers! I recently wrote about a resurgence of a favourite type of pedal from the Seventies known as the phase shifter. This was inspired to some extent by the release from Strymon of their phase shifter called the Zelzah. While I have no idea where the name comes from, I was sufficiently intrigued to listen to the samples on the Strymon website and hearing something I liked, I bought one.

The Zelzah is actually two phase shifters in a single box that can be used independently or together. The left side is a four stage phase shifter with the expected speed and depth controls and adds a mix knob so you can blend the effected sound with the dry sound. Personally, I consider this capability a requirement, but you are free to make your own decisions on that subject. There is a microswitch on that side that provides you with three distinct phase shifter styles, Classic, Barber and Env.

The right side is a six stage phaser, with its own speed and depth controls as well as a unique voice control. As you turn this clockwise you get the six stage phaser introducing some delay moving through flanger like sounds into a chorus while still retaining the sound of a phase shifter. There is a microswitch marked Resonance that modifies how the peaks and notches of the frequency response come across.

Four Stage Side

The four stage side delivers what you would expect from a traditional phaser. The Classic switch setting is precisely what you would hear in a 70’s phase shifter, if that phase shifter had four unique stages. The Barber setting evokes what some would remember as a barber pole, where the frequencies sweep from high to low while the phase shifter is operating. It’s different from Classic and quite nice. The Env setting adds almost an envelope filter type auto wah to the front end of the phrase, giving that very distinctive wah chop at the beginning of the phase shifting sequence. The mix knob is set at noon.

For the purpose of edification, I recorded some samples, nothing at all fancy to give you a sense of the different sounds. The setup is a Suhr Custom S type, with the pickup selector in the middle position, volume and tone at full into a VOX AC30C2 Top Boost channel. This is picked up by an Aston Origin microphone on axis an in front of the speaker which goes to the Apollo Twin X and into Logic Pro. No plugins, eq or anything else was used, you get it right as it comes out of the amplifier. This sample starts with the guitar clean, then the Zelzah is punched in for a phrase with each of Classic, Barber and Env.

Six Stage Side

The six stage side is quite different from the 4 stage side. There are some really nice sounds here. The Resonance switch position makes quite a bit of difference as you will hear. I made three sets of samples in this area. The first is with the Voice knob fully counter clockwise for the phase shifter sound, starting with clean and then three phrases with the resonance starting Off, then repeated with the resonance at Mild and repeated again with the resonance at Strong.

The next sample is the same six stage phaser with the three different resonance options, but this time with the Voice knob set at noon. You will hear a difference as the sound is more flanger-esque. Be clear that this is not a flanger “setting” just a variance on the voice that increases the delay time as you turn the knob clockwise.

The final 6 stage sample still has the three resonance options but with the Voice knob fully clockwise. This increases the delay to where the phase shifter is producing sound similar to a Chorus. Again, this is only happening by manipulating the Voice knob, there is no preset Chorus setting.

Combined

I did not record any samples with both the 4 stage and 6 stage engaged because there are so many potential options that we could be here for a week and still not hear the combination that you are seeking. At this point, if you like what you have read and heard, head out to your Strymon dealer and give the Zelzah a try with a guitar and amplifier that you know well to make the determination if the Zelzah is right for you.

Summary

I admit being skeptical about putting a phase shifter on a board in 2022, I mean wasn’t this a Seventies thing? Reflecting on the music that I play and listen to personally, I still listen to and am influenced by music from that decade, so it wasn’t such a big stretch. I have my Zelzah on the same board as a Strymon Orbit Flanger and a Strymon Ola Chorus/Vibrato. I call this the Strymon board for good reason. I have not found where one pedal does the same thing or close enough to any other to make one redundant. I also often have the flanger at a very low rate and depth as an always on effect, along with the Origin Effects Cali76 compressor to widen the sound stage in a way that makes me happy. Thus when I do punch in the Zelzah, I am looking for something specific to the tune and it delivers. It’s dead quiet and if you use either a stereo setup or a wet/dry setup the stereo outs can be beneficial. You can even send the four stage out one side and the six stage out the other if you choose. I like the Zelzah a lot and it has earned a permanent place on that board.

Thank you very much for reading. Please subscribe to receive notifications of new articles and give the Podcast a listen. I’m Ross Chevalier and until next time, peace.