ZVex Vibrophase

The ZVex Vibrophase is a five-knob, four-stage phaser pedal that blends between phasing and vibrato. ZVEX describes it as a pedal that "creates phase and vibrato nuances never heard before," and the maker says it puts the sound of the candle-powered Candela VibroPhase into a standard guitar pedal using the original Candela circuitry, with a way of "dramatically broadening the spectrum of textures available"¹. Guitar.com called it a vintage-inspired phaser and vibrato that "uses a four-stage phaser to yield that vintage swirl, slow rotovibe tones, wide sweeps, far-out 'slippiness', and everything in-between"².

It was announced in May 2018 as the regular pedal version of the Candela Vibrophase, which Z.Vex had showcased at NAMM as the world's first candle-powered pedal³. The Vibrophase lists at $299.00 on the ZVEX product page¹.

A four-stage analog phaser with vibrato

The Vibrophase is a four-stage phaser, the same stage count as the classic Phase 45-style circuits, and that stage count is no accident. On That Pedal Show, Dan and Mick explained the lineage: Zachary Vex's brother's favorite pedal was a four-stage phaser because "it was a four stage phaser and it sounded most like a unified," rather than the heavier phasing of larger units, and that was the motivation for building the first version⁵. MusicRadar reported the same blend of functions: "the usual speed and feedback knobs, plus the ability to blend between phase and vibrato, and most intriguingly, controls to adjust the top- and bottom-end of the sweep"³.

Everything under the hood is analog except the Speed control, as Guitar.com reported². The maker describes the result as "a lovely swirling effect"¹, and for the Candela original Zachary Vex wrote that "The sound sweeps from subtle vibrato to Leslie-like phasing with a speed range wider than anything ZVEX has ever produced"⁶.

The pedal comes in the vertical format ZVex adopted around 2018, which gearnews.com noted "makes it more pedalboard-friendly"⁴. It was also reported as a handmade boutique pedal with a psychedelic paint job⁴.

The controls

The five knobs give you more sweep shaping than a typical phaser. Two of them set the limits of the sweep itself, so the range the phaser moves through can be matched to the song rather than fixed by the circuit.

On That Pedal Show, Dan and Mick walked through the same controls: speed is self-explanatory, and with the vibrato/phase control "all the way that way on that control is phaser," with less of it leaning the sound toward vibrato. Their verdict on the sounds was enthusiastic: "that sounds so good" and "out the park"⁵.

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In the November 2018 Pick'N'Mix episode, Dan and Mick plugged the Vibrophase in alongside the NRG Poker BC107, FEA Labs Photon Fuzz II and Fender Marine Layer Reverb, demoing the speed and vibrato/phase controls and how the blend control feeds the phaser⁵.

History: from the candle-powered Candela to a standard pedal

The Vibrophase descends from one of the strangest pedals ever built. The Candela VibroPhase, showcased by Z.Vex at NAMM, was claimed as the world's first candle-powered guitar effects pedal⁷⁸. It was machined from solid brass and glass and "used a mix of 1800s technology (a Sterling heat engine) and 60s/70s audio circuitry to create a lovely swirling effect"¹⁹.

How it worked is worth knowing to understand what the pedal version replaced:

• A single tea-light candle illuminates two solar cells, producing 9 volts at 0.33mA for the electronics⁷⁶.
• The candle's heat also drives a Stirling engine, which turns an optical disk⁷.
• The effect works using light and a classic photocell, like a vibe pedal, "just powered by candlelight and using the Victorian tech of a Stirling engine, a 200-year-old technology"⁸.
• Two gear ratios on the Stirling engine cover about a 20:1 speed range when used with an eddy current brake, a 1" diameter neodymium sphere magnet¹⁰.
• ZVex claimed it runs for nearly 5 hours off one tea light candle⁸.
• Bypass lived on a separate foot switch pedal containing a true bypass switch, one TRS jack for the Candela, and input and output jacks⁶.

Guitar Interactive Magazine described the intended buyer as "fans of the 1800s, guitar effects enthusiasts who have to have everything, and guitarists who want a wildly more adjustable take on the Univibe than has ever been created before"¹⁰. It was not a high-volume product¹¹, and its price was quoted at between €6,000 and €7,000¹¹, with ZVEX later listing it as price upon request⁶.

By 2018 the concept had become a practical pedal. Z.Vex announced the regular pedal version in May 2018, priced at $269 at launch³, and gearnews.com summed up the appeal: "Now you can use a Vibrophase on your guitar's sound without worrying about fire hazards or someone blowing your candle out"⁴. Delicious Audio agreed the original "looked glorious, but rather impractical, at least for the gigging guitarist," and that the pedal version is "a lot more compact and also safer (no candles are required for it to function)"⁹. The current ZVEX product page lists it at $299.00¹.

What reviewers made of it

Early press coverage was positive on the concept. Guitar.com framed it as the sensible sibling of the eccentric Candela², and MusicRadar relayed the maker's promise of "phase and vibrato nuances never heard before"³. A later retrospective view was more measured: in 2024, Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson wrote, "I always found the Zvex VibroPhase a little subtle, still pretty classic, but could have done with a little more intensity"¹². That view came up in the context of SolidGoldFX releasing its own take on the vibraphase concept, a two-stage optical phase shifter¹².

The Vibrophase also appears in Zvex's compact capsule collection of vertical-format pedals, which Guitar Pedal X described as "a very unique vintage-style Phaser based on Zvex's magnificent sculptural and thermo-mechanical Candela Vibrophase"¹³.

Videos

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