The Minneapolis, MN ZVEX guitar effects company has been an extremely reputable builder for a couple of decades—their Fuzz Factory distortion box was one of the devices that kicked off the mania for boutique effects in the first place—and they may have crafted THE ultimate boutique pedal: a terrific sounding, incredibly lovely, prohibitively expensive, and completely impractical vibrato. It’s called the Candela, and at $6000, you’re not going to see it on many pedalboards very soon. In fact, its unique 19th-Century-meets-Rube-Goldberg construction and 15lb weight make it totally unsuitable for live performance regardless of its price. But its most notable feature is its power source. Where most guitar effects take a 9-volt battery, the Candela is ingeniously powered with a tea candle. I suppose it must go without saying that holy shit I totally want one.
 

 

 

 
Via Reverb:

The central piece of this wacky pedal is a Stirling engine, which was invented 200 years ago by Robert Stirling, an eighteenth century Scottish clergyman, a heat engine that operates by cyclic compression and expansion of gases controlled by differing temperatures. The tea light releases heat, which is converted to electrical power by two solar cells, which in turn produces mechanical motion in the Stirling engine.

Using a hot cylinder and a cooling cylinder, the Stirling engine drives a flywheel. The flywheel then spins an optical disc that oscillates, allowing through only intermittent light from the candle. Interrupted light is what gives the Vibrophase its tremolo, and its intensity and speed can actually be controlled by a neodymium sphere magnet.

 
Here’s ZVEX’s namesake founder and builder Zachary Vex demonstrating the device for an obsequious gear journo with the most adorable schoolgirl crush on Vex’s stompboxes.
 

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
The Electric Prunes want to tell you all about the fabulous new ‘Wah-Wah’ pedal
Virtuosity in Minutes: Half Japanese’s Only Guitar Lesson You’ll Ever Need