www.robertkeeley.com
Inspired by Robert Keeley’s fondness for combining effects, the digital Keeley Electonics Zoma Stereo Reverb and Tremolo simplifies interface and function compared to his earlier Hydra pedal and many other reverbs on the market.
The concept is to deliver reverb and modulation that brings to mind ’60s blackface, while upping ease of operation. There are Reverb and Tremolo on/off footswitches, giant knobs that feel like 1965 – not 2025 – along with a selector switch that chooses between Spring and Plate reverb, Sine and Harmonic tremolo, and Vibrato. Look for true and buffered bypass, as well as a suite of secondary functions that let you easily flip the effects order (reverb into trem, or trem into ’verb), as well as adjust decay (Level), output (Depth), and tone (Rate).
In operation, the Zoma’s chip processor is so smooth you’ll think it’s an ancient amp. Same with the knobs, which introduce no digital artifacts. We traversed from clean, twangy surf and Wrecking Crew tones all the way to Robin Trower’s UniVibe and Neil Young’s “Like a Hurricane” reverb with barely any effort.
If you want authentic vintage reverb, vibe, and tremolo without hauling around a heavy blackface amp, the Zoma is worth checking out. Its clean layout, stereo output, and killer tones make it a very useful stompbox. – Pete Prown
This article originally appeared in VG’s February 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
