MXR Flanger

The MXR Flanger uses bucket-brigade analog delay chips to create sweeping, jet-like modulation effects. Eddie Van Halen used the MXR Flanger (and its successor, the EVH Flanger) to add swirling, metallic textures to his rhythm playing, most notably on 'Unchained' and 'And the Cradle Will Rock.' The pedal's manual control allows fixed-comb-filter effects, while its speed and width controls create everything from subtle chorusing to dramatic jet-plane sweeps. Van Halen's use of flanging as a rhythmic effect — syncing the sweep to the song's pulse — was innovative and widely imitated.