Eddie Van Halen’s MXR MX-117 Flanger

This is one of the very few effect pedals that Eddie used continually since the early days. In those early days, he had the make-shift pedalboard that he made himself from plywood, with the Flanger, an MXR Phase 90, and an Echoplex taped to it.

It’s a piece of plywood with two controls for my Echoplex on it,, an MXR Phase 90 that I’ve had for years, and an MXR flanger. They’re all taped to a piece of board with black duct tape.

“Young Wizard of Power Rock” By: Jas Obrecht Guitar Player (April 1980)

Eddie used the pedal on many recordings, for example on Unchained and And the Cradle Will Rock:

I liked the Phase 90, so when MXR came out with the Flanger, I said, What the hell? I loved their stuff. […] I always use the same setting for everything, from the intro to “And the Cradle Will Rock…” to “Unchained,” with the exception of the setting I used on the intro to “Outta Love Again” and “Bullethead.”

I set the three knobs on the left between 11 o’clock or 11:30, and the last knob on the right is all the way up.

Guitar World, 2014