MXR EVH117 Flanger

The MXR EVH117 Flanger is a flanger pedal from MXR, a modern take on the original MXR Flanger that Eddie Van Halen used on classic Van Halen records. Dunlop says it uses the same bucket-brigade technology that produced "the sweeping, whooshing magic" of the original, and it carries Eddie's famous striped graphics on the enclosure¹. What sets it apart from the standard reissue is an EVH switch that calls up Eddie's own settings with one press².

Dunlop positions the pedal plainly: "Everyone knows that it was the MXR Flanger that powered the timeless Van Halen tunes 'Unchained' and 'And The Cradle Will Rock'"¹. The EVH117 exists to put that sound back on a pedalboard in a current production pedal.

The controls

The manual describes four different parameters for precise fine-tuning³. The knobs and what they do:

The Width and Speed knobs work together as the core of the effect: on the original MXR Flanger, they set the intensity and speed of the time delay section, which is the heart of the flanging sweep⁵. The manual's own spec sheet gives the rate range as 0.1 Hz to 10 Hz, with a maximum delay of 12.8 ms³.

The headline control, though, is the EVH switch. In Guitar World's review, "the switch engages a preset that duplicates the same manual, width, speed and regeneration settings Ed used on 'Unchained'"². So instead of hunting for the sound by ear, a player can press one button and land on the settings Eddie himself used.

Power: 18V, 35mA

The EVH117 is not a standard 9-volt-center-negative pedal, and that matters for how you power it. Dunlop's product page says it "can be powered by two 9-volt batteries, a 18-volt adapter or the DC Brick, Iso-Brick and Mini Iso-Brick power supplies"¹. The manual specifies the adapter as an 18-volt unit such as the Dunlop ECB004/ECB004EU, or a DC Brick supply, with a current draw of 35 mA³.

Guitar World's reviewer confirmed the battery option in the original 2007 review, noting "the EVH Flanger operates on two nine-volt batteries," with an optional 18-volt adapter as an alternative².

Other manual specs worth knowing: input impedance 470 kΩ, output impedance 1 kΩ, signal to noise greater than 98 dB (A-weighted, 0 dB = 1 Vrms), and noise reduction at a 2:1 ratio³.

Edward Van Halen and the EVH117

The EVH117 is not a straight vintage reissue. Guitar World's reviewer framed it as "not an exact copy of the original unit but rather an updated version," comparing it to MXR's EVH Phase 90 approach²³. Jim Dunlop had already introduced a reissue of the original MXR Flanger, and the EVH version followed as the artist-endorsed take².

The enclosure carries Eddie's striped graphics, which Dunlop describes as his famous striped livery¹. MusicRadar's reviewer traced it further back, noting "the livery here is from an even earlier period: the original black and white paint job from Edward's Frankenstein Boogie Bodies guitar"⁶.

The manual carries Eddie's own description of what the flanger means to his sound³:

That list of songs is the practical answer to what the flanger did on record: guitar on "Unchained" and "Hear About It Later," electric piano on "And the Cradle Will Rock," and synths on "Sunday Afternoon in the Park"³. When Guitar World reviewed the pedal in January 2007, the reviewer compared it with an original MXR Flanger, found them virtually indistinguishable, and reported that Eddie had adopted it on his own pedalboard².

What reviewers said

Reviews of the EVH117 have been positive, with the price as the main sticking point⁶.

• Guitar World (2007): "The EVH switch absolutely nails the 'Unchained' sound." The reviewer also found the pedal virtually indistinguishable from an original MXR Flanger in a side-by-side comparison².
• MusicRadar (2026): "Despite the cost this is great fun, and if Ed's your hero it's unlikely that anything else will do." The same reviewer called the price tag "very difficult to swallow," at £215 in the UK⁶.
• Pedal of the Day (2015), on the original MXR Flanger: the four-knob flangers "can be used for more subtle purposes and sounds as well," a reminder that the circuit behind the EVH117 handles more than jet-plane sweeps⁵³.

The pattern across the reviews: the sound is the draw, the EVH switch delivers what it promises, and the cost is the tradeoff a player has to weigh⁶².

How it fits among MXR's flangers

MXR's flanger line gives a player several routes. The standard MXR Flanger M117R is the same basic circuit without the EVH switch and striped graphics, powered by an 18-volt adapter or DC Brick supplies⁷⁸. The EVH117 adds the preset switch and the artist livery on top of that platform. Players after the rack-era sound can also look at the MXR Flanger/Doubler, the pedal version of MXR's 1970s studio rack unit. Within the wider field, alternatives range from the Boss BF-3 Flanger to the Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Electric Mistress, but the EVH117's specific draw is the one-press "Unchained" preset.

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