MXR has recreated one of Dimebag Darrell’s favorite tone shapers in stompbox form with the launch of the Flanger/Doubler Pedal.
Along with his various Dean electric guitars, Randall amps and assortment of pedals, the MXR Flanger/Doubler rack unit played a key role in Dimebag’s revered heavy metal guitar tone.
Used as an always-on ‘thickener’, Dimebag utilized the unit's Doubler function as a way to bolster his overall sound while retaining all the tightness his riffing required.
It was something of an unsung hero of Dimebag’s guitar rig, but the Pantera guitar legend was never without it. It can be heard on songs like Cowboys from Hell in the intro, as well as tracks such as Slaughtered and Hellbound.
In fact, it was such a key part of the Dimebag sound that Zakk Wylde has already used it in recent Pantera Celebration gigs.
“Yes, yes and yes the rumors are true,” Wylde’s guitar tech, Justin Perez, shared on Instagram. “August 11th the launch of the MXR Flanger/Doubler Pedal. I had used this in Zakk Wylde’s Pantera Celebration rig for some shows. This thing works great and sounds great.”
Rex Brown, the band’s bassist, gave the pedal his seal of approval in the comments, writing, “That’s all you need.”
The arrival of a pedalboard-friendly unit to channel the sound of the now-discontinued rack mount will be welcome news for heavy metal fans.
It features an all-analog bucket-brigade devices design complete with the full original control set. There’s also a doubler button to switch between the flanger and doubler effects, and a mix knob for blending wet and dry signals.
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The Invert button, meanwhile, reverses the wet signal polarity, effectively tapping into another voice that moves from “airy” to a bold low-mid punch.
The Flanger/Doubler is available now for $333.
Visit MXR to find out more.
[Update 12.08: This article was updated with a correction. Zakk Wylde’s guitar tech is Justin Perez.]
