“I have to admit, I knew nothing about the Epiphone Flying V when I was offered my ambassador role with Gibson guitars. I’m happy to say I know a lot more now about Epiphone, the manufacturing, the playability, and the incredible sound that they offer. I am 100% certain the Epiphone signature Dave, Mustaine Flying V is a badass guitar! We made the guitar to my exact hand specifications, identical to my Gibson Flying V. My favorite is the red antique model, but we’re just getting started. It’s mind-boggling to think, ‘if I didn’t look at the headstock, I couldn’t tell this guitar apart from my Gibson’s’.”–Dave Mustaine of Megadeth
The new Epiphone Dave Mustaine Flying V Custom is designed to deliver the powerful, heavy sound and exceptional playing performance with a 24.75” scale mahogany neck has a gloriously agile ebony fretboard with 24 medium jumbo frets, an Explorer-style headstock with Grover Mini Rotomatic tuners, and a Graph Tech nut. The mahogany Flying V-style body is equipped with a LockTone Tune-O-Matic bridge ,string-thru Flying V tailpiece, and Dave’s signature Seymour Duncan Thrash Factor pickups that deliver all the high-output mayhem you’d expect from a Mustaine signature axe. The pure metal looks are rounded out with a Black Metallic finish offset with a white binding on the body, neck, and headstock, along with black nickel hardware. A hardshell case is also included.
Above (L-R): the Epiphone Dave Mustaine Prophecy Flying V in Aged Dark Red Burst and the Flying V Custom in Black Metallic.
The Dave Mustaine Flying V Prophecy is for players looking to set new standards in speed, sound, and technique. Front and center a pair of Fishman Fluence pickups that are custom-voiced for the Epiphone Prophecy Collection deliver three distinct tones- a warm “PatentApplied For” vintage humbucker; a hot modern humbucker; and a shimmering, optimized single-coil sound, all accessed by push/pull Volume and Tone pots. A limited-edition model, theDave Mustaine Flying V Prophecy also includes Grover locking Rotomatic tuners, Epiphone’s LockTone Tune-O-Matic bridge and Stop Bar tailpiece for added sustain, and a Graph Tech nut that boots harmonic content and increases tuning stability. The mahogany neck boasts an ebony fingerboard with 24 jumbo frets and Dave’s custom “D” profile, and is built for the kind of speed and precision that he’s renowned for. With a AAA flame maple veneer top and sinister Aged Dark Red Burst finish, complemented by crushed black nickel hardware for the ultimate metal look. A hardshell case is also included.
Icons: Dave Mustaine of Megadeth
For more information, please visit epiphone.com.
No Marriage of the Meek
I’d love to know what kind of records are on the turntable at the home of Way Huge designer Jeorge Tripps. I might even like to know what he’s eating for breakfast, because, between the recent excellent Atreides Weirding Module and the Attack Vector, he seems extra focused on the interrelationship between envelope and phase. Yet, the way those two effects are used on the two pedals yields very different results, and we should not assume that the phase and filter effects on the Atreides, which also offers fantastic, hair-singeing fuzz, can be used interchangeably. In fact, the two devices behave and create sound in wildly different ways. Given the range in color of the phase and envelope effects that reveals itself, it’s easy to hear how Tripps became intrigued with such possibilities.
“Of the two effects, the Phaser strays most clearly from familiar analog templates.”
Depending on your perspective and tasks at hand, you can argue the Attack Vector is a much more practical and flexible application of the two effects. On the Atreides, the strong personality of the fuzz and EQ effects (and the inability to remove them entirely) makes more familiar applications of phaser and filter harder to achieve. The Attack Vector, however, will willingly play the part of circa-’77 Jerry Garcia or a trippy Phase 90 in ways the Atreides cannot.
Of the two effects, the Attack Vector phaser strays most clearly from familiar analog templates. It’s not as classically chewy as a Small Stone, an Ibanez PT9, or an MXR Phase 90, which is, of course, a cousin within the Jim Dunlop family. There’s a possible reason for this: The Attack Vector’s envelope filter can generate intense peaks, and pairing those spikes with a phaser that modulates with its own intense resonant peaks can create ugly volume irregularities and odd, hiccup-y, phase cancellations, which happened when I mated the Attack Vector filter to a particularly resonant vintage Phase 90 clone. The Attack Vector’s phase cycle seems competitively flatter and a little less elastic. In isolation, this quality can be very practical. For instance, you can tailor more phase textures that leave more room for picking dynamics or especially abrasive fuzz. Some players might miss the extra rubbery qualities of more classic phasers. Others with less dogmatic views of what proper phaser vintage tone is could find a lot of utility in its voice. The modulation frequency, by the way, ranges to hyper-fluttery extremes, which can work to bizarre ends with the filter in the mix.
The Quack in the Room
In pure envelope-filter mode, the Attack Vector is forgiving, agreeable, and easy to work with—even if the effect is an unfamiliar language. I particularly love it with single-coils, where it can sound extra snappy and nasty with a range setting that favors higher-mid peaks and a full-clockwise sensitivity setting. But its also very happy with the rounder edges from PAF-style humbuckers.
In tandem, the filter and phaser potentially yield much weirder fare. And if you’re the kind of player that bores fast with well-worn tone templates, there’s a lot of ways to get in trouble here. Using those same clockwise sensitivity and high-mid resonance settings on the filter with full-clockwise peak settings and a slow-to-medium rate from the phaser creates mutant electric sitar sounds that could underpin a memorable solo or work to double a less interesting one. Slowing the phase rate, backing off the phase resonance, and pairing with smoother, more vocal filter settings creates a composite that showcases the most classic version of each effect in a beautifully dovetailed whole.
The Verdict
Individually, the envelope filter and phaser on the Attack Vector are cool. And I could see many players picking the unit up primarily for the easy-to-use envelope filter. It’s a bummer that you have to reach down to toggle between the three modes, because I could imagine many applications where switching between effect combinations would add effective and distinctive drama to song sections and solos. But maybe that’s a small price to pay for more compact dimensions on what, for many, will still be a niche effect. That said, the beauty of the Attack Vector is that it probably won’t seem niche-y to the open-minded. There are many conventional phase and filter tones that make this pedal practical and full of possibilities—and a ton more that are guaranteed to make a very profound impression.
Way Huge Attack Vector Phaser & Envelope Filter Demo | First Look
Here’s what’s new in this series:
The Paranormal Series has models for players from all walks of life, with features including:
- Short and easy-to-play 30“ scale length
- Slim and comfortable Maple “C”-shape neck profile
- Fast-playing 12” radius fingerboard
- Vintage-style tuning machines for smooth, accurate tuning
