User reviews: Dunlop GCB95 Cry Baby

01/19/12

nickname009's review

This is...I can't believe I'm reviewing this! Everybody knows by now what this is and what type of sounds it can produces. It's analog technology and has been around for years. Jimi Hendrix has become a household name and thanks to him, so has the crybaby.

Trying to explain the sound without using the words crybaby or wah wah is even more of a challenge these days.

Utilization

Step on it to engage the switch, then rock the pedal back and forth to sweep between the sounds. Very easy to use, knowing how and WHEN to use it well is a whole different story..

Sound Quality

Yes ok here is the hardest part. There has been much debate about how the crybabies were made, what parts were used etc and why every single pedal seemed different. After just watching the documentary on the crybaby my thoughts were confirmed. Back then when the crybaby was just being made and mass produced they used whatever parts they could get and over the years different inductors and other misc parts were used so that's why some people think the older ones sounded better and that's also why some people think the older ones sounded worse.

I personally think of the sound has an effect, nothing else. And the fact that the sound itself is just a filter, that has a range that sweeps from low to high in the midrange of whatever signal you've put through it, how can it sound BAD? or GOOD? It is what it is, some may sound better to people yet those people can't often really properly explain WHY it sounds better, it just 'does'. That's just nonsense! It's just a wah, just an effect and it does what it does, there's no good or bad!

Overall Opinion

I was never really a big wah person to begin with but over the years have come to recognize that it's an essential effect to have as a guitar player. Yes it has been overused but also has been and could still be used tastefully in certain situations. I currently don't see any problem with it other than the longevity of the pedal itself but to this day haven't had problems with mine. Though I have heard of some people having issues with them over the long run, the pot dying out or the pedal or circuit frying etc etc. Luckily, I haven't had any part of that so far!

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11/19/11

Fireguy8402's review "That Classic Wah Sound"

Characteristics

The GCB-95 Crybaby by Dunlop is your basic straightforward wah pedal. It has a metal housing with a heavy duty bypass switch mounted under the metal foot rocker board, four rubber feet screwed to the bottom, an input for your instrument and an output to go to your amplifier. There are no high tech optical switches, Q knobs, or modes to fool with or go bad on you. It’s a black brick that is made for years and years of use with nothing extra going on.

Utilization

This wah pedal can sound good just about anywhere in the signal chain, but most people like to put it first in line after their guitar. This is the classic design of putting the footswitch under the foot pedal in the toe down position to turn it on and then you go to town on your filtering. I like this method much better than the alternatives other companies have come up with like having a separate on and off switch located on a floor panel or switchless designs like Morley has been putting out. Dunlop just put out a good version of this pedal to start with and that’s why it’s still around and so popular today. Some versions of this pedal have different tweaks for different modes and sweeps, but I find the original version to be more than enough to achieve those classic wah tones.

Sound Quality

The original Crybaby has a distinct sound. The range of this model is quite wide and you are able to get abrupt quacks or slow filter sweeps depending on how you use the foot pedal. The pot on the inside of the pedal can be manually adjusted to change the sweep range of the foot pedal, so if you want a little more bass or treble you can get that. This is a simple pedal, so you only get one sound and sweep, but it’s well voiced and cuts through the mix well in a live band setting. This pedal does roll off some of the high end of your guitar tone regardless of how you power it or where you put it in your signal chain. It’s the nature of the bypass. It can be modded to be true-bypass easily, you can adjust a little more treble on your amp, or you might like the inherited rounding off of the high end.

Overall Opinion

The GCB-95 would be a good choice for someone looking for a classic wah tone. It does lose a little bit of high end when put into your signal path, but nothing that can’t be corrected by your amplifier. If I were to be looking for another wah pedal I would probably go another route and get something with a few more bells and whistles that could get a few more tones, but overall I’ve been satisfied with my Crybaby. It’s a staple in rock and roll guitar. Every teenage guitar player has to go out and get a wah pedal after hearing it for the first time, and on a teenager’s budget the GCB-95 fits the bill. This also leads to a lot of them being on the used gear market, and that’s where I would pick one up if I were getting one. They usually go fairly cheap and since they are built very well, getting a used one sight unseen off the internet wouldn’t worry me a bit. Altogether, there are better wahs out there, but this is a decent pedal for the money and has the potential to be a lifelong piece of gear with a few mods.

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03/22/11

Stormleader's review "Great platform for modding, but it's pretty nasty stock."

Characteristics

Ah, the classic wah pedal, the Dunlop Crybaby. Not much special as far as specs go, buffered bypass, no LED indicator, no knobs or extra switches. Although there is far better wahs out there stock, the Dunlop can be found for cheap, and is a great pedal to mod. I got mine used for only $20.

Utilization

It's not exactly hard to use, stick your foot on the pedal, activate the switch, and then rock said foot back and forth. Ta-da! You too can now be Kirk Hammett! ;)

Seriously though, it can take a little getting use to if you're not great at multitasking. That said, once you get it down, it becomes pretty much second nature. And even if you can't get the hang of it, it is built well enough to chuck at the drummer.

I can't say how well the manual explains how to use it, as I got it used with no manual, but really, it's not rocket science guys.

Sound Quality

This is were a stock Crybaby falls short. Stock it is way too shrill and piercing, and it sounds pretty whimpy all around. That is quite easily fixed though, I spent about $20 to mod mine and it sounds nothing short of amazing now. That being said, this review is for a stock wah, so I have to give it pretty low marks for sound. I'm pretty sure that the newest revision of the Crybaby comes stock with a reissue Red Fasel inductor, which very well may help the general lack of tone.

The buffer is also pretty nasty as well. I know buffers are good for when you have long cable runs, but that kinda goes out the window when the buffer in question sucks. Once again though, modding it for true-bypass just about couldn't be simpler. I'm not entirely sure why Dunlop just doesn't do it straight from the factory. I'm running through a Peavey Ultra all-tube amp pushing a 5150 Straight cab with Celestion V30's and G12T-75's. The guitar I use is a BC Rich Warbeast NJ Deluxe that has EMG's in it. I play mostly Thrash metal and some down-tuned chugga-chugga stuff. I have to have a wah that really cuts through, and that sounds really meaty. Stock, that tone is almost impossible to achieve with this wah.

Overall Opinion

Overall, I have to say that if you are the kind of person that is not comfortable modding guitar pedals, then stay away from the Dunlop GCB-95. On the other hand, if you love diving into pedals, soldering iron in hand, then this very well may be the Wah pedal for you. It has massive potential to sound awesome, and the mods for it are very simple to do.

I would definitely buy it again for the price I got it for. I mean honestly, I put about $40 into this pedal total ($20 for the pedal, $20 for mods) and it sounds amazing for quite a bit less than one of the more expensive Crybabys, and I had a great time modding it to boot.

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03/21/11

darkwolf291's review "A Great Platform for Modding"

Characteristics

This is a wah pedal. Nothing fancy, just a wah. Very simple. I bought the standard GCB-95 Crybaby. When I got mine, It had a red Fasel, not a Dunlop inductor in it. It has an input, output, and a 9v DC Plug, which is the standard Boss, center negative style.

This is NOT true-bypass, but it is very easy to make it true-bypass.

Utilization

This is a very simple pedal to use. Plug it in, Turn it on, and rock away. No knobs or switches or sliders here, just click it on and turn into a Voodoo Child.

The manual is very clear about using it.

Nothing more to write here really.

Sound Quality

This is where we meet at the crossroads with this pedal. It's a very shrill sounding wah. It benefits greatly from reindexing the pot, which takes 5 minutes and you can easily find out how to do it with a quick Google search. I did mine and it sounded much better. This is a GREAT platform to mod on. A few quick and easy mods can take this to a less than decent wah to a great wah.

Stock, it usually comes with the Dunlop inductor, but for some reason, mine came with the red Fasel inductor. It sounds decent at best. It;s very harsh and shrill, but as I said it can be taken care of with a quick reindex.

It is buffered bypass, and the buffer is NOT a good one. There is noticeable tone suck when using it. The True Bypass mod is very easy to do to it, but requires a new switch. If you're not willing to mod it, you may want to reconsider buying this pedal because stock, it leaves much to be desired.

Overall Opinion

This thing is VERY Shrill and Harsh stock. It is a great platform for modding, and some people may like it's level of shrillness, but not me. I reindexed the pot and have done a few mods (true bypass and increased the mids) and it sounds like a new pedal. If you're not in to modding, or don't like a shrill, harsh wah, then this is not the pedal for you.

I would have preferred a better buffer than the crap one dunlop threw in this thing. They could have also made it less shrill and throatier stock.

This is an on OK pedal all in all, but again, it's too shrill. It's a great platform for modding, as they can be found used for very cheap, but stock, there's many other great options.

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03/21/11

Hatsubai's review "The standard for all Wahs"

Characteristics

Thanks in part to Hendrix and the like from the 60s, it's generally accepted that nearly every guitarist needs a wah pedal on his or her pedalboard. The Dunlop GCB-95 is to wah pedals as the TS808 is to overdrive pedals. Nearly every wah pedal out there is compared to this one, and once you use it, you can understand why. Housed in a nearly nuke-proof enclosure, the GCB-95 features the bare minimum of things you need to get started in your quest for the latest adult film soundtrack.

Utilization

This is one of those pedals that'll withstand any abuse you throw at it. The main problem that ever goes wrong is that the pot goes scratchy/bad. Aside from that, there's not much that can go wrong. The recent revisions of this pedal are all surface mount components, so if you're looking to modify one, be sure you get an older model. Older models also had some different parts that many argue were better sounding than the current ones.

Sound Quality

The sound of the GCB-95 is that of a typical wah pedal. It sounds like ... a wah. Stock, there is some decent tone suckage going on thanks to the buffered bypass. The most popular mod is to change out the stock switch with a DPDT or 3PDT one and make it true bypass. This mod is a must, IMO. There are also other voicing mods you can do, change out a few resistors for pots, adjust the sweep, add an LED and so on.

Overall Opinion

Those looking for a first wah, you're probably better off looking at the 535Q or one of the newer ones. This particular wah is starting to get a bit dated. However, if you find a non-surface mount component one and aren't afraid of modding, you can voice this mod to be more versatile than any of the boutique wahs out there. It'll sound just as good, or better, than some of the more expensive ones out there if you take your time to experiment with component values.

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03/18/11

mmolteratx's review "Better than they used to be"

Characteristics

The GCB-95 is a bare bones wah. No Q control, bass control, treble control, level control, etc. It does have a modern 9VDC center negative adapter jack though.

The construction is pretty good for the price. Nice PCB, heavy duty enclosure, neat wiring, high quality parts/jacks/switch. Nothing really to complain about there.

The pedal is all analog using the classic inductor type wah circuit found in 90% of wahs out there.

Bypass is old style 'hard' bypass rather than true bypass. This results in the 'tone suck' (high end loss) that's common to pedals using this design. This can be fixed very easily if you have a soldering iron and a couple bucks though.

Unlike past years' models, the new Rev I GCB-95 comes with the red Fasel inductor found in some of Dunlop's higher end wahs. This is a noticeable and appreciated upgrade.

The battery door on the bottom is a nice touch.

Utilization

Set up is very easy. Simply open the battery door and insert a battery or use the adapter jack and then put it in your signal path.

Since there really isn't anything to tweak, you're stuck with the one tone, for good or bad. This does make it idiot proof though and could be a welcome feature for some touring bands who want consistency and don't want to futz with knobs.

The feet do cause a problem with mounting the wah on pedalboards but simply removing them and the battery cover and applying velcro is a reasonable and cheap solution, though one of the popular mounting plates available from several sources is a more elegant (and costly) solution.

Sound Quality

I use my Strats with both single coils and humbuckers with this running into my THD Flexi 50. The sweep is very smooth and it doesn't quack like many vintage styled wahs. Depending on what you play, this could be a deal breaker. I find the smoother sweep works better for high gain stuff while it lacks the familiar quack for funk and clean sounds.

The high end is a bit splatty with the treadle in the toe down position, however it is much improved over one I owned 5 or 6 years back. If the treble is turned up a bit high on my amp, it can sound very nasty and splatty but I tend to keep it rolled back so it's not a problem for me.

The low end is tighter than the last one I owned and works reasonably well with lots of distortion. Not as well as some other models, both from Dunlop and other companies, but it's passable for the price.

One major complaint I have is that it's prone to radio interference. This can be very bad during quieter moments and would be a definite deal breaker if I wasn't planning on modding it. It truly is awful.

Overall Opinion

The thing I like most is the build quality. I wouldn't worry at all about it failing under heavy use. If it ever did fail, repairs would be very easy due to a clean layout and the fact that it uses full sized components.

I absolutely hate how noisy it is. It's a definite deal breaker if you plan on using it without modding it. For home use at low volumes, it might be passable but it's definitely a no go for gigs, particularly those in noisy, interference prone parts of town.

The sound is consistent and I believe that for the price, it's the best wah you can get. The comparable Vox doesn't handle distortion nearly as well and the build quality leaves much to be desired.

I've tried dozens of other wahs and owned 5 or 6. I knew the GCB-95 wasn't the best of wahs but I was pleasantly surprised at how passable the tone was. The noise is definitely worse than any other wah I've owned though, especially when compared to my Teese RMC3.

I'd make the same choice again though because it's very easy to mod and the build quality is great. If I were to leave it stock, I'd probably save up some more money and get a Budda or a Teese.

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03/25/08

soccerplayer25's review

Characteristics

The Dunlop GCB-95 Cry Baby is standard wah-wah pedal made by the masters of the wah - Dunlop. There are 1/4'' inputs and outputs and it is not a rackable effect.

Utilization

Like most pedals, this was really easy to get going. I simply plugged my guitar into the input and sent the output to an amp. The effect is a standard wah/filter sound and while this model could have a greater sweep range, it definitely gets the job done. I have never seen the model because I bought it used.

Sound Quality

The effect with this Dunlop is very realistic and usable as a wah sound. I used it with guitar mostly, but it would certainly work with bass, keys, or any other instrument you could plug this into. While it isn't a versatile pedal, it does exactly what it advertises - gives you a good sounding wah-wah at a reasonable price.

Overall Opinion

I've had mine for about 6 years now and although I don't use it all the time, it is my only wah-wah pedal and use it whenever I want the effect. It is real basic to use and has an on/off switch to toggle with when you press down the front of the pedal with your toes. I've used some other Dunlop models and Vox models and while I like some of the other wah-wah pedals better, for the price I really can't complain. It gives you a nice sounding wah for a fraction of the price of some of the more expensive models.

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Dunlop GCB95 Cry Baby

Dunlop GCB95 Cry Baby user reviews ( 7/10) - 45 user reviews

nickname009's review

Fireguy8402's review "That Classic Wah Sound"

Stormleader's review "Great platform for modding, but it's pretty nasty stock."

darkwolf291's review "A Great Platform for Modding"

Hatsubai's review "The standard for all Wahs"

mmolteratx's review "Better than they used to be"

soccerplayer25's review

keris06's review ( translated ) Improve this translation " total operatinginstructions!"

floyd the barber's review ( translated ) Improve this translation " the reference!"

tomarock's review ( translated ) Improve this translation