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Dunlop GCB95 Cry Baby
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Skjold Skjold

« No introduction needed »

Published on 08/13/12 at 03:08
You probably already know what this is and what it does. Should you not know. Jimi Hendrix was the one who really made the Crybaby brand know along with the Wah sound (often referred to as Wah Wah). The GCB95 version was the first of a long line of Wah pedals designed by Dunlop.
The simplicity of the pedal is to be admired. There's an input and an output with some components attached to a pot in between. You also get a foot switch to turn the effect on/off when you need to.

UTILIZATION

Should you feel the need to point out who invented the plug and play principal, then it has to be Dunlop. You plug in you cords, give it some power and bam - you'r up and running.
However! Getting the right sound out of this kind of effect does take some time and practice. Granted, some require longer then others.

SOUND QUALITY

To be honest, I'm not that into the GCB95 version of the Crybaby. To me the sound if it, is simply to harsh and thin. The basic function of the Wah pedal is an EQ low-pass filter changed in real time through the pot on the inside of the housing. The Wah effect is found on many pedal boards throughout the world, but even though they might not all be the same, they all have the same issue. They suck out the tone of your setup. You might want to either give the pedal its own looping system or throw in a buffer after the Wah.

The GCB95 I had (yes, HAD) on my pedal board, sounded like it had a weird range. It was like it would get to the midrange and then go completely mad and go straight to the top range. It didn't fit into my sound at all, so it had to go.
Did I have a bad example of the pedal? I don't know.

OVERALL OPINION

It's a legend and the first of it's kind from Dunlop, but that also shows when you play it. It's like they needed to tune in, on how the circuit should be, which took a few generations.
The effect has ben overdone throughout time, but you can't really have a pedal board without it. It can spice up a funky rhythm guitar or give that extra squeal to your heroic guitar solo with the full on distortion blasting at full volume.
Don't just go out and buy the GCB95, because everybody else has one or because it's the "standard Wah" test out a few others and you might find something that's more your style and sound.