Dunlop GCB95 Cry Baby

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.

This is the first of what seems like an almost endless line of Crybaby effects from Dunlop. Made as simple as can be there is an input for guitar and an output for connecting to your amp. It produces a Wha sound just as the name implies that kind of cycles from the "W" in heel down position to the "a" in toe down position. The only parts are the rocker pedal and the switch under the front of the pedal which turns it on or off.

UTILIZATION

This is most likely one of the simplest effects to understand but getting it right with your playing will take some practice. This is truly a plug and play pedal because there is nothing to set up or alter. The pedal controls the sound of the filter and honestly can only be learned and mastered through use.

SOUND QUALITY

This version of the effect is used on guitars. I'm sure other instruments have made use of it in the past but these days there are ones specifically tailored to the frequency range of lets say a bass for instance. I would see no reason to buy this version for use with anything other than a guitar. This unit will suck some of the sound out of you guitar when not in use and if you are driving a huge pedal board you might want to boost the signal along the line after this unit. When in use there is no denying the signature sound of this effect. Aptly named a Wha-WHa it literally causes that sound to be coupled with your playing. It can be used in rhythm as well as lead playing and when properly applied will add a very desirable emphasis to your playing.

OVERALL OPINION

This is the standard wha sound and I do prefer many of the alternate models to this one. It is the tried and true wha so money spent on it is well spent in my opinion. The thing is built like a tank and is capable of kicking the butt of any other pedal in a cage match. The major down sides to this pedal are based in its older design. It turns on it the toe up position and starts in the "a" instead of the "W" portion of the sweep. The button can tend to also add a little "pop" into your sound when hit. The worst however is that the pedal itself could be designed to feel a bit more comfortable if they used an updated design instead of the antiquated pot but I guess it would no longer be original then.

This is the famous black rectangular Crybaby wah wah pedal everyone is familiar with. No knobs, just an on off switch under the rocker pedal.

The pedal I am reviewing is the first edition put out with the Rev C ciruit and the input and output jacks are seperate from the PCB board unlike the newer, cheaper built ones. This model also does not have a jack for a power supply. It runs on 9 volt battery only. I know these were made until 1989 when Jim Dunlop released a newer edition of the pedal.

I wanted to be like Hendrix! Isn't that why everyone buys a wah pedal? I paid $10 for this at a yard sale. It was dirty, but it cleaned up well.

A little bit of contact cleaner will clean up a scratchy pot. I used Windex sprayed onto a paper towel then wiped down the exterior of the pedal and had great results.



It does what it says it does! The older models have a clearer wah tone that sounds more like the guitar tones from my favorite classic rock albums.

Although you can adjust the pot by unscrewing the screw that holds the teeth in place and manually adjust it, that method is kind of a pain.

There is no LED light to let you know when or if the effect is on.

There is some signal loss. If the pedal were louder and true bypass I'd be happier.

The old ones do not have a power supply jack, but my power supply has a cable adaptor the connects to the battery plug.

Very well built. After time dust will built up in the pot, but I explained my cleaning process above. Just a quick spray of contact cleaner and rock the pot back and forth quickly.

If you need more than 2 applications and still have noise, you should invest in a new pot. I think a new one is only $20.

The Crybaby is the classic wah to own. You'll want an overdrive pedal in front of it to really get the full effect. They've made this pedal for years and it still is the most popular. Plenty of mods out there to tweak this $70 pedal and turn it into a real monster.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I play a Gibson Voodoo Les Paul Model through a 1979 Marshall MkII and vintage cabinet. I like to have the ablity to go from classic Zep to metallica crunch and back, with no effects.

Traded for a 15 watt Crate practice amp.

Not very much. Had I developed any ear for tone I wouldn't have traded for it. It's very sturdy, I'll give it that.

The range on it is horrible. No matter how much time or effort I've put into it, I've been unable to get an acceptable sound from it. Under high distortion there is nearly no response, which combined with it's poor range makes it pretty well useless. I've spent a lot of time adjusting settings on my amp, guitar, and a pedal equalizer to no avail. I've never gotten any use out of it, and wouldn't reccomend it to anyone who couldn't modify it themselves. It's also difficult to get it to bypass, often a good stomp won't do it. I also have a cable designed to make better contact with inputs that won't fit in it.

Solid design, so if you need a shell it could be good.

This is a piece of shit. Anyone who knows what they're doing will stay away from this.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com