View other reviews for this product:
mmolteratx « Better than they used to be »
Published on 03/18/11 at 17:29The 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.
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.