The Cry Baby continues to be the most popular wah pedal in the market, thanks to its expressive sound, intuitive controls and efficient design.
Having graced countless albums and live performances, the wah effect it produces continues to please guitarists worldwide.
With the sheer number of pedals currently available, it is quite impressive that an old pedal like the Cry Baby Wah is still a staple on many pedalboards. The GCB95 Cry Baby continues the legacy of the original 1966 Thomas Organ design, staying true to the original design while utilizing more robust and reliable parts.
The current production model GCB95 Cry Baby still follows the same mid-range boost design as the original, It morphs your guitar tone to give it human-like “wah” sounds as you rock the pedal back and forth. The toe down position emphasizes the mid-high frequencies, while the heel down position gives you more mid-bass. The speed by which you rock the pedal along with your pick attack determines the speed of the frequency sweep and the amount of effect applied.
Tasteful use of the Cry Baby Wah have been exemplified by guitar greats like Jimi Hendrix, frank Zappa, David Gilmour, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy and many others. Although it is ideal for creating expressive solos, it was also put to good use by session guitarists that play percussive “funky” riffs. Another way of utilizing the Cry Baby is by finding the “sweet spot” and fixing the pedal in that position. This turns the pedal into a boost pedal that can shape your guitar tone.
Finally, the pedal is housed inside a die-cast chassis, of which many users will testify for being road-worthy and reliable. If you are looking for more genre specific wah pedals, there are now a number of other Cry Baby models to you can choose, from tweaked wahs to signature models for artists that include EVH, Slash, Hendrix, Cantrell, Bonamassa, Hammett and others.
The original Cry Baby pedal is currently retailing online for just under $70. You can visit Jim Dunlop for more information.