This Christmas was a good one for my son. I got him an original Cry Baby. Most of my friends questioned why I would get my 12 year old son a doll, and explaining that a Cry Baby was the original Wah Wah didn't help.

However, since you are reading this in Musical Instruments, I assume that you know that Cry Baby was one of the first names in Wah Wah Pedals, for that wah wah sound from your guitar. Since my son and I first learned the opening notes of Jimi Hendrix's famous tune Voodoo Chile (slight return) we have wanted to perfect the sound that Jimi Hendrix and then Stevie Ray Vaughan made famous. Let's face it, Voodoo Chile is only one of hundreds (thousands) of songs that use that classic wah wah sound. Despite having a Line 6 Spider III Amp with plenty of built in effects, a Wah wah effect is just one that you need to have a pedal for.

What is the Cry Baby Wah Wah Pedal (Model GCB -95)

This is the original Cry Baby Wah Wah Pedal by Dunlop. It has ONE effect, bending the notes into that classic Wah Wah sound. It is an affordable effect pedal, it is $70.00. More elaborate effects pedals are more expensive. The Cry baby is a big heavy durable pedal. It is powered by a nine volt battery or an AC converter plug (neither is included). You plug your guitar in to one side, and your amplifier into the other side. (cords are not included either). Put your foot down all the way to turn the Wah Wah Pedal on, and then rock your foot back and forth. wah wah WAH wah WAH WAH

My son's experience

In no time, we had a nine volt battery installed and the cords. We used a Gibson SG with a Line 6 Spider III amp in a slight distortion setting. Nick opened up with the familiar notes of Voodoo Chile (slight return) and it didn't take him long at all to rock his foot back and forth to recreate that legendary song properly. The notes were all there with just the right amount of Wah. He was pleased, I was pleased. Soon he was monkeying around with clean tones, distorted tones, echo tones and adding the Wah sound to chords, notes and a variety of songs. The Cry Baby Wah Wah Pedal was a big hit and is now a permanent accessory in our collection of musical toys.

My Experience

To turn the pedal on, you put your foot all the way down to click the switch on. To turn it off, repeat. For the wah wah effect, just rock your foot back and forth on the notes or chords you want the effect on. If you don't want the effect, stop rocking your foot. The pedal gives you the control to put the effect where you want it.

Okay, I had to play Voodoo Chile (slight return) a few times to get it down right again, but it didn't take me long to also play the opening so it sounded just right. The pedal feels like a gas pedal; you get enough tactile feedback (not to be confused with sonic feedback) to make your foot rock back and forth comfortably and get that wah wah sound you want. This is the basic wah Wah pedal, so you only get that one classic sound, if you want to adjust the wahs to slow wahs or fast wahs, Cry Baby has other models that allow for an infinite amount of adjustment. Other companies like Digitech also offer a Jimi Hendrix effects pedal for $200.00 that offer wah wah and a whole lot more. However, if you are just looking for that ONE signature tone used on countless classics, this is the original Cry Baby Wah Wah Pedal.

Summary

It may be a one trick pony, but that one trick is a foundation of many rock n' roll classics, not to mention blues, country and several other genres. This is a solid reliable Wah Wah pedal and made my son quite happy on Christmas morning. I have no doubt we will both be using the pedal for years to come. Four Stars. (I would give it five, but I think they could have thrown in a nine volt battery or the AC adapter cord).

Recommended: Yes