The Dunlop Cry Baby is a popular wah-wah pedal, manufactured by Dunlop Manufacturing, Inc. The name Cry Baby was from the original pedal from which it was copied, the Thomas Organ/Vox Cry Baby wah-wah, first manufactured in 1966. Thomas Organ/Vox failed to register the name as a trademark, leaving it open for Dunlop. More recently, Dunlop manufactured the Vox pedals under licence, although this is no longer the case.
The said wah-wah effect was originally intended to imitate the supposed crying tone that a muted trumpet produced, but became an expressive tool in its own way. It is used when a guitarist is soloing, or to create a "wacka-wacka" funk styled rhythm. The original pedals were popularized by guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and David Gilmour, though many artists have developed signature sounds with them since.
There are many different models of the Cry Baby manufactured by Dunlop Manufacturing, Inc, most are listed below:
GCB-95 - Also known as the "Cry Baby Original". Typically the lowest priced model. Bypass switch has improved over the years therefore loss of tone is not as bad. From 1966 until sometime in 2003 this pedal was produced with a black inductor, which is still available as a spare part from Dunlop. Dunlop began using the red Fasel inductor in this pedal in 2003, so some Revision "H" models have the black inductor, while others have the red Fasel inductor. Revision "I" and upward all have the red Fasel inductor.
GCB-95F Classic - A Cry Baby with a Fasel (classic Italian-made) inductor and a Hot Potz 100K Ohm potentiometer. This model also features true hardwire bypass.
95Q - A Switchless Cry Baby with a Q control (which varies the intensity of the wah effect), a volume boost, and the auto-return function.
535Q - Features tone shifting abilities using the Q control, six different wah ranges, and a volume boost.
JH-1 Jimi Hendrix Signature - The Jimi Hendrix Signature Cry Baby is an original 1960s design to sound like Hendrix. Its circuitry is nearly identical to the GCB-95.
JH-1FW Jimi Hendrix Fuzz-wah - A combination of the Jimi Hendrix Signature Wah and the Jimi Hendrix Fuzz. It can be used as a Wah Pedal, a Fuzz Pedal, or both at the same time.
BG-95 Buddy Guy Signature - Buddy Guy's Signature Cry Baby.
DB-01 Dimebag Signature - Dimebag Darrell's Signature Cry Baby. Based on the 535Q, as he used one prior.
EW-95V Mister Cry Baby Super Volume - A Cry Baby that doubles as a wah pedal and a volume boosting pedal. It can provide a volume boost of up to 16 decibels.
ZW-45 Zakk Wylde Signature - Zakk Wylde's Signature Cry Baby.
105Q Bass - A Cry Baby for bass guitars that only affects the mid and high frequencies, and features Q and Volume controls.
SW-95 Slash Signature - Slash's Signature Cry Baby with an added heavy distortion booster introduced by Dunlop in 2007.
SC-95 Slash Signature - Slash's Signature Cry Baby introduced by Dunlop in 2012.
Limited Edition (1999) Purple, White, Red or Hammertone Gray
EVH Signature - Eddie Van Halen's Signature Cry Baby.
KH-95 Kirk Hammett Signature- Kirk Hammett's new Cry Baby.
JC-95 Jerry Cantrell Signature- Jerry Cantrell's signature Cry Baby.
TM95M Tak Matsumoto Signature Tak Matsumoto's signature Cry Baby.
With the exception of the GCB95F and most of the artist signature wah's, many of the newer Cry Baby models use a single-pole switch instead of true-bypass; using single-pole switching instead of true-bypass adds significant impedance, which can affect the tone.
