Dunlop Crybaby Jerry Cantrell Wah review

Alice In Chains man's signature Wah

  • £209
  • $264.99
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The most famous feet in the guitar world have all treaded on a Crybaby.

MusicRadar Verdict

It may be a fair bit pricier than the standard model, but Jerry Cantrell's signature wah is a proper Crybaby, and then some…

Pros

  • +

    Useful range of wah sounds.

Cons

  • -

    £60 more than standard.

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The most famous feet in the guitar world have all treaded on a Crybaby.
The most famous feet in the guitar world have all treaded on a Crybaby.

Dunlop Crybaby Jerry Cantrell Wah

Every pedalboard deserves a decent wah. It's the ubiquitous sound to which countless washing machines have been 'repaired', crimes in the 70s were solved, and Jimi Hendrix chopped down mountains.

Alice In Chains' Jerry Cantrell has now joined the ranks of Hendrix, Slash, and Hammett, getting his very own signature Crybaby. JC's wah comes in an oxidised brass finish, with the lyrics to AIC's Black Gives Way To Blue printed on the base plate, but the most important feature is the control knob on the side.

This is used to extend or decrease the maximum toe-down sweep of the pedal, so with the pot set at max, you'll get more high end. Plugging in with the pot set towards the middle of its range gives a more standard Crybaby sound; if you like the sound a bit darker it can be rolled back.

Some wah pedals can break up, ruining the smoothness of clean sounds, but this stays focused throughout its sweep.

Extending the control all the way up and setting to a distorted tone gets you added snarl, which accents the more 'vocal' sounds the pedal is capable of.

It may be £60 more than a standard Crybaby but the addition of the frequency control means that you can go from a vintage-sounding Crybaby tone to a modern scream at the turn of the dial. We think it's worth the extra cash

Stuart Williams
Stuart Williams
Drums

I'm a freelance member of the MusicRadar team, specialising in drum news, interviews and reviews. I formerly edited Rhythm and Total Guitar here in the UK and have been playing drums for more than 25 years (my arms are very tired). When I'm not working on the site, I can be found on my electronic kit at home, or gigging and depping in function bands and the odd original project.