Cry Baby GCB65 Custom Badass
104
GUITARIST JUNE 2021
Cry Baby GCB65 Custom Badass
Limited-edition wah offers the best of both with Fasel and Halo inductors
MANUFACTURER
DUNLOP
MODEL
CRY BABY GCB65 CUSTOM BADASS
CONTACT
WESTSIDE DISTRIBUTION 0844 326 2000
WWW.JIMDUNLOP.COM
PRICE
£199
PEDALBOARD
PROS
Smooth and solid treadle action; two
distinct sounds in one pedal; adjustable
frequency ranges; clear LED on/off indication
CONS
Side-mounted kickswitch could
compromise the positioning options on
your pedalboard
Words Trevor Curwen Photography Olly Curtis
G
et cornered by a vintage wah pedal
aficionado in full anorak mode and
you’ll be regaled with the merits
of the various types of inductor found in
the circuitry, most notably the Halo and
Fasel types. Working in conjunction with
a capacitor to move the cut-off frequency,
the inductor exerts its influence on the
smoothness of the pedal’s sweep and the
character of the filter. Consequently, you
may have a different wah experience
depending whether there’s a Halo or a
Fasel onboard your pedal. So, how about
having both? This limited-edition Dunlop
Cry Baby GCB65 Custom Badass puts a
Halo and a red Fasel inductor into one
chassis, giving you added versatility.
In use, you can quickly switch between
the inductors with a kickswitch, which
looks like a tiny red mushroom, on the
right hand side of the pedal. Also on this
side of the pedal, each inductor has a
coloured LED – red for Fasel, blue for
Halo – indicating that it is active. This
is also mirrored on the rear of the pedal
next to the white LED, which indicates
that the pedal is active, turned on with the
usual footswitch under the treadle at the
toe position. Each inductor circuit has its
own knob to shape the sound by setting
the frequency at the pedal’s toe-down
position. Fully clockwise basically gives
you the maximum amount of treble at
toe-down, so you can roll the knob back to
limit the frequency range covered in the
treadle’s travel, taming the highs for a less
aggressive or smoother sound.
The treadle action here is smooth and
even, and it will sit firmly if you want to
leave it ‘cocked’. Both inductors offer
eminently playable wah voicings. The
Fasel is the more aggressive of the two
with a definite stridency in the upper
mids and treble, and a touch of harmonic
distortion; Dunlop says this is the sound
of modern Cry Babys. That being the
case, the darker midrange roar of the
Halo may be your go-to for the more 60s
vintage tones and a smooth vocal quality
in single-note leads.
This wah features two instantly selectable voices
via a treadle heel switch: High and Low. Three
different settings of each voice, representing
recreations of vintage wah sounds, are available
via two three-way mode switches.
www.carlmartin.com
A boutique offering from Greece, the Wahcko
features a red Fasel inductor and a six-position
rotary switch for different frequency sweep ranges,
plus the optional extra (£24) of the seagull effect
heard in Pink Floyd’s
Echoes
!
www.jampedals.com
Wahcko £274
Developed by Bob Bradshaw of CAE and the Cry
Baby team, this variation has dual Fasel (red and
yellow) inductors with two distinct voices and a
built-in MXR MC401 Boost/LineDriver. Both are
switched with side-mounted kickswitches.
www.customaudioelectronics.com
MC404 £171
ALSO TRY...
2Wah £169
DUNLOP
CUSTOM AUDIO ELECTRONICS CARL MARTIN JAM PEDALS
VERDICT
Putting the two most popular types of
inductors in one pedal is a brilliant idea,
making the GCB65 Custom Badass a
versatile wah pedal with instant access
to two distinct flavours.
CARL MARTIN
CARL MARTIN
CARL MARTIN
GIT472.peds_dunlop.indd 104 12/04/2021 16:21