Dunlop Crybaby 535

My original Hendrix Wah died a horrible death. My drummer used it as a chock behind the van to change the tire and forgot about it and we pulled the trailer full of PA equipment right over it. I tried to restore it with parts and a new treadle and it just never sounded as good. My drummer bought me the 535Q as a replacement. I asked why all the knobs and button and two batteries...after plugging it in...WOW....now I know the rest of the story. It is like having several Wah Wahs and a great way to shape tone for any guitar you can throw at it. I usually run a gain pedal in front of my wah's because I like to "Drive the Wah"...It sounds much better to my ears, but the noise can get most people upset with a lesser pedal. This pedal is so universal and holds the noise floor down better than any Wah Ihave used PERIOD. It has alot of adjustment factors and I usually "set it and forget it". It has a manual and shows songs as well as artists who use a Wah and lets you get the settings close to the recorded version. I cover songs as well as originals and I forget about the manual and use my ear and depending on the guitar, I can add highs, lows, mids from the amp, but I like the Wah to add a touch of treble when i step into a lead. I also like to find the sweet spot in front of my Speaker cab which I usually set waist high to feel it in my gut, so I can get that WAH to be on the verge of Feedback but controlled...Some Wahs fart out in the high range and squeal at the top of the throw. This pedal takes you right to that point and does not release to incoherant noise garbage.

I run my Xotic RC boost first, Landgraff DO, Landgraff MO d, Wampler Compressor, 535Q, MXR Flanger, MXR Phase 45, Wampler Delay, and my Rocktron HUSH II into my Landgraff 50 watt head and into my Homemade 17 watt Marshall JCM 800. (Think JCM controls with Mesa Boogie studio 22 output using EL84's cathode biased). This is a little unorthodoxed in the pedal configuration but I use the pedals differently than most and not ALL at the same time. Little spice here and there...Not overladdened effects.

By itself, without driving it, It sounds like any Wah but better because you can add treble to the point it quacks like a stratty Hendrix tune. When i kick in any pedal with it, It still dominates the part where I have it in my pedal board. I have placed it in every position and love it just after gain or boost but before everything else. Sometimes to get a Univibe sound, i kick in the flanger or Phase and then when i sweep with the Wah, it effects the rates of Flange/ Phase without turning a knob. It kind of goes along with what the Wah is telling it.

It has taken spills and stepped on a million times and not even a loose pot or hang up. Battery life is usually better than any other Wah I have used. When it is off, it does not add color to anything else. My old hendrix Wah when off, you could get bleed through especially if the battery voltage drops below 6 volts and it would choke off your highs as this occured.
I did break the battery door on my 535Q....it may be the only "weak ticket" om the whole pedal, bu I decide to write Dunlop to purchase a new door, despite all the "FLAK" I have heard about their customer service. Next Comment sums this up best of ALL..

Mary at Jim Dunlop is a "RockStar". ANYONE saying anything against Jim Dunlop Customer service is Dead Wrong and do not know what they are talking about. She answered my email rapidly and offered a free replacement even though the PDF price list on their websight said it was $1.89. Thank You Mary. The duct tape works as a door but the original battery door is much better. DUNLOP ROCKS!!

This pedal covers Alice N Chains, Hendrix, Clapton, SRV, and any Wah application I personally have heard. I love pounding the front end with a drive pedal and making it scream, moan, cry and drive my amp to the verge of noise "art". I have played for 26+ years and love this Wah better than any Morley, Budda, Vox Wah I have owned or borrowed, or stolen...hahaha

I would buy another one of these in a NY minute. Again, no other Wah has its range or tone and this pedal can work well with Humbuckers, Single Coils, lipstick pickups, or Filtertrons and you can adjust the "Q" factor or center frequency for the sweep of the Wah to fit the application. You can go from trebly to Dark and throaty with the turn of the knob. You can add gain also, but I would rather drive it with something.
Ultra quiet and you forget you have so many settings that you usually tweak it at the show and forget about it...I hardly ever change the knobs and when I do...I think WOW, Why did I not do that sound...it has so much range.
I love the way it is sort of takes anything in your chain and when you inject your drive pedals is takes on a whole new life and helps cut the noise and hiss but allows the guitar to breath and fit in.
I wish it had an aluminum battery door instead of plastic.

very easy to use, all it is is a wah pedal with a range selector, find the range you like, and keep it there.

I really like tool, and Adam Jones uses this wah, which is how i heard it. Most people complain about the bass position taking alot out, but i love it, sounds great for my style! It isnt noisy at all, and it has the best sweep out of any i have tried like morley bad horsie 1 and 2, and the wah volume pedal, the regular, classic, and 535q crybaby wah and a behringer hellbabe, it is way better than all of them. i use it on the 3rd position up and it is perfect. i also keep the boost on all the time and it is great to make it start to whine and feedback, which i like alot.

built very well, really strong.

never dealt with them.

amazing wah, best i have tried and i will be sticking with it.

Very easy. The wah on/off is as easy as any other wah with a switch. The tone dial is easy to manipulate mid-song if you play barefoot. The boost switch is also easy to hit on and off with your foot (shoes or not). The LEDs are nice.

I play this using a few Strats and Les Pauls into a modified Peavey Ranger 212 tube combo (the way it's modded, it sounds a lot like a Fender Twin Reverb). I use various overdrive stompboxes and also the amp's overdrive channel. No other effects.

The tone settings on the wah are all usable, but I really only use the first two (the brighter tones). The deep tones sound great clean, but they don't do well with overdrive. If you're using overdrive, this can be a useful tool to modulate feedback, especially with the boost on. I'll admit that I haven't tried too many wah pedals, and I've been playing this one for a long time. My friend had a Bad Horsie, but I didn't really like the tone of it or the auto-off switch (it took a second to turn the wah off, making you sound funny during the transition). The 535 is a good pedal, and the boost is nice, but I imagine that there are better pedals out there.

I've been playing this for about 10 years. No problems yet, but it's got to go sometime. If it went out during a gig, I'd probably just go without a wah for the rest of the night. The wah isn't really essential to my sound, though I use the pedal almost every time I play.

No experience.

I've been playing for 11 years, and I've only owned two wah pedals - this one and a Dunlop Hendrix wah (which is the same as the third stop on the tone dial of the 535). My Hendrix wah is a limited edition purple one, so I never play it just in case it's a collector's item (and the 535 does the same thing anyway). They stopped making this pedal a long time ago (replaced by the 535q), so you may be able to pick up a cheap used one. It's a good buy; it's a pretty versatile wah. I like mine just fine - I won't be looking for another wah anytime soon.

A Crash Dummy could figure this out. Its about a step harder to use than the Original Crybaby. Which has nothing to it! But the QUESTION here is How Easy to get a good sound? Well I almost took the pedal back. I bought a New Digitech Blues Screamer, picked up a DOD Juice Box in a pawn shop which sounds much better than the Digitech. So I bought the BS back and traded it for a used 535w/ac adaptor. Got it home and started the Demo, pots were scratchy, cleaned them it was ok, couldn't get a good sound though, was all bullshit every selection on the dial, the highest treble[counter-clockwise] had the best sound. And it was not all that! I took it apart one more time. This time I rotated the pot counter-clockwise. Sounded better, Took the back off, left it off and hooked up the pedal, rotated the pot a little more. Did this a couple times till I was happy with the tone! Now when you push down with your toe the thing really makes the note your playing scream. Still sounds best at that one setting. But thats probly because thats the setting I adjusted the pot too! I believe the guy before me traded this in cause the pot Turned on him from use! It was loose enough to turn by hand! Sounded terrible when I bought it! But for 50w/adapter, I new there was a better sound in there.

Now that its cleaned, pots jacks etc etc, Pot was adjusted, it sounds BETTER than any pedal I ever owned! Wah-Wah pedal that is! Its highest value on the dial sounds best [which is the most treble]. But again that is the position I adjusted the pot on? So I'm sure that alot to do with it! But its fine now, As you push the pedal from a wide open position [heel all the way back]. It takes the note from a muted bass position to a wide open treble position. I will keep the pedal, I don't think its the best sounding pedal out there today. But I believe it sounds better than Vox or original and classic Dunlop, all the Morleys and Snarling Dogs! I haven't played the real high end stuff! Except the Budda, and this is as good as that. This Does Not dirty your signal path at all! When you switch this pedal off, your tone is like the pedal is not there! Any other Vox or Dunlop I used did not do this! My signal sounded horrible with there product in the line! For those reasons and the fact that the product can be tweaked so easily make it a KEEPER! And I haven't even gootten into the boost effect! It works and sounds fine! I don't use it though. You set the amount of boost [dial on the bottom of the pedal] then pull out the on-off switch at the heal of the right side of the pedal. I use a OD Pedal for my boost. But this works fine. Its a transparent boost, really just a Volume Dial!

I see no issue here, feels better built than the Original? Other reviews here have talked about the pots? I can't speak on that I've never had a problem there! I never had a problen with a wah-wah pedal. I been using these since the BEGININGS! Vox and Dunlop came out with these late 60's early 70's respectively. Vox was the first and Only for years, EVERYONE used them! I don't ever remember having a issue with a single one!

Never talked to them. But I bet they are much better to deal with than suggested in these reviews! There is not ONE good thing said about Dunlop in these Customer Support reviews! I'm tempted to call them just for the hell of it!

I play Blues and contemporary Rock, and some Funk. Pedal is perfect for these genra's of music. I've had the OD-Pedals gain all the way up and used the Wah with it there also, no-problem. No freak-out or change of tone under extreme OD conditions. And for what I do its perfect! No added noise, only added tone! I like that!

Well, as all the other reviewers mentioned, the switch is hard to engage. I also saw in one of Dave navarro's instructional dvd of this problem when he tried to turn on his wah pedal. Besides that, it is easyto use.

Anyways, it sounds pretty nice on all the settings, with the boost on or doing clean or with distortion.
I used this with by Ibanez beginner's guitar grx40.

For me the switch is a small failing of this unit. Can anyone suggest a mod for that switch to engage it easily without sacrificing accidentally turning it off when you rock the pedal? One more thing the two rubber feets near the switch easily have detached from my unit. I also noticed that the metal lever between the pedal and base is starting to rust. I just wish I can take the pedal apart and protect that metal with paint.

Did not contact them.

Great gear which can add dramatic results to your sound, provided you use it skillfully. I will give it a 8 because of the sound.

easy to use as a wah wah pedal.

the sound is in there. with 5 different tone settings you gotta be able to find a decent sound. plus i dig being able to increase the different ranges. it sounds great to me, but then again ive never heared a picture wah...

i can depend on it and do. but the boost switch on the side broke off a little to easily, but no real prob as i dont use that much anyway. if i need to boost i just turn the boost on and leave it there. as long as i have a fresh battery in it, its reliable enough for a gig w/out a backup.

heres where my prob lies. ive dealt w/ dunlop before when i sent my wah-fuzz pedal to them (an older model made by thomas organ co. with a push-down bar at the top of the pedal to turn on the fuzz) because it had noisy pots and some other minor shit. not only did they keep the fucking pedal for over a month, they sent it back to me even more fucked up than it was to begin w/! the fuzz didn't work half as good as it did when i sent it and the pots still scratched! all this for a over $80.00! i made sure to send INCREDIBLY DETAILED INFORMATION about everything that was wrong w/ the pedal. either the fact that i included so much info pissed them off, or maybe someone needed something to wipe their ass with. but i can assure you that they disregarded whatever i had to say about the matter. maybe the dud that worked on my pedal didnt know jackshit about thomas organ era wahs... i read on another review that they put this guy's 535 on their machine and tested it and said it was all up to spec and good to go. well, if thats the case, maybe they better have someone look at their testing machine cause it sounds fucked to me! and that goes for the way they treat their paying customers as well. so, as for customer support goes, FUCK DUNLOP!

i play soft shit to hard shit from pretty ditties to painful noise, and it works for whatever i play. ive been playing for over 25 years and go thru any number of strat to les paul type guit's into a crybaby to (usually) a 1/2 stack. if i lost this pedal, i might get another brand entirely sans morley- too thin sounding for me) or sty w/ it if thats all i could get. so many have come out now that i'd have to check out all there is. at the time i got this it was the best wah out there for me since noone else had the switchable tone thing happening. i wish it had the chrome finish, cause that wasnt available at the time, but neither was the 535 Q's options. unfortunately i was buying this right before the wah market exploded w/ all this great shit. it definitely helps make music since it sounds good. but buyer beware as to that pathetic, awful and shitty service that hardly exists at dunlop mfg.

Eeasy to use. If you have a problem turning it on and off with the toe switch, try the Zakk Wylde trick. Cut the 2 rubber feet off that are next to the switch. you can also cut the 2 feet off of the back side and get a little more travel.

This is the best sounding wah I've ever used. It has a huge sweep with my tone. It seems to me that different wahs sound better with different tones. But, its also a matter of personal taste. I've owned an original crybaby and a crybaby 535q. This pedal blows them all away. I have also used the bad horsie but, I really didn't like the sound. And the reason I've never looked at a Vox is because they don't have an AC jack. Besides these I've never tried anything else.

Every dunlop Iv'e owned ends up haveing problems with the pots so I'm sure I'll have to replace this one too. Thats the only problem I've ever had with them.

I traded a Digitech rp14d for this pedal and an mxr flanger with the led. I must say that I got the better end of that deal.

I use an Older Ibanez artist W/ dimarzios, Whammy 4, Boss tu2 tuner, crybaby 535, Boss ns2 noise suppressor. Then to a rack which includes a Marshall jmp-1, Digital Music Corp. GCX switcher, tc electronics G-Major, dod flanger(soon to be replaced), a BBE sonic maximizer264, and a Mesa 20/20 power amp.

I'm completely and totally satisfied with this pedal. I don't mind having to switch it on and off before using it. I like that better than the bad horsie setup.

I play mostly metal nu and old, classic rock and occasionally blues when the mood strikes me.

BOTTOM LINE:
Since I got this pedal I've never even looked at another wah pedal. I'd recomend it to anyone.

Well...I love this pedal, don't get me wrong...but those little knobs on the bottom are just a little TOO little for my fingers. Maybe Dunlop would be so kind as to put rubber tips on them or something so I can turn em easier. Other than that, it's cool

I use this wha with a Rolls RP93 MIDI fx loop thingamagig. It has four fx loops you can switch in/out via MIDI, and I leave the wha in it on all the time (so I don't have to deal with that cruddy button that's hard to push down...I thought I was the only one who hated it until I read your other reviews). I use it with a Peavey Bandit 112 amp, and it makes the little lady sing...like "Ten" era Pearl Jam and "Enter Sandman" and Hendrix...it goes into the front of the amp and it's kewl. the only thing is, if you have the boost way up and then cut to clean tone...well...I hope you're wearing earplugs. Basically, if you set it up as a distorted wha (boost/Q all up)...don't try to go from "Voodoo Chile" to "Stayin' Alive" in the midst of a concert before reconfiguring it as a "clean wha" (i.e. dropping the boost, changing the setting to something more mellow) which would take about 5 mins and cannot be done onstage. I have ended up comprimising somewhere around Terry Kath's "25 or 6 to 4" tone.

No problems after about 4 months...I had a normal crybaby before this for about 4 years with no problems.

Never needed help.

My band plays all styles of music (with the exception of Celtic, Bluegrass, Nu-metal <to us, "new" music is what came out in 1994>, Zydeco) with punk/power metal at the core of it. My main guitar heroes are "Pre-Load" James Hetfield, Randy Rhoads, Hendrix, Page, Brian May, Tommy Shaw, James Young, Terry Kath, Fletcher Dragge (from Pennywise), Joe Walsh, Joe Perry, Angus Young, Tony Iommi, Walter Becker, Larry Carlton, Dave Murray, and Adrian Young. Those are the super favorites (i.e. I like about 95% or more of what they played), but I like any guitarist who can play the strings well. I have been playing nine years, and I use this with an ernie ball volume pedal (to control the gain on my amp) and I have a MIDI selector pedal on my pedalboard, though that doesn't effect the tone (at least I hope not). I have a carvin SC90 guitar with tune-o-matic bridge. I wish this pedal had an external on-off switch or a jack so that you can switch it on/off with an external switching unit like I have. That would rock. This is a great wha and a joy to use, though I wish it was cheaper...that was a little bit too much to pay for a normal crybaby with some more knobs and some other circuitry.

hmm, lets think...I think the instructions are so straight forward, they're all printed on the bottom of the pedal.

I sold my old orginal crybaby, when I walked into this one for free (kinda). My friend got a Digitech effects array, and sold me all of his pedals for $70. They consisted of an Ibanez super chorus, which I promptly sold, a DOD grunge which I liked, and this 535. I sold my old wah, and the chorus to cover teh cost of the 3 pedals. Great deal. I love how this one sounds versus the older one. The other one used to piss me off, cause all i could get was that high end scream. i wanted somehting to moan in the lower spectrum, and this pedal was it. There is a drop-off on the lower settings, but thats exactly what I was looking for. No piece of wood for me.

Dependability?
This thing sits in a 16 year old teenagers room 24-7, unless I'm gigging with it, which is even worse. and I have never had a problem with this one, or my other one. It doesn't eat the batteries half as much as the original either. I've had it for 5 months, and haven't had to change the battery yet. Just leave the sucker unhooked in between playing. It's tough, and hurts when you kick it in the middle of the night. but it can stand a 6 foot drop!

Never had to deal wiht dunlop.

I play all kinds of stuff. Metallica, Creed, Hendrix. This pedal will scream, and cry and moan, and proly do a back flip if ya treat it right. I'm playing through a pretty crappy set-up (lotus strat mock, Kustom KLA-10 practice amp). But I use a few effects to get the sound I want. This, a DOD grunge, an Ibanez chorus, and a nifty little ZOOM 9002. I can go giggin wiht those 4 things, plug into any amp, and get whatever I want out of it. I really like using the 1963 Fender Vibrolux tube amp downstairs. Sounds like sonic gold. mmmmm. Need a wah? I would recommend this. The ONLY problem I ahve is that friggin switch. I'm going to rip it out one day, and put a pressure activated switch on top of the pedal, so i'll I'll have to do is put my foot ont he pedal to activate it. Then, it'll be tops.

I just plugged this thing in and WHAM!!! -- great sound. The wah range selector knob and the boost control feature give you options, and so far, I'm in love with this thing.

My main practice set-up is a Jackson DK3 through a Marshall Jackhammer distortion pedal, through this Crybaby, to a Marshall G10 MK II amp. The Jackhammer sizzles and the Crybaby wails from the heat. THIS is the sound I'm looking for. I will try other wahs (I'm always looking for great ways to make my ears ring) but I can't imagine I'll find anything much better than this. Outstanding. Now, on the high boost settings, it gets noisy, but what else can you expect?

The other reviews here make me wonder about this pedal's lifespan. And I have to say, it doesn't look as well-built as a Morley. Still, it's a solid item. For me, it's too early to say.

I've not dealt with Dunlop.

I play heavy rock primarily, with a smattering of everything from progressive rock to death metal when I'm in the mood. Hell, sometimes I play reggae or country just for shits and giggles. For my soloing style, this pedal offers me what I want. It brings the notes out and makes me sound like a frikkin' banshee in a dragster (whatever the hell that means). If you're looking for a wah that suits a heavy style, try it out.

Wahs are straightforward to use, but this one has a major droppoff in tone on the low-end, so it's very touchy. i like the LED -- lets you know w/o having to test it out loud -- and it has a gain boost on the side, which is pretty cool (you can adjust how much by turning the dial underneath).

With a Mex strat -> 535CB -> mxr 100 -> akai headrush -> vox cambridge 15, it's pretty cool overall. Not too much noise, but the damn thing drops out so much tone that it sounds like it's got a splinter in the middle of the range. like a waaAAaaaah. i wish i could take a big piece of sandpaper to that mid section.

i returned the pedal to Dunlop, and they were cool about checking it out, but they said it tests out prefect per their spec sheet. "just the nature of the beast," they said.

i've tried all six settings, and it still gives what i'd call a very unsatisfactory performance. maybe using the piece of wood like one guy suggested would do it, but it's got a short enough sweep as it is. sheesh.

i've heard of problems with wahs (pots, batteries, etc), but this one's in good shape -- except for that little issue of "low frequency dropoff." of course, it eats 9v's pretty well, so i'd bring a spare (not as bad as the 535Q with 2 9vs -- my friend's went out in a gig, and he'd forgotten there were 2, so he couldn't figure out how to get it going again mid-set. ooooops.)

still, since i can't get the right sound from it, i might just sell it and look for something that's smoother. maybe a buddah wah?

after about 3 months of e-mails trying to figure out the problem, I finally sent the wah back to Dunlop, and the tech support guy was very cool, and helpful. but in the end, i'm stuck with a $170 pedal that i don't like at all anymore.

i asked if i could trade it for a 535Q (even w/o the LED, it still "fixes" some of the main complaints I have with the 535-CB), but he said "their company doesn't do trades." he suggested I try checking H-Central to see if someone else would like to trade. so instead, I'm writing this review.

(Of course, if anyone wants to trade a perfect-condition "factory-tested" 535CB [the chrome model] for a voodoo labs analog chorus, i'm totally open to it.)

i play reggae, blues, psychedelic jams, and a little thrash. i like the gain boost on the 535 for a little extra fuzz, and i even like the basic tone it makes. it's got almost everything i could ask for. i just wish Dunlop would add all the best parts together to make one good product instead of 3 or 4 average ones. maybe i'll look into a buddah wah instead.

easy...it's a fuckin wah, man

i use with a lot of shit......mostly for treblely distorted intros to heavy song......and over cousre solos and funky clean shit........love that funky clean shit, bro.......

the first effects pedal i ever bought....i've been playing about 4 years......bought it USED still works perfect......NEVER had a problem....

n/a

i play the hip-hop/metal crossover thing with a band called dysrhythm.......i use it often....love it to death....very practical effect for beginners...you can always find some use for it, you know?......if this one had to be replaced i would get a fucking white crybaby (yes they make them white for guitar too, not just the bass crybaby).....i never use the stupid wah selections anyways on this one...i just keep it at the normal mode......don't use the volume boost either......i give it a nine cuz of those two things.....

A switch, a button and a rocker pedal. Umm... play the kazoo if that confuses you.

My Gear: Fender American Standard Strat through a BOSS HR-2 Harmonist, BOSS BD-2 Blues Driver, Univibe, and the old 535 into a Fender Deluxe 112 Plus. The lower settings are a bit useless, but the middle ones simply rule. There is too much sound drop-off when it is all the way back, but one of these reviewers that the idea to put a peice of wood there, and that solved it. Sounds awesome after my BD-2, but my setup needs the boost on and up to cut through the band.

The switch has been known to fall off, but a simple screw tightening fixes that. The pots got dirty quickly, and I eventually had to replace them, but have had no problems since.

Never needed it.

The best wah pedal out there. I usually "set and forget" the tone setting in the middle position, but the versatility is nice to have. That's what's important kids, tone and versatility.

It is very basic in its use. The only complaint I have is that you have to press down hard to turn it on and off. Other than that, no complaints.

I use a Fender American Standard into a Fender Princeton. It makes the exact sound that I bought it for. The only problem is that it is a bit noisy when trying to play a little quiter with it. No problem, I just play loud! Problem solved.

My only problem here is that the batteries run down often and they are a pain to change because I have to unscrew the bottom and open it up to change the battery. You can get an AC adapter for it though.

I've never dealt with the company.

I play mostly blues and rock, and it works beautifully for both of these. It could fit into just about any style of music I can think of, though. It works great for spicing up a guitar solo or for a funky rythm. I highly recommend this pedal.

'Piece of piss' if you cant use this, you probably cant play guitar, or feed yourself etc.

This thing sounds great alright!

Okay, here I go, I had it one month & the thing stopped switching off, I bought it in the USA, so dealers here (europe) wont touch it unless I pay major bucks, I had it looked at & the switch isnt broken -so now i've got to fork out an amount approximate to the price of the pedal itself to fix a very simple probem...Remember Neil Young said it best -''I brought it home It was a Piece OF CRAP''

Thanks guys: 200 dollars for a pedal & another 20: postage back & forth & 5 for a schematic! what a buch of pricks! They might like helping me but like Peavey if you live on a small Island there is no need to respond -just ignore me its the best way to deal with customers...

I know this is a fantastic piece of gear, eventhough the footpedal travel is too short...but it looks robust, well it isnt thats the bottom line! If you cant use it live it aint worth a dam! REALLY...but what can one do...I guess its bad bloody luck!