Dunlop GCB-95

Hooking this pedal up is simple - and there are no controls - just the pedal. Only problem is with the built in on/off switch that's activated by pushing the pedal all the way up - it's very stubborn and you got to stomp it like if you're trying to kill it.

I hate to complain about this pedal's sound quality because overall I like it, but I can assure you that the sound quality is highly dependent on the impedance of your instrument (in fact I have a guitar that it won't even work with), the length of your cords, the number of other pedals you have connected, and what order you have the pedals hooked up. It's real easy to lose the sound quality.

As far as physical reliability, it's practically bullet proof. The body is very well designed to stand up to the worst abuse. But as far as how reliable it works - well, like I mentioned above, you never know what's going to happen to the sound when you hook it up to different equipment (in some cases it has little or no wah effect, or it feedsback).

I've never contacted Dunlop, so I can't tell you about their customer support.

Overall it's a pretty reliable pedal with a nice effect. But if I had to replace it, I'd try another model first. But I'm not sure that there is any other wah pedal that's better. I'm considering maybe designing and manufacturing my own pedal, based on this one, but with improvements.

Easy, if know how to deal with wha wha's... but I hate how the wha-wha pedals (doesn't matter the manufacturer)are switched to on/off. Requires practice to fit the effect in time... The pedal 95Q, don't have a switch, but you can't explore the "bass area", 'cause the pedal turns off; at highest position, the pedal turns on... Maybe Dunlop could make a new model, with the switch placed in a "mini base" attached on one side of the pedal(PLEASE!).

My setup:

Fender YJM Signature>Samson VHF>Rocktron Banshee>Dunlop Wha>CS3>CE-2>amp

Excellent sound! When used with soft dist/OD, you get classic Jimi's wha. With more powerful ODs, you can catch the Metal sound of 80's and 90's, and for my setup I've got the exact tone of Yngwie's wha sound. Clean settings are quite good for funk/reggae stuff.
Noisy when used with cs3, sure... I'm using a Marshall VS-100 combo and his Od1 and 2.

Great classic and metal sound, but attention... IT'S NOT BUILT LIKE A TANK, like many people says!!! Believe me!!!

Problems like the "hot pot" broken or felt into the box(with 3 years of NORMAL use), in/out jacks problems adding a lot of noise, fragile plastic battery place broken, are common in Dunlop models. I don't know about other manufacturers. But I bet that's not SOOO different...

Never dealt with them...

Perfect fits in the styles of music I play (Hard Rock, Metal, Neoclassical,Funk and even Jazz). I love the classic and agressive tone. It makes my Strat scream! I hate the switch system (like every wha)

Not a hard unit to use, just a pain in the ass to find the right tone.

I have head so many people say that this WAH is awesome. Tone wise it sucks for Voodoo Chile, I dont care what you people say. I know tone, and this DEFINATLY isn't it. It is alright for some of Slash's stuff, and if you really push it on the exacting technique (that is necessary for this wah) you can replicate about 20.00% of the sounds on jimi's voodoo chile. truth is it is EXTREMELY nasaly on the mid to top, and the low sweep ranges are too muddy. This happens with my SG,. and my american Strat. Tube amps, to solid state...and oh, if it's in a chain....forget it. make sure to upgrade to a "True bypass" if you can. Look for area 51's or roger mayers replacement boards. they are what i use now, and its ALL 10's Completely across the board. no pun intended....

I have never had it break, and it has a great battery life.

Its really hard to say....when i first started, i was amped about it...now, once i have tried,and tried to recreate that bluesy tone that hendrix, and SRV, and KWS has/had i realize that it was IMPOSSIBLE with this unit. A great learning tool to say the best.

I must say I had to figure out how a wah worked, because I never owned one. Just put it all way up till you hear a click and its actived. Pretty stupid system really, but not very hard to figure out in the end.

It sounds great! I use a marshall valvestate 8080 amp and boss/pearl effects. Distorted it sounds awesome. I only use it distorted, not clean. For example: the song "disarm" by Smashing Pumpkins sounds great when you kick in some wah at a certain point. It gives the sound alot more meaning, somehow

This thing is build like a tank, and I dont think it would break or anything. I would gig with it without a backup...

Never dealt with them.

I could get this wah second hand pretty cheap, it was hardly used and came with original box, cable and manual. I would definately get this one again if it was stolen, but only if I could get a good second hand deal again.

Very simple, just switch it on and start moving forth to get higher tone and back to get low ends. The only thing is that when you switch it on you get the highest tone.

It takes a while to master and improve your controlling on this pedal. The only thing I complain about is that you get a very noisy high tone when moving all the way forth, and when you go all the way back, you get a very low tone without volumne, I guess it shouldn't affect the volume at all when moving back.
I use a Fender Highway 1, with: Boss Mega Distortion II> BossDD-3> crybaby > Laney HCM120R. I guess I can master on this pedal soon, and get used to this pedal and control those high and low ends that I don't loke.

Great, very reliable, strong pedal, bring it to a gig without backup...not very easy to get broke.

Never needed

I play Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Dream Theather and other rock, heavy metal band, including music from my band which is a ROCK band with 2 basses and 1 guitar.

No knobs, no nothing, just move your foot. Noobs could have trouble with the button however.

It's really noisy, but that cause it's boosting treble and mids. Here's where the beef is... it sounds very thin... It doesn't sound like some where they take just your whole sound and wah it. With distortion you can only notice different harmonics and even without, there is almost no sweep or anything to it. It works for what I do but whatever...

It's always worked fine.

It works out pretty good for most of the riffs I play and I actually have it on most all the time. I just wish it had more of a sweep or a more in your face, low end tone. If it got stolen i'd be mad, but would probably try out another pedal, maybe the hendrix or a vox.

very easy! plugged and go or ask your baby to teach you how it works.

An old version of GCB-95, I use this after Voodoo lab chorus, play funk, and some kind like reggae stuff, vintage tone! a high trebly wah! Delay and reverb effect added, I can get a closer sounds like Eddie Hazel - Maggot Brain.

for some reason of weak/thin sounds users, I think prob. the battery runs low or setting problems.
rip
Strat/Jaguar -> Wizard Custom A/B + 2 LOOP -> (Boss DF-2 -> Big Muff Pi || GCB-95 -> Boss Ds-1)
Out A -> Voodoo Lab Chorus -> Amp
Out B -> Amp

tank like! one is ok, no more backup.

never dealt with 'em

I play Noise Rock, Post-HC, Grunge, Metal Funk, Reggae. check your rip if sounds noisy, don't keep bla bla bla and do nothing.

its a wah, what do u want, if u cant use it, u need some help......the button can be tought at first tho

its a classic wah, dirty, noisy, and in ur face. if u dont want that dont buy it. im thinking of modding it for true bypass and switchiing a few pots,caps, maybe the inductor to get some more tone out of it and maybe a slightly more vintage sound, and also so it doesnt mess with volume as much when on....

overall a neccessary pedal for any blues, classic rock, 80's, or just about any player.

gig without a back up only cause i check it every other month

n/a

i play blues and classic rock, been playing 2 years, i run my electric setup godin sdxt (sd pickups) into gcb-95 to mxr dyba comp to bd-2 blues driver to amp....
if it was stolen id get another wah, maybe a vox, maybe a dunlop w/ fassel, maybe this wah, itd all depend.

Like other reviews have stated, it depends on how talented you are. Anyone can use a wah pedal, but to get the most out of this effect you need to spend some time with it. Turning it off and on my be the most difficult thing to do.

I use this after a NexFx Fuzzstortion and i can get that Bulls on Parade type wow-wow-wooka-wow-wow...type sound out of it. The only thing i notice is that when i turn it on it kills the bottom end. like...noticeably kills the bottom end. Playing it clean sounds really good for sleezy porno funk, which for me is AWESOME!!! On leads i would rather have it before the fuzz where it is more subtle. I'm thinking of grabbing a second one for this purpose. Before i began upgrading all my pedals i had it plugged before a GFX-707 and it sounded really amazing. It wah'd more than the current wow sound i get.

My crybaby is one of the ones made from 1989-1992. I can tell from the power jack. I got it off ebay 6 months for about 25 bucks (CDN) because the guy thought it was broken. Not the case it just needed a new battery. But it was old enough to have gone through some wear and 2 weeks ago i replaced the Pot. Judging by the componet i took out of the unit and by the soldering it was the original. Now...i know this pedal has been through alot because the botton plate is scratched, dented and the rubber feet are partially worn off. I am the type to take care of my equipment, so i hope i can get 15 years out of my 35 dollar pot. hell...15 years out of a 50 dollar crybay? Sign me up! BTW, i have had no problems with this pedal at all.

second hand...and i can fix it myself.

I love this pedal!!!

I have a cheap guitar (some mongrel 2nd hand Yamaha) run into NexFx Fuzzstortion ---> Crybaby ---> Yamaha Master Selector A ---> Line 6 Spider 210 (always on Twang) B ---> GFX707 (then back into the Master Selector).

I do (or at least i think so) alot of different things with this pedal. Wah's are very versatile effects. They are just a filter but you can be rythmic, or expressive. I like adding a heavy delay to a clean tone and palm muting a picked riff while sweeping the pedal slowly from back to forward to create a swirly almost keyboard sounding effect. I am a fan of electronica artists and some of their tricks are done with a filter just like a wah!

I've been using wah pedals since 1998 and i still love them! The reason i went with the Crybaby is because 2 of my favorite guitarists (the Edge and Tom Morello) have them, and i wanted to emulate some of their sounds. I just like making crazy sounds and a filter makes that possible. But i use it for more tradition purposes too. I can step on this during any solo and it never fails.

This is a classic effect that got a bad name in the 70's but whether you want be psychodelic or heavy metal this will get the job done. I think blues players would find a use for it too.

Easy, but the handling of the switch is not very responsible!

Hmmm, I don't play Jimi Hendrix, so it's too trebly for my taste. I use it before a TS9 and a Vox AC30.

After changeing a few resistors and a capacitor, I would not give it away anymore! ---> Rating after modification: 10

B.T.W Don't think that the inductor is bad but i will switch this one as well if I can get an original one

I would not use it without a backup but even tough it looks rock steady.
The switch and the potentiometer are probably the weakest thing...

Did not need their help but only because I am an electronician myself and know how to solder...They should change these parts I mentioned as well!

I would not buy this again and it cost me a lot of time to find the solution of the trebly problem.

I play Heather Nova, Aimee Mann and TEXAS stuff...