DUNLOP
JOHN PETRUCCI
CRY BABY WAH
REVIEW BY ERIC TISCHLER
STREET PRICE $199.99
John Petrucci is a prog
metal guitarist who’s
famous for his chops, so I
just assumed he and I have
nothing in common, but I
was wrong: apparently, we
both love to tweak our gear
until it’s totally dialed in
and then we never. Touch
it. Again. How do I know
th is? Because I watched
the promotional video
for Petrucci’s signature
Cry Baby wah pedal from
Dunlop, during which he
explained how he and his
tech meticulously found
the sweet spots in his rack
mount Cry Baby and then
left it undisturbed, gig after
gig, session after session.
So, when Dunlop came to
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Petrucci to help design a
new Cry Baby wah, he was
able to give them a lot of
pointers on how to voice it.
However, this pedal—the
JP95, which is probably
a better name than Cry
Baby Petrucci (although
that name and accusation
appears on the toe and
pedal base)—can speak
to the Petrucci in all of us,
as internal trimpots allow
everyone to be as exacting
as he and I are.
When the JP95 arrived,
the first thing that struck
me is that it’s built for the
apocalypse--specifically, the
zombie apocalypse. By my
estimation, this thing weighs
about 14 pounds and could
Dunlop John Petrucci Cry Baby Wah
easily be used to bash in
the skulls of the living or the
dead. It’s also pretty elegant
looking in chrome and
black. The pedal isn’t true
bypass, but it does have
pretty blue indicator lights
and, more importantly, there
was no discernible tone
suck—well done, Dunlop!
Once activated, the JP95
continued to set itself
apart from a stock Cry
Baby with its surprisingly
vocal EQ curve. The sweep
is relatively modest: no
piercing highs, and the lows
are full but seemingly not as
exaggerated as one might
find on a regular Cry Baby.
For those who are unfamiliar
with Petrucci’s music with