Review: Dunlop Bass Crybaby

Construction: 10/10 - stands up fine in my crowded, chaotic cable bag.
Ease of use: 7.5/10 - simple enough to use, but difficult to switch in & out, sometimes.
Tone: 6.5/10 - not as voloptuous as a bass wah could be, but useful in some situations.

I just love the construction. The Bass Crybaby uses the same chassis as other popular Dunlop Crybaby Wah pedals: nice and rugged and low-tech. There are no exposed knobs or switches, so this pedal is highly abuse-resistant. (No cradling required.) The rubber feet double as lid bolts. They don't fly off like some of the lame stick-on feet I've encountered. You even get a spare parts order form that includes most of the vital components: lids, gears, pots, rubber feet and the likes. In an era saturated with so much disposable music gear, it's nice to see a manufacturer actually encourage field maintenance. It's nice to know that sometime in the very distant future, when my pedal is finally on the verge of breaking down, I can likely overhaul the thing, myself.

As far as sound goes, the Bass Crybaby gives a pretty straightforward wah wah effect. I've noticed it likes a signal source with a fair amount of midrange growl to work the best. A single pickup G&L really sang. Scooped out EQ curves seem to lessen the wah effect by quite a bit, and while it's switched in, it cuts out a lot of the bottom end. I use it mostly on certain intros and breaks; I seldom use it throughout the whole song. Even so, I get a lot of mileage out of it, and there's a handful of crucial numbers that would sound pretty barren without the bass wah. It's the only effect I ever use on the floor.

One thing I really appreciate is the passive bypass. That's right: when you click the wah wah off, it routes the input straight through. No active op amps to add noise and cheapen the sound. No choking off the entire signal chain if the battery goes dead. It's not a huge deal, but it is one less thing to worry about. (Of course, after my one big "dying battery" nightmare, I've gone over to adapters and never looked back...)

I haven't compared it with all the available models out there, but I'm very pleased and impressed with my Bass Crybaby. It's built like a tank & more or less does what you expect it to.

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