Dear Crybaby,

How have you been? It's been awhile since we've hung out. The last time I saw you was at that gig at POW on 28 May 2005. Yeah I know... sorry I only used you for two songs instead of three that night. The stage was so small I had problems balancing, you see.

You know, it's kinda funny how I still can't fathom the nature and depth of our relationship. Our relationship is pretty much public knowledge nowadays. For some strange reason you always seem to attract the most attention from the audience even though I have so many other pedals on my pedal board. To make matters worse, I would like to think that it is my Tech 21 Bass Driver and the Bartolini pickups on my Ibanez SR3000E that shape my bass tone, not you.

But still, I must admit, you are one hell of a famous pedal. I know Chris Chaney uses you. I also know that you have been used by Tim Commerford, Duff McKagan and even Robert Trujillo (if the Jim Dunlop website is to be believed). But of course, the only reason why I decided you would be the one was when I discovered Justin Meldal-Johnson used you (I never knew that!) and I loved his work on Tori Amos' From the Choirgirl Hotel, although, if my recollection serves me correctly, he never used a wah for that record. Oh well.

Appearance/Features

It doesn't help that you come in white. I mean, how cool is that? Those folks at Jim Dunlop really made a good call in making you white, considering how dull and boring most wah pedals look. So yeah, love the way you look Baby.

Also, like all Crybabys, you come in a heavy-duty metal casing. Yes that makes you extremely heavy (I don't think the folks at Dunlop designed you with a view that you would be lugged around by an Asian female) and I am always at the brink of keeling over and breaking my neck whenever I carry my pedal board down the stairs, but then again, considering the abuses I put you through, I think the metal casing helps in ensuring you stay alive. You may not be waterproof, but I am pretty sure you are bulletproof.

I know I can power you up with a 9-volt battery, but I have never tried so I don't know how long you last with a 9-volt. Instead, I power you up with my custom-built power supply (designed and made by Ed the Tech Guy - Hi Ed!) and you work fine. No problems at all. So in that aspect I am happy.

Ease of Use

You and I both know that I never was a wah girl. I mean, I used to watch men rock their wahs and think to myself "My goodness, how do they DO that?" I also didn't realize that a bass player could actually use a wah until I heard 'My Wave' on Soundgarden's Superunknown album. Yes, I had my first epiphany when I heard Ben Shepherd's short bass wah part during the bridge of that song.

How things have changed. Nowadays people ask me how I rock the wah on heels. I could never give them a straight-faced answer. This is a secret only you and I know and the last thing I want to do is to disclose our little secret on some popular music website that is freely accessible to everyone. I mean, the last thing we want is for a couple 19 year-old wannabes rocking bass wahs on their Nine West shoes right?

It really isn't that difficult really, considering the fact that you are built with an automatic by-pass switch. I only need to step on you and the wah is switched on. Because of a built in spring, you will spring back to by-bass mode when you are not depressed. Manual reads "Toe down gives more treble. Heel down gives more bass". I love the fact that you are so sensitive – with practice I am able to control and make slight changes to the bass tone with only slight changes in the pressure that I apply.

There are only two knobs I need to worry about – "Volume" and "Variable Q". Turning the "Volume" knob clockwise will increase the volume level [duh!] within a 20dB range. "The Variable Q" switch enables me to control the peak of the filter. High Q produces a large and selective filter peak (thin and trebly) while low Q produces a more subtle and broad filter peak (more for colorings and slight changes in tone for mood effect). During recording I tweak "Variable Q" all the time. When I want a fuck-you quaking tone that is distorted, I turn up "Variable Q". I hardly use it to the max – I think 75% of Variable Q makes the wah sound extremely annoying and in your face (I never was into 70's porn music with the cheesy wah wah wah licks). When I want a mild, subtle, filtered sound I turn down Variable Q to a minimum – I think at about 25% I can control the tone through a mustang bass pretty nicely and the song sounds really sad.

There is however a slight problem of delay. Yes I know it's not your fault - Dunlop wanted to make sure that if we happened to switch you off all the way back in the middle of a lick, you wouldn’t cut out and switch to by-pass. From the research I've done at harmony central, I discovered that Dunlop's solution was to put a delay on the switch, so that by-pass will only switch back after half a second or so of being in the full-back position. For me, this problem is discernible when I play 'Ligeia' live – there is a part where I have to go straight from a wah-ed lick into a normal single note bassline through a chorus effect. I always notice that the first note of the normal bassline comes out very low and the by-pass effect is extremely discernible.

I have read some reviews on harmony central and have learned (apparently) that some modifications can be done to correct this fault. I however have never tried to open you up to do any modifications and probably never will.

Reliability

The main problem with you is that you do not come with true-by pass. That is probably the only problem that may cause our relationship to deteriorate.

I notice that because of a lack of true by-pass, there is an occasional drop in volume and an increase in treble when I switch back to by-pass mode after using you for an extended period in a song. That really sucks and was the reason why I contemplated getting an RMC wah at one time.

Yes I must confess – you are not my first wah. I had two before you and they both failed me. My first Crybaby 105Q died on me when the potentiometer failed. The tech people in Swee Lee told me it was an inherent fault in the circuitry – whenever the pedal gets heated up the potentiometer fails. End result? No wah. They returned the wah to me and told me the problem was fixed but within a month it died without a sound. It was the saddest day of my life.

Out of desperation I bought another Crybaby 105Q. That too died within a year of usage. It began when the by-pass circuitry began to fail – my bass tone became really scratchy and trebly even when the pedal was supposed to be on by-pass mode. When it reached a point when I couldn’t even step on the pedal because the moment I did, it would NOT go back to by-pass mode, I ripped it out of my pedal board and left it at the corner where I hid my running shoes. It never saw the light of day again.

I was heartbroken. I was really in a dark place. I was willing to try anything – Morley, RMC, Snarling Dogs...

Yes I did have a couple of flings. I borrowed a bunch of RMCs and had a go with them (the RMCs are amazing guitar wahs – trust me I know!). I tried placing an order for a Morley and downloaded sound samples from various websites to see if the Morley and I could work. I even tried bidding for a snarling dog at e-bay.

But still, at the end of the day I decided to go back to a Crybaby. And that was the day I met you.

Quality of Sound

Why did I decide to go back to a Crybaby? The reason is simple - I love the way you sound. I love the fact that the lower frequencies of my bass tone have never been compromised. And, unlike a Morley, the sound of the wah that you give off sounds really natural and warm. I also like the fact that I can hook you up with other effects and you sound great as well. I have tried running an RMC through my bass driver and it just didn't work – the sound comes out really scratchy and the lower frequencies were all cut off. (To be fair to the RMCs, they are designed to be guitar wahs, not bass wahs)

During live gigs, you are the first pedal on my effects chain. Then, depending on the song, I either run the signal through my bass driver or through a chorus. During the recording for the album version of 'Dry' however, I switched the order and placed you after my bass driver. Instead of a normal wah tone I get a slightly muffled, electronic sounding filtered wah sound that just kills me. Yes, I don't think I can ever settle playing with another wah after knowing you (ok, well, the likes of you).

So you see, my feelings for you are true. Having said that, yes we should hang out more often and yes I am sorry I haven't been using you for some of the newer songs that we've written. Let me work on that.


With all my love,

Linda.