Believe it or not, there actually was a time when there was no wah wah. It’s hard to imagine funk, blues, rock, and soul—and guitar music in general—without the vocal, squawky, yow-y sounds that the wah pedal can produce. But it’s true. There wasn’t always wah. Someone had to invent it. Someone did, and things have never been the same.  And much like all cola beverages came to be associated with one iconic brand name, the world knows wah wah by the name Cry Baby®. To find out how we got to this funky, expressive, Cry Baby place, however, we need to back up.

Keep your instruments pristine with Dunlop’s Platinum 65™ Premium Care System of professional grade instrument care products. We took a cue from the automotive care industry, harnessing Montan wax—its latest innovation—as the Platinum 65 line’s key ingredient. Montan wax is a fossilized plant wax prized for its ease of use and deep glossy shine.

The Platinum 65 System optimizes Montan wax for the maintenance of musical instruments so that you can both clean your guitars or basses and dress them with a protective barrier. Platinum 65 products take less time and less effort than any other wax-based care product—there’s no need to wait for drying, and there’s no need to wear your arm out trying to even out the surface coating.

Platinum 65 care comes in two forms. For quick and easy everyday care, there’s the 1-step Cleaner-Polish. For weekly use, or whenever more thorough care is necessary, we recommend the Deep Clean and Spray Wax two-step process. Both Deep Clean and Spray Wax are silicone-free.

We put together a step-by-step process for applying care products to show how simple and effective the Platinum 65 Premium Care System is at cleaning and protecting your guitar.

The Echoplex® EP-3 tape machine was the secret ingredient in some of the most iconic tonal recipes from the ’60s and ’70s. Top guitar players loved its deliciously warm, organic modulation and sweet musical voice of the preamp so much that they’d use it as a tone-sweetener with the delay effect turned off.

The problem for modern players is that the original EP-3 machines are expensive, temperamental, and larger than a VCR. They require a ton of maintenance, and it’s increasingly difficult to find the correct tape cartridges. So even if you can find and afford a perfectly running EP-3, a single gig can take quite a toll on the machine as well as wear out your precious tape.

Everyone knows MXR as one of the most iconic stompbox effect companies in history, but did you know that MXR also made a ton of rackmount effects that were used by some of rock’s biggest names? If not, have no fear—we’ve got the rundown for you below, along with a few sweet shots of the vintage rack units we have here at the shop.

In the late ’70s, MXR was one of the pioneers at the forefront of the digital wave. By the time it ventured into the realm of rackmount processors, MXR already owned a huge share of the stompbox effect market. The step into digital processing was a logical one—the company had already earned its reputation for delivering great sounding analog effects in cool little packages that fit comfortably at your feet.

Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door. For guitarists, that better mousetrap arrived in the early ’70s when Keith Barr gave the world the MXR Phase 90. It was the first of many brightly colored effects pedals that would find their way onto stages and into recording studios worldwide.

Barr and his partner Terry Sherwood owned an audio repair shop in Rochester, New York, where they were shocked by the poor quality of the guitar effects their customers brought in. Barr and Sherwood decided they could give guitar players a better sounding, cooler looking, and more reliable stompbox. MXR was born, and the company gave guitarists access to amazing sounds—some of which were previously available only in high-end studios—delivering those sounds in rugged, roadworthy enclosures.