Leo Nocentelli is perhaps the greatest rhythm guitarist ever, and damn sure one of the funkiest. Guitar Player made it official by counting him among its 50 Greatest Rhythm Guitarists of All Time, the Grammys honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award, and countless hip-hop artists have sampled Leo’s licks to power their hits. Nocentelli laid the funky framework for modern New Orleans music in the ‘60s and ’70s as a founding member of the Meters, crafting stank-o-pated riffs to anchor classics such as “Cissy Strut,” “Fire on the Bayou,” and the wah-wah wonder “Just Kissed My Baby.”

The Cry Baby Wah line features a huge variety of pedals—whatever your playing style, there’s a Cry Baby Wah that can help you shape and express your musical vision.

But which one is right for you? To help you out, we put them all together in one place with all the important attributes so that you can compare, contrast, and decide where your Cry Baby Wah exploration takes you next.

GCB95 CRY BABY^®
Standard Wah

The Cry Baby Standard Wah is a modern take on the original Cry Baby sound, perfect for players who want a straight-up, no frills wah pedal that can cut through the mix and make those notes and chords pop.

• For players who want a straight-up no-frills wah
• Aggressive modern sound

As the shapes and sizes of guitar pedals have moved toward a more standardized form to accommodate players who use numerous pedals on carefully configured pedalboards, the volume and wah pedals occupy an awkward position. Literally. They come from a time before guitar pedals were even a thing—that rocker pedal design was originally for organ players, after all.

Until now, modern players who use volume and wah pedals had to account for a footprint that was increasingly out of step—*ahem*—with the rest of their setup. Thankfully, this dreadful dilemma is a thing of the past. Dunlop’s volume pedals and Cry Baby Wah pedals now come in three different sizes, so you can choose the one that’s right for your own situation. 

If you dig the original form of the rocker pedal with its familiar feel and footlong size, that’s lovely. But we now offer two additional sizes—the junior and the mini. Whether you’re playing the big stages, roughing it on the road from club to club, or woodshedding in front of a computer, we have what you need. 

So which is the one for you?

Effects pedals may be designed with a particular instrument in mind, but we’ve always felt that a quality effect in the hands of a discerning tone crafter will sound great on any instrument, whether guitar, bass, didgeridoo, or even vocals. Bass players had to learn this lesson many years ago when pedals specifically designed for their instrument’s frequency range were a scarcity. Today, bass players have just as wide a range of amazing stompboxes available to them as guitar players do, and many of them sound incredible with guitar. We put a list together of bass pedals that every guitar player should seriously consider adding to their arsenal. 

In 1967, the Jimi Hendrix Experience made its first major American appearance at the legendary Monterey Pop Festival. Jimi Hendrix demonstrated his almost supernatural mastery of the electric guitar, punctuating the performance by setting his guitar on fire, swinging it wildly around and smashing it on the stage floor. Hendrix had issued a manifesto in music form, ushering in the modern age of the electric guitarist.

His creative use of the tools at his disposal set a precedent for tone crafting and sonic texturing that countless numbers of players continue to pursue today. Hendrix was able to vary his tones in seemingly endless ways that fail to sound dated decades later. With equal parts sonic braggadocio and understated elegance, Hendrix used his hands, his instrument, his effects, and most importantly his ears to concoct a brilliant synergy of sound and song rarely, if ever, equaled.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hendrix’s Monterey performance, we’ve created a special edition run of his favorite effects featuring iconic imagery from legendary rock ‘n’ roll photographer Gered Mankowitz. Below we take a look at how Hendrix used those effects to change the face of music forever.