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GEAR GUIDE: What is the Wah Wah pedal?

Writer's picture: Matt Matt

Updated: Mar 23, 2024

guitarist using a wah wah pedal on stage

The Wah Wah or Cry Baby Wah Wah was just the pedal that spoke to me as a teenager. When I started to really dig in and discover music for myself, I ventured heavily back in time to the '60s and '70s. Along with that time period came the distinct sound of the Wah Wah and I was hooked. Psychedelic Rock baby!


It wasn't just the sound either, there was something so rock and roll about the movement of the foot on the pedal that was just so... cool.


I decided to spend my day digging into the history and use of the Wah Wah and see what I could find about this tone bending piece of history.


What is the history of Wah Wah pedals?


The first version of the Wah Wah pedal was created by accident (which is surprisingly how a lot of great innovations come about). Bradley J. Plunkett was working at an Organ company that was in turn owned by Vox in 1966.


They were attempting to redesign the Vox Super Beatle Amplifier (yes, those Beatles - Vox was cashing in on their name and association with the band) by changing some parts to make a more affordable model for people. By doing so, it created the classic sound that we hear today. After adding it to a foot pedal that was used in an organ, the rest is history.


Vox were actually not thinking of this pedal to be used by guitarist but to be used by woodwind and brass players, kind of like when a trumpeter uses a mute to produce a similar sound to the Wah Wah pedal. In fact, the original Vox Wah Wah pedal that was released in early 1967 had an image of Clyde McCoy, a trumpeter, on the bottom.


How do you use a Wah Wah pedal?


The operation of the Wah Wah pedal is pretty simple. The main way to use it is to rock back and forth so the pedal goes up and down. When you do this the pedal is making the sound go up and down the frequency creating the sound that you know.


You can also just have the pedal turned on and leave it in one position to change the tone.


What is the Cry Baby Wah Wah Pedal?

The Cry Baby was originally the same pedal as the Vox Wah Wah. Although a bit of a complicated story, I found that at the time the Vox company only distributed their pedal to authorised dealers where the Cry Baby was distributed in America by the Organ Company to anyone - even though they were owned by Vox.


Unfortunately the Cry Baby name was never trademarked which meant anyone could use it. Shortly after stores were flooded with rip off copies that came into the country via Italy.


One of the companies that jump at this naming opportunity was Dunlop which might be the most popular brand of Wah Wah pedals. In 2017 the celebrated the 50th year of the Cry Baby Wah, calling out the Thomas Organ Company.


When and how did the Cry Baby Wah Wah pedal get so popular?


The Cry Baby Wah pedal became very popular not soon after its creation and can contribute to what people commonly call 'the sound of the 60s' and Psychedelica .


Who used the Wah Wah pedal?


If you take a listen to the revolutionary album, 'Disraeli Gears' by Cream, you can hear a great example of the Wah Wah pedal being used by Eric Clapton on 'Tales of Brave Ulysses' . This is said to be one of the first recordings that used the pedal.


Any talk on the Wah Wah pedal would have to call out Jimi Hendrix, one of my personal heroes. I was interested to find a reference that Frank Zappa was the person who introduced Hendrix to the pedal which I think is a great bit of Trivia.


It was also used further on in the time line. Both Slash and Eddie Van Halen have signature models the Dunlop create.


I also managed to find a video short of John Mayer using two pedals at the same time!


Where can I find a Cry Baby Wah Wah pedal?


Wah Wah pedals are pretty common place these days and can be found in most music stores that I go into. If online shopping is more your thing, here are a few great examples that I was able to find.


JIM DUNLOP Cry Baby Standard Wah GCB95 - $99 as at time of publishing


Cry Baby Wah Standard











VOX V845 Classic Wah Wah Guitar Effects Pedal - $89.99 as at time of publishing


Vox Wah Wah Pedal











JIM DUNLOP Cry Baby Mini Wah CBM95 - $108.23 as at time of publishing


Baby Vox Wah Pedal











Dunlop Cry Baby EVH Wah EVH95 - $199.99 as at time of publishing


Vox EVH Wah Pedal












Dunlop Slash Cry Baby Classic Wah SC95 - $179.99 as at time of publishing


Slash Wah Pedal












Donner Guitar Wah Pedal, 2 in 1 Wah Volume Pedal - $59.99 as at time of publishing


Donner Affordable Wah Pedal













In Summary - What is the Cry Baby Wah Wah pedal?


  • The Wah Wah was created in the late '60s

  • It was create by accident but they loved the sound

  • The Cry Baby name was used by many manufactures as it was not trademarked

  • It contributed to the sound of the '60s

  • Famous users were Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Frank Zappa, Slash, Eddie Van Halen & John Mayer.

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