Dunlop has unveiled a signature wah pedal for Tool’s Justin Chancellor, and as befitting a player who has staked out a career at the frontiers of alternative and progressive rock, there is more than meets the eye.
The Justin Chancellor JCT95 Cry Baby Wah has a custom wah circuit, much as you might expect, but there is also an onboard vintage fuzz and a midrange filter, making this a powerful, expressive proposition for taking your bass guitar sound off-road.
The wah circuit uses a red Fasel inductor and a modified Cry Baby circuit for a more aggressive and harmonically rich sound. Step on the Wah Select footswitch and you can toggle between the wah and the UK Filter mode, which used a solid-state circuit to deliver a that throaty mids filter sounds you hear on Tool tracks such as The Patient.
Both wah and UK Filter modes have mini-dials to adjust Volume and Q, and you won’t lose any low-end weight when using them, as the JCT95 boosts your clean signal at 400Hz and blends it with the wet signal at the beginning of the effect’s sweep.
Dunlop promises some neat synth tones when you combine the UK Filter mode with the fuzz pedal section. As for the fuzz, well, it’s voiced after a vintage UK fuzz – presumably the Coloursound Tonebender – and has its own footswitch, with mini-dials for Fuzz, Tone and Volume.
There’s a toe-tap switch mounted on the side of the unit so you can use the fuzz on its own, but by default it is only heard when using the rocker pedal. Dunlop says Chancellor uses his wah with fuzz, and runs the UK Filter mode without fuzz, but you can mix and match to suit your playing style.
Lastly, we have to give mention to the custom treadle grip which sees a commando sole pattern applied to the rocker pedal for enhanced grip. Very nice. The blue
The Justin Chancellor JCT95 Cry Baby Wah ships will be shipping late November, and is priced £/$299. See Dunlop for more details.
