Metallica’s Kirk Hammett has a new signature Dunlop Cry Baby wah pedal

Dunlop Kirk Hammett Signature Cry Baby
(Image credit: Jim Dunlop)

One of the world’s leading advocates of the wah pedal, Kirk Hammett, has a new signature Dunlop Cry Baby. The KH95X arrives in a special edition purple sparkle finish inspired by the same colour of the Metallica guitarist’s ESP Ouija KH Series signature guitars. And Hammett is delighted by it.

“I always feel a great energy when I play my purple sparkle Ouija guitar,” said Hammett. “I thought it would make a killer, sonically spiritual connection to have a pedal with that same outwards vibe.”

You won’t however need sonically spiritual connections to access the vocal qualities of the KH95X’s midrange or its powerful top-end. A 9V battery or, better still, DC power supply will get it going. 

Sound-wise, it should sound just like the regular metallic green KH95 wah with the skeletal foot design on the treadle, which is to say that it will sound like Hammett’s rackmounted Cry Baby wah.

The treadle design has also been updated with a gold skull guitar design. Time will tell whether that is more slip resistant than the foot, after all, we know Hammett has been known to have odd mishap onstage when under the spell of his wah.

Those same EQ, volume and tone settings have been used to voice the pedal, so if you want a shortcut to the blazing parrot squawk lead tones that light up tracks such as Enter Sandman and For Whom The Bell Tolls, this one is for you. 

And now you’ve got a choice of finishes. The KH95X Kirk Hammett Collection Cry Baby Wah is available now, priced £/$199. See Jim Dunlop for more details.

Jonathan Horsley

Jonathan Horsley has been writing about guitars and guitar culture since 2005, playing them since 1990, and regularly contributes to MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitar World. He uses Jazz III nylon picks, 10s during the week, 9s at the weekend, and shamefully still struggles with rhythm figure one of Van Halen’s Panama.