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For years if anyone mentioned a Wah pedal the first name cited as the biggest user of the effect was Jimi Hendrix, even though you struggle to find Hendrix tracks that use Wah, yes Voodoo Child (Slight Return) is probably one of the most famous Wah tracks in history and so it should be but really Jimi used the Rotovibe more than a Wah. So you can probably see where I am going with this, if you think of famous Wah users over the past 20 years one name springs to my mind immediately and that is Kirk Hammett, Kirk loves the Wah so much that people often make jokes about him using it on every solo. Of course this is grossly exaggerated but if there was ever someone deserved of a signature Wah pedal then I think Kirk Hammett has definitely earned that honour.

The Dunlop Cry Baby Kirk Hammett Wah, or KH-95 for short was developed in close collaboration with the Metallica shredmeister and meticulously tuned and tweaked to deliver the wah-wah sound that revolutionized metal solos in the ’80s and beyond. On the back of the Wah is a list of Kirk’s favourite Metallica Wah solos which give a good indication of what you can expect from this pedal. I found that the effect was most prominent in the first and last 20% or so of the pedal’s sweep with a distorted guitar tone but when used with a cleaner tone such as in my funk example at the end of the demo above I found it to be a lot more even than I initially thought. In fact I actually prefered the pedal in a blues or funk setting which I really expect, but listening back to my demos I think it does the Metallica Wah sound perfectly and so it should, Dunlop’s engineers took Kirk’s EQ, volume and tone settings from his DCR1SR Cry Baby Rack Wah. So despite the obvious connotations don’t pidgeon-hole this Cry Baby as a metal only Wah, it is way more versatile than most people will initially give it credit for. Of course some people may be put off by the striking look of this pedal, the awesome green gradient and glow-in-the-dark Skeleton footprint on the rubber top as is of course Kirk’s signature, not me I think it looks great and adds a bit of personality to a usually pretty dull member of the pedalboard.

The only thing I would have liked on this pedal which I have on my Custom Audio Electronics Wah is an LED indicator to show when the effect is engaged, but obviously Kirk has no problem with that because he always has it on! Just kidding, if Kirk can play live for 20 years without an LED then I really can’t complain.

Check out JimDunlop.com for more information on the Kirk Hammett Signature Cry Baby Wah.

All of the examples are recorded with my Ibanez JS1000 into the Dunlop KH-95 and then into my iMac via a Tapco Link.FireWire audio interface. I used various Native Instruments Guitar Rig 4 amp models and created a couple of backing tracks using EZ Drummer in Abelton Live for the bluesy and funky example. I found the Enter Sandman guitar backing track on the web. The last improv track in the demo is a homage to the Beastie Boys.

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