Crybaby: Original vs Classic

rgt320q

Looking to pick up a Crybaby in the next few weeks. I see the 'classic' model advertised as having original Fasel coils and true bypass - what do ye reckon, worth the extra ~50 quid?

ciaranmac

True bypass is important with wah pedals because otherwise it will "suck tone" when switched off. That makes your sound less sharp. If you're handy with electronics you can do a basic true bypass modification fairly easily with parts that cost less than a tenner, e.g. a DPDT stomp switch (Maplin and Thomann have these) and a few insulated wires. If you are going to do the modification yourself there are other tricks you can do as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1iuVgGmlpc

As regards the red Fasel inductor they are a slightly more expensive part and there is a bit of the holy grail in the way they are talked about. I read an article http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/wahpedl/wahped.htm that says the original 1960s crybaby gives a fuller sound than the bog standard modern version because the inductor was slightly magnetised (probably due to using cheap parts at the time - they aren't supposed to be permanently magnetic). A new "classic crybaby" may or may not have an already magnetised Fasel, but a new Fasel from Thomann or eBay (10-20 euro + shipping) would not be magnetised. There seem to be mixed opinions on whether it's worth while replacing a stock Dunlop inductor with a Fasel, and whether to choose a red or yellow Fasel. Depends what tone you are looking for really...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwYerwwlqD0

Having said all that, if you're not into electronics, don't know anyone you trust to do surgery on your wah pedal, and don't mind spending the extra then the classic one looks good. Once you factor in the time you spend on the mod, if you don't already enjoy tinkering around you might be better to spend the cash.

Paolo_M

ciaranmac, true by pass can actually directly lead to tone sucking.
It can certainly never prevent it.

The mechanism of tone sucking is caused by long cable runs rolling off high end in conjunction with the input of the amp.
A buffered pedal boosts the current content of the signal making it immune to high end roll off with long cables.

The problem arises with pedals fitted with badly designed buffers. The buffer itself alters the tone, and not in a good way.
The Digitech whammy is a classic example of this. It's buffer sounds awful. I've fitted a true by pass in one and compared the tone. The buffer has artificially boosted high mids, presumably to compensate for tone sucking but they got it very wrong.
Personally I think the pedal sound awful anyway, but let's not get into that!!!

The true bypass mod for the dunlop wah is still worth doing as the buffer is not very transparent sounding, though not as bad as the whammy.

A pedal built with a well designed buffer can actually prevent tone sucking.

As for Fasel inductors; I haven't heard any difference, YMMV.