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Also click here to see our gallery of new amps, effects, and accessories from Musikmesse 2013.
The Mick Ronson Cry Baby Wah taps into the vibrant, melodic character of one of rock ānā rollās most gifted songwriters. Few guitar players have been able to combine a keen musical instinct with a profound grasp of how to bring a composition together like Mick Ronson. Laden with expressive resonance, his arrangements layered deliberately chosen tones and textures to build exquisite melodies and powerful riffs. The Cry Baby Wah, set in a fixed position to serve as a filter, was key to the tone-shaping vision that Ronson used to transform the face of popular music through his work with David Bowie and many others as both an artist and a producer.
We wanted to make that incredible Cry Baby Wah sound available to all players, and legendary producer Bob Rockāa friend and collaborator of Ronsonāsāwas there to help. He generously loaned us Ronsonās own Cry Baby Wah pedal, an early Italian-made model whose vintage components imbue it with a truly singular sound. Ronson recorded many tracks with this pedal, and Rock would go on to use it when recording numerous other artists. With matched specs, tightened tolerances, and a custom inductor, our engineers have recreated this truly special sound.
āYou place the wah, and leave it there, and that's the tone,ā Rock says. āIt's all over every record he ever made, and Iāve used it on every record since I got it. Dunlopās engineers spent the time and sent me the prototypes, and we nailed that sound.ā
āMick Ronson Cry Baby Wah highlights:
- Tailor-made for Ronsonās signature fixed-wah tonesā¢ Carefully specād from his own wah pedal
- Custom inductor replicates higher frequency response and subtler peak
- Fast initial sweep with Instant reactivity
- Distinctive EQ curve from period-accurate components
- Special finish inspired by Ronsonās monumental work
The Mick Ronson Cry Baby Wah is available now at $249.99 street from your favorite retailer.
For more information, please visit jimdunlop.com.
The concert will be hosted by WWE Superstar Damian Priest, a well-known āmetalheadā and a long-time Slayer fan. Priest's signature āfinisherā is Slayerās āSouth of Heaven,āand Slayerās Kerry King provided guitar for Priestās āRise For The Nightā Theme.
This exclusive concert brings together a multi-generation, powerhouse line up:
Slayer
Knocked Loose
Suicidal Tendencies
Power Trip
Cavalera (performing Chaos A.D. - exclusive)
Exodus (performing Bonded by Blood)
All confirmed Slayer 2025 concert dates are as follows:
JULY
3 Blackweir Fields, Cardiff, Wales, UK
Line-Up: Slayer, with Special Guests Amon Amarth , Anthrax, Mastodon, Hatebreed and Neckbreakker
5 Villa Park, Birmingham, UK ā¢ Black Sabbath ā¢ Back to the Beginning
6 Finsbury Park, London
Line Up: Slayer, with Special Guests Amon Amarth , Anthrax, Mastodon, Anthrax, and Neckbreakker
11 Quebec Festival d'ƩtƩ de QuƩbec City, Quebec
Direct Support: Mastodon
SEPTEMBER
18 Louder Than Life @ Highland Festival Grounds, Louisville, KY
20 Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey, PA
Over the decades with HĆ¼sker DĆ¼, Sugar, and solo, Bob Mould has earned a reputation for visceral performances.
Mouldās album landed in a world of cloistered listeners, so he never knew how it impacted people. For a musician from punk and hardcore scenes, it was a disquieting experience. So when he got back out on the road in 2023 and 2024, playing solo electric sets, the former HĆ¼sker DĆ¼ and Sugar frontman was determined to reconnect with his listeners. After each show, heād hang out at the merch table and talk. Some people wanted their records or shirts signed, some wanted a picture. Others shared dark stories and secret experiences connected to Mouldās work. It humbled and moved him. āIām grateful for all of it,ā he says.
These are the in-person viscera of a group of people connecting on shared interests, versus, says Mould, āāI gotta clean the house today, so Iām going to put on my clean the house playlist that a computer designed for me.ā āEverything has become so digitized,ā he laments. āI grew up where music was religion, it was life, it was essential. When people come to shows, and thereās an atmosphere, thereās volume, thereās spilled drinks and sweatāthatās what music ritual is supposed to be.ā
His experiences on tour after the pandemic heartened Mould, but they also gave him traction on new ideas and direction for a new record. He returned to the simple, dirty guitar-pop music that spiked his heart rate when he was young: the Ramonesā stupid-simple pop-punk ecstasy, New York Dollsā sharp-edged playfulness, Pete Townshendās epic, chest-rattling guitar theatrics. In other words, the sort of snotty, poppy, wide-open rock we heard and loved on HĆ¼sker DĆ¼ās Flip Your Wig and Candy Apple Grey.
Mouldās time on the road playing solo in 2023 sparked the idea for Here We Go Crazy.
Photo by Ryan Bakerink
Mould started writing new songs in the vein of his original childhood heroes, working them into those electric solo sets in 2023 and 2024. Working with those restraintsāguitar chords and vocal melodiesāput Mould on track to make Here We Go Crazy, his new, 15th solo record.
Lead single and opener āHere We Go Crazyā is a scene-setting piece of fuzzy ā90s alt-rock, bookended by the fierce pounding of āNeanderthal.ā āWhen Your Heart is Brokenā is a standout, with its bubblegum chorus melody and rumbling, tense, Who-style holding pattern before one of the albumās only solos. Ditto āSharp Little Pieces,ā with perhaps the recordās chewiest, darkest guitar sounds.
āItās a very familiar-sounding record,ā he continues. āI think when people hear it, they will go, āOh my god, this is so Bob Mould,ā and a lot of that was [influenced by] spending time with the audience again, putting new stuff into the set alongside the songbook material, going out to the table after the show and getting reactions from people. That sort of steered me towards a very simple, energetic, guitar-driven pop record.ā
Of his new album, Mould says, āI think when people hear it, they will go, āOh my god, this is so Bob Mould.āā
Mould recorded the LP in Chicago with longtime bandmates Jason Narducy and Jon Wurster at the late, great Steve Albiniās Electrical Audio. Then Mould retreated to San Francisco to finish the record, chipping away at vocals and extra guitar pieces. He mostly resisted the pull of ānon-guitar ornamentationā: āItās a rhythm guitar record with a couple leads and a Minimoog,ā he says. āItās sort of cool to not have a 64-crayon set every time.ā
Mould relied on his favorite, now-signature late-ā80s Fender Strat Plus, which sat out on a runway at OāHare in 20-below cold for three hours and needed a few days to get back in fighting shape. In the studio, he ran the Strat into his signature Tym Guitars Sky Patch, a take on the MXR Distortion+, then onto a Radial JD7. The Radial split his signal and sent it to three combo amps: a Fender Hot Rod DeVille, a Fender ā68 Custom Deluxe Reverb reissue, and a Blackstar Artisan 30, each with a mic on it. The result is a brighter record that Mould says leaves more room for the bass and kick drum. āIf you listen to this record against Patch the Sky, for instance, itās night and day,ā he says. āItās snug.ā
Mould explains that the record unfolds over three acts. Tracks one through five comprise the first episode, crackling with uncertainty and conflict. The second, spread over songs six to eight, contrasts feelings of openness with tight, claustrophobic tension. Here, there are dead ends, addictions, and frigid realities. But after āSharp Little Pieces,ā the album turns its corner, barreling toward the home stretch in a fury of optimism and determination. āThese last three [songs] should give us more hope,ā says Mould. āThey should talk about unconditional love.ā
The record closes on the ballad āYour Side,ā which starts gentle and ends in a rush of smashed chords and cymbals, undoubtedly one of the most invigorating segments. āThe world is going down in flames, I wanna be by your side/We can find a quiet place, it doesnāt need to be the Albert Hall,ā Mould starts. Itās a beautiful portrait of love, aging, and the passage of time.
Bob Mould's Gear
Mould paired his trusty Fender Strat Plus with a trio of smaller combo amps to carve out a more mid-focused rhythm-guitar sound in the studio.
Photo by Mike White
Guitars
- Late 1980s Fender American Standard Strat Plus (multiple)
Amps
- Fender Hot Rod DeVille
- Blackstar Artisan Series amps
- Fender '68 Custom Deluxe Reverb
Effects
- Tym Guitars Sky Patch
- TC Electronic Flashback
- Electro-Harmonix Freeze
- Wampler Ego
- Universal Audio 1176
- Radial JD7
Strings, Picks, & Power Supply
- D'Addario NYXLs (.011-.046)
- Dunlop .46 mm and .60 mm picks
- Voodoo Labs power supply
And though the record ends on this palette of tenderness and connection, the cycle is likely to start all over again. Mould understands this; even though he knows heās basking in act three at the moment, acts one and two will come along again, and again. Thankfully, heās figured out how to weather the changes.
āWhen things are good, enjoy them,ā he says. āWhen things are tough, do the work and get out of it, somehow.ā
- YouTube
Many of the tracks on Here We Go Crazy were road-tested by Mould during solo sets. Here, accompanied only by his trusty Fender Strat, he belts āBreathing Room.ā
