RatingsPros:Wide range of wah voices. Smooth sweep. Torque-adjustable treadle stays parked when you want it to. Top-mounted jacks. Bypass LED. Cons: Voice switch could be bigger and easier to see. Street: $129 Dunlop Cry Baby Junior jimdunlop.com
| Tones:  Ease of Use:  Build/Design: Value: |
Wah pedals lagged so far behind in the scramble to become “pedalboard friendly" that I came to relish the stubborn resistance to shrinkage. Dunlop went a long way to undoing big-wah design entrenchment with their Mini Wah. But they've really refined the wah's relationship to the pedalboard with the Cry Baby Junior.
The 8"-long Junior shares a few features with the Mini—most notably the 3-position voice switch. But where the Mini's switch was stashed inside the enclosure, Junior's is on the enclosure's right side. The easier access is welcome because switching between the three distinct voices—the high-focused GCB95, the midrange-y vintage setting, and the low-frequency voice—opens up many tone options. The low-frequency and vintage voices, in particular, reveal many cool parked-wah tones through the pedal's sweep, especially in the toe-down position. And speaking of sweep, Junior's is as conducive to slow, controlled filter sweeps as quick-flickin'quack-funk moves.
While clearly more compact than a full-sized wah, its footprint—which was developed with help from Pedaltrain—isn't the only board-optimizing feature. Top-mounted jacks, a flat, rubber bottom panel, and a bright bypass LED on the heel of the enclosure also help make the Junior a wah that space-conscious players can love.
Test Gear: Fender Telecaster, Fender Vibro Champ
Watch our First Look demo of the Dunlop Cry Baby Junior
“The Player II Series represents our continued evolution in design and functionality,” said Justin Norvell, EVP of Product, FMIC. “We listened to the feedback from musicians around the world and incorporated their insights to refine and innovate our instruments. The re-introduction of rosewood fingerboards is a restoration of the ‘original Fender recipe’ and will no doubt be a fan favorite - but we didn’t want to stop there. We’ve also incorporated our rolled fingerboard edges for a broken-in feel, upgraded hardware, and have some new body options as well- which underscores our commitment to providing players and creators with the tools they need to express their unique sound and style. The Player II Series is not just an upgrade, it's a detailed re-imagining of our core silhouettes, highlighting our dedication to quality and the continuous refinement of our instruments.”
Additionally, Player II offers new options for chambered ash and chambered mahogany bodies for the Player II Stratocaster and Telecaster models, which will be available in October. Designed for musicians ready to elevate their craft, the Player II Series sets a new standard for quality and performance in the mid-price range.
Fender Player II Stratocaster HSS Electric Guitar - Coral Red
Fender Player II Jaguar Electric Guitar - Aquatone Blue
The 2018 CCL Deco Custom, in all its Pelham blue glory.
Anyway, we became friends and I started working on him pretty early—my 40th birthday was approaching, and that meant it was time for us to start designing his first solidbody build. If you stopped on this page, it’s because the photo of the finished product caught your eye. Beautiful, right? The 2018 CCL Deco Custom: Never shall there be another.
Old National Glenwood guitars were my design inspiration, but I wanted a slim waist like a PRS and the like. We used a solid block of korina to start, routed like MacGyver to get the knobs and switches where I wanted them. Dale builds all his own lathes and machines (usually out of lumber, y’all), as the task requires. This beast took some creativity—it’s tight wiring under that custom-steel pickguard. Many were the preliminary sketches. Four coats of Pelham blue, 11 coats of nitro. Honduran mahogany neck, Madagascar ebony fretboard with Dale’s signature not-quite-Super-400 inlays. He designed the logo; I just said, “Make it art deco.”
We sourced all the bits and bobs from StewMac and Allparts and Reverb and the like, mostly to get that chrome look I so adore. Graph Tech Ratio tuners, Duesenberg Radiator trem (had to order that one from Germany), TonePros TP6R-C roller bridge. The pickups were a genius suggestion from the builder, Guitarfetish plug ’n’ play 1/8" solderless swappable, which means I have about 10 pickups in the case to choose from: rockabilly to metal. And both slots are tapped, with the tone knobs serving as single- to double-coil switches. I put the selector on the lower horn to accommodate my tendency to accidentally flip the thing on Les Pauls—definite lifesaver.
Reader and guitar enthusiast, Cody Lindsey.
Dale offered to chamber this monster, but I said what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. It weighs in at 11 pounds, if it’s an ounce. We carved the neck to match a ’60s SG, so it’s like the mini bat you get at the ballpark on little kids’ day. Easy peasy. 1 11/16" nut, 25" scale, jumbo frets, just 2 1/8" at the 12th fret.
Delivery in its lovely, hygrometer-equipped Cedar Creek case actually happened a month or two shy of my 41st, but hey, you can’t rush these things. We ended up with a studio Swiss Army knife; it does a bit of everything and does it effortlessly. A looker, too. Dale didn’t spend his career doing this kind of thing—he was in IT or some such—and I imagine he’s winding this “hobby” of his down these days, enjoying retirement with a bottle of Killian’s and a lawn chair at Duluth Blues Fest. But this guitar will live on as a marker of his skill and otherworldly patience. It sits at the head of the class in my practice room, welcoming any visitors and bringing a smile to my face every day. And Dale, my friend, I’ll be 50 before you know it....
Cody requested that Dale design an art deco logo for the guitar’s headstock.