Jim Dunlop announces Akira Takasaki AT95 Cry Baby Fuzz Wah

August 15, 2023 · 2 sources

Jim Dunlop announced the Akira Takasaki AT95 Cry Baby Fuzz Wah, a signature model for the Loudness guitarist, on August 15, 2023¹. The Dunlop pedal combines a wah circuit with a lower frequency sweep and an onboard fuzz circuit²¹.

The AT95 uses the traditional Cry Baby rocker format, with Takasaki's signature logo on the rubber tread and his signature on the bottom plate¹. A side-mounted button, reachable by foot, switches the high-gain fuzz on and off, and a dial near the toe end adjusts the low-frequency sweep¹. Auto-return switching engages the effect while the foot is on the treadle and disengages when it is lifted, and a pair of LEDs on the heel side show whether the wah, the fuzz or both are active²¹. The pedal runs on 9V from a battery or a pedalboard power supply¹.

Dunlop describes the pedal as "specially designed for Japanese guitar legend Akira Takasaki" and says the sweep and fuzz circuit are intended for "expressive leads infused with fiery harmonics"². MusicRadar reported a US price of $229 and said the pedal was available to order, with Sweetwater taking orders, though it was not yet widely available from the usual retailers¹.

MusicRadar's Jonathan Horsley wrote that, listening to sound clips, the pedal moves from a traditional squawk through "harmonically rich and juicy vocal tones to quasi synth sounds," and noted that Dunlop released the Cry Baby Daredevil fuzz wah earlier in 2023¹.