Daredevil Cry Baby Fuzz Wah

The Daredevil Cry Baby Fuzz Wah is a wah pedal with a fuzz circuit built into the same housing. Dunlop describes it as combining "the bright, aggressive vocality of a modded Cry Baby Wah with a custom fuzz circuit that's downright gnarly"¹. It came out of a collaboration between Dunlop's Cry Baby team and Daredevil Pedals, the Chicago pedal company run by builder Johnny Wator, and it is built by Dunlop rather than at Daredevil's shop².

For a player, the pitch is simple: instead of running a fuzz into a separate wah, one treadle gives you both, with a switch to move between wah alone and fuzz wah. Dunlop's marketing adds that engaging the fuzz "boost[s] both the output and gain for instant lead tone"¹.

What it is and how it works

The pedal houses two circuits: a modded Cry Baby wah and a custom vintage fuzz. Rocking the treadle sweeps the wah's filter, and the external WAH/FUZZ WAH switch decides whether the fuzz is in the path³.

Dunlop's manual describes the playing experience plainly: "Rock your foot back and forth on the pedal to hear the vocal, expressive tones that the Cry Baby Wah is famous for"³. Each unit is hand built with through-hole components and true bypass switching¹.

Gain, noise and the 2.1 kHz peak

Dunlop's manual publishes measured specifications for both modes, and they show how much the fuzz adds. In wah-only mode the maximum gain is +23.5 dB toe down and +17.2 dB heel down; with the fuzz engaged it jumps to +63 dB toe down and +55 dB heel down³.

Two things stand out for a player. First, the fuzz adds a lot of gain over the wah alone: toe down, the Daredevil measures +23.5 dB in wah-only mode and +63 dB in fuzz-wah mode, which matches Dunlop's "instant lead tone" claim. Second, the noise floor rises with it, from -86 dBu to -70 dBu at toe down in fuzz-wah mode, so the fuzz setting is measurably noisier as well as louder³¹.

For comparison, the filter sweep itself is unchanged between modes: the resonant peak runs from 375 Hz at heel down to 2.1 kHz at toe down either way³. That 2.1 kHz top end sits higher than some other Cry Babies; the Kirk Hammett signature KH95, for instance, peaks at +21 dB between 1.4 kHz and 1.8 kHz toe down⁶³.

What reviewers said

Premier Guitar reviewed the pedal in September 2023 and found the wah alone has a distinctive character: "On its own, the wah exhibits pronounced midrange-y leanings, which can drive the fuzz to manic heights"⁷. The same review noted the fuzz side gets loud: "at maximum output the DareDevil is blistering hot and very, very loud," which the reviewer found useful for toying with feedback⁷.

Premier Guitar also published a first-look video with John Bohlinger when the pedal was announced. His verdict on the wah half: "even if it didn't have the fuzz this is a great Standalone wall by itself"⁵.

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History: from Daredevil one-offs to a Dunlop pedal

The circuit's origin lies in Johnny Wator's love of classic vintage circuits¹. Daredevil's own page tells the story: Wator built these as one-offs on the side for friends and fellow musicians for years before the design was given a wider release². Premier Guitar's announcement adds that he fine-tuned the circuit over several years before bringing it to Dunlop for consideration as a new addition to the lineup⁸.

Wator's connection to the Cry Baby goes back further than this pedal. As he put it when the collaboration was announced: "The whole beginning of my path as a pedal builder started with me and a Cry Baby pedal"⁹.

The pedal's origin lies in Daredevil proprietor and builder Johnny Wator's love for classic vintage circuits¹. Before its release, the design was built for years as one-offs on the side for friends and fellow musicians².

Daredevil's version of the listing carries custom artwork by Casey Sass on the enclosure². Daredevil also occasionally has units on hand for purchase on its own site, signed and dated by Wator, though as of late October 2026 that listing shows sold out².

How it compares in the Cry Baby range

The Daredevil is not the only fuzz wah in Dunlop's lineup. The Cry Baby Akira Takasaki Fuzz Wah, built for Loudness guitarist Akira Takasaki, pairs a wah with a fuzz too, with maximum gain of +22 dB in wah mode and +60 dB in fuzz-wah mode¹⁰. The Daredevil's +63 dB fuzz-wah gain is the hotter of the two, and its bypass differs as well: the Daredevil is true hardwire, while the Akira Takasaki model uses buffered bypass³¹⁰.

Videos

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