Dunlop Cry Baby Bass Wah 105Q

The Dunlop Cry Baby Bass Wah 105Q is a wah pedal voiced for bass, made by Dunlop and released in 1999¹. Where a guitar wah sweeps its filter across the range where a guitar lives, the 105Q applies the wah effect to the mids and highs while leaving the lows thick and full, so your fundamental holds down the bottom while the effect does its work above it². Dunlop describes it as combining auto-return switching with circuitry specifically optimized to keep the low end full³.

Dunlop calls the 105Q the most popular bass wah for years, and it is still in the current lineup at a list price of $159.99⁴. It is an analog pedal⁵, built in the familiar Cry Baby treadle format: a rocker controlling a rack and pinion gear attached to an internal tone pot, with toe down giving more treble and heel down more bass⁶.

What it does: a wah voiced for bass

A wah pedal is a bandpass filter whose center frequency you control with your foot. On the 105Q, Dunlop tuned that filter for bass by applying the effect to the highs and mids only, leaving the lows untouched². RockBoard's independent listing puts it the same way: the wah effect hits the mids and highs while a strong fundamental holds down the bottom⁵.

The circuit differs from a standard Cry Baby in another way: Dunlop's buying guide notes the 105Q uses an envelope filter circuit in place of the inductor found in a conventional wah². The enclosure is the classic Cry Baby shape, with the 105Q Bass edition finished in what Guitar World's reviewer called a funky white color⁶.

The filter sweep: 180 Hz to 1800 Hz

The manual gives the filter's center frequency as 180 Hz with the rocker heel down and 1800 Hz toe down, with gain at the center frequency of +25 dB heel down and +32 dB toe down⁷. For comparison, the guitar-voiced 95Q Cry Baby sweeps 390 Hz to 2 kHz⁸, so the 105Q's whole range sits lower, which is what keeps it useful on low B strings and bass fundamentals.

Auto-return switching and the controls

The 105Q does not use a click-on, click-off footswitch like a standard wah. Instead, silent "auto-off" switching puts the pedal into bypass mode when you take your foot off the rocker⁷. Dunlop's history of the line describes it as engaging automatically when you step on the rocker, so you step in and out of the effect without a separate switch¹. The manual classifies the bypass as buffered⁷.

The controls, per the manual and Dunlop's buying guide:

Guitar World's review describes the same adjustments from the outside: two trim pots on the left-hand side, one for volume and one for the peak Q point of the filter. Lower Q settings gave very usable but much more subtle wah effects, while the reviewer found many bass players will prefer the Q point pot at maximum, where it delivers a simulated auto-wah character controllable by the treadle⁶.

Power

The 105Q runs on 9 volts DC⁷. RockBoard lists the adapter requirement as 9V DC center negative with a 4 mA current draw⁵, while Dunlop's manual specifies 3.5 mA⁷; either figure is far below what a typical power brick output supplies. Power options are one 9-volt battery accessed via the bottom of the pedal, a Dunlop ECB003 or ECB003E adapter, or a DC Brick power supply⁷. Input impedance is 1 MΩ and output impedance 1 kΩ⁷.

Where it came from and who uses it

Dunlop released the 105Q Cry Baby Bass Wah in 1999, in the same era as the 95Q guitar wah of 2000, which Dunlop says combines GCB95 standard wah circuitry with the features and functionality of the 105Q¹. Guitar World's Nick Wells names Tim Commerford of Rage Against The Machine as a player who got his own signature sound with it, pointing to "Calm Like A Bomb" from The Battle of Los Angeles⁶. As of the 2023 review, the pedal was still widely available from most music shops, with second-hand units around half price⁶.

How it differs from the alternatives

Dunlop's bass wah family has grown around the 105Q:

• Cry Baby Mini Bass Wah: the same sound and functionality as the 105Q at half the size and lighter weight, with similar circuitry, the same 180 Hz to 1800 Hz resonant frequency range, and auto-return switching⁴⁹¹⁰. Its Q control adjusts wah frequency width, and its VOL control spans 0 dB to -21 dB¹⁰. Guitar World's review of the mini found it works for four-, five-, or six-string bass as well as baritone or downtuned guitars¹¹.
• Geezer Butler Cry Baby Bass Wah: Dunlop's first signature Cry Baby Bass Wah, announced in August 2017 and designed with Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler to complement his sound¹²¹³. It is based on a modified 95Q rather than the 105Q².

The mini's smaller footprint is the main practical difference for pedalboard planning; the 105Q keeps the full-size treadle, which gives more travel underfoot for shaping the sweep⁴²¹¹.

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