Dunlop Cry Baby Mini

The Dunlop Cry Baby Mini, model CBM95, is a wah pedal from Dunlop that puts the Cry Baby circuit into a housing half the size of a standard Cry Baby pedal. Dunlop positions it for players whose board space comes at a premium, such as a travel board, and says the smaller size costs nothing in tone or usability: the pedal keeps a full sweep range, a Fasel inductor and true bypass switching¹.

The idea is straightforward. Rocking your foot back and forth on the pedal changes the effect the wah has on your instrument's tone, and pushing the toe down until you feel a click turns the pedal on and off². What makes the Mini distinct is that the sweep, the part your foot rides on, was not shrunk along with the box.

A Cry Baby at half the size

Dunlop's own history of the Cry Baby line records the Mini as a housing half the size of a standard Cry Baby pedal with its full sweep retained³. MusicRadar, reviewing the CBM95, framed it as Dunlop having "chopped the Cry Baby in half, but without sacrificing spec", following the company's Mini Fuzz Faces⁴.

The size question matters most to players building small boards. Dunlop says the CBM95 is "perfect wherever space comes at a premium, such as on a travel board"¹. For a point of reference in the same family, the Cry Baby Mini 535Q, a similar mini format, measures 133 x 75 x 65 mm according to Guitar World's buying guide⁵.

Three internal voicings: Low, Vintage and GCB95

The Mini packs three wah voicings into one pedal, chosen by an internal three-position switch under the bottom plate⁶:

Because the switch sits under the bottom plate, changing voicing means unscrewing the plate, so most players will set it once and leave it. The manual notes the default is H, for the standard GCB95 sound².

The voicings reference the wider Cry Baby line. The GCB95 setting points at the sound of the GCB95 Original Cry Baby, while the vintage setting reaches back toward the classic wahs Dunlop has reissued over the years, such as the Cry Baby Classic with its Fasel inductor and vintage voice⁶.

Power and connections

The Mini is powered by one 9-volt battery, accessed by removing the bottom plate, or by an AC adapter such as the Dunlop ECB003 or ECB003EU, or a DC Brick power supply². Dunlop's product page adds that the pedal works with the DC Brick, Iso-Brick and Mini Iso-Brick power supplies, which are not included¹. MusicRadar's review confirms the two options plainly: "it's powered by either a nine-volt battery or power supply"⁴.

The pedal uses standard input and output jacks, and the wah is engaged by clicking the toe down, so there is no separate footswitch to find in the dark².

Where the Mini fits in the Cry Baby line

The CBM95 sits at the compact end of a large family. Dunlop's Cry Baby line spans the standard GCB95, the 535Q Multi-Wah with its switchable voicings and boost, the auto-return 95Q, and a long list of signature models. The Mini takes the basic GCB95 concept and adds the three-way voicing switch as its one extra²³¹.

Two siblings share the mini format. The Cry Baby Mini 535Q brings the 535Q's extra control to half size, with a Volume control and a Boost switch, complete with an LED that shows when the boost is active⁷. The Cry Baby Q Mini 535Q Auto-Return Wah adds auto-return switching and four controls for adjusting the instrument's voice⁸. There is also a bass version, covered below.

The bass version: Cry Baby Mini Bass Wah

Yes, there is a bass Mini. The Cry Baby Mini Bass Wah, model CBM105Q, delivers what Dunlop calls the same sound and functionality as the popular 105Q bass wah at half the size, with Volume and Q controls to fine-tune the wah sound⁹¹⁰. Its manual details those controls: the VOL knob controls effect volume and the Q control adjusts wah frequency width¹¹.

Premier Guitar reviewed it in 2021, describing it as "the latest addition to Dunlop's Cry Baby family" with useful features for bassists packaged into a frame about half the size of a conventional Cry Baby, and noting it contains similar circuitry to the 105Q¹².

What reviewers said

MusicRadar's Michael Astley-Brown reviewed the CBM95 and found the small pedal behaved bigger than it looks. On the sweep⁴:

MusicRadar, 2026⁴

He did note one trade-off: the heel moves further back than on a regular wah's sweep travel⁴. On sound, he found that on the middle vintage setting the sweep is full and wide, closer to Dunlop's higher-end 535Q or CAE wahs than the GCB95, with a gradual bass-to-treble transition and no harsh high end toe-down⁴. The review also credits the pedal with "a smooth-riding Hot Potz potentiometer and red Fasel inductor" alongside the true bypass switching⁴.

Guitar World's 2026 wah buying guide covered the Mini 535Q sibling, calling it versatile and customizable with a small footprint, while noting some players may prefer the full-sized version⁵.

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