Dunlop Jerry Cantrell Firefly Cry Baby Wah

The Dunlop Jerry Cantrell Firefly Cry Baby Wah is a special edition of Dunlop's Jerry Cantrell signature Cry Baby wah, built on the same JC95 circuit but dressed in a subdued raw iron finish with glow-in-the-dark details on the tread, front badge and bottom plate¹. It was announced in November 2022, inspired by Cantrell's solo record Brighten, and priced at launch around $200². Dunlop now lists it as a legacy product that is no longer in production³.

Sonically it is the Cantrell formula: Dunlop voices it for a tight, punchy heel-down tone, with a rugged side-control knob for fine-tuning the toe-down frequency³. Rocking the foot back and forth produces the vocal, expressive sweep the Cry Baby wah is known for⁴.

What it does: a tight, punchy heel-down tone

The Firefly is a wah pedal: a foot-rocked filter that sweeps a resonant peak through the frequency range as you move the treadle. What separates one Cry Baby from another is where that sweep sits and how wide it is, and that is where the Cantrell signature models carve out their own ground.

Dunlop says Cantrell favored wahs with a wider, darker response, and that the company replicated that sound for his signature model⁵. The maker describes the resulting voice as dark and punchy with a wide sweep⁵, and the Firefly specifically as custom-voiced for a tight, punchy heel-down tone³. Guitar.com's news coverage of the launch called it a custom-voiced, tight and impactful tone².

For a player, the practical meaning is that the heel-down position, where many wah parts sit, is tighter and more focused than on a standard Cry Baby GCB95, while the sweep reaches darker territory at the top. Premier Guitar's wah buying guide describes the Cantrell signature model as complementing Cantrell's sound with "a dark, punchy voice, a wide sweep, and a control on the side for fine-tuning the toe-down frequency"⁶.

The side-control knob

The one control outside the treadle itself is a knob on the side of the casting. Dunlop's manual calls it the Fine-Tune knob, and says it adjusts the tone of the toe-down rocker position⁴. The product page describes it as a rugged side-control knob for fine-tuning the toe-down frequency³.

Dunlop's own Cry Baby buying guide puts it in plainer terms: the Fine-Tune knob adjusts the range of the toe-down position from bright to dark⁷. That means you can set where the sweep tops out, shifting the peak of the wah's most-forward position brighter or darker to match your amp and guitar, without opening the pedal to move internal trimmers. It is the same control that has appeared on Cantrell's signature wah since the original JC95¹.

Gain and noise figures

The Firefly's manual (model JC95FFS) gives a full set of measured figures, and they match the standard Jerry Cantrell Cry Baby's manual (JC95B) exactly, which underlines that the Firefly is a cosmetic edition rather than a re-voiced pedal⁴⁸.

All figures are from the JC95B's published specifications⁸.

Noise figures are measured with VREF=1VRMS, A-weighted⁴⁸. The gain figures show the pedal boosting as well as filtering: up to +18 dBV at the center frequency with the treadle back and +20 dBV with it forward, which is part of why a wah in the toe-down position can push an amp harder than the guitar alone⁴.

Power comes from DC 9 volts, either a 9-volt battery accessed through the underside of the pedal or the Dunlop ECB003 9-volt adapter⁴. At 1 mA of current draw it is a light load on a pedalboard power supply⁴.

A glow-in-the-dark edition of the JC95

The Firefly is a special edition of the Jerry Cantrell Cry Baby Wah inspired by Cantrell's solo record Brighten³. Guitar World described it as a new take on the signature JC95 wah, dubbed the Firefly Cry Baby⁹. The differences from the standard pedal are all on the outside:

• A gritty, subdued raw iron finish on the casting²
• Firefly artwork and a "JC Cantrell" logo on the tread, both of which glow in the dark⁹
• Glow-in-the-dark features on the front badge and bottom plate text as well⁹
• The same side-control knob and custom voicing as the standard model³

Dunlop also produced a cream version, a limited edition with a special cream finish that carries the same glow-in-the-dark features on the tread, front badge and bottom plate¹⁰. Like the raw iron Firefly, it is listed as a legacy product no longer in production¹⁰.

Where it came from and what followed

The Cantrell signature line began with the JC95, which Dunlop built to replicate the wider, darker wah response Cantrell favored¹. The Firefly followed in November 2022 as the *Brighten*-era edition¹¹¹³, and the line continued after it: Dunlop's current Jerry Cantrell wah is the I Want Blood Cry Baby, again custom-voiced for a tight, punchy heel-down tone with the same rugged side-control knob for fine-tuning the toe-down frequency³. Premier Guitar's coverage of that pedal notes it carries forward the same control scheme⁶.

At launch, Guitar.com reported the Firefly available for $200 from retailers worldwide², while Premier Guitar reported $199.99¹²; the two press figures differ only in rounding.

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