Dunlop Justin Chancellor Cry Baby Wah

The Dunlop Justin Chancellor Cry Baby Wah is a signature wah pedal for bass, built for Tool bassist Justin Chancellor and released by Dunlop in 2021. It combines three effects in one enclosure: a modified Cry Baby wah, a custom midrange filter Dunlop calls the U.K. Filter, and a vintage U.K.-style fuzz¹². The product of close collaboration between Chancellor and the Cry Baby design team, it gathers three of his favorite ways to shape tone into a single rocker pedal².

Where a standard Cry Baby gives you one wah voice, this pedal gives you two, plus a fuzz that can run with either mode or completely on its own. For a bassist, the other key difference is under the hood: in both modes the pedal boosts your clean signal at 400Hz and blends it with the effect signal at the beginning of the rocker's sweep, so the low end keeps its thickness and heft instead of thinning out the way a guitar wah can¹.

Two modes: Wah and U.K. Filter

The pedal's two rocker modes are, in Dunlop's words, "two tone-warpingly distinct variations on a theme"¹.

Wah mode employs the classic red Fasel inductor and the circuitry of a modified Cry Baby Wah for a more aggressive sound and what Dunlop calls brilliantly lush harmonics¹. Premier Guitar's reviewer described it as "a traditional wah that uses the red Fasel inductor circuitry of a modified Cry Baby"⁶. On the pedal, this mode is indicated by a blue LED, and Guitar World's reviewer found it noticeably brighter, with less low end, than the other mode³.

U.K. Filter mode uses a custom solid-state circuit designed to emulate the unique envelope-like filtering of the tone control in Chancellor's own bass¹². Dunlop describes it as thick and throaty with very pronounced peaks¹, and it lights up with a yellow LED³. Premier Guitar's reviewer placed it "in the same sonic ballpark as the filter in Chancellor's older, British-made, Wal basses," and found it more reminiscent of a traditional envelope filter⁶. Guitar World's Joel McIver heard it as focusing more on doomy bass tones, generally less throaty and mids-heavy than the standard effect³.

You move between the two modes at any time by stomping on the Wah Select footswitch, a large footswitch on the very top of the pedal¹⁶.

The built-in fuzz

The third effect is Chancellor's go-to fuzz, which Dunlop describes as "based on a ferocious device of vintage UK origin"¹. Premier Guitar's reviewer identified it more specifically: "It's based on Chancellor's old Colorsound Tone Bender, and sounds great without any help from the wah"⁶. The fuzz tone is indicated by a red LED³.

By default, you only hear the fuzz when using the rocker pedal¹. Want it on its own? A switch on the side of the pedal runs the fuzz independently¹, and it can also be paired with either filter mode². Dunlop says that with the fuzz engaged, the Wah mode cuts through with electric fire, while the U.K. Filter generates incredibly smooth, synth-like tones¹.

Premier Guitar's reviewer found the fuzz held up across its range: "Even at the toppiest settings, the fuzz retained a flexible vintage feel and never became too harsh"⁶.

The controls

Each mode has its own set of controls, so you can dial in the two voices separately and switch between them mid-performance¹⁷³.

Dunlop's own buying guide summarizes the control set as customizing the two rocker modes with Volume and Q controls, and customizing the intensity, level and EQ of the fuzz mode⁷. The pedal is also compatible with the optional Dunlop Pedal Topper, which provides a larger surface area for your foot, letting Chancellor engage the pedal in a single motion¹.

How Justin Chancellor uses it

Chancellor, Tool's bassist, keeps a carefully configured pedalboard for crafting tones and exploring sounds, and this Cry Baby combines three of his favorite ways to do that¹. According to Dunlop, he uses the U.K. Filter mode by itself, and he likes to combine the Wah mode with the fuzz¹. Premier Guitar also noted a detail from the design process: a bypass delay control was an important feature on Justin's wish list⁶.

What reviewers made of it

Premier Guitar's reviewer found the pedal inspiring in heavy use: "the pedal delivered an aggressive, rhythmic bite that inspired me to play in ways I normally would not," with biting, aggressive tones that had plenty of attitude even without the fuzz⁶. The thicker low end and low-mid punch of the U.K. filter "lent itself extremely well to both slap and rhythmic muted-pick" playing⁶. The same reviewer noted the well-built enclosure and spacious layout make it seem a little on the wide and heavy side, with an adjustable treadle offering firm resistance⁶.

Guitar World's Joel McIver was more sweeping in his verdict: "this featured-loaded wah is the best signature bass product in some time"³. He also noted that in both modes the clean and effected bass tones are blended at the very beginning of the rocker sweep, making for a smooth transition³.

Price and positioning

At launch in November 2021 the pedal was available for pre-order at $299.99 from retailers worldwide², and Guitar World's review listed it at $299.99³. Dunlop's site lists the JCT95 at $315.99 as of 2026⁴, and a MusicRadar deals piece cites $329⁵, so current street pricing varies by retailer and date.

Within Dunlop's Cry Baby range, it sits alongside other signature models that combine a wah with a fuzz, such as the Dunlop Cry Baby DareDevil Fuzz Wah, but the Chancellor model is the one voiced for bass, with the clean-blend circuitry that keeps your low end intact¹.

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