About a year ago I converted a Dunlop GCB-95 Crybaby to be true-bypass and included a new Fasel inductor and ICAR taper pot. I really liked how it turned out. There is a large amount of talk about fasel and non-fasel out there. Some wahs have the fasel inductor stock, but a large portion do not. I get asked often.. what’s the deal.. and what’s the difference.
The fasel inductor is found in the ‘classic’ styles of wahs. Vox wahs and the builders that want the older Vox tones (id: Fulltone Clyde, Teese, etc). I would like to note – Additionally the ICAR taper pot is another big piece of the classic puzzle. To me, the the fasel gives it a little bit more bite and sizzle than non-fasel inductors. I definitely prefer the fasel inductor wahs over the others. The others (again to me) sound a bit muddy and less aggressive, but this comes down to what you want the wah to do. I pretty much use the wah for leads only, so I really want it in your face when I’m engaging it.
I found two great comparison videos by gearmanndude where he compares a Original/Standard CryBaby vs. the Classic CryBaby. The Classic has the fasel inductor, which the Original does not. The two videos illustrate gained amp and clean (the clean video has a scratchy pot… which is super annoying to me, but you can pick up the jist of it).
Here is the video of the clean comparison:
So which one did you prefer? Why? Comment below!
You can pick up the Dunlop Crybaby Classic with Fasel Inductor at Amazon for $99.99
or
You can pick up the Dunlop Original Crybaby at Amazon for $68.26
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8 years ago
I took a Crybaby and installed two additional inductors…a red and yellow Fasel. I put in a three position rotary switch to select the stock inductor, or one of the two Fasels.
I let players at the music store I worked at try this modded cry baby to see if they preferred the Fasels to the stock inductor.
Not one person could hear any difference at all between the stock inductor and the red Fasel. (I couldn’t either.) The yellow Fasel did sound different…thin and lacking the vocal quality we all love wahs for. Not one player liked it or could see a use for it.
That is my experience.
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7 years ago
i can tell the differece when they are side by side. the classic seems to sonically break up, not distort but harmonically clip with the playiers picking dynamics. it gets aggressive, however some players might not want this, i do so i bought one. i like it but i cant tell if its all the video shows because i have nothing to compare it to.
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2 years ago
I took the backs off the standard cry baby and the classic to see the difference in boards and indicators to my surprise I found the standard cry baby had a fasel inductor exactly the same as the classic does.
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They make a big deal about the fasel inductor in the classic wah it’s even printed on the underside of the cry baby classic pedal.
Is it just clever marking or do I have a unusual standard wah?
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