Area 51 Wah Pedal compared to Crybaby Standard GCB-95 Wah guitar effects shootout

[TheAc1219]

When people talk about wah–wah pedals, they‘re talking about the Cry Baby Wahs. This is the one that created some of the most timeless sounds in rock. The pedal that would eventually become the Cry Baby was first created in 1966 by engineers at the Thomas Organ Company. This new and expressive effect was an instant hit with players like Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, who have contributed to the Cry Baby Wah‘s huge popularity to this day.....

[jabberwock11]

Nice boots

[topavelka]

Cry Baby is better. Has more WAH :)

[rofloflification2]

i like cry baby better, and it cheaper 2. :)

[maschoff69]

I thought it was just the cat hair in my Area-51 but there is definitely a crackling sound when the pedal is rocked back and forth. Crybabys sound like a trash can being dragged behind a car ...

[mrmegaguitarplayer]

to be honest i actually prefer the crybaby but do you know whats beter than that crybaby? the original jen crybaby!

[caueztanick]

Rock n Roll, THE COOLEST THING ON EARTH

[EpicFlyingDude]

Area 51 wins for me..

[lazloryder]

I own the Crybaby, Vox Clyde, Memphis (old school wah), and the Area 51. Area 51 is my favorite all around. Maintains pretty consistent volume throughout the entire sweep.

Crybaby is a standard, for sure.

Vox has a great sound, but have had problems with the Pot, and engage switch. Replaced both.

Memphis is classic. Beat up, only runs on batteries, but man what a sound.

[Ombrenuit]

@lazloryder Is the Area 51 good for fuzz / metal?

[darksam81]

Snake boots rules...

[Iverdero]

Hey, it's Jack Black!!

[MRswiftkow]

is it just me or does that area 51 one sound like an alien???

youre right, im just trippin......

rock awsome vid.

[riles6789]

Theres a flawed problem with all these shootouts, your running the pedals in a chain. One of the main features of the more expensive pedals is true bypass. Crybabys DO suck your tone when off. you need either isolation loops for these wah pedals or to edit in a seperate clip with each individual, otherwise these videos are invalid. The reason they sound similar is because the crybaby is affecting the tone while its off for the other pedal.

[valmikib]

how cant you hear it???? no wonder why ive been meeting all these morrons who say taht wah and cry baby are the same and taht is just a matter of the brand name.. maybe, in one dusty town.. but the envelope filter is more strong in the wah, while te cry b is more dyed with the filters of treble frecuency

[SuperBassMastar]

Jack Black? :P

[21stCENTURYBOY12]

Jack black using wAh pedals FTW..

[miketak2007]

The Crybaby has a lot more treble with a harsh quack

and the Area 51 is smoother with more mid range. Using the

tone controls on the guitar and amp could even things out some

but overall for me the Area 51 is the winner.

[milkboy1324321]

crybaby sound more smooth and is cheaper than area 51... i don't understand how somebody can't see the difference

[ifenderbender]

I had an area 51 once upon a time. It was very nice and worked well with fuzz pedals. I just bought the cry baby classic with the Fasel inductor and its amazing. Can't believe how good it sounds.

[itayash]

51 bit better

but not 120$better

[MrMarshall2000]

i swear their both exactly the same but ones got a different name on it, the nameplates even the same size

they just got an area 51 logo and put it on a crybaby

[MrMarshall2000]

i swear their both exactly the same but ones got a different name on it, the nameplates even the same size

[kemuhruzin]

I think Aera 51 is clearer than Cry Baby.But these sound aren't big difference.

[HOUNDDAWG]

Outstanding tone, harmonics and growl!

I've been using Cry Baby and VOX (including a Thomas Organ VOX back in '69) and I only dreamed of that AREA 51 sound! My 25 year old GCB95 sounds as good as it ever has, and it's fine for that David Gates and BREAD, "IF A PICTURE PAINTS A THOUSAND WORDS" wah sound. But for me wah ain't about that!

Congratulations on your sound!

[joesl8]

I actually prefer the cry baby?

[Xdawg9087]

Well hey Jack Black...Never thought you would have a youtube account

[STERNrogering]

I've notice that in every wha comparison he uses his king bee tele, not sure why it matters but How do I get my own king bee tele

[babooonz]

Jack Black A.K.A gearmanndude

[blackmetalbanana]

It's extremely easy to tell the difference...

[epitaph664]

the main dif is true bypass on the area 51, and the area 51 has a smoother sound with a little more low end punch. The cry baby is a little bit more harsh and sounds thinner to me

[astonuk77]

blatant jack black wannabe

[MiniMightyMan96]

sounds to me like the area 51 has more of a "wah wah" compared to the crybaby's "wow wow." theres a difference, but i question if its worth 130 bucks

[sl4ssh]

Despite the huge price difference, you must be really a perfectionist to distinguish each other at the stage.

[joeyrayguitar]

If you can't tell the dif then burn your guitar

[kuk999]

I think you need to clean out your ears a bit or get checked by an audiologist if you can't hear a difference. The 51 is fatter and strong throughout compared to the Crybaby. The Crybaby has a high "tinny" sound even when rocked all the way back. I've used the original Crybaby for the last 5 years and tried to mod it up but it still has too tinny of a sound. I agree that you would be able to tell more of a difference to run each (on their own) into the amp. The 51 would shine w/ true bypass.

[reesho]

Surprising how similar. Crybaby seems to have a bit higher range sweep. I would rather see the 2 whas wired A/B rather than series like you have here. I don't trust bypass in general on pedal devices. When I compared the Crybaby with the original Vox the Vox won hands down for having a more musical sweep and better dynamic sound overall. I'd like to try the Satriani Vox one. The description of that wha is impressive.

Nicely done demo though!

[83cajht]

Love the shoes......dunloop cry baby all the whay...yeah

[Gibrowsky]

area 51=true bypass?

[AKMAC82]

@Gibrowsky I believe so. but you can easily modify almost any wah pedal for true bypass.

[keller458]

How much does the standard wah (the one to the right) screw with the direct bypass?

[xavierf1979]

"Fancy-Pants Wah's"

I love this guy!!!! He has the best Accent ever!

[heavyfuelv2]

grearmandude , you have that area 51 ran into the crybaby which i am sure is not true bypass,its making everything crybaby nasty running through its buffer , use your true bypass switcher and i am think you will hear the difference .

[radagast9]

If you cant hear the difference, ,go for the cheap one.I'd buy area 51.

[dbenc]

Wow! Almost triple the price of the Cry Baby?! Why?

[supraludwick83]

I dont know dude, I would trust Kyle Gass better coz he is the real life experienved guitar player..... KGP lol :D

[marcuribba]

fkn different 128$....just a cool name 4 a GCB95

[stratmad]

Very close in sound but you can start to hear a slight difference around the 3 min mark when it goes back to the neck pup. The Area 51 is a bit warmer / smoother. My own Crybaby's sweep doesn't do it for me so I am tempted to try an Area 51.

[RHCPmikeRHCP]

funky shoes man

[3580a]

To my ears, the Area 51 is hotter causing the amp to ad additional harmonic overtones by pushing the input section harder.

[Ncuab]

AREA 51 WAH - sounds smoother and more transparent

CRYBABY STND - frequency sweep range has slightly more treble and less bass to it but is more sensitive to pick attack

***like always, it depends on what other gear you're using, how all of your gear complements/works against each other, what sound you're looking for, how it feels, and what you're willing to pay.***

[vintagestrat05]

Area 51....... Win's Hands Down !!

[nolobenn1]

love your shoes dude

[nolobenn1]

love your shoes dude :p

[slashandmustainerox]

the cry baby is more funky

[dstrats]

Thanks for the demo. Really hard to tell the difference 'tween the two.

[afroninja1111]

thanks jables!

[BluesThor]

area 51 rocked the crybaby!!

[himynameischrisAVA]

are you Jack Black??

[thegoldensheep]

the area 51s more warm while the crybabys highs are more shrill, youu also get a more saturated tone from the 51

[chrishpippin]

Very similar in sound. Good vid. Better playing on this one than the BG shootout as well. Nice. I like the slow sweeps to show the range and the fast sweeps to show the dynamics. I think I hear the area 51 have just a little higher range. Worth another $120 extra? Depends on how much you use one, I guess.

[angrytroll27]

can we ha hi gain demo of this area 51 pedal???? im tired of checkin out wah demos hearin voodoo child all the time n funk stuff. theres more to using a wah pedal then that.

[wassupyman220]

im getting an aria one of my friends brother for $60

[gnrrocks123]

area 51 all the way

[lilnetty2]

I always dialed my tone pot back whenI used my crybaby with a tele....

[keefx]

I have owned both wahs and I love my Area 51. Honestly, thought, it's totally personal preference. Whichever you try and like, rock on with. GMD's vids are very helpful and all, but a wah is just so personal that you need to put a pedal under your own foot before you can really judge it.

[drmaxfield40]

keefx I would have to agree with you about the wah. It comes down to personal preference. Or it just comes down to taste and in some cases, MONEY.

[flyingash]

your voice sounds like the amazing "JAck Black"

[Bustadogg1]

The Area 51 has less sharp edges when pressed down, but is obviously built after the cry baby. I would go for the Cry Baby if I see the price difference ;)

[TheTim37]

there is a diffence but not enough to pay the difference. thanks GMD

[STRATOCASTER1992]

i have that crybaby and i love it

[maskedmillionaire]

black and white cable... of WHAT? heh heh.

[sichadeb]

hahah i think the same thing every time

[cherry8605]

i don't hear all that much of a difference either, and if the 51 is $150 more like theblackhell1 says, i'd just as soon get the crybaby

[wjombat]

I wonder if the difference is how it responds to foot movement. I do not hear much difference.

[JUMBOpin]

the crybaby cycles cleaner [horray for encased pot housing on the Hot Potz II] and has a much longer cycle length [the amount of times the pin spins the potentiometer] smaller teeth equals greater cycles...thus larger range...

[stewie9793]

@JUMBOpin larger range? lol the hot potz is junk...swapped it with an ICAR replica and it blows away the original

[BottleCapsound]

all these pedals are imitations ..why not just use the original cry wah and be done with it

[sportsportsport]

Very hard to tell the difference.

[moucon]

Crybaby by a mile - at least listening through a 1" speaker on my laptop ( so much for that)

[meinshnake]

I dont like the new tone... Its all in the cable... it seems darker.

[DeadWhiteButterflies]

I actually kind prefer the 51 actually. It just about out smarts the Crybaby, unlike the others. But only just.

Any chance you you could compare the VOX wah? My friend's got one and I tested and loved it. I was just thinking how it stands up the much loved Crybaby

[marinecam]

@DeadWhiteButterflies

He already did that demo,look on his profile and search vox dunlop wah on his uploads.

[DeadWhiteButterflies]

Oh right. Sorry, didn't look. Thanks for letting me know. lol

[cheezewheel]

cool I gotta pick myself up a wah someday lol

[tankbrute6]

cry baby has more depth to it

[Theblackhell1]

There's my two cents: The Area 51 sounds a little bit better in the toe up position, because the Crybaby sounds a little too bright in the toe up position. The Area 51 is better, but not it's not $150 better, because arn't these things selling for like $250 or something?

[drmaxfield40]

I bought a standard crybaby and had it modded and I like it better than any other I have tried but I guess it boils down to taste.

[spider5001]

They sound the same LOL

[ciclosonico]

No big difference here IMHO

[darkcheef]

I like the Crybaby better, the Area 51 sounds muffled IMO.

[fluffyblonddoink]

It would be interesting to know how old the GCB95 that gearmandude is using.

I just modded my old GCB as it came with a four pin inductor, which I changed for the two pin fasel.

My mate bought a brand new GCB only a couple of weeks ago and it come with the red fasel as standard giving it that extra kick.

If you get the new GCB with the red fasel its a winner

[fendermac]

I own a 1970 Jen CryBaby and the new GCB95 sounds very similar and is much nicer to use.If I had money to spare I'd be getting me a Princeton Reverb RI

[mudshovel508]

gearmandude, do not drink and wah.

:)

[TaffyRaphie]

do a comparison with the ibanez WD7 (weeping demon)

[popomczowzow]

"UNDERSTANDING WHAT A BOUTIQUE HAIR RESTORATION CENTER MEANS" Epic related videos GMD.

And as for the wahs, neither one is better. I can hardly hear a difference. I actually kinda like the crybaby more. I'd have to hear them with distortion/fuzz to choose though.

[Stratomacaster]

I'd have to agree with jovima69. Unless there's something we're just not hearing through the mic, the difference between the two doesn't warrant a $128 difference.

Cheers.

[jovima69]

Area 51 = $199.00

Cry Baby GCB95 = $71.00

I don't hear a drastic difference......

[sidecrusher]

@jovima69

nobody ever said a crybaby was a bad wah , they are good !

but the area51 has a different sound at treble end ,more wirey

[EroWheel]

@jovima69 You can use the Area 51 with a Fuzz....

The Cry Baby wont work with fuzz if it ain't modded

[valmikib]

@jovima69 i do, ive always been saying that thyre not the same, in fact cry baby is lame, and wah is awesome, i thank this video cause ill use it to shout some mouths, silly silly mouts that say that these two pedals are the same.. and its just a matter or the brand name.. suckers!

[valmikib]

@jovima69 and the price say it all

[defmonkey57]

you should review some Morley stuff!!!!

[bgingras05]

You are the man, I am in love with my Area 51, spread the word GMD!

[patch9894]

lets rock this thing with a black....

and white coily cable hahahhhah i love you gearmanndude

[nerdzfolife]

@karl198

guess who cares