PRODUCT REVIEW
DUNLOP
JC95 Jerry Cantrell
Signature Wah
BY LYLE ZAEHRINGER
Of the grunge era’s most popular bands,
Alice in Chains is arguably the one guitarists
most appreciate. Vocal harmonies, guitar
solos, and classic song structures set the
band apart from their faster, noisier peers.
Jerry Cantrell—AIC’s lead guitarist and main
compositional force—has cited his major
influences as Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath,
and country music. Rather than reject the
theatrical elements of their rock ’n’ roll predecessors, AIC absorbed those influences,
and they can be heard in many aspects
of the band’s sound—including Cantrell’s
emotive guitar work. His slower metal style
was often accompanied by odd time signatures and innovative use of the wah pedal.
Recently, Cantrell got together with the folks
at Dunlop to develop the JC95 Signature
Wah, which is designed to his unique specifications and comes in an attractive, copper-colored casing full of rugged components.
It features hardwired-bypass switching and a
9-volt battery you can access without having
to remove the bottom plate. You can also
run it off an optional AC adaptor or Dunlop’s
DCB10 Brick power supply.
Whoops…Wow!
The wah pedal came about by accident in
the mid 1960s when engineers at Warwick
Electronics Inc./Thomas Organ Company
were redesigning a Vox Super Beatle. The
task of downgrading the expensive tube
midrange boost section of the amp to a
cheaper solid-state design was given to a
junior engineer named Brad Plunkett. Part of
the circuit was wired to a Vox organ volume
pedal and the wah-wah was born. In less
than two years, the pedal was under Jimi
Hendrix’s foot and music has never been the
same since. Around that time, funk and soul
players were also implementing the wah-wah
into their sound. By 1970, a mere four years
after the wah pedal’s creation, its capabili-
ties were well defined. However, rather than
sinking in popularity over the years like some
effects, the wah pedal has remained a staple
for guitarists of nearly every genre.
Dunlop began releasing signature wah
pedals in the ’80s, beginning with the Jimi
Hendrix signature model. Each of these
models has been tailored to the musician’s
specification and, in most cases, the players
have implemented these new designs into
their personal rig. The short and elite list of
signature wah recipients includes Dimebag
Darrell, Slash, Buddy Guy, Zakk Wylde, Eddie
Van Halen, and Kirk Hammett.
Man in the Box
What makes the wah effect so dynamic is
that it emulates the frequency filtering that
occurs in the human voice. The name of the
