Back in the late 1920’s virtuoso American jazz trumpeter Clyde McCoy started experimenting with his trumpet mute and inadvertently invented the “wah-wah” sound, he achieved this unique sound by fluttering a Harmon mute in the bell of his trumpet. He used this signature sound on his hit “Sugar Blues”. His signature sound became so popular that he licensed it to the King Instrument Company.
But it wasn’t till 1967 that a young engineer called Brad Plunkett invented the wah-wah pedal whilst working for the Thomas Organ Company and with this single discovery changed the world of guitar effects and popular music forever.
Fast forward nearly 50 years and the McCoy sound is now safeguarded by the clever bod’s at Dunlop Engineering. With over 30 years’ experience in producing the finest pedals around the lineage of Brad Plunckett’s invention is in very safe and capable hands. Some years ago Dunlop inherited the original tooling and machinery from the Thomas Organ Company and Jen electronica, combined with their knowhow and resources the Clyde McCoy wah- wah has risen from the ashes.
The integral part of Plunckett’s invention is the way the pedal is voiced. A component called a Halo inductor was developed by the Thomas Organ Company and Jen electronica to give the pedal a smooth vocal quality, but this stroke of ingenuity often added undesirable microphonic noise. The engineers at Dunlop solved this problem with the development of their H101 Halo inductor. By updating the original design, to preserve the uniquely voiced sound, they managed to minimise the unwanted microphonic noise making the CM95 a refined classic.
For more info or a chance to get your hands on a CM95 contact us or come to our London showroom at 24 Denmark Street.