WAH- Caline HOT SPICE CP-31 Vol./Wah...small, cheap Cry Baby Knock off

CALINE HOT SPICE CP-31 Vol. & Wah

 $60.00 USD 

For years I played an original Cry Baby Wah basically a first edition that I ...yes ...bought new lol

This was years before any pedal had a jack for a 9v adapter.

I became very adapt at using it. In a short I mostly used it as a tone control booster. I could turn it on find the basic sweet spot and by leaving my foot on it pull out the sweet spot on every note by moving the pedal just a hair width forward or back on the fly!!!

Once Wah pedals became associated with Disco the rock world almost instantly abandon them! In fact it was then that Jim Dunlop bought the rights to them for a song. Smart guy!!

So it was not cool to use a Wah. So I sold mine.

I still do not think my music fits that Wah as a rhythm maker type sound.

BUT... I sold my volume pedal and I miss it the odd time when I am too loud.

I have for some time been looking for a cheap smashed up Cry Baby to remove the guts and build it into a small case to use as a fixed wah. I have been toying with the idea of using a wah for a bit of the before mentioned tone control thing on a solo. I would most certainly want one of the new Mini ones because of space.

(about 5 1/2" x 2 1/2")


The Caline products are well made I have never had a problem with them. Last but not least a Cry Baby sound is bullet proof. Yes they cloned it very close ...perhaps with a tiny bit less high end. But they have nailed the sound of it going thru the sweep!!
The travel of the sweep is another thing. The Crybaby has a short travel. From starting full back on the sweep to the pedal resting flat is quite short.
For example on a Morley it is very long.
I like millions of others think the short sweep Crybaby has got it nailed
.
I have just received mine. I played the real deal for years. The longer plate to rest my foot feels a bit awkward but that may pass in a few days, The sweep seems a bit longer too.

To be honest at the price I was expecting a hard plastic casing.
The pedal has a metal casing and the same textured finish of the Crybaby.
So ...I have no complaints with it's build or appearance.

If you want to use it as a volume pedal you must move a very tiny switch near the input jack.
you can set it up so when you pull the treadle back it goes off or you can set it for your choice of the
lowest volume. It is early days but I did not find the enough of a smooth transition from very quite to full on. It may however work great as a swell pedal for making faux violin effects.

I must confess though after an hour I had some feel of it and got some nice sounds out of it.
I tried it as a cocked or fix Wha. It gets full marks for this.


But that could be an illusion because I am simply not
comfortable with feel of it yet.

Caline checks all the boxes.
It even checks off the CHEAP one. LOL
                                             

If you are a serious Wah guy you may want to give this a pass.
If you are interested but not sure you will still have a volume pedal if it does not work out.
If later you move up to better one.You can still keep this as a volume pedal.

So a well made unit with a good sound. Definitely Pro.
I expect with practice I will soon get my old
 technique back. The travel ...if longer is not by much.

COMPARE THE 2 SOUNDS

Unfortunately the Caline video is very amateur but it will do.

There are a lot of loud reflections off the walls and the mic is typical 

of a cheap one without any low end.The low end may be more critical

as it gives the pedal an illusion that it is not full sounding when it is. 

The Cry Baby is reasonably recorded. The player is experienced with

playing a wah.

Compare- Caline start vid at 410
Compare- Cry Baby vid at 47

NANO WAHS ACHILLES HEEL

Do we have a problem???

Many can not get the feel of such a small pedal.

They may have a point.

It is intuitive to place your foot more or less on the center of these small pedals.

Bad idea. To work a treadle you are moving your foot from its pivot point. In short

you foot and leg move up and down from your ankle.

To do this your toes will stick far past the top of the pedal. This takes some getting used to.

Not such a big deal.

BUT!!!  The point of the pedal being small is board space...So I found that my toe wanted to smack into pedals in front of it.

I recommend trying any nano wah brand you can get your hands  foot on before you buy this or any other brand. 

__________________________________________________________________________________

Listen to Shane play live ...start at 7:14  and you will have a great idea of how all around and pro the Caline sounds.

I just got one... good first impressions...I need to try it a few more days. my technique is a bit sloppy since I have not used a Wah since 1969. lol



UPDATE
MAY10/18
 I quite enjoyed the Hot Spice But recently decided to step it up a notch or two.
I bought an AMT JAPANESE GIRL WH-1
It too is a small pedal in fact smaller. It however pivots in a sweet spot that even though the foot print is small it is intuitive to find. With the 'Spice" I was always trying to get my foot in the right spot.
It is built like a tank . It has a perfect Crybaby sound plus 2 other sounds. It is optic like a Morley so you will never need to replace a nfg pot.
It sells for $125.00 USD but if you buy direct from a Reverb Russian online store expect $100.00 USD or less right to your door.
Even the colour is COOL!


...and since you asked

 The Best is the Xotic you can adjust it to basically copy any of the hundred Jim Dunlop artist series or better still adjust to your tone and technique requirements. Xotic pedals are ALWAYS well made & priced reasonably for what you get!!!

$236.00 USD

NOT CHEAP AT ALL
BUT YOU ARE NOT PAYING FOR GIMMICKS

YOU GET TONE BIG TIME!
AND MORE IMPORTANT YOU CAN TWEAK IT FOR "YOUR" SOUND
IT IS BUILT LIKE A TANK BECAUSE PUMPING
ON ANY TREADLE BASED PEDAL CAN KILL 

 .