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Del Casher, inventor of the wah-wah pedal, dead at 88
Del Casher, the musician and inventor associated with the wah-wah pedal, has died aged 88. His work helped shape the sound of rock guitar, with the effect used by artists including Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa, and later heard across rock and soul music.
Casher developed the pedal in the 1960s while playing with the Thomas Organ Company’s Vox Ampliphonic Orchestra, seeking to make his guitar sound like a trumpet. He died on 1 October after battling cancer, according to a fundraiser set up to support his wife, Eiko, who is 89 and has health problems. The fundraiser said the couple had faced financial strain after COVID-19 damaged Casher’s studio business; his other inventions included the Ecco-Fonic and Fender Electronic Echo Chamber, and he worked with Elvis Presley.
In short
- Del Casher, inventor of the wah-wah pedal, has died aged 88.
- He developed the effect in the 1960s to imitate a trumpet.
- His work reached from Hendrix to Isaac Hayes’s “Theme From Shaft”.
Explained simply
A wah-wah pedal is an effects device that changes a guitar’s tone as the player moves it with their foot, creating a sound that rises and falls like a voice saying “wah”. It became part of the electric guitar’s range of sounds during the 1960s, when musicians were experimenting with ways to make instruments sound different.
Del Casher developed the pedal while playing with the Vox Ampliphonic Orchestra, a group associated with the Thomas Organ Company. He was also a musician and inventor whose other work included echo devices, and he worked with Elvis Presley.
Guitarists including Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa used the wah-wah effect, which later became familiar in rock and soul music. Its spread helped make electronic effects an important part of how guitarists shape their sound.