WAH-WAH

Legendary Guitar Pioneer Who Played With Elvis Dies at 88

He later turned down the music icon.

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Del Casher, the legendary guitarist who invented the wah-wah pedal, has died at 88. Casher, who also composed for film and TV, died on Oct. 1, according to the Daily Mail. No details about the cause or location of his death have been released. Casher accidentally invented the wah-wah pedal in 1966 while consulting for Thomas Organ, the U.S. partner of British amp maker Vox. The foot-controlled pedal transformed the guitar’s sound by sweeping a filter across different frequencies while the player’s foot moved it up and down. Paramount Pictures hired him in 1964 to appear in a film with Elvis Presley called Roustabout. Presley was immediately enamored with Casher and personally invited him to play future gigs. But Casher turned him down. He later worked with Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention and Frank Sinatra. In 1985, his guitar music featured in the NBC Nightly News theme: John Williams’ “The Mission.” The song is the longest-running TV news theme in history, according to the Mail. Since his death, A GoFundMe has been set up to help his widow, Eiko, move into assisted living and pay down credit card debt.