Del Casher, inventor of the wah-wah pedal, has died
Del Casher – the guitarist credited with the invention of the wah wah pedal – has died at the age of 88 following a battle with cancer. His death has just been publicly announced, but he passed away on 1 October, 2026.
A studio guitarist who worked with many influential acts including Elvis Presley, Cher and the Mothers of Invention, Casher was also a keen inventor, and in addition to the first wah-wah pedal, he also notably developed a portable tape echo device called the Ecco-Fonic.
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While working as a guitarist and consultant for Vox, Casher and engineer Brad Plunkett developed the first wah-wah pedal from the tone control of a UK Vox amplifier. The unit was being adapted for the US market, following Vox’s purchase by the Thomas Organ Company. Likening the sound to a harmonica cupping the instrument around a microphone, Vox preferred the effect for electric trumpets, rather than guitars. By 1967, however, Casher was able to release a record using the wah-wah pedal, but he was not eligible for manufacturing royalties.
In the years since, the wah-wah sound has become as distinctive to rock guitar as harmonics or tremolo dives or right-hand fretting, and employed by prominent guitarists from Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton to Slash, John Frusciante, and the wah king, Kirk Hammett. You could throw Jeff Beck and Joe Walsh in there too – the pedal is in so many guitarists’ repoertoires, whether they take it out on stage or not.
In 2011, Del Casher told the New York Times that no one at Vox saw a future for the device. “I feel gratified that I was there at the beginning,” he said. “I would just like guitar players to think of me once in a while. The only thing I ask is: remember me.”
Following financial hardship due to lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, Casher began selling his collection of instruments to raise income. He is survived by his 89-year-old wife, Eiko, and a GoFundMe has been launched to support her.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
