Del Casher, Guitarist Behind the Wah-Wah Pedal, Dies at 88

Del Casher, the guitarist whose experiments with an amplifier tone circuit helped create the wah-wah pedal, died October 1 at 88. His death was announced November 8.

Casher did not set out to invent an instrument. In the mid-1960s, the Thomas Organ Company held the American rights to the Vox brand and tasked engineers, led by Stan Cutler, with rebuilding the British Vox amplifier as a solid-state model. Engineer Brad Plunkett converted the Dick Denney midrange boost switch into a variable tone control. Casher, then a guitarist and consultant for Vox, noticed that sweeping the control from side to side produced a vocal "wah" — much like a blues harmonica player cupping his hands around a microphone. It was, he said, exactly the expressive, bluesy voice he had been searching for.

He asked the engineers to mount the circuit in a Vox organ volume pedal so he could work it with his foot while playing. Together they refined the tone until it resembled a trumpet's wah mute. Vox initially imagined the effect for electric trumpet, but in 1967 it let Casher compose and release a record showcasing the pedal on guitar. Within a few years, the wah-wah had become an essential tool for rock, soul, funk and jazz players worldwide.

What does this change for the instrument's history?

The answer is documentation. One of the most recognizable sounds in popular music traces to a named chain: Denney's original switch, Plunkett's circuit, Cutler's team, Casher's ear and foot. That attribution is rare in an industry where studio innovations often go uncredited.

Born Delton Edward Kacher on December 28, 1937, in Hammond, Indiana, Casher studied communications at the University of Pittsburgh before moving to Hollywood. He landed a spot as guitar and banjo soloist on The Lawrence Welk Show and toured with the RCA act The Three Suns, known for "Twilight Time."

His inventing started early. Touring Japan with The Three Suns, he introduced the Ecco-Fonic, a portable tape echo unit that gave guitarists on stage the rich echo previously possible only with large, expensive studio machines. He later helped develop the Fender Electronic Echo Chamber. In Japan he befriended Ikutaro Kakehashi, founder of the Roland Corporation, who invited him to perform on and introduce the company's first guitar synthesizer. He signed with Japan Victor and Union Records and appears on more than 16 albums.

Back in Hollywood, Casher became one of the most in-demand studio guitarists in town. Paramount Pictures hired him to appear alongside Elvis Presley in the 1964 film 'Roustabout,' and Presley invited him back for later engagements. He appeared on Gene Autry's Melody Ranch and played with Eddy Arnold, Connie Francis, Bobby Vinton, Sonny and Cher, and Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention.

The pedal's screen career followed. Universal Pictures featured his prototype in three films — 'The Ghost and Mr. Chicken,' 'The Shakiest Gun in the West' and 'The Traveling Saleslady' — and MGM hired him for the Tony Curtis comedy 'Don't Make Waves.' His playing was heard on a theme for NBC Nightly News.

His later credits shift toward children's media and production. In 1972 he became music director of the series 'The New Zoo Revue,' producing more than 200 episodes, and went on to produce more than 200 children's music, educational and dance albums for Activity Records, including music used in classrooms through Hap Palmer's educational materials. He scored films including 'Our Town,' '24 Hours to Midnight,' 'Nightmare Sisters,' 'Action U.S.A.' and 'White Cargo,' composed the classical 'Americana Suite for Orchestra,' and produced English versions of the Japanese animated series 'Love Hina,' 'Tenchi Muyo!' and 'Sakura Wars.'

What is not said in the announcement is a cause of death; none was given. What remains is verifiable enough: every time a guitarist rocks a pedal back and forth, the sound Casher chased at an amplifier control in the mid-1960s still carries.