Legendary Guitar Innovator Who Helped Change the Sound of Rock Music Forever Dead at 88

Guitarist Del Casher, who was best known for inventing the wah-wah pedal, died on Oct. 1 after a cancer battle, according to a GoFundMe page. He was 88.

TMZ was first to report Casher’s death.

Al Burg, a neighbor and friend of Casher’s for more than 40 years, started the fundraiser to support Casher’s widow. Eiko, according to the page, now finds herself in “serious financial distress.”

The couple’s financial woes date back to the pandemic. The situation “devastated” Casher’s “sound studio business and forced his to sell valuable guitars and equipment just to survive.”

“During that difficult time, they also had to take out a reverse mortgage on their home. Now, with the home’s value having decreased, the loan balance is more than 70 percent of its current value,” the page read. “Eiko is now facing overwhelming financial and personal challenges at a time when she should be surrounded by peace, care, and stability.”

At present, 89-year-old Eiko is “struggling with severe hearing loss.” She has also been hospitalized for dizzy spells and is unable to drive.

“She can no longer safely care for herself and must sell the house. But then after paying off the reverse mortgage, capital gains, and other taxes, she will have virtually nothing left,” the page read. “Your donations will help Eiko pay down huge credit card debt and move into assisted living, where she can have safe housing and the increasing care she needs.”

As of publishing time, the fundraiser has collected 14 percent of its $14,000 goal.

What to Know About Del Casher

Throughout his career, Casher was known to experiment with new techniques and technologies to set his electric guitar playing apart, according to Rolling Stone.

The outlet reported that, in the early ’60s, Casher set out to make his guitar sound like the trumpet. The resulting wah-wah pedal is largely considered to be Casher’s invention.

The device caught on after Frank Zappa gifted the pedal to Jimi Hendrix. The famed rocker went on to use the pedal on his 1968 album Electric Ladyland, per the outlet.

Other guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Tony Iommi, and David Gilmour later used the pedal.

Casher, the outlet reported, also created the Ecco-Fonic and the Fender Electronic Echo Chamber over the course of his storied career.

Photo by Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images