Wah-wah

The story of the wah-wah pedal, the invention that helped shape the sounds of a generation of electric guitar players.

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In the mid ’60s, Casher helped develop a device he envisioned as the new voice of the guitar. He called it the wah-wah pedal

…One day on the set of “Roustabout,” after everyone broke for lunch, Casher noticed someone watching him play guitar.

Del Casher: Elvis Presley. He’s sitting in the director’s chair staring at me. And I’m thinking, “What’s up with this? Maybe he hates my guitar playing, and I’m gonna be thrown off the set.” And he walks up to me very politely and he says…

…The biggest fame that Jimi [Hendrix] had gotten with the wah pedal was playing Woodstock, which was 1969. It was one of the most momentous times. We played out in the rain, and everybody said, “Well, how is he getting that magical sound?”

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