Del Casher, the acclaimed guitarist who performed alongside Elvis Presley and Frank Zappa and created the wah-wah pedal, has died at 88.
Casher, who also worked as a film and television composer, died on October 1, according to TMZ.
Authorities have not disclosed where he died or provided a specific cause of death.
A GoFundMe campaign has since been launched to support Casher’s widow, Eiko.
“Eiko is now facing overwhelming financial and personal challenges at a time when she should be surrounded by peace, care, and stability,” organizer Al Burg wrote.
“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.”
Del Casher, the acclaimed guitarist who played with Elvis Presley and Frank Zappa and invented the wah-wah pedal, has died at 88. Casher is pictured in 1998
The musician and film and television composer died on October 1. Casher is pictured in 2014
Casher was widely regarded as an innovative musician and a pioneering inventor.
His best-known invention, the wah-wah pedal, gave guitarists a foot-operated way to shape their tone. Moving the pedal up and down sweeps a filter across different frequencies, producing the instrument’s instantly recognizable vocal-like effect.
The unusual, unintended breakthrough came in 1966, when Casher was working as a consultant for Thomas Organ, the American partner of Vox.
He also developed the Ecco-Fonic and the Fender Electronic Echo Chamber.
Casher built a strong connection to Hollywood and became a sought-after studio guitarist.
Paramount Pictures hired him to appear alongside Presley in the singer’s 1964 film Roustabout.
Presley was impressed by Casher’s playing and personally asked him to join him for future performances. Casher ultimately turned down the offer.
He soon signed on as a regular guitarist for Gene Autry’s Melody Ranch, a popular television program aimed at families and children.
Paramount Pictures hired Casher to appear as a guitarist with Presley in the 1964 film Roustabout
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Presley admired Casher’s guitar work and invited him to perform at future shows, but Casher declined. Presley appears with Joan Freeman in a scene from Roustabout
Casher appeared in The Patsy (1964) with Jerry Lewis, playing an uncredited Studio Guitarist
Casher later worked with Frank Zappa’s rock group Mothers of Invention. Casher, wearing a cap at center, performs with the band at The Whiskey a Go Go in 1966
His career also included work with Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, The Monkees and Sonny & Cher.
Casher appeared with Jerry Lewis in The Patsy (1964), where he was credited only as the Studio Guitarist.
The prolific musician later appeared in three Universal Pictures films while playing his prototype wah-wah pedal: The Ghost and Mr Chicken (1966) and The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968), both starring Don Knotts, as well as Did You Hear the One About the Traveling Saleslady (1968), featuring Phyllis Diller and Bob Denver.
He showcased the wah-wah effect as a session musician on the soundtrack to MGM’s Don’t Make Waves (1967), starring Tony Curtis.
Casher’s guitar work was also heard in the theme music for NBC Nightly News. He played on John Williams’s “The Mission,” introduced in 1985 and still used today, making it the longest-running television news theme in broadcast history.
In later years, Casher became music director for the children’s television series The New Zoo Revue.
Around 2000, he composed Americana Suite for Orchestra.
“There’s a story to the suite, it’s not just a composition,” Casher told The Los Angeles Times in 2006. “My father came to America from Austria when he was 13, and by 21 years old, he was an accomplished musician and he became a teacher and orchestra arranger and conductor.”
Casher’s guitar work appeared on the NBC Nightly News theme beginning in 1985, which remains in use today. Casher is pictured in 1998
“Americana Suite is an inspiration of the American dream,” he said. “And because I compose my music on the guitar, I translate it then to the orchestra sound, and the first movement is called The Pursuit.”
He continued: “It is a fast and lively song with vivid anticipation of the American dream.”
Casher also produced English-language adaptations of several Japanese anime television series, including Love Hina (2000), Sakura Wars (2000) and Tenchi Muyo! GXP (2002).
Born Delton Kacher in Hammond, Indiana, in 1937, he moved to California after college.