So once in a while, amazing things happen.

I was in a particularly bad/sad funk tonight and so I decided to get on the radio to take my mind off things. I get on the 20meter band, and make a couple contacts, WV, UT, IL. Called and called for several minutes and no answer. I was about to switch off the radio and then a voice comes over and says “KF5IED, this is K6IAW”. So I answer the call, make some brief introductions and exchange location and signal reports, and the voice says “Oh, I see from your QRZ page that you’re a guitar player. That’s nice, I worked in the music industry for many years – I don’t play but invented a few things”. We then talk for a delightful 45 minutes about Leo Fender, VOX, making records, guitar electronics, told me some stories, and other music production stuff.

His name? Brad Plunkett. He worked for the Thomas Organ Company, which owned VOX. You guessed it: this man literally invented the wahwah pedal. He then went to work for Bill Putnam at UREI/UA and invented the LA-3A.

I’ve used this man’s inventions. A lot. And this all through random airwaves, right out of the blue. I called and he just happened to be listening.

Mind? Officially blown.