Billy Strange(1930-2012)

Generally credited with inventing the "fuzz" or "feedback" guitar sound, which occurred when rehearsing his guitar solo on the rock song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo Dah" by Bobb B. Sox and the Blue Jeans in the mid-1960s. Halfway through his solo the guitar's speaker malfunctioned. He liked the distorted, faraway sound that came out of the broken speaker, and "fine-tuned" it to magnify it when he recorded the actual solo. The song was a hit, and many guitarists began copying his "fuzz" sound on their records.

I've played every kind of music in the world. I've played rock and roll, did all the surf records, played with the big orchestras. If they needed somebody in a small group who knew what the hell they were doing in the studio it was me.