Glenn Snoddy, the Tennessee engineer who invented the fuzz pedal, has died, the Musfreesboro Daily News Journal reports. He passed away Monday evening (May 21) at his Murfreesboro home. He was 96. Starting his career out as a radio engineer, Snoddy became one of Nashville’s top country music engineers in the 1940s. While working at the Quonset Hut, he oversaw sessions for Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, and Hank Williams. Snoddy engineered Williams’ last recording session in 1952.

In 1960, Snoddy inadvertently discovered the fuzz pedal effect while working on a session for Robbins. In the middle of the song “Don’t Worry,” Grady Martin’s bass guitar started making a distorted sound because the transformer in the amplifier blew up. Snoddy later constructed a guitar pedal that would replicate the fuzz tone, which would later become a crucial element in what is now known as “The Nashville Sound.” The effect became massively influential in rock music.

In 1967, Snoddy acquired an old movie complex and established Woodland Studios, which became a frequented recording spot for artists like Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and many others. Snoddy was also a U.S. Army veteran who served during World War II, earning three bronze stars.