Tom "Howard" McCormick was a Phoenix based electronics wizard who started making custom amplifiers for Duane Eddy in the late 1950s. McCormick's Howtronics company introduced a Howard brand of amplifiers which were some of the cleanest and loudest amps on the market at the time. These Howard amps had closed back cabinets and 15" JBL speakers - like the Fender Showman which appeared in 1961.

McCormick also introduced a range of Howard brand electric guitars. These had radical futuristic designs and used some unconvential construction features like fibreglass necks and reverse headstocks. These Howard guitars of the late 1950s and early 1960s are very rare. Howard even made a double neck model for Duane Eddy.

Later in the 1960s Tom Howard Mccormick moved to Grand Prarie Texas where he began was making pedal steel guitars. He was still making these in the early 1970s.

Source:The Strat in the Attic: Thrilling Stories of Guitar Archaeology. Deke Dickerson. Voyageur Press, 2013