Trey Anastasio Phish guitar tone with Amplitube 3

Trying to match Trey's early 90's nineties tone and now current (after he switched back to the Mesa Boogie Mark III amp) when he was still using the Ross compressor in his pedal chain. I have always searched for that perfect Trey tone in hardware form and software amp sims. I finally started reading up on his various rig configurations through the years, most notably before their 2000 hiatus. The exact amps he used might be in question throughout the years, and he has used a Fender Deluxe Reverb and a Custom Audio Electronics preamp, but I know he possibly used a Mesa Boogie Mark III in the early 90's Picture of Nectar-Hoist period, and has since been using it live again with the compressor pedal in his chain. The fine folks at amp sim company IK Multimedia finally modeled a Mark III to painstakingly accurate detail in Amplitube 3, complete with graphic EQ. I knew his tone was achievable with this somehow and began tweaking away. This is a basic chain with effects he usually uses, I know there are some others in there like a wah etc, but the main effects are the tube screamers and a Ross Compressor, along with the phase modulation effects at the beginning like the UniVibe pedal. The choice of cabinet was real important, trying out most of the 1x12 and 2x12 speaker models, you will get different tone accents for a brighter or darker tone. For mics, in the studio situation I have heard Paul will use a pair of AKG 414 condensers that are spaced, one close and one far, and possibly panned different, but with no EQ or preamp coloring added afterward. Add subtle or not so subtle reverb depending on the song. He has a lot of mids in his frequency so crank the mids up on the amp and dial the tube screamer tone to a 4 (or about an 11 o'clock position), but adjust to taste. The Mesa's graphic eq is also engaged.

He uses his hollow body Languedoc guitars, fingers, and often rhythmic percussive picking technique to get most of his tone though.

I don't have a hollow body or semi-hollow body guitar, but any guitar with humbuckers and nice sustain will do the trick. I used my Gibson Les Paul Standard from the early 90's, equipped with the lower output 490 and 496 alnico humbuckers that came stock on the LP Standards of the era. They got a nice upper mid range to them and not too brite in the treble, which happened to work out perfect for getting closer to his tone. I wanted a Les Paul ever since I heard Slash and Jimmy Page, but now it also works for Trey.

I just now recently heard about the fans on Phantasy Tour petitioning for a compressor back in Trey's sound, as it had been absent in the post 2000 Phish era for a while. "People For a Compressed Trey" got together donations from phans and raised enough money to buy him a vintage Ross Compressor pedal, and sent him it as a present. How cool is that.

I am not Trey, nor will I pretend to be. I am very influenced by his tone and style, and it has helped me to advance and progress in my guitar playing, technique and the way I approach song writing or playing a non-Phish song.

The audio is the beginning of Punch You In The Eye (PYITE) from 7-8-2000, one of my favorite live songs. My playing is panned a little left and phish is little right. I have intentionally dropped out some of the song so you can hear the tone. Yes it is a little sloppy in timing, as I just learned the actual song 10 mins before I recorded it. Check out sneakypower's Handmade Groove acoustic duo for an incredible version of this whole song.

This tone works for most phish songs pre 2000, just disengage the UniVibe or tube screamer pedal. If you have a Les Paul type guitar, you can get a lot of tonal and gain/overdrive variations by only adjusting your pickup selection, volume and tone controls, even with the tubescreamer on, which is all possible with the use of the compressor pedal. I don't find it a crutch, so I hope Treys rethinks that, and continues to use it in his rig.

My recording chain:
Les Paul into IK Multimedia Stealth Pedal into Amplitube 3
Monitored on Sennheiser HD-280 headphones
Dunlop Jazz III stubby pick

This is through observation and research, and I could be completely wrong in some aspects. Feel free to add your comments, insight, or your own preset, as his tone is often discussed and sought after by many. You would need to invest a considerable amount of money to afford all the gear he uses, so it is at least fun to try and replicate it with an amp simulation using computer fx. I would like to hear your Trey amp sim presets. I know it will not be like playing on a real tube amp (of which I also have).

Category:

Music

Tags:

• trey
• anastasio
• phish
• guitar
• tone
• amplitube
• PYITE
• punch
• you
• in
• the
• eye
• rig
• setup
• chain
• ampsim
• stealth
• pedal
• AT3
• mesa
• boogie
• mark
• III

[Phishboy26]

Man you need to research his pedal placement. Trey never uses modulation before his overdrive or compressor and never has.

[amurphycmu]

@Phishboy26 Thanks. I just looked at the Stangedesign site again and realized this. Sometimes these amp sims don't give you control of every aspect of the signal path and placement, and sometimes things sound better placed differently in an ampsim. Does the tone I got not sound like the PYITE from the example? You would have to have a decent amount of money and investment to buy all the gear he uses, so these ampsims make it fun to try. If anyone has Trey presets for ampsims, I'd like to hear em

[GMS61]

Deluxe Reverb

[amurphycmu]

@GMS61 he has used that as well. According to Strangedesign -

Trey used to play this amp (Mesa Boogie Mark III) in the early 90's. Around 1996 he switched to the Fender Deluxe Reverb. Starting in 2009 he has added this back t o his rig. I'm not sure of any mods to this amp but we hopefully will find out soon.-

I guess I should change Late 90s, to early 90s and now current. The PYITE tone sounded similiar to one I got, which was from 7-8-2000.

[KeeleyElectronics]

Hey this is a PERFECT example of pedal placement and how there is no "Right Way" to place your effects.(Virtual effects are much different than boxes on the ground, so I doubt this order would sound as good there.)Sure there are some strange things like the way the tremolo sounds at times, but amurphycmu does a great job copying the tone! Right on brother! Good job! Just fine tune the waveform of the tremolo effect, and reduce the gain a bit...I'd call it good enough for the girls I date.

[Phishboy26]

@amurphycmu Treys tone was unreal from 1994-1997. I have never like his Deluxe Reverb tone.

[Trey4Fun]

Trey is a Jedi. That early 90's sound was sick, and beautiful, and produced some face-melting jams that we humans are lucky enough to have on tape.

[ifenderbender]

I would love to hear how the uni-vibe sounds alone on a clean channel :) It's my favorite effect in the whole world.

[nate11star]

eco quality for amps and mid quality with cabinets?....how's that posible?.... at the same time? ¿?¿?¿?¿

[Phishboy26]

@KingDOLEMITE I wasnt talking to you so mind your own buisness

[KingDOLEMITE]

@Phishboy26 you need to research getting a life.