Note: Most of this information is pulled from the August 1996 issue of Guitar Shop magazine (thanks to TGR reader JS for sending along!). I’ll be updating and confirming with stage shots as I find them. Please contact me at the email address or social media accounts listed on the right of this site if you have any dated photos that may be helpful. Thanks!
Amplification: Groove Tubes Dual 75 Selectable Stereo Tube Amplifier; Bradshaw 3-channel preamp; Leslie 900 horn/crossover.
Cabinets: 2×12 Languedoc wood cabinets.
Guitars: Old Reliable, Koa #1.
Floor Pedals: Whammy II, CAE RS-10 Audio Switcher, Crybaby Wah, Ernie Ball Volume, speed/waveform controls for CAE Trem.
Effects Rack (from top): Furman Power Conditioner, Ibanez DM-2000, EHX Small Stone Phase Shifter; Roland MS-1 Digital Sampler; 1x Ibanez TS-9, 1 x Ibanez TS-10; Ross Compressor; Korg DTR-2 Tuner, 2 x CAE 4×4.
Amp Rack (from top): Furman Power Conditioner, Black Cat Vibe, CAE/Bradshaw 3-channel preamp, 3 x Alesis Microverbs (“Reverse,” “Vast,” and “Full”); 2 x CAE 4×4; CAE Tremolo; Peavey Valverb Reverb/Tremolo, GT Dual 75.
Below is a shot from Clifford Ball that appears largely — though not entirely — consistent with the rig described above. The pedals (Tube Screamers, EHX Phaser, etc.) are hidden somewhere, likely behind the rig. The Leslie 900 horn is the black box with grills sitting above the amp rack.
Trey's Guitar Rig 
This is great, glad you were able to go back in time! I remember reading about the GT Dual 75 back then in whichever interview he gave but haven’t heard about it since, people always talk about the Mark III being his main amp. Do you know when he started using it? Looks like it was already replaced by the DR not too long after.
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I’m still trying to nail it down, but it looks like the GT didn’t last for more than a few years in the mid-90s. I’ve got shots of the Boogie in place as late as December ’94 and the DR starts showing up as early as December ’97.
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I’ve spent way too much time researching this, mostly through Youtube. I still have the Guitar World issue with the schematic.
As far as I can tell, he used the GT D75 and CAE 3+ for all of 95 and 96, and through summer tour 97.
The DRs and the CAE were both on stage during the fall 97 tour as well as the Island tour in ’98.
I’m pretty sure he switched to the DR (but kept the CAE / GT as a backup) in the fall 97 because his sound changed significantly at that time.
I remember reading that he only used channel 1 of the CAE, but there are videos where you can see the channel being switched. Like I said, I’ve spent way too much time researching this – but I love his sound from that era.
I’d be happy to share links to some videos if you’d like.
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Hey Heath – I’d love to see some links to those videos!
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Hey Jason, I found my old Evernote with links to some of the videos. Trey definitely used channel 1 of the CAE by far the most, but here’s a few clear examples of channel 2:
Wilson, 10/21/95: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfHKKL6E_k0 Sc He’s using ch1 at the beginning of the solo, briefly switches to ch2 when it gets heavier (32:50) and back to ch1 at 33:01.
Maze, 11/14/95: https://youtu.be/ydLaG88v3Yw?t=605 You can see ch2 is active here.
Slave to the Traffic Light, 12/7/95: ch1 is in use here https://youtu.be/t-8xOyAEV4A?t=602 and ch2 here https://youtu.be/t-8xOyAEV4A?t=694
Gin, 11/19/96 (one of my all time favorites) https://youtu.be/ytU5ZyDpFao?t=474 you can see him switch to ch2 at 7:57
Same thing here, see the switch at 5:24 https://youtu.be/lqZ9Wd1Ke0s?t=323, and again here https://youtu.be/lNLaOoTXOOA?t=1908.
1997 is a bit harder, mostly because there few videos that are out there are either poor quality or you can’t see the CAE very well. But you can catch a glimpse of ch2 at 9:20 during Taste at Walnut Creek https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JZQmvftZsQ
The CAE was on stage (and powered up) in every video I’ve found from 95, 96, 97, and the Island Tour 98. The Deluxe Reverbs can be seen in videos from 11/97. I’m pretty sure he stopped using the CAE after the summer tour in 97. There’s a noticeable difference in sound, at least to me.
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Cool – thanks Heath!
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was the MS-1 the “predecessor” to the boomerang?
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It’s a sampler, like the Boomerang. I don’t know a ton about it. The DM-2000 has some sample-like features, too.
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Based on the info I can find about the Roland sampler, my guess is that this only played prerecorded samples. For example, it only has rca and xlr in (not that they couldn’t convert the signal); and there aren’t any foot switch jacks for, say, external controls. Plus, the very nice layout and shots depicted above don’t indicate any controls or loops for the sampler to be in. Therefore, I think it was just samples sent to FOH.
From my recollection of the Oysterhead tour in 2001, Trey was using this or a similar device, mounted to a stand out by his rig, to trigger the various intro and other prerecorded samples from the album that he utilized live. See, for example, the intro to Little Faces.
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Wondering when he used the Small Stone vs the Vibe – on songs like PYITE, FEFY, etc
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