Amplification: 2 x Komet Trainwreck 60. One has 6L6 tubes and the other has EL-34, with the 6L6 being used most often. 6L6 is a blackface-to-tweedy Fender sound with a strong mid-focus, while the EL-34 is a Marshall sound, with an even more aggressive, muscular low end.
Cabinets:
Ambikabs: 2 Komet Ambikabs. Each Ambikab has its own effects loop with a Source Audio Ventris Reverb and an Eventide TimeFactor. The 12″ speakers are Celestion Heritage 65’s. The cabs are cross-mic’d for a wider soundstage.
Leslies: 2 x Leslie G-37. One of the Leslies is dedicated to guitar, while the other is used for the samples coming from the McMillen 12-step. There is a Leslie speed selector switch and a volume expression pedal that controls the Guitar Leslie volume.
Guitars:
Electric: Koa 1, Mar-Mar (Old Reliable) with P-90s.
Mics: Trey’s rig is mic’d by a Shure SM-57 and a Royer SF-12. Trey also uses SE GuitarF Reflexion Filters to isolate these mics. Trey also told me that he added extra filters to the non-mic’d speakers just to tame some of the stage volume.
Effects (see below for order):
Gain/Overdrive
• 2 x Tube Screamer (vintage TS-808)
• Klon
Voicing
• Digitech Whammy II
• 2 x Electro Harmonix (“EHX”) POG2
• EHX B9
• 2 x Beigel Tru-Tron 3x Envelope Filter (one sweeps UP, one DOWN)
• CAE Wah
Time-Based (reverb and delay)
• Boomerang
• Eventide Space Reverb
• Source Audio Ventris (Ambikab Loops)
• 2 x Eventide TimeFactor (Ambikab Loops, set to DIGI)
• 2 x Way Huge Supa Puss atop rack (both have the R79 removed from the printed circuit board, allowing for a smoother curve or more linear slope on the mix control. One is set to quarter note, the other to dotted eighth.)
• Ibanez DM-2000 digital delay
Modulation
• Victoria Reverberato
• Bradshaw Custom Super Tremolo (for CHOP)
• Shin -Ei UniVibe
• McMillen 12-step midi keyboard foot controller (see the bottom of the 2018 Spring TAB Tour entry for a full explainer)
Here’s a labeled look at the floor array. Status quo from the last few tours. The RST-expander is in use because Trey needed additional controls for the extra POG and Tru-Tron.Here’s an annotated look at the rack-top. Note there are two POGs and two Tru-Trons, so that Trey doesn’t have to bother with changing settings. The Ross Compressor is up there, too. Note: for the first time in awhile, the Moog MF 104M Delay was not in the signal chain.Readers noticed that there were some new pickups in the Mar-Mar guitar. They were a pair of Seymour Duncan Phat Cats, which are P-90 style single coil pickups. In this configuration, the wiring is different, since there’s no coil split: Per a source: the front mini switch is non-operational; the rear mini switch positions are (1) middle coil (2) all 3 (3) P90s only; the main toggle switch controls only P90s and is standard neck/both/bridge. It’s tricky to seamlessly switch back and forth between the P90-equipped Mar-Mar and the humbucker-equipped Koa 1, because the output levels of the pickups differ enough that the switch requires an adjustment to the sensitivity of the MuTron for the env filter to trigger properly. That may be why we didn’t hear more P90 in Mexico. The Ross is after the MuTrons, which makes the howling filter sweep easier to manage. But that means the Ross isn’t doing anything to manage the differing output levels between the pickups (thanks @gossturf for the photo).The Ross Compressor was back in, as you can see here. I’ve circled in red a switch on the RST labeled “Ross.” The Ross had been used less of late. That’s because the Komet 60 was adding enough compression on its own, which it does when you run it past 12 o’clock on the volume dial (Trey had been running it at about 2 o’clock). Compression on top of compression can make for a mushy tone-mess. But in Mexico, Trey ran the Komet closer to 12 o’clock on the volume, leaving some room for the Ross to do some compression work.Here’s the Victoria Reverberato around back.
Firstly, thank you thank you thank you. This site has been a pillar of consistency for me and my Phish tribute band. Secondly, I was wondering if you had more info on the Octave down sound that Trey uses so often. Not the harmonized octave down, but the straight up single note octave down. In previous years, it was always the whammy but in recent tours I saw it was replaced by/supplemented with the OC-2 . I personally find that specifically, the whammys output on that setting only (Oct down), is quite low output. The only way I can drive the sound is if I turn on my wah or mutron. Even then, it sounds very affected and still dampened. I would like to use the sound without it sounding like the teacher from Charlie Brown, I’m finding little clarity to it. As well, if I adjust the volume on the whammy to support the sound, the other settings are screamong loud. So a few questions….what is the volume of the whammy pedal set to? How does he have the volume balanced between all whammy settings? Or is this a big mystery? I’m thinking of adding the oc 2 to my rig just for this issue. Thanks so much!!!!
The latest iteration of that sound is the Electro Harmonix POG2 with a blend of 1 and 2 octaves down. Add the Tube Screamer (MORE) on top for the full throated growl. He also sometimes uses the “attack” control on the POG to give it a quick volume swell so it sounds more like a cello or other stringed instrument with no pick attack. Check out the first demo video here: https://treysguitarrig.com/treys-pedals/audio-video-samples/
The Whammy II is very touchy, but sounds amazing.
Run it after your Wah, but before the overdrives… then you should have no trouble finding that really great Octave down tone.
*Be sure to set the input sensitivity on the Whammy II for “red light peeking” when your guitar volume is all the way up and you’re hitting the strings hard.
*Set it too hot and you’ll get nasty digital distortion–>Set it too low and it won’t track well at all.
*Also be sure to throw it in a true bypass loop, because it is a tone killer when off…
Good Luck!
Firstly, thank you thank you thank you. This site has been a pillar of consistency for me and my Phish tribute band. Secondly, I was wondering if you had more info on the Octave down sound that Trey uses so often. Not the harmonized octave down, but the straight up single note octave down. In previous years, it was always the whammy but in recent tours I saw it was replaced by/supplemented with the OC-2 . I personally find that specifically, the whammys output on that setting only (Oct down), is quite low output. The only way I can drive the sound is if I turn on my wah or mutron. Even then, it sounds very affected and still dampened. I would like to use the sound without it sounding like the teacher from Charlie Brown, I’m finding little clarity to it. As well, if I adjust the volume on the whammy to support the sound, the other settings are screamong loud. So a few questions….what is the volume of the whammy pedal set to? How does he have the volume balanced between all whammy settings? Or is this a big mystery? I’m thinking of adding the oc 2 to my rig just for this issue. Thanks so much!!!!
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The latest iteration of that sound is the Electro Harmonix POG2 with a blend of 1 and 2 octaves down. Add the Tube Screamer (MORE) on top for the full throated growl. He also sometimes uses the “attack” control on the POG to give it a quick volume swell so it sounds more like a cello or other stringed instrument with no pick attack. Check out the first demo video here: https://treysguitarrig.com/treys-pedals/audio-video-samples/
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Which Whammy are you using? Where is it in the chain?
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It’s going through a loop bybass switcher after a small pedalboard consisting of two ts9s, comp, wah
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The Whammy II is very touchy, but sounds amazing.
Run it after your Wah, but before the overdrives… then you should have no trouble finding that really great Octave down tone.
*Be sure to set the input sensitivity on the Whammy II for “red light peeking” when your guitar volume is all the way up and you’re hitting the strings hard.
*Set it too hot and you’ll get nasty digital distortion–>Set it too low and it won’t track well at all.
*Also be sure to throw it in a true bypass loop, because it is a tone killer when off…
Good Luck!
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Iv had great success running a Whammy 4 in my chain. True bypass allows me to not waste one of my 8 loops on it plus it tracks super well.
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Hi, thanks for the website and information. Does anyone know if the klon is in front of or behind the tubescreamers in the chain?
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Before. https://treysguitarrig.com/treys-signal-chain/
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