Phish Videos - your favorite for picking up technique

[Heady Jam Fan]

I was watching some Phish videos tonight (and I have stayed up later than I intended), and I am always blown away. I was really watching Trey's technique with all the switches on the guitar as sometimes which pickup (neck, bridge, single, bucker, etc) throws me more than I think it should. Actually intentionally watching for this made me realize how difficult this is and why; he was flicking the pickup selector back and forth every few notes on some tunes, the other switches got worked as well, not to mention the volume knob hardly stays in one spot for a few measures. I was always thinking 'what pickup setting for this song / part of a song."

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone had suggestions for a Phish video - either on youtube or via iTunes (got some iTunes dolla's, I think this a better investment than The Best of Temptations) that shows a lot of close ups of Trey's guitar work, both on the fretboard and on the pup selectors etc.

I have been thinking about this a bit because there are a lot of tones that seem to fall in between my bridge and neck pup when I have my amp set for the most versatility (best sound out of each pup) (and this is not the inbetween setting on his guitar that I am overlooking), when I feel like I could nail those tones if I set up my amp favoring one pup or the other, but not both. He clearly uses both quite often! And I left wondering if I should set the amp to warm up the bridge or to brighten up the neck.

And for those of you who say "don't worry man, do your own thing, no need to copy Trey," I am just trying to learn from the Red Headed Yoda of guitar.

[fulltone1989]

Although my guitar only has a toggle for the two p/u's I have amassed a decent collection of Phish DVD's for technique.

IMHO, it really depends on what "era" you're going for, because the earlier stuff (1995 etc) has some decent cimanatography but it's nothing compared to the great shots on the IT and Live in Brooklyn DVD's. For example, the Clifford Ball DVD is GREAT for entertainment purposes and there are some good shots of Trey's fretwork, the cost of the package doesn't really equal out (if that makes sense.) Alternatively, I would go with Coral Sky from 1996 (I think) bc the cinamatography is much more focused on the band, you see more guitar goodies, and the setlist is gnar gnar.

For the later stuff, I'd reccommend Live in Brooklyn over IT - here's why

Although IT had better playing overall IMHO I thought the cinamatography was all over the place. Don't get me wrong, its an awesome DVD but the camera bounces around way too much for anyone to get decent looks at Trey's fretwork. Also it's technically a documentary but you can access a pseudo setlist from a sub menu. I'd pick Live in Brooklyn for similar reasons to Coral Sky - although a lot of people poop on this show I think it was pretty damn good considering where their minds were. The Suzy jam is nice and there are some good transitions throughout, and there are a lot more shots of Trey's guitar work.

I haven't seen the recent Utica or Alpine Valley shows or Walnut Creek (next on my list) so I can't comment on their educational standpoints.


As far as youtubes go, theres a video of Trey and Page w/ the Allman Brothers doing In Memory of Elizabeth Reed where Trey just rips it. You can kind of see where he's going. There's also a Guitar One video of Trey and Warren Haynes jamming on a blues tune which is sweet also.

These are just some starting vids that have helped me out.