Trey's STL tone

[IamWILSON]

Saw something on PT saying that Trey was actually using the Sarno Earth Drive last night.  Anybody have factual based confirmation of this?  His tone definitely sounded different at times.  Regardless of all that nonsense, amazing show if you haven't heard it, check it out!

Listen to STL PYITE - at about 4mins in you really hear it clearly.  A Trey tone he has never had before.  I don't know if it was him going to this new/different OD pedal or turning off his compressor, but it's pretty clear that it was a different sound for Trey.

[the_great_lemon]

I noticed in some of the Facebook photos you can see has a Deluxe Reverb sitting infront of his two Lang. cabs....maybe that's it?

[Walker done done]

I hear what you're talking about during PYITE.  A much more raw tone with that OD.  Weird.  Not even sure I like it all that much.  Tinny.

Another thing I noticed on those Phish FB pics is a huge speaker behind Trey to his left/behind Mike's rack.  What is that for, Fish's drums?  He (Trey) still has the Ampeg speaker out set up, presumably for Mike's feed, so what's that other huge thing?

[MomaDan]

Not a fan of that new tone. Its easiest to tell the difference at the beginning of Limb By Limb, Trey starts with what PT thinks is the Earth Drive then switches to his normal setup which sounds much better. Maybe he was just tweaking the DR settings but a new pedals makes sense. I wonder if he will hold onto it and find some better sounds. Or its a one time use like Sarno's SMS on 6/18/09.

[Brian27]

Im all about new sounds. That's what is so great about being a Guitarist is the ability to try out new things. However i do think it would be a wise choice to have a soundcheck before any show that includes using new gear. Although im not a big fan of Fender amps in general i think that Trey's Fender tone of late 1997-2004 was awesome.  My issue is OD pedals tend to make brighter tones worse then they already are and from listening to some of lastnights show i think they should have had a soundcheck so adjustments on gear could have been made before the show because Treys tone was about as thin as i have ever heard it and i didnt like it at all.

[MomaDan]

Apparently the Earth Drive is already off his board tonight

[webephishin]

I definately heard the difference in his tone as well...and good call on the Limb by Limb comment- it's very obvious if you relisten to the show.  Not to steer away from this topic, but how would you go about fixing a tinny tone?  I kinda feel like my tone is a bit thin at times.  I run a AM silver ts9 (set at a lower gain) and a ts9dx (higher gain) through a 2 knob keeley compressor into a Fender twin reverb silverface.

[Walker done done]

What are your ^ amp settings?

Back to this new Earth Drive.  It blows.  Glad to hear it's off his board MomaDan.  Listening to the rest of the St. Louis show (on Walk Away now) and it is flat out terrible.  On the recording at least.  I wonder if it was as stark of a difference in person.  I'm sure it was.  Yuck.

[raisingfreen]

but how would you go about fixing a tinny tone?

I would say if you feel your tone is "tinny" to try and lower the treble or increase bass slightly. A twin is loud and clean. Lots of people run heavy mids and treble on those as they will cut through the mix pretty good. (heavy mids and treble on a twin sounds like ass by itself, with a band it really cuts and mixes well) If you listen to old Garcia stuff it as all mids and treble, but it cuts through really well. Reducing the mids (scooped) on a Twin will give you a fuller tone. It's not unique but it will limit the "tinny" experience.

Apparently the Earth Drive is already off his board tonight

Regarding the Sarno Earth Drive, that pedal is extremely popular in the Dead/Garcia guitarists realm as well as Steel Guitar players. It's kinda different than a TS9. The ones I have heard were not tinny at all but were just meant to give a little edge similar to a Dist+ set really low. Also quite similar to some of the boutique drives that are really transparent. In any case I would not gauge the actual sound or usefulness of the Earth drive pedal on whether or not Trey allegedly used one and it did not sound good.

In other words unless we hear confirmation from Brad or see a pic it's still PT hear-say/bullshit.
I'm amazed at the misinformation that gets thrown around on that specific thread/site. Some of which is really common sense. For instance some are saying he was using a Twin Reverb in ST as well. I can see how that could appear that way as his Deluxe has a Mid knob making it look like a twins control panel.

We never spew bullshit on this thread as we are all highly trained gadget experts right? Or at least educated guesswork and bullshit combined in some poetic way that sounds intriguing.

[jadirusso]

I agree I listened to the show and was floored by how horrible that sounded.He even seems to have used whatever it was during Reba in spots.. just ugly. It almost sounded like he was switching to a completely different rig altogether.

[Happyorange27]

We never spew bullshit on this thread as we are all highly trained gadget experts right? Or at least educated guesswork and bullshit combined in some poetic way that sounds intriguing.

Amen to that!  Yeah those ignorant dudes were skewing everything.  I like how the one guy thought that it was merely turning of the compressor that made the ugly transition tone.  NO WAY DUDE!  Welcome back to the elite group.

[fulltone1989]

Well in all fairness Trey's been using TS-9's for a long long time now and how often do we try out a new pedal and it doesn't work in our rig? SMS is located in STL and my guess is Trey was checking it out much like he tried out the SMS preamp back in 09 when the band went to STL.

Additionally I think he was switching between rigs during the gig, the DR was out front and the mic placement was different between the 1st and 2nd sets (Phish FB pictures confirm this). I haven't listened to the whole show but at times Trey's tone is a shriller and icepick ish at times to my ears. I like the darker MKIII tone still.

[Happyorange27]

Well in all fairness Trey's been using TS-9's for a long long time now and how often do we try out a new pedal and it doesn't work in our rig?

Yeah but I would think you would try it out ahead of time or in sound check.  If it sounds bad there then don't bother in performance.  Well I'm sure there was a good reason.

[Walker done done]

Trey, we know you're reading the SD forum.  Please hop and and explain your STL rig for us. 

[Happyorange27]

Trey, we know you're reading the SD forum.  Please hop and and explain your STL rig for us. 

Hilarious!  (but i do hope he reads this).  Trey, text me!