Music + Technology = Pete Lacis

This is the sort of story that we gearheads just love.  Being that I was heavily influence by the music of Phish and its guitarist Trey Anastasio in the 90′s, I became a big fan of hollow body guitars used in conjunction with a compressor pedal to achieve loud and clear sustain with a clean, undistorted tone.  Well in the last few years of Phish’s existence, Trey ditched his long-used compressor and his tone took on a darker, edgier and grungier sound which was far removed from its pristine and singing mid-90′s hey-day.

As fate would have it, I was not alone is my disdain for Trey’s tone of late.  The folks over at phantasytour.com had been discussing the demise of Trey’s tone and the discussion heated up once the band announced that it would be reforming for some shows this spring.  The conversation got to Trey via his long-time songwriter partner and lyricist Tom Marshall who had stumbled up these discussions.  The following is an excerpt from Tom Marshall’s conversation with Trey Anastasio:

I spent the last two days and last night in New York writing three cool songs with Red. In direct response to msharky’s request, I asked Trey what the deal is with this compressor stuff?.I explained the PT threads requesting that he bring back the compressor. He was very surprised that I was asking him this, because I’m not really a ‘tech’ guy…you know? I also don’t listen too much to old shows, and so the “tone change” was lost on me. I like writing new songs, and I don’t focus too much on the past. First i must explain that he found it funny that I brought it up, because he had been thinking the EXACT SAME THING: Phish is coming back, maybe the Ross should also come back. He’s thinking of the Mesa and possibly the cabinets too — but he does like that little fender.

Basically, he used the compressor differently than people normally do — often people will place it early in the effects chain to smooth the sound going into the other effects. Trey did it backwards, and had the Ross last — AFTER his two tube screamers. The Ross was always on. Always. His signature Squirming Coil “playable sustain” was the result of full volume pedal and both screamers on and pumping that signal into the Ross.

Me: and so you got rid of it?

Trey: I started playing without it after Phish and found that I could get an “edgier” sound that I can’t get with it.

Me: so it’s gone? or just off?

Trey: gone

Me: forever?

Trey: no, I’ve been thinking of bringing it back for a while now…if i can find it!

Well with the news that Trey would consider returning to his old sound if he could find his old compressor, the People for a Compressed Trey banded together to procure one for him!  The future just got a lot smoother!

[Show as slideshow]

Sources: Relix, Rolling Stone, Phantasy Tour, Tom Marshall’s Picassa Album

amplifiers, guitar, music, musical instruments, musician compressor, phish, ross compressor, tone, trey anastasio

After about a month in the shop, I received my newly modded Custom Audio Amplifiers OD100 Classic Plus (+). This is actually the third time this amp has been modded (was originally an OD100 Standard, then SE, now Classic Plus).

My first impressions on this amp are as follows: the character of the gain is still 100% Suhr. It lives in the same family as the SE version of the OD100, however through the conversion to the plexi transformer and the EL34′s some things have really changed.

Normally I would associate sustain with compression. The SE was pretty compressed, but only in boost mode, IMO. The CAA Classic Plus is a much easier to play amp. Notes just seem to sustain without sounding compressed. Everything just oozes out of this amp while still retaining the sound of the guitar/pickup. That’s how John’s described the amp and that’s why I went with this version. So far, I’m totally digging the change.

Special note should be mentioned about the DEPTH and FEEBACK controls. The tonal shaping that can happen as a result of these additions is really something else. If you want to have that “rounded” Dumble style tone, you can roll off the Feedback entirely.

One other thing that should be mentioned is that this is the first of the OD100 series where I feel the amp works equally well for single coils and humbuckers. That, to me, is one of the best parts of this amp. I just works!

Here’s a little sample of what the amp sounds like:

http://www.petelacis.com/clips/od100classicplus.mp3

Custom Audio Amplification OD100 Classic Plus through CAA 1×12 Eminence Governor mic’d with a SM57 just off center. Guitar is a stock Gibson Les Paul VOS 1960.

amplifiers, audio clips, musical instruments, pete lacis, technology amp mods, caa, classic rock, custom audio amplifiers, dumble, les paul, od100 classic plus +, suhr, tone