95
Era 03 — Beyond the Boogie

The Year of 1995

The Mesa Boogie Mark III era came to an end. 1995 saw Trey move to a modular preamp/power amp architecture for the first time, adding rotating speaker textures, tremolo, and univibe to a rig that was rapidly maturing into something entirely his own.

Preamp CAE SE 3+ Preamp
Power Amp Groove Tubes Dual 75
Guitar Languedoc MarMar (unchanged)
New This Year MTI Rotophaser · CAE Tremolo · CAE Black Cat Vibe
🌀
Major rig change Trey left behind the Mesa Boogie Mark III — his amp for the entire history of Phish to this point — in favour of a modular preamp/power amp setup. The CAE SE 3+ and Groove Tubes Dual 75 gave him a fundamentally different tonal palette, and three new rack effects expanded his texture options considerably.
01

Amplification

⚡
Preamp New '95
Custom Audio Electronics SE 3+
A rack-mounted tube preamp replacing the Mesa Boogie Mark III's preamp section. The SE 3+ gave Trey a new tonal character — cleaner headroom and a different kind of tube saturation than the Boogie he'd used since the beginning of Phish.
Power Amp New '95
Groove Tubes Dual 75
A stereo tube power amplifier paired with the CAE SE 3+ preamp. The Dual 75 drove Trey's two Languedoc 2×12 cabinets, completing the modular amp system that replaced the integrated Mesa Boogie head.
Speaker Cabinets ×2 Unchanged
Custom Languedoc 2×12 ×2
Both Languedoc-built plywood cabinets continued in use, both loaded with Celestion Vintage 30s — now driven by the Groove Tubes Dual 75 power amp rather than the Mesa Boogie heads.
Debut uncertainty It is not confirmed whether this new amp configuration debuted at the 5/16/95 Lowell Memorial Auditorium show or at the first show of the Summer 1995 tour on 6/7/95. No photos from either show have ever surfaced, leaving the exact debut date unresolved.
End of the Mesa Boogie era The Mesa Boogie Mark III had been Trey's amp for the entire history of Phish up to this point — from the earliest Vermont basement shows through the full Bradshaw rack build of 1994. Moving to the CAE/Groove Tubes modular system in 1995 was the most significant tonal shift of his career to date.
02

Guitar

🎸
Unchanged through end of year Trey's primary guitar remained the original Languedoc hollowbody — the MarMar — through all of 1995. The maple top / padauk body instrument with the Marley headstock inlay continued to be his main voice on stage.

Acoustic Guitar Use — 1995

I'm Blue, I'm Lonesome — acoustic anchor of fall '95 The Bill Monroe / Hank Williams bluegrass standard became the most consistently acoustic song of 1995. Its presence in dozens of fall tour setlists made acoustic guitar a reliable mid-show fixture throughout the run.
03

Rack System

🖥

The two-rack Bradshaw MIDI system from 1994 remained in place, but both racks saw changes. Rack A was trimmed — the Small Stone phaser and DOD 680 analog delay were removed. Rack B was significantly expanded, gaining the new amp system and three new effect units alongside the three Alesis Microverbs.

Rack A — Effects Lower right, within reach
1U Rack Tuner Tuner Carried
1U Ibanez DM2000 Digital Delay Carried
1U Ibanez TS-9 Overdrive Carried
1U Ibanez TS-10 Overdrive Carried
1U Ross Compressor Compressor Carried
2U CAE 4×4 Audio Controller ×2 Loop Switcher Carried
— EHX Small Stone Removed Phase Shifter
— DOD 680 Analog Delay Removed Analog Delay
Rack B — Amp & Effects 16U road case · behind stage
1U CAE SE 3+ Preamp Preamp New
2U Groove Tubes Dual 75 Power Amp New
1U CAE Super Tremolo Tremolo New
1U CAE Black Cat Vibe Univibe New
1U MTI Rotophaser Rotary New
1U Alesis Microverb — "Reverse" Reverb Carried
1U Alesis Microverb — "Vast" Reverb Carried
1U Alesis Microverb — "Full" Reverb Carried
1U CAE Audio Controller Loop Switcher Carried
New road case — Rack B The custom wooden rack used in 1994 was replaced this year with a proper road case. Based on available evidence it appears to be a 16U case with 2" foam shock mounting — a significant upgrade in durability and road-worthiness for a rig that was now touring extensively. The manufacturer of the case is not yet confirmed.
04

New Effects — 1995

🎛
Rotary Speaker New '95
MTI Rotophaser
A "chopped Leslie" — essentially the top rotor section of a full Leslie speaker cabinet, designed specifically for guitar rigs. The Rotophaser gave Trey a genuine rotating speaker texture without the size and complexity of a full Leslie. Controlled via a dedicated floor pedal with Mute, Speed, and Stop switches.
Tremolo New '95
CAE Super Tremolo
A rack-mounted tremolo unit from Custom Audio Electronics. The rate was controllable via a dedicated floor pedal, allowing Trey to dial in tremolo speed in real time from his pedalboard without reaching into the rack.
Univibe New '95
CAE Black Cat Vibe
Custom Audio Electronics' take on the classic Uni-Vibe effect — a phaser/chorus hybrid that simulates a rotating speaker in a different way to the Rotophaser. The Black Cat Vibe added a warmer, more organic modulation texture to Trey's palette alongside the MTI unit.
MTI Rotophaser — floor control The Rotophaser was unique in Trey's rig for having its own dedicated multi-function floor pedal — separate from the CAE RS-10 MIDI controller — with three switches: Mute, Speed (slow/fast rotor toggle), and Stop. This gave Trey direct, real-time control over the rotary effect mid-song without relying on MIDI preset changes.
05

Floor Pedalboard

👣
  • MIDI Controller CAE RS-10 — carried over from 1994, still the primary switching interface for all rack effect loops.
  • Volume Ernie Ball volume pedal — unchanged from previous eras.
  • Wah Dunlop Crybaby — carried over from 1994.
  • Whammy II DigiTech Whammy II pitch shifter — carried over from 1994, present on the floor pedalboard.
  • Rotophaser Control MTI Rotophaser dedicated floor pedal — three switches: Mute, Speed (slow/fast toggle), and Stop. Unique to the Rotophaser and independent of the RS-10 MIDI system.
  • Tremolo Rate Dedicated rate pedal for the CAE Super Tremolo rack unit — allowed real-time control of tremolo speed from the floor.
Floor layout note The exact arrangement of floor pedals in this era is not fully documented. The most likely configuration adds the MTI Rotophaser control pedal and the tremolo rate pedal alongside the RS-10, volume pedal, and wah from 1994 — making this Trey's most complex floor setup to date.
06

Signal Chain Overview

⟶

Simplified signal flow — exact order not fully confirmed

Guitar
Languedoc
MarMar
→
Wah
Crybaby
Wah
→
Rack A
TS-9 /
TS-10
→
Rack A
Ross
Comp.
→
Rack A
DM2000
→
Rack B
CAE
Tremolo
→
Rack B
Black Cat
Vibe
→
Rack B
MTI
Rotophaser
→
Floor
Ernie Ball
Volume
→
Rack B
CAE SE 3+
Preamp
→
Rack B
Groove Tubes
Dual 75
→
FX Loop
Microverb
×3
→
Cabinets ×2
Languedoc
2×12 ×2
Purple border = Rack A unit  ·  Green border = Rack B unit  ·  Highlighted border = new in 1995  ·  Dashed = effects loop
Exact position of Tremolo, Black Cat Vibe, and Rotophaser within the signal chain not fully confirmed. Microverb placement in effects loop is an assumption carried from 1994.
07

Era Summary

◎

1995 is the year Trey's rig grew up. The Mesa Boogie Mark III — the amp that defined every Phish recording from the band's earliest days through the Bradshaw revolution of 1994 — was retired in favour of a modular CAE/Groove Tubes system that offered new tonal possibilities and greater flexibility.

The three new effects added in 1995 — the MTI Rotophaser, the CAE Super Tremolo, and the CAE Black Cat Vibe — pushed Trey's palette into territory it had never visited before. The Rotophaser in particular became a signature texture, its chopped-Leslie sound appearing throughout the year's most exploratory jams.

Meanwhile, Rack A was simplified — the Small Stone phaser and DOD 680 analog delay from 1994 were gone, leaving a leaner, more purposeful effects chain. The DM2000 and Tube Screamers remained as the core of the pre-amp signal path.

The exact debut show for this configuration remains unresolved. No photos from the 5/16/95 Lowell show or the 6/7/95 Summer tour opener have ever surfaced, leaving open the question of exactly when Trey first plugged into the CAE SE 3+ on a Phish stage.

CAE SE 3+ Preamp Groove Tubes Dual 75 MTI Rotophaser CAE Super Tremolo CAE Black Cat Vibe DM2000 Whammy II Debut Unconfirmed Languedoc MarMar Languedoc 2×12 ×2
08

Listen on LivePhish

🎧

1995 is the year the Bradshaw rack reached full maturity — the Mesa Boogie was retired, the CAE SE 3+ and Groove Tubes debuted, and the Black Cat Vibe and Motion Sound Pro 3 arrived. Live Phish Vol. 1 (12/14/95 Binghamton) is the most celebrated single document of the era. The Halloween Quadrophenia show and NYE at MSG round out the year.

Dec 14, 1995
Live Phish Vol. 1 — Binghamton
Broome County Arena, Binghamton, NY
The show that became the first official Live Phish release. Tweezer > Timber > Keyboard Army in set two is one of the most revered jams of the era — the CAE/Groove Tubes rig at full rip.
Stream or download →
Oct 31, 1995
Live Phish Vol. 14 — Halloween: Quadrophenia
Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, IL
The Who's Quadrophenia as musical costume, performed with a full horn section. The new CAE preamp and Groove Tubes power amp system less than a year old, running full force into the Languedoc cabinets.
Stream or download →
Dec 31, 1995
New Year's Eve — Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Phish's first NYE at MSG — the "ball drop" gag, a stunning second set, and a three-set performance that cemented their status as the era's premier live act. The MarMar guitar's final full-time year.
Stream or download →
08

Open Research Questions

❓
Research needed The following items represent open questions for this era — areas where documentation is incomplete or evidence is not yet confirmed.
  • Acoustic guitar — make/model The specific acoustic guitar used throughout 1995 for mid-show acoustic appearances (I'm Blue I'm Lonesome, My Long Journey Home, Acoustic Army, etc.) has not been confirmed. Make, model, and year of the instrument are unknown.
  • MTI Rotophaser — exact debut show The first show the MTI Rotophaser appeared in Trey's rig has not been pinpointed. It is placed as debuting in 1995 based on available evidence, but the precise date is unconfirmed.
  • CAE Black Cat Vibe — addition date The exact date the CAE Black Cat Vibe was added to the rig in 1995 has not been confirmed from available sources.
  • Rack A vs Rack B — unit placement The precise distribution of units between Rack A and Rack B across the 1995 touring year has not been fully confirmed. Some assignments are based on inference from video rather than direct documentation.
09

Photos

📷
Trey on stage, Summer 1995 tour
CAE SE 3+ preamp rack unit
Groove Tubes Dual 75 power amp
MTI Rotophaser unit
CAE Black Cat Vibe
CAE Super Tremolo rack unit
Rack B — full 1995 configuration
Floor pedalboard — 1995 layout

Click any thumbnail to open fullscreen slideshow. Replace src values in the script below with real image URLs when ready.