Trey Anastasio — Rig Network

Trey's iconic instrument — built by luthier and Phish soundman Paul Languedoc, who has made multiple versions of this custom solid-body. The guitar features a distinctive hollow chamber, custom pickups, and a through-neck construction. The Languedoc's unusual acoustic properties (the hollow chamber resonates even when amplified) produce a warm, three-dimensional quality unlike production guitars. Anastasio has used multiple Languedoc builds over the decades.

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Used through early Phish before the Languedoc relationship was established — Les Paul humbuckers into the Mesa produce the warmer, more conventional rock tone heard on early recordings.

Very early Phish — the Strat before Les Pauls and eventually the Languedoc. Anastasio's Strat-era recordings are relatively rare compared to the later instrument-specific identity.

The Mesa Mark III is Trey's consistent amp choice — its warmth, gain range, and note separation suit the diverse harmonic demands of extended improvisation. The graphic EQ allows in-show adjustment. He typically runs it with moderate gain — pushing the Languedoc's output into natural amp saturation rather than using pedals for distortion.

Paul Languedoc also built custom speaker cabinets matched to the Mesa amp's output characteristics — the speaker cabinet is considered part of the Trey Anastasio tone system rather than a generic component.

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Anastasio's primary overdrive pedal — the Full-Drive 2's MOSFET clipping mode produces a warm, amp-like overdrive that pushes the Mesa further without hardening the tone. Set for moderate gain and full output.

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The Whammy is central to Anastasio's extended jam vocabulary — used for octave-up and pitch-shifting effects during improvisations. He deploys it for dramatic one-octave lifts and for creating artificial harmonics that sit above the main melodic line.

Looper pedal used in live performance to create layered guitar textures during extended jams — Anastasio will record a melodic loop and then improvise over it, creating a one-man-band effect.

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Synth-guitar effect used for specific textural passages — the Micro Synth's envelope-controlled filter and sub-octave circuit adds synthesizer-like sweeps beneath conventional guitar signal.

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Delay for lead passages and jam-building — Anastasio uses delay both as a simple dimension tool and as a compositional element, setting long delays and playing against their echo for rhythmic interplay.