Gear Rundown: Robert Smith of The Cure (2024)

FAQs

What pedals did The Cure use? ›

In recent years, he's almost exclusively used a set of signature instruments built by Schecter, including the electric UltraCure (in both traditional and Bass IV-esque configurations) and the acoustic RS-1000. As for effects, Smith primarily uses Boss pedals with the odd EHX or Dunlop option tossed in.

Peavey Musician Mark III Amplifier Head

Robert is pictured here, playing in front of the pair of Musician amplifiers he employed throughout the 1980s.

Smith used a National Newport Val-Pro 88 and, most notably on Disintegration, a Fender Bass VI baritone guitar. The smoothness of the Bass VI's low-frequency tone is the secret behind the velvety character of Smith's most sumptuous parts.

In a new interview, the Cure frontman and goth father explains that he only wears his ghoulish makeup because of Siouxsie Sioux, the ritual of concerts, and his "ill-defined features."

The Tone Bender is a fuzz pedal made very famous in the 60s and 70s thanks to users like Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and more.

Throughout the '80s and '90s, Smith's main pedal setup was comprised of a Boss CH-1 Super Chorus, a Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive, a BF-2 Flanger, a PN-2 Tremolo/Pan, and a Jen Crybaby Super Wah pedal, many of which can be seen in the above image.

Roland JX-8P Introduced in 1985, the Roland JX-8P was an analog polysynth somewhat held back by its DX7-like data-slider control scheme. Nevertheless, it proved popular and can be heard on tracks from Tangerine Dream, Depeche Mode, The Cure and others.

Peavey 6505 Guitar Amp Head

Today, Ted Nugent uses Peavey 6505 heads onstage. According to Nugent at (15:40), he experimented with Peavy 5150s while playing with his band the Damn Yankees, “just as an experiment… It sounded awesome. And so I stuck with it and today I'm using 6505s.”

He talked about his long, prolific career, using the Roland JC-120 amp in his early days with The Smiths, and how he currently employs the GT-100 Amp Effects Processor to recreate his refined studio sound on stage.

Kurt's amplifier of choice for live performance was a combination of the Mesa Boogie Studio . 22 acting as a preamp and a Crest 4801 as his power amp. The first iteration of this setup was the Mesa Boogie paired with Crown Power Base 2 800w Power Amp, but Kurt felt the Crest worked better with the Mesa preamp.

What amplifier did Jimmy Page use? ›

When performing live Page primarily used Marshall JMP Super Lead amplifiers. In the studio his time working as a session musician freed him up creatively to try a wide range of equipment, including Vox, Fender, Orange, Supro and HiWatt amps alongside his trusty Marshall rig.

1. Fender Standard Jazz Bass Guitar. The standard jazz bass from Fender was introduced in 1960 and is still one of the best-selling bass guitars in existence. It's an all-of-the-above type of instrument, having made its way into literally every style of music.

1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard 'Burst'

A holy grail for collectors and in mint condition to boot. This 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard is an early example to don many of the features iconic to Les Pauls models even today.

Gibson J-160E de 1964

The second of the J-160Es is the guitar that Lennon used most times, being, possibly, the most important of his guitars. This is the song that he used as his main instrument, and therefore to compose, from the times of Beatles For Sale until his death in 1980.

“Every other group we liked had 'The' in front of their name but The Easy Cure sounded stupid so we just changed it to The Cure instead. “It upset a few old fans but I thought The Cure sounded much more it." If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device.

The Cure just aren't a goth band. When people say it to me, you're goth, I say you either have never heard us play or you have no idea what goth is. One of those two has to be true because we're not a goth band. I remember just for a while, goths were outraged that people would think we're a goth band.

Fans are sometimes called The Cureheads. On AO3, the most common pairing is guitarist/lead singer Robert Smith and bassist Simon Gallup.

So, looking at pedals, Pete Townshend used the OD-1, we've got an OD-3. Matt: Yes, we've got an OD-3 which is as close as we can get. Again, it is probably more modern in his rig than the very, very old school days.

Those were pretty much the only fx pedals the Beatles used for most of their career...but in 1969, during the Let It Be sessions, George Harrison started to experiment with more sounds, and besides the Fuzz Face, he also used a Wah Wah pedal.

Back in 1968, Jimi Hendrix introduced the Bearded One, the Reverend Billy F. Gibbons, to the searing, sizzling magic of the Octavio Fuzz. It's been one of Billy's favorite toys ever since, and he pairs it with a 7-band EQ to sculpt and refine the effect for his electrifying solos.

Why is The Cure so good? ›

They mixed atmospherics, heartache and passion in a way that resonated. Songs like 'The Drowning Man' and 'A Forest' were different to anything else you were likely to hear and told dark stories that were fitting for the era.

Between 1982 and 1996, The Cure released seven studio albums, all of which reached the Top 10 in the UK. The most successful of these was Wish (1992) which reached number one in the UK and number two on the US Billboard 200.

'Just Like Heaven' – Dinosaur Jr.

This may well be the most famous cover of The Cure of all time.

After all, this keyboard intro is very well the epitome of the Reagan era. Eddie uses the Oberheim OB-Xa on Van Halen's most successful single to date, which reached number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

The Cure have not released an album since 2008 with their record '4:13 Dream'. The band have confirmed that they are working on producing new music and that they have two potential albums in the works, one of which is the “most intense, saddest and most emotional record yet”.

During the Dominos UK Tour, Eric would still play Gibsons. A Fender Champ was his main studio amp used in recording the classic album “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.” On stage, he used Fender Dual Showmans or Marshall amps with Fender cabinets.

His main rig was a circa-1975-76 Ibanez Artist 2663TC (later renamed the Iceman IC210) plugged into the studio's Fender Super Reverb amp (most likely a mid-Sixties blackface version). For overdubs he used the same Ibanez guitar but with a Fender Champ to accentuate the midrange.

Vaughan used various amplifiers, mainly Fender and Marshall. On his choice of amp use, he stated that he used the "Fenders for distortion and the Marshall for clarity", in contrast to most guitarists utilizing both amps the other way around.

Eddie used dozens of Marshall Plexis and Superleads throughout touring before experimenting with other amp brands, most notably the Signature Peavey 5150 that was later used by Van Halen for his partnership with Fender under the EVH brand.

What amp did Keith Richards use? ›

Richards' stock guitar amp setup in the studio is a tweed Fender Champ with an eight-inch speaker, combined with a tweed Fender Harvard modified with a 6L6 output stage tube and a 12” speaker, nicknamed “One Love.” The modification makes the Harvard a single-ended or Class A amp, like the Champ.

In the backline are two of Stevie's favorite amps: the blackface 1967 Super Reverb and the tweed 1959 Bassman. Both were combo amps and had four 10-inch speakers. Stevie used Super Reverbs in addition to his Vibroverbs throughout his career.

Kurt Cobain's primary guitar was a Fender Jaguar, which he tuned to a drop D tuning. He also used a variety of other guitars, including a Fender Mustang and a Fender Stratocaster. He typically tuned his guitars to a standard E tuning, but would occasionally tune them to a drop D or a lower tuning.

“Out of all the guitars in the whole world, the Fender Mustang is my favorite,” Cobain said in a 1991 interview with Guitar World. “They're cheap and totally inefficient, and they sound like crap and are very small.”

The guitar picks he used the most frequently were Dunlop Tortex Standard . 60mm picks, in orange.

Still, Townshend wasn't crazy about the Marshall heads for long. Nowadays, Townshend prefers Fender Vibro-King amps with a 2x12 extension cab underneath. Interestingly enough for a player that commands such powerful noise, he also keeps the volume around 3.

Even to this day, Paul McCartney can still be seen playing live with VOX amplifiers. Perhaps the amplifier most synonymous with The Beatles' early career is the legendary VOX AC30.

What is the hardest guitar technique? ›

We promise we're not winding you up when we say that barre chords are the hardest guitar technique. The reason most guitarists can do them is because they're essential, not because they're easy.

The story of the 'Ghost Finish' Telecaster – one of the rarest Fender guitars ever made. Under normal lights, this Telecaster appears to be an unremarkable, late-'60s blonde color.

In many respects Paul McCartney was the group's most rounded musician, and possibly even its best guitarist. It was he that devised many of the riffs and even played some of the most memorable solos, such as on Taxman (Revolver), Ticket To Ride and his killer Epiphone Casino (opens in new tab) riff on Paperback Writer.

When pressed to pick his favorite guitar in the collection, Harrison selects the 1968 Rosewood Telecaster that his father most notably played on the Beatles' rooftop performance of “Get Back,” captured in the documentary Let It Be.

Bob Marley's favorite guitar was a Fender Stratocaster. He was given his first Stratocaster by his father when he was just a teenager, and he played it throughout his career.

The Tube Screamer

As is true of many blues guitarists, Vaughan did not use many pedals, but those that he did use made a big impact on his tone. The most notable of these is the Ibanez Tube Screamer. The Tube Screamer is one of the most popular guitar pedals ever produced.

Kurt Cobain used a Randall solid-state head and 4x12 cab at the time, but for the album, Kurt used Endino's Fender Twin Reverb, and the only pedal he used was a Boss DS-1 Distortion.

“Out of all the guitars in the whole world, the Fender Mustang is my favorite,” Cobain said in a 1991 interview with Guitar World. “They're cheap and totally inefficient, and they sound like crap and are very small.”

What gauge pick does John Frusciante use? ›

I use orange . 60 mm Dunlop Tortex picks.

With Klinghoffer and Joe Lally, he has released two albums as Ataxia. In 2003, Rolling Stone named Frusciante the 13th-greatest guitarist of all time. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2012.

In summary, the main gear Eddie Van Halen uses and main pedals Eddie used were a phaser, ideally a Phase 90 and a delay pedal, ideally an Echoplex all put through a 5150 amplifier. The rest is up to you!

Eric Clapton first used a wah-wah pedal with Cream. He famously played it on the songs 'White Room' and 'Tales Of Brave Ulysses'. During this time, Clapton used a Vox V846 Wah-Wah Pedal. He also used this later in his career, along with a Dunlop Crybaby GCB-95 Wah Pedal and a Dunlop 535Q Crybaby Wah Pedal.

MXR EVH 5150 Overdrive Pedal.