Robert Smith The Cure Pedal Board

The Obscure is an Los Angeles based tribute band for The Cure. During the lockdowns, we aren't playing any shows so we figured we would do whatever we can to bring you information and music of The Cure. We will be using our channel to post demonstrations of Robert's guitars, pedals and amplifiers as well as gear from Porl, Reeves and Simon. We have all of it and we want it and want to share it with you! We will also be posting lessons, book reviews and album reviews. This is the first of the videos...something we don't see a lot of...information about Robert's pedals and settings. We took numerous pictures and video of the Cure's live shows and recreated the exact setup for you. If you want to know more about a guitar, pedal or amp, leave a comment and make sure to subscribe to our channel and press the "Like" button!!

[@chrisandersen5635]

How curious. Very nicely done. I remember Robert saying he liked the Boss pedals because he can see the colors even on the darkened stage.

[@trentc7329]

This just popped up on my recommends and I am shocked and pleased to see they use such working man's gear. I would have guessed they used a lot of vintage and boutique stuff. I wouldn't blink if I saw those pedal boards at a bar band gig this weekend.

[@McSlobo]

I guess most touring artists want gear that's dependable and easily replaceable. You're screwed if your unique pedal with magic dust inside fails. Of course you can buy a pile of those pedals in stock but why bother when you can get almost identical sounding gear from basically any music store off-the-shelf. There's also a ton of used Boss pedals available if you happen to depend on some certain model and the newer ones don't quite cut it, but I guess a big artist might just send an email to Boss office to ask if they still have a few available.

[@NewFalconerRecords]

Prince used Boss pedals extensively too, I believe. Also Steve Vai, who figures that if one goes wrong on tour, any major music store in any city in the world will most likely have a replacement in stock. Not so if you're using some obscure boutique brand.

[@swimmyswimmy8937]

Awesome video, loved it. PLEASE DO MORE! I sat here on the couch with my favorite beverage & totally got in to your in depth pedal video. I would binge watch a series of these. Looking forward to your next ones. Thank you!

[@theobscure1938]

Thanks so much for the support!! Let us know what you would like to see- we literally have nearly every guitar RS played with the Cure as well as the pedals and amps. Some of Reeves, Porl’s, and simons stuff as well. Please share the video, like and subscribe!

[@andrewpappas9311]

This was really damn impressive, great job guys

[@theobscure1938]

Thank you! Glad you like it! We are in the process of making some more sure gear videos!!

[@catmoonmedia8223]

Great video. It’s amazing that Smith uses ordinary Boss pedals instead of vintage or boutique or rack mounted units. So refreshing actually instead the of the crazy obscene setup of someone like the Edge.

[@dddd717]

Boss had a catalog that showed RS rig and the pedals and amp he used and it even had settings. It also had other artist rigs as well..

[@johnnydiamondsmusic1673]

I am waiting for my Squire Bass VI to come back from set up. My 80s rig will sound good with it I think will be using my 80s Ibanez Flanger & Tube Screamer plus maybe my space Echo.

[@gustavogonzalez8303]

Great video. Thank you for posting.

[@theobscure1938]

Thanks, we have a lot more coming...deep dice into all Roberts guitars, amps and pedals.

[@darrellowe4208]

I thoroughly enjoyed that, Thanks!

[@theobscure1938]

Thanks for the comment. We hope you enjoy our channel. We are trying to put more stuff out. If we have day jobs too!

[@DMK-75]

Delay pedal is a DD3 set to around 400ms.

[@curehm1973]

Thanks for this video

[@Sanwitch_69]

Great video! i would love to see one for Simon Gallup's board. his flanger sound on the holy hour has eluded me for a while

[@theobscure1938]

Great idea! I will have our bass player do a video for you.

[@Sanwitch_69]

@@theobscure1938 i look forward to it, thanks:)

[@OmegaRectum]

I would also be very interested in seeing this!

[@SimonMas]

can i say that writing the settings on a paper tape is simple and yet pure genius? i never thought of that. it will spare me so many headaches...

[@theobscure1938]

Yeah we picked up that trick from Robert’s board. He also has some notes taped to the top edge of his Schecter guitars. Wouldn’t work so well on a Jazzmaster since the top edge is rounded which makes me think Robert had A LOT of input in designing his signature Schecter guitars. The top edges have a very flat surface. If you look closely at later shows where he is playing the schecters, there are strips of tape with notes. Thanks for the comment and hope you enjoy our channel!

[@SimonMas]

@@theobscure1938 I'm gonna watch the other episodes, but this trick alone has made my day :) thank you!

[@frankfrank7921]

Very interesting. Obsessive, but interesting. Nice to see Robert isn't stuck in the 80s with the analog versions but has updated many of his Boss pedals to digital ones.

[@vibeclimb5366]

Nice work!

[@theobscure1938]

Thank you, Happy you liked it

[@johanneslaub2433]

Another point of interest is the first delay, DD6 or DD7? The 12 o'clock position on the DD7 is 200ms, on the DD3 and DD6 800ms.

[@terrydavenport7480]

Thank you great video

[@terrydavenport7480]

Are you all going to make some more video we would like to know what brand of string he uses

[@Medic911LA]

@@terrydavenport7480 funny you should ask that. Robert Uses D”addario strings. On the Hyde Park show you can see the bridge of his guitar and the ball ends show they are obviously D’Addario. I would say 10’s.

[@nonstopnonsens2241]

Thank you for the Video!👍 Do you know which pedals Robert used in the concert in Orange 1986 for the song A Forest? Amazing Sound!

[@Widthatnut]

PSM-5 / DM-3 / BF-2 / OD-1 / CE-2 / GE-7. In this order.

[@DMK-75]

If you watch the Reeves Gabrel’s TC Electronic footage with his tech demonstrating his effects you see in the background RS pedalboard with a different layout of effects. He seems to lose the eq and has added a flanger last in line. The eq pedal is in a separate board with either a noise gate pedal or the LS2 pedal

[@theobscure1938]

Yes that was a 2015 show where he had a different board- he does not have the EQ- on the middle board- he has tuner, blues driver, sd1, delay, phaser, and flanger. Our video focuses on 2016-current but it would be interesting to see the boards from each year.

[@DMK-75]

@@theobscure1938 Did you take a look at RS’s guitar vault whilst you were close enough to take pictures? Did you get a backstage pass? Some guitars have lyrics attached to the top as small reminders...

[@filipvanhuy531]

Hey, I watched your video and I enjoyed it a lot. Nice done ! Everything that was shown seems to be correct in some way. I am a huge Cure fan since childhood and also like to play a song of them from time to time. The biggest problem is usually finding the same tone. If possible, could you show me the setup for the riffs and solo of "The Loudest Sound" and play a bit to show the resemblance. The riffs are almost clean but with a special twist on it, the solo lightly distorted but with something special at the low end. So if you find time...

[@theobscure1938]

Thanks so much for the great comment. We will be working on some videos during the next week or so and will put this in the list.

[@DMK-75]

I do have a photo of the RS pedalboard with a different phasor setting. From left to right using the clock face method 9 12 12 11. Not sure what songs use this setting but it’s worth trying.

[@theobscure1938]

Your right,this is what we grabbed from my photos of 2016-2019 board. He has the PH-3 on “fall” setting and couldn’t see that he changed it but possible for other songs in set list at different times, he changes it.

[@DMK-75]

@@theobscure1938 RS has got more than one pedalboard in reserve so I guess he can pull out different boards depending on the set list etc. He also has a tour flight case full of drawers and one is full of spare pedals

[@johanneslaub2433]

In some concert videos, further pedals can be seen in the background below the combos. Is there any information on this? How is the signal flow?

[@theobscure1938]

I will check my pictures of the stage and see if I can see those.

[@johanneslaub2433]

How do you get your signature 6-string bass sound? It has always gone through the same three Boss pedals -- a digital delay and a chorus, with a touch of noise gate to cut off the delay. And I always play through the same early-'80s Peavey Ultra head and 4x12 cabinet. The 6-string bass sound is the one thing that has stayed the same since the Faith album in 1981. I've never changed the setup, because I always thought it sounded really good. It's like a cello for me -- a really perfect sound. On the Peavey, the middle is rolled off completely, the bass is half up, the treble is full up, and the presence is set at about half. This really reflects my character, but things are invariably set to 0, 5, or 10 on my amps. I never go for anything in between, because that's fussing about, and it never gets you anywhere. The pedals are always set so that they look right. That sounds a bit stupid, but, in a strange way, it works. There are four knobs on the delay, and they're all set at 12 o'clock -- apart from the knob on the far right, which is set slightly off from 12 o'clock at 800 milliseconds. That's an unfortunate design -- Boss obviously didn't have me in mind when they made that pedal [laughs]. On the chorus, the left-hand knob is at ten o'clock, and the right-hand knob is at two o'clock. It's symmetrical. This isn't insane you know! If you've played enough, you sort of know what something is going to sound like by looking at it.

[@theobscure1938]

There is a video of Reeves Gabrels pedal board on KZbin. At 3:25 you can see that pedal board you are referring to. That’s the chorus, an unknown white Boss pedal (noise gate, another eq??) and the Lehle 3@1. We show the Lehle 3@1 on our video what he uses to switch between his guitars.

[@EchoApexFirstEcho]

So the Chorus is an Always On effect straight into the amp( Guitar-Chorus pedal-front of Amp)?

[@UnremarkableMarx]

Amps aren't always distorted. If it's low on dirt then it's not a problem to chorus right into the amp.

[@medulasa1]

Yeah, specifically bc a lot of the Cure material was written on Roland Jazz Chorus 120s, which has the same chorus circuit as the Boss CE-2, which is the pedal he uses.

[@tanguydelooz2881]

Awesome !! So each board has different guitars connected to it ? Which period is this board from ?

[@theobscure1938]

This is the 2016-current board. He uses the Lehle 3@1 as shown in this video to connect 2 guitars to the boards. (The regular Schecter electric. The VI and the acoustic)

[@tanguydelooz2881]

@@theobscure1938 Ok. However I suppose the boards are not connected is series to each other, right ? Or maybe they are. Actually it stuns me seeing he's using these nice analog pedals. So why do The Cure sound so digital in live concerts these days (years) ?? I suppose it all has to do with the mixing system, the soundsystem and speakers used in the venue. I don't know. (Maybe it's the Roland Cubes.)

[@johanneslaub2433]

No Delay for the Bass VI ?

[@theobscure1938]

He might use one of the delays along with the VI board, but he definitely has a separate boost, SD-1 and flanger for the VI. We will be doing some tone matching videos soon including the vi

[@theanonymousg76]

Thanks very much for taking the time to record and share this. Question: when playing "A Forest" do you use the small board with the the delay and two flangers on its own, or in addition to the main board? Thanks again!

[@trip5156]

seeing the setting of the boss bf3 I believe that in a forest it uses dd3, bf3 and ge7 I think

[@theobscure1938]

@@trip5156 that’s what I do as well. I also use the chorus on my JC120. You will notice there is no chorus on Robert’s board. He puts the pedal directly into the amp and it’s an always on for live shows- he says this in a few interviews

[@trip5156]

@@theobscure1938 probably uses the chorus effect of the roland cube amplifier always on

[@philmyglass8103]

i always thought he used(s) an Electro Harmonix deluxe Memory man and electric mistress

[@theobscure1938]

This is his 2016-current board. You are absolutely right, he did use electric mistress and So many other pedals for recording. We were able to get pics of the stage set up including the amps, pedals, guitars and routes of all cables during 2016-current shows and this is what we found. Any brand you use, you will be able to get The Cure tone.

[@zjarrito]

No Chorus in sight?!

[@theobscure1938]

He actually puts one straight into amp. It’s an always on.

[@theanonymousg76]

@@theobscure1938 Amazing tip! I suppose it makes the setup closer to the Jazz Chorus amp he used early on.

[@eboethrasher]

@@theobscure1938 I was wondering as all documented boards for him in the past had one.

[@theobscure1938]

We also found out that Robert has an always on chorus pedal taped down with gaffer tape behind his row of Roland amps. This is according to Josh Scott JHS pedal show on record time. He chose Kiss Me!

[@gunnerjenson]

inaccurate because were using a lid ha ha ha