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The Cure, Photo: Joe Bielawa (Wikimedia Commons)

Photo: Joe Bielawa (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY 2.0

Independent research by truerecs. Not affiliated with, endorsed or verified by The Cure. Every item links to its public source.
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What gear does The Cure use?

Robert Smith uses Schecter UltraCure signature guitars on the road, including a 12-string and the baritone UltraCure VI, through Roland Cube 80GX and Supro Black Magick combos. Earlier he recorded on a Fender Jazzmaster with a Woolworth Top 20 pickup and a Fender Bass VI, with Boss chorus and flanger pedals. Reeves Gabrels plays Reverend signature guitars.

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AllTop 5Robert Smith's rigReeves Gabrels' rigSimon Gallup's rigRoger O'Donnell's keysRecords Robert Smith loves
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What gear The Cure uses: a sourced gear guide

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Robert Smith's rig

23 items

Reeves Gabrels' rig

9 items

Simon Gallup's rig

3 items

Roger O'Donnell's keys

9 items

Records Robert Smith loves

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Questions

About The Cure's gear.

What guitar does Robert Smith play?

Mixdown reports he uses Schecter UltraCure signature models on the road, plus a 12-string UltraCure and the baritone UltraCure VI. He has said he recorded Three Imaginary Boys on a Fender Jazzmaster fitted with a Woolworth Top 20 pickup, and he used a Fender Bass VI on Pictures of You.

What amps and pedals did Robert Smith use?

Mixdown says a Roland JC120 is heard on Seventeen Seconds and Pornography, and he used a Vox AC30, Orange AD30 and Selmer Zodiac Twin 30 on Disintegration and Wish. His 1980s and 1990s board held a Boss CH-1, SD-1, BF-2 and PN-2 and a Jen Crybaby Super Wah.

What gear does Reeves Gabrels use in The Cure?

He has said his Cure sound is a Reverend Spacehawk, his signature model, through a Hiwatt, alongside Audio Kitchen amps. BOSS says his main board runs into two custom Audio Kitchen heads, with a vintage DC-2 Dimension C almost always on and a Hiwatt Custom 100 for Bass VI parts.

What bass does Simon Gallup play?

Simon Gallup plays Schecter signature basses. Schecter launched the Ultra Spitfire, Ultra Red and semi-hollow Corsair signature models in 2023, and No Treble reported he road-tested the Ultra Spitfire and Corsair on The Cure's summer tour.

What keyboards does Roger O'Donnell use?

He has said he programmed the entire Cure back catalogue on a Kurzweil PC3K8. He told Synth History that Disintegration was mostly samplers, an E-mu Emulator II and III and a Prophet 2002, plus an ARP Solina and a Roland R-8, and he has made two albums on a Moog Voyager.

What records does Robert Smith love?

He told NME that Bowie's Low changed how he saw sound, and that he loves Hendrix's Axis: Bold As Love and Nick Drake's Five Leaves Left even more viscerally. He picked The Twilight Sad's It Won't Be Like This All the Time as his record of 2019.

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The Cure
About this guide · Last checked

The Cure are the English band led by Robert Smith since 1976, with Simon Gallup on bass, Reeves Gabrels on guitar, Roger O'Donnell on keyboards and Jason Cooper on drums. Their 2024 album Songs of a Lost World was their first in 16 years. This guide covers their gear past and present: Smith's Jazzmaster, Bass VI and Schecter UltraCures, the amps and Boss pedals of the Pornography and Disintegration era, Gabrels' Reverend rig, Gallup's basses and O'Donnell's synths and samplers.

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