Guitar Journal: The Cure live rig, Marshall, & Chug+!
We look at The Cure's Robert Smith and his recent live shows using Boss pedals
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This week, the big news for many guitar fans is that Marshall Amplification has announced it will be back at NAMM and launching a range of new products! Solar Guitars has just launched their second pedal the Chug Tuner+, so we check it out. Finally, The Cure are back with a new album and Robert Smith guitar rig is something we look at after their recent intimate London show.
Guitar Journal
Marshall NAMM 2025
Marshall Amplification, the iconic British amp brand, is set to return triumphantly to the NAMM Show in 2025. After a five-year absence, Marshall will again take center stage at the Anaheim Convention Center to unveil exciting new products and celebrate its rich history.
We saw the release of the limited-run Marshall Celestion 100 models back in June this year, and last year, the JTM ST20 range was introduced. Seeing more guitar amps than Bluetooth speakers like the recent Emberton II and Willen II would be great.
Many guitar players have started looking elsewhere for British amp tones, as brands like Friedman make great amps and guitar products with those voices.
In October, there were rumors that Marshall was looking for a buyer. At the time, it was said that Marshall Group was working with Goldman Sachs on ‘strategic options’.
A New Era of Marshall Innovation?
The company is poised to unveil a range of what are being touted as groundbreaking products that push the boundaries of guitar amplification. Marshall is apparently committed to delivering top-tier solutions, from cutting-edge digital technologies to classic tube designs for musicians of all styles.
New Marshall Gear
Currently, what they will be launching is all very hush-hush. I did manage to speak directly with my contact at Marshall earlier this year, who informed me that a whole range of new products are coming, and yesterday, Guitar World also confirmed this information.
Could we see low-price modeling or digital guitar amps? Marshall has avoided many of these critical areas so far. Will we also get more well-designed tube amps?
Of course, we will update you all once NAMM releases are launched. For now, we just have to cross our fingers and hope that this iconic British amp builder will release some great new guitar amps.
Chug Tuner+
Ola Englund’s Solar Guitars brand has recently launched their second-ever pedal, the Chug Tuner+, which follows the Chug preamp distortion pedal launched back in 2022.
What Does it Chug?
Actually, this tuner pedal does more than just tune your guitar. Solar describes it as offering Tune, Boost, Filter Low Frequencies, Buffer and Split Signal functions.
The Boost/EQ section offers a foot-switchable 20dB boost, while the High Pass filter can be bypassed or tuned to the classic 720Hz or 1kHz frequencies.
A buffered signal is sent to both outputs. Output 2 offers the flexibility to bypass the Boost/EQ section and includes a ground lift to mitigate AC noise. This design enables easy setup for both amp + DI and multi-amp configurations.
Chug Tuner+ at Thomann
The Cure
The Cure’s new album Songs of a Lost World was debuted live at The Troxy in London. Robert Smith’s guitar rig was minimal and included Boss pedals throughout.
Robert Smith’s Guitar Rig
The live show was attended by fans and has been the talk of the internet, as the new album is being hailed as a masterpiece, with elements of classic eras for the band and layers of sounds.
Robert Smith’s guitar rig appears to comprise of the Boss SD-1, BD-2 Blues Driver, GE-7 Equalizer PH-3 Phase Shifter and the BF-3 Flanger.
Along with a Boss delay pedal and the now discontinued Roland Cube-80GX for his guitars (he uses a pair of them) and the Roland Cube 60-XL which he uses with his signature Schecter UltraCure VI, a guitar similar to the Fender Bass VI and tuned an octave down compare to the guitar.
Keep it Simple Boss
This all makes sense, as he has used these Boss pedals for many decades, and yet still manages to coax some pretty amazing guitar textures from them all. It’s an amazing album and has been on rotation here.
Just goes to show that Boss gear is pretty great and it is all about how you use it. Read our How to Sound like Robert Smith of The Cure guide.
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One response to “Guitar Journal: The Cure live rig, Marshall, & Chug+!”
At NAMM Marshall will show 2 or 3 new amps.
One will be on the cheaper side, the other on the expensive side – “an homage to Marshall’s history”.