How to Sound Like: Robert Smith of The Cure

27 Mar 2021 by Bob Malkowski | 4,5 / 5,0 | Approximate reading time: 7 Minutes

Robert Smith live in 1992 with his Fender Bass VI  ·  Source: YouTube

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If you’re not already familiar with him or his work, Robert Smith is the frontman and guitarist of gloomy goth-pop icons The Cure. But apart from being famous for his look and image, Smith is also a hugely underrated guitarist. Today we take a quick look at his gear through the decades.

Robert Smith: an underrated icon?

When you think of The Cure, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? It’s probably Robert Smith’s iconic look of scraggly hair, makeup and gothic gloominess. Undoubtedly, Smith’s aesthetic influenced generations of fans and the goth scene in general. Importantly though, Smith is a criminally underrated guitarist in his own right.

Robert Smith’s guitar tone and playing style has influenced a myriad of goth and alternative bands through the decades. Sift through your own record collection and you’re sure to find bands directly influenced by The Cure. And if that wasn’t enough, Smith also enjoyed a brief stint with goth legends Siouxsie and The Banshees!

So we here at Gearnews thought it was high time that we acknowledged this iconic musician and his choice of gear through the years. We’re going to break this down into three categories: Smith’s guitars, his amplifiers, and his effects. It’s also super important to understand Smith’s approach when it comes to guitar tone. He’s famously gone on record to say that he only ever sets his amps and effects to 0, 5 or 10. Anything else is just “mucking about”.

Guitars

For a career that’s spanned more than four decades, you might think Smith would have a huge guitar collection. In reality, he’s only ever really been seen with a handful of guitars. Up until around 1990, much of The Cure sound was made with single-coil equipped guitars. After that Smith switched to predominantly humbucker-equipped instruments. Bear this in mind when thinking about what era of tone you’re trying to recreate!

Here’s a list of some of the more notable instruments used by Smith in his decades-long career.

Woolworth/Teisco Top 20

Robert Smith’s first guitar was purchased from the British discount department store Woolworth’s. The Top 20 model was in fact made in Japan by the Teisco company and sold by Woolworth’s as an entry-level guitar in the UK. The story goes that upon turning up to record their debut album, Three Imaginary Boys, the producer, Chris Parry despised the guitar. He then bought Smith its replacement…

Fender Jazzmaster (with Teisco pickup)

The Fender Jazzmaster became Smith’s main guitar with The Cure and was originally finished in Olympic White (although it changed colour a number of times in Smith’s hands). Other modifications included the addition of a pickup from Smith’s Woolworth Top 20 in the middle position. This guitar, with that pickup, is the sound of early Cure albums and can be heard on hits such as “Boys Don’t Cry” and “A Forest“.

If you’re aiming for that early Cure sound, then get yourself a Fender type guitar. A Jazzmaster is is the obvious choice, although Smith also used Telecasters from time to time.

Live in 1985 with his Jazzmaster – note the middle pickup · Source: YouTube

Fender Bass VI

Question: When is a guitar not a guitar? Answer: When it’s a Fender Bass VI! If you were to take a quick look at a Fender Bass VI you might think it’s a Fender Jaguar or Jazzmaster. Look closer though, and you’ll notice three pickups and a very long scale-length. Sometimes called a “Baritone Guitar”, the Bass VI is tuned a whole octave below a regular guitar.

The Bass VI is one of the “secret weapons” in getting that Cure sound. Listen to tracks such as “Pictures of You” and you’ll hear its unique sound, that sits somewhere between a guitar and a bass.

Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gentleman

As The Cure entered into the 90s, so too the sound of single-coil Fenders gave way to humbucker-equipped Gibsons. Listen to The Cure’s “Wish” album and you’ll hear a mixture of two Gibson guitars. A Gibson ES335, which was used extensively and, for the first time, Smith picked up his famous Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gentleman.

You’ll have to look to the used market if you want to buy a Country Gentleman nowadays; it will also set you back a handsome wedge of cash too! Importantly though, the tone of 90s Cure is most characterised by a Gibson semi-hollw body with humbuckers.

Robert Smith live in 1992 with his Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gentleman · Source: YouTube

Schecter UltraCure

In 2005 Robert Smith hooked up with Schecter resulting in a range of signature guitars; if you watch any recent Cure live shows, you’ll see that Schecters have replaced all of his Fenders and Gibsons. Smith was a fan of the Schecter Ultra model, and so Schecter modified that guitar with features Smith loved from his offset Fenders and Gibson Chet Atkins. The resulting model was the Schecter UltraCure.

The guitar offers a unique look with unique specs: there is the offset body shape and 25.5″ scale length of the Jazzmaster, and the semi-hollow design, humbuckers and tune-o-matic style bridge of the Gibson Chet Atkins. Additionally, Schecter also offers alternatives to the famous Fender Bass VI and some of Smith’s other esoteric instruments. You’ll find a replacement for the Fender Bass VI in the UltraCure VI, as well as a twelve-string version, the UltraCure XII.

Live at Roskilde Festival 2019 with his Schecter UltraCure · Source: YouTube

Amplifiers

Put in mind one of your favourite guitarists; chances are their tone is closely linked to their choice of amplifier. If you look at the history of Robert Smith’s backline however, you’ll find that he runs his amps clean, and basically as a platform for effects. What’s doubly unusual is, that solid-state amplifiers feature just as prominently as valve designs. The one constant is that all these amps provide a good pedal platform for Smith’s extensive collection of stompboxes.

It’s difficult for us to categorically pin down one amplifier to one era; Smith has revisited various amplifiers both onstage and in the studio throughout his career. So instead, we’ll list all the amps here, for the sake of completism! But if you’re looking for one amp to really nail The Cure sound, we’d recommend a Roland Jazz Chorus. Or, if you’re on a budget, the excellent BOSS Katana. Plug into either of those amps and you’ll be well on the way to classic Cure tone!

Solid-State Amplifiers

• Roland Jazz Chorus JC-120
• Peavey Musician MkIII
• Roland Cube 80-GX
• Line 6 Flextone
• Line 6 Spider

Valve Amplifiers

• VOX AC-30
• Orange AD30
• Selmer Zodiac Twin 30
• Fender Twin Reverb
• Ampeg VL-503
• Supro Black Magick

Effects

The Cure’s sound has almost always been an atmospheric wash of chorused and effected guitars. As such, perhaps more than the guitar and amp tone, it’s the use of effects that really craft Smith’s tone. Perhaps the key effect is liberal use of Chorus; so much so, that you’ll often find a Chorus pedal taped to the top of his amps and permanently engaged!

Don’t expect racks of expensive processors or boutique pedals here. If there’s one word that defines Smith’s tone, it’s BOSS! Those famous and affordable pedals have been constant companions of his for decades. Smith himself was once quoted as saying that he “probably owns every BOSS pedal made”.

You’ll also find a few other mainstream pedals in there, but nothing especially rare or boutique. Again, a testament to Smith’s skill when it comes to crafting inspirational and exotic tones from prosaic gear! Here’s a list of pedals we know that Smith has used. The key here is that if BOSS made it, then Smith has probably used it at some point.

BOSS

• BF-2 Flanger
• CH-1 Super Chorus
• DD-3 Digital Delay
• DS-1 Distortion
• BD-2 Blues Driver
• PH-2 Super Phaser
• PN-2 Tremolo Pan
• SD-1 Super Overdrive

Misc

• Dunlop Cry Baby Wah Pedal
• Digitech Whammy
• Electro Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man

Did we leave out your favourite piece of Robert Smith gear? Let us know in the comments section below!

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