Johnny MarrPedalboard, 1986
Johnny Marr's Smiths board in 1986 was six Boss compacts in a BCB-6 case, photographed at a Nottingham gig: a PSM-5 switch, a GE-6 EQ, an OD-2 overdrive, a TW-1 auto-wah, an HM-2 Heavy Metal and a CE-2 chorus. The whole of the jangle.
Smiths BCB-6 board
Order evidence: A source states the sequence
Inside the rig · 6 units
Pedal roles & evidence
How each unit fits Johnny Marr's 1986 setup. Board-specific roles and the evidence behind each identification and position.
Source-described orderIdentity and position are evidenced separately. Reconstructed positions are not observed connections.
Routing & Control
PSM-5 Power Supply & Master Switch
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Heads the case, powering the row and switching the whole effects loop in and out at once.
- Identity
- Visually identified
- Position
- Documented
Filter & EQ
GE-6 Graphic Equalizer
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Shapes the top end that gives the Smiths guitars their chime, and stayed switched on.
Smiths On Guitar combines Marr's own identification of the GE-6 with a chronology placing it on his amplifier from mid-1984. The account records continuous use rather than occasional switching.
- Identity
- Visually identified
- Position
- Documented
Gain
OD-2 Turbo OverDrive
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Supplies the overdrive Marr credits with producing a Smiths riff.
Marr: "the OD-2 Overdrive pedal; actually that's where I got the riff to The Smiths song 'London'." Visible onstage in 1986 Whistle Test and EuroTube footage. Introduced August 1985, so it fits this board but not earlier ones.
- Identity
- Visually identified
- Position
- Documented
Filter & EQ
TW-1 T Wah
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Adds touch-sensitive filter movement in the middle of the row.
- Identity
- Visually identified
- Position
- Documented
Gain
HM-2 Heavy Metal
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Provides the hardest gain on the board, used sparingly.
Marr on the track "London": "I think I may have used the HM-2 on that." Present in the photograph of the 1986 Nottingham board.
- Identity
- Visually identified
- Position
- Documented
Modulation
CE-2 Chorus
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Closes the row with the chorus that defines the Smiths guitar sound, effectively never off.
Smiths On Guitar places the CE-2 on Marr's Twin Reverb in photographs from 1983 onward and includes his identification of the early light-blue version. Marr describes adjusting the chorus by ear when the amplifier sounded too bass-heavy, without giving fixed knob positions.
- Identity
- Visually identified
- Position
- Documented
Visually identified equipment · Documented order · Serial path
Built from a photograph of the actual case rather than from recollection. The source records the physical row as PSM-5, GE-6, OD-2, TW-1, HM-2 and CE-2 reading right to left, and that sequence is used here; it is the documented layout inside a Boss BCB-6 rather than a traced cable path, which is why the chain is marked source-described and not cable-traced. The PSM-5 is a power supply and master switch rather than an audio effect, but it is kept because it heads the row and switches the loop. Marr's Korg SDD delays and the later Yamaha SPX90 lived in a rack rather than in this case and are omitted, as are the Twin Reverb and JC-120. Note that Marr's own recollections elsewhere name an OS-2 and an RV-2; both postdate the band's split and are excluded, a correction the source makes explicitly.
Cited sources
MethodologyQuestions about Johnny Marr's 1986 pedalboard
- What pedals did Johnny Marr use in 1986?
- This dated entry lists 6 units: PSM-5 Power Supply & Master Switch, GE-6 Graphic Equalizer, OD-2 Turbo OverDrive, TW-1 T Wah, HM-2 Heavy Metal, CE-2 Chorus. This is the recorded inventory, not a claim that every connection or model identification is confirmed; see the evidence and routing notes.
- What order were Johnny Marr's pedals in?
- A cited source states the order: Guitar → PSM-5 Power Supply & Master Switch → GE-6 Graphic Equalizer → OD-2 Turbo OverDrive → TW-1 T Wah → HM-2 Heavy Metal → CE-2 Chorus → amplifier.
- Is this Johnny Marr's full guitar rig?
- No. This dated entry covers 6 units in the effects path, not every piece of gear Johnny Marr owned or used. Floor pedals, rack units and routing devices are included only where recorded; omitted equipment and uncertain connections are explained in the notes. It is not a complete or current rig inventory.
- When and where was this pedalboard used?
- 1986. This is one dated setup as documented, not a career-wide gear list.
- How does the archive know what was on this pedalboard?
- 2 cited sources, listed above with the date each was read, including Smiths On Guitar, Ground Guitar. Among them a photograph and a written article. The units are recorded as visually identified equipment, and the page was last audited on 2026-08-15.