# Johnny Marr Pedalboard 1986: Full Gear & Pedal List

> The 1986 Johnny Marr pedalboard, pedal by pedal: PSM-5 Power Supply & Master Switch and 5 more. Signal-chain order, settings and cited sources.

- Canonical page: https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/johnny-marr/smiths-bcb-6-board-1986/
- Machine-readable index of the archive: https://pedalboardarchive.com/llms.txt
- Evidence and reconstruction conventions: https://pedalboardarchive.com/methodology/

## At a glance

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Artist | Johnny Marr |
| Board | Smiths BCB-6 board |
| Date | 1986-01-01 — 1986 (year precision) |
| Context | Nottingham, The Smiths 1986 tour |
| Scope | Exact board snapshot |
| Signal path | 6 units · Guitar to amplifier |
| Routing | Serial path |
| Unit evidence | Visually identified |
| Order evidence | Source-described |
| Status | Photograph-documented · layout-described order |
| Audited | 2026-08-15 |
| Sources | 2 |

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.

Newer board: [Johnny Marr — Programmed GT-100 live rig (2018)](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/johnny-marr/call-the-comet-live-2018/).

## Signal chain

**Order evidence — Source-described.** A source states the sequence.

`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`

| # | Unit | Role | Zone | Unit evidence | Position evidence | Catalog page |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | PSM-5 Power Supply & Master Switch | Heads the case, powering the row and switching the whole effects loop in and out at once. | Integrated board | Visually identified | Documented | https://pedalboardarchive.com/pedals/psm-5-power-supply-and-master-switch/ |
| 2 | GE-6 Graphic Equalizer | Shapes the top end that gives the Smiths guitars their chime, and stayed switched on. | Integrated board | Visually identified | Documented | https://pedalboardarchive.com/pedals/ge-6-graphic-equalizer/ |
| 3 | OD-2 Turbo OverDrive | Supplies the overdrive Marr credits with producing a Smiths riff. | Integrated board | Visually identified | Documented | https://pedalboardarchive.com/pedals/od-2-turbo-overdrive/ |
| 4 | TW-1 T Wah | Adds touch-sensitive filter movement in the middle of the row. | Integrated board | Visually identified | Documented | https://pedalboardarchive.com/pedals/tw-1-t-wah/ |
| 5 | HM-2 Heavy Metal | Provides the hardest gain on the board, used sparingly. | Integrated board | Visually identified | Documented | https://pedalboardarchive.com/pedals/hm-2-heavy-metal/ |
| 6 | CE-2 Chorus | Closes the row with the chorus that defines the Smiths guitar sound, effectively never off. | Integrated board | Visually identified | Documented | https://pedalboardarchive.com/pedals/ce-2-chorus/ |

### Identification notes

- **2. GE-6 Graphic Equalizer:** 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.
- **3. OD-2 Turbo OverDrive:** 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.
- **5. HM-2 Heavy Metal:** 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.
- **6. CE-2 Chorus:** 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.

## Reconstruction note

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.

## Questions

### 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.

## Sources

2 cited sources across 2 independent groups. Two sources sharing an independent group report the same observation and count once.

1. [Johnny Marr's Gear](http://www.smithsonguitar.com/2008/12/johnny-marrs-gear.html) — Smiths On Guitar (Specialist source · photograph), published 2008-12-01, accessed 2026-08-15, independent group `smiths-on-guitar-marr-gear`. Photographic gear survey that dates the BCB-6 case to Marr's 1986 Nottingham performance. The caption identifies its physical arrangement, read from the right: Boss PSM-5, GE-6, OD-2, TW-1, HM-2, then CE-2 at the left edge. This is layout evidence, not a cable trace. The author also checks Marr's later recollections against product release dates and excludes the OS-2 and RV-2 from the Smiths period.
2. [Johnny Marr Guitars & Gear](https://www.groundguitar.com/johnny-marr/) — Ground Guitar (Specialist source · article), accessed 2026-08-15, independent group `ground-guitar-johnny-marr`. Independently corroborates the CE-2, GE-6 and HM-2 for the Smiths years and carries the Marr quotes naming the white GE-6, the light-blue CE-2 and the OD-2 behind the riff to "London".

## Related pages

- Every documented board by Johnny Marr: [Johnny Marr board history](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/johnny-marr/)
- [David Gilmour — PULSE / Division Bell rig](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/david-gilmour/pulse-division-bell-rig-1994/): shares CE-2 Chorus
- [Randy Rhoads — Custom touring pedalboard](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/randy-rhoads/custom-touring-pedalboard-1982/): no shared unit; a comparable signal path (Routing & Control, Filter & EQ, Modulation, Gain)
- [Robert Randolph — Nashville pedal-steel board](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/robert-randolph/nashville-pedal-steel-board-2017/): no shared unit; a comparable signal path (Routing & Control, Filter & EQ, Modulation, Gain)
- [Stevie Ray Vaughan — Late-era effects chain](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/stevie-ray-vaughan/late-era-1989/): no shared unit; a comparable signal path (Routing & Control, Filter & EQ, Modulation, Gain)
- [Joe Bonamassa — Four-amplifier touring board](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/joe-bonamassa/touring-rig-2013/): no shared unit; a comparable signal path (Routing & Control, Filter & EQ, Modulation, Gain)
- [Philip Sayce — That Pedal Show studio signal flow](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/philip-sayce/that-pedal-show-board-2026/): no shared unit; a comparable signal path (Routing & Control, Filter & EQ, Modulation, Gain)
- Previous board in archive order: [Johnny Marr — Programmed GT-100 live rig](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/johnny-marr/call-the-comet-live-2018/)
- Next board in archive order: [Johnny Winter — Always-on chorus rig](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/johnny-winter/always-on-chorus-rig-2012/)