# Robert Smith Pedalboard 2019: Full Gear & Pedal List > The 2019 Robert Smith pedalboard, pedal by pedal: Boss GE-7 Equalizer and 8 more. Signal-chain order, settings and cited sources. - Canonical page: https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/robert-smith/three-board-boss-system-2019/ - 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 | Robert Smith | | Board | Three-board Boss system | | Date | 2019-03-16 — Photographed on tour, March 2019 (day precision) | | Context | Touring rig | | Scope | Touring-period rig | | Signal path | 9 units · Guitar to amplifier | | Routing | Serial path | | Unit evidence | Visually identified | | Order evidence | Reconstructed | | Status | Photograph-identified inventory - order reconstructed | | Audited | 2026-08-09 | | Sources | 2 | Robert Smith toured with the Cure in 2019 on nine ordinary Boss compacts across three plastic boards: a GE-7, a CS-2, an SD-1 and BD-2, a PH-3, two flangers and two DD-3 delays, each pair kept at different settings. ## Signal chain **Order evidence — Reconstructed.** No source publishes this sequence; the order is reconstructed. The units are evidenced; their sequence is the archive's inference from the convention below, not an observation. Do not report this order as documented. Reconstruction convention: Tuner → Wah and filter → Compressor → Overdrive, distortion and fuzz → Modulation → Delay → Reverb → Amplifier. A documented routing zone always overrides it. `Guitar → Boss GE-7 Equalizer → Boss CS-2 Compression Sustainer → Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive → Boss BD-2 Blues Driver → Boss PH-3 Phase Shifter → Boss BF-2 Flanger → Boss BF-3 Flanger → Boss DD-3 Digital Delay → Boss DD-3 Digital Delay → amplifier` | # | Unit | Role | Zone | Unit evidence | Position evidence | Catalog page | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Boss GE-7 Equalizer | Shapes the tonal balance between his different guitars across the three boards. | Integrated board | Visually identified | Reconstructed | https://pedalboardarchive.com/pedals/boss-ge-7-equalizer/ | | 2 | Boss CS-2 Compression Sustainer | Provides compression on the clean arpeggiated parts, if correctly identified. | Integrated board | Tentative | Reconstructed | https://pedalboardarchive.com/pedals/boss-cs-2-compression-sustainer/ | | 3 | Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive | The long-serving overdrive, in use across four decades of Cure records. | Integrated board | Visually identified | Reconstructed | https://pedalboardarchive.com/pedals/boss-sd-1-super-overdrive/ | | 4 | Boss BD-2 Blues Driver | One of two Boss drives, used for the brighter overdriven rhythm parts. | Integrated board | Visually identified | Reconstructed | https://pedalboardarchive.com/pedals/boss-bd-2-blues-driver/ | | 5 | Boss PH-3 Phase Shifter | Adds the phase movement across the sustained chordal parts. | Integrated board | Visually identified | Reconstructed | https://pedalboardarchive.com/pedals/boss-ph-3-phase-shifter/ | | 6 | Boss BF-2 Flanger | The older flanger kept alongside the BF-3 for its particular voice. | Integrated board | Visually identified | Reconstructed | https://pedalboardarchive.com/pedals/boss-bf-2-flanger/ | | 7 | Boss BF-3 Flanger | One of the flangers carrying the swirling texture central to his sound. | Integrated board | Visually identified | Reconstructed | https://pedalboardarchive.com/pedals/boss-bf-3-flanger/ | | 8 | Boss DD-3 Digital Delay | Supplies the primary repeats behind the guitar parts. | Integrated board | Visually identified | Reconstructed | https://pedalboardarchive.com/pedals/boss-dd-3-digital-delay/ | | 9 | Boss DD-3 Digital Delay | Holds a second delay time available without changing the first unit. | Integrated board | Visually identified | Reconstructed | https://pedalboardarchive.com/pedals/boss-dd-3-digital-delay/ | ### Identification notes - **2. Boss CS-2 Compression Sustainer:** The source identifies this unit only as a possible Boss CS-2 from the photographs and does not confirm it. ## Reconstruction note Effects Bay identified the units from photographs of the actual boards posted by bandmate Reeves Gabrels in March 2019. Mixdown independently surveys Smith's gear era by era and confirms the SD-1, BF-2 and BD-2 as long-running fixtures, alongside his documented preference for ordinary Boss and MXR stompboxes over boutique units. Neither source publishes a cable order, and the units are spread across three separate Boss boards rather than one chain, so the sequence shown is a functional reconstruction placing equalisation and gain ahead of modulation and delay. The Boss TU-3 tuner is omitted as a utility device. The compressor is recorded as tentative because the source flags its identification as uncertain. ## Questions ### What pedals did Robert Smith use in 2019? This dated entry lists 9 units: Boss GE-7 Equalizer, Boss CS-2 Compression Sustainer, Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive, Boss BD-2 Blues Driver, Boss PH-3 Phase Shifter, Boss BF-2 Flanger, Boss BF-3 Flanger, Boss DD-3 Digital Delay, Boss DD-3 Digital Delay. 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 Robert Smith's pedals in? The complete order is reconstructed, not observed. The layout follows the cited routing constraints and the archive's signal-chain convention where the sources are silent: Guitar → Boss GE-7 Equalizer → Boss CS-2 Compression Sustainer → Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive → Boss BD-2 Blues Driver → Boss PH-3 Phase Shifter → Boss BF-2 Flanger → Boss BF-3 Flanger → Boss DD-3 Digital Delay → Boss DD-3 Digital Delay → amplifier. ### Is this Robert Smith's full guitar rig? No. This dated entry covers 9 units in the effects path, not every piece of gear Robert Smith 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? Photographed on tour, March 2019. Touring rig. This is the rig documented for that touring period, 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 Effects Bay, Mixdown. Among them a photograph and a written article. The units are recorded as visually identified equipment, and the page was last audited on 2026-08-09. ## Sources 2 cited sources across 2 independent groups. Two sources sharing an independent group report the same observation and count once. 1. [The Cure in Africa - Pedalboards of Robert Smith and Reeves Gabrels](https://www.effectsbay.com/2019/03/the-cure-in-africa-pedalboards-of-robert-smith-and-reeves-gabrels/) — Effects Bay (Specialist source · photograph), published 2019-03-18, accessed 2026-08-09, independent group `reeves-gabrels-board-photos-2019`. Identification worked up from photographs of the actual boards posted by bandmate Reeves Gabrels on 16 March 2019. Flags the compressor as uncertain. 2. [Gear Rundown: Robert Smith of The Cure](https://mixdownmag.com.au/features/rig-rundown-robert-smith-of-the-cure/) — Will Brewster, Mixdown (Specialist source · article), published 2026-05-01, accessed 2026-08-09, independent group `mixdown-robert-smith`. Independent era-by-era survey. Confirms the SD-1, BF-2 and BD-2 as long-running fixtures and records his preference for ordinary Boss and MXR stompboxes over boutique units. ## Related pages - Every documented board by Robert Smith: [Robert Smith board history](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/robert-smith/) - [The Edge — eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE programmable rack](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/the-edge/experience-innocence-rack-2018/): shares Boss CS-2 Compression Sustainer, Boss SD-1 Super OverDrive - [Adam Jones — Tool touring effects board](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/adam-jones/tool-dunlop-tech-board-2010/): shares Boss BF-2 Flanger, Boss DD-3 Digital Delay - [Bruce Springsteen — Magic tour remote and offstage rig](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/bruce-springsteen/magic-tour-remote-and-offstage-rig-2007/): shares Boss BF-3 Flanger, Boss DD-3 Digital Delay - [Joe Perry — Aerosmith programmable gain rack](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/joe-perry/aerosmith-programmable-gain-rack-2024/): shares Boss BD-2 Blues Driver - [Billy Gibbons — European tour four-effect loop](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/billy-gibbons/european-tour-rjm-loop-2019/): shares Boss GE-7 Equalizer - [Prince — Nude Tour onstage pedalboard](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/prince/nude-tour-stage-board-1990/): shares Boss BF-2 Flanger, Boss SD-1 Super OverDrive - Previous board in archive order: [Robert Randolph — Nashville pedal-steel board](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/robert-randolph/nashville-pedal-steel-board-2017/) - Next board in archive order: [Robin Trower — Four-effect touring board](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/robin-trower/premier-guitar-board-2018/)