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How did Iommi get his tone?

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  • #1

    How did Iommi get his tone?

    I know he used a Treble Booster and an SG with P90s and a Laney.

    Is this just the neck pickup with the tb in front of the laney. Or something else? It's definitely wooly like a neck pup but maybe there is something else going on... I don't know... either way....Kick ass tones!





    Last edited by Andrew Lamprecht; 12-23-2011, 10:54 PM.
    Originally posted by Good Will Hunting
    Real loss is only possible when you love something more than you love yourself.
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  • #2
    Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

    I am pretty sure that by VOL 4, Iommi was using John Birch guitars, which have high output pickups. Room and mic placement also have a lot to do with it ...
    Why don't you take your little Cobra Kais and get outta here?!
    My collaborative PROGRESSIVE ROCK PROJECT, As Follows.

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    • #3
      Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

      Originally posted by TwilightOdyssey View Post
      I am pretty sure that by VOL 4, Iommi was using John Birch guitars, which have high output pickups. Room and mic placement also have a lot to do with it ...
      Tony didn't start using John Birch guitars until the 7th album I believe. He was still using his monkey SG.

      It just sounds really wooly to me like a neck pup with some ferocity like a bridge pup... I'm thinking its just the treble booster kicking the neck pups ass.... I'm just not sure...



      Last edited by Andrew Lamprecht; 12-24-2011, 06:54 AM.
      Originally posted by Good Will Hunting
      Real loss is only possible when you love something more than you love yourself.

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      • #4
        Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

        BSG most often set to bridge pickup, Laney amps, modded Rangemaster...crank it!
        If you just read a post by The Guy Who Invented Fire please understand that opinions change, mind sets change and as players our ears mature...not to mention our needs grow and change. With that in mind, today I may or may not agree with the post you just read!

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        • #5
          Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

          Originally posted by the guy who invented fire View Post
          BSG most often set to bridge pickup, Laney amps, modded Rangemaster...crank it!
          That's what I'm thinking.
          "Completely Conceded Glowing Expert."
          "And Blueman, I am pretty sure you've pissed off a lot of people."
          "Wait, I know! Blueman and Lew can arm wrestle, and the winner gets to decide if 250K pots sound good or not."

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          • #6
            Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

            Wow, check this out... from Gibson.com. Aha... that's where he was getting the woody yet heavy rhythm sound.

            Were they any specific settings you used?

            Basically, I set the presence, middle and treble on 10 with no bass whatsoever. The guitar volume was usually set on full and the three-way toggle switch was set on the up position for chording and in the treble spot for soloing.
            Originally posted by Good Will Hunting
            Real loss is only possible when you love something more than you love yourself.

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            • #7
              Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

              Originally posted by blueman335 View Post
              That's what I'm thinking.
              The thing I will add is that a tone like Tony's old tone, Cream era Clapton. Peter Green, some old Billy Gibbons, Jeff Beck...pretty much the majority of old rock tones...they used BIG amps AND cranked them...a lot of the tone you hear on an old Sabbath album is a byproduct of volume and lots of it...

              The woolly you hear is quite simply a Laney amp kicking the asses of 2 4x12 cabs that honestly can barely take it...the amp working way past over time and getting pummeled by a Rangemaster.

              You CAN NOT reproduce that sound w/o the volume either...trust me, thousands of men have spend decades and hundreds of thousands of dollars trying and all have failed
              If you just read a post by The Guy Who Invented Fire please understand that opinions change, mind sets change and as players our ears mature...not to mention our needs grow and change. With that in mind, today I may or may not agree with the post you just read!

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              • #8
                Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

                I wonder what the mods to his rangemaster were? I know he uses a beano boost now but he said he doesn't know what was done to that original pedal....
                Originally posted by Good Will Hunting
                Real loss is only possible when you love something more than you love yourself.

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                • #9
                  Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

                  Originally posted by Andrew Lamprecht View Post
                  Wow, check this out... from Gibson.com
                  If you play through vintage non master volume amps you find out something VERY quickly...the louder you crank them the bigger and fatter the low end gets...a Laney at the volume levels Tony ran them there was plenty of low end already.

                  People get hung uip on gear for a specific player and try to cop that sound so for example they get a vintage Laney, SG with P-90's, Rangemaster, etc then claim that there HAS to be something else because they can't get that tone...then half a million fools on a forum tell them it's because they don't have Tony's hands which is just stupid...

                  The truth is they've modded the amp for a master volume or used an attenuator or even worse put a pedal in front of it and are running the amp on 2...to make matters worse they are using 2 high watt (and also high efficiency) speakers in a small cab to "keep the volume down"....

                  If they'd get a 4x12 or 2 with the right speakers and turn the amp up...way up so it's really working and really kicking the speakers right in the teeth they'd find they tone but they'd also find the cops on the front steps when they finished however it wouldn't matter because they wouldn't be able to hear what they were saying anyway...

                  If you really want to nail that sound forget the sound for now...work your ass off, get into a band...play hard, get a record deal, make a lot of money, buy the gear then play arenas...that's really the only way unless you can live alone on an island...with power.


                  .
                  If you just read a post by The Guy Who Invented Fire please understand that opinions change, mind sets change and as players our ears mature...not to mention our needs grow and change. With that in mind, today I may or may not agree with the post you just read!

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

                    Originally posted by Andrew Lamprecht View Post
                    I wonder what the mods to his rangemaster were? I know he uses a beano boost now but he said he doesn't know what was done to that original pedal....
                    There's only 8 parts in a Rangemaster to start with...most of them make little to no difference aside from the input cap...the input cap sort of decides everything. Tony's more than likely has a bigger input cap in place to let more of the guitars sound come through...
                    If you just read a post by The Guy Who Invented Fire please understand that opinions change, mind sets change and as players our ears mature...not to mention our needs grow and change. With that in mind, today I may or may not agree with the post you just read!

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

                      Originally posted by the guy who invented fire View Post
                      There's only 8 parts in a Rangemaster to start with...most of them make little to no difference aside from the input cap...the input cap sort of decides everything. Tony's more than likely has a bigger input cap in place to let more of the guitars sound come through...
                      Then why has no one been able to do that for him? He said none compare to that first pedal....
                      Originally posted by Good Will Hunting
                      Real loss is only possible when you love something more than you love yourself.

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

                        Originally posted by Andrew Lamprecht View Post
                        Then why has no one been able to do that for him? He said none compare to that first pedal....
                        Mojo, vibe listening 25+ years later...

                        On top of that Tony uses VERY different amps these days

                        The fact that he uses a Beano is a big statement to me...

                        FWIW, with my Beano, Sound City and Fane 4x12 I could get VERY close to the old Iommi tone...very close but it was stupid loud!
                        If you just read a post by The Guy Who Invented Fire please understand that opinions change, mind sets change and as players our ears mature...not to mention our needs grow and change. With that in mind, today I may or may not agree with the post you just read!

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

                          How did he get his tone?
                          Its all in the fingers...... or lack thereof!!!!!

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                          • #14
                            Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

                            Don't forget to use 8 gauge strings and tune 'em way down low!

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                            • #15
                              Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

                              A friend of mine NAILED the early Iommi tone with a Greco SG with T-Tops, into a cranked JTM45 2x12 combo. Everything on 10.
                              He used the bridge pickup with the tone rolled to zero.
                              Sounds horrible on paper, but it sounded 95% like those old Sabbath records.
                              He did have the speakers from an old Twin Reverb combo into that JTM, too.
                              Can't remember what they were precisely but goddamn did it nail the Sabbath tone.

                              I'll see if I can ask him.
                              Last edited by Diego; 12-24-2011, 09:33 AM.
                              Epiphone LP Standard PlusTop Pro
                              Ibanez SZ320 / A8 DD103 bridge.
                              Ibanez RG270 / Screamin' Demon bridge.

                              Egnater Tweaker 15 Head / Laney Cub 8 / 2x12 - Celestion V30+K100
                              Line 6 M13 and plenty of stompboxes I rarely use!

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