How did Iommi get his tone?

[Khriss Bliss]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

PinkUnicornHorsey used a Rangemaster Clone into a Vox30, (hotplated down for our neighborhood) and launched into "Behind aWall of Sleep";made me a total believer.

I got his Iommi (gib) pkup cuz i wanted ANY part of his Heaven & Hell tone- NO DICE! and u can see he uses it in two songs...
Between his banjo strings, his volume (119 dbs), personalized Laneys and thimblez- i gave up at the edge of the abyss between us & switched to Dmarz SuprD.

But the sign. pkup was good for his 97 tone.

Some fuzz box demos on youtube are pretty convincing "iommi in a box" ads. ask fuzz box expert.

[misterwhizzy]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

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...

What I'm getting from all this is that cops love heavy metal.

[bungalowbill]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

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

A big +1!

[BrianS.]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

Ahem...I'm pretty sure kick ass tone was stipulated in his pact with Satan.

[everdrone]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

lol ya a cranked 100 watter and an expert producer would be a very nice start... now I will go back to my regularly scheduled sabbath worship

[xntrick]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

this is the info i got from the byoc site regarding Tony's rangemaster:

There's an interview with Tony in the Jan. 2010 Guitar Player magazine. In it he says a guy in a band with Bill Ward in the late 60's told Tony he could make his Rangemaster sound better. Tony doesn't know what the mods were but he says it had a lot more sustain when he got it back from the guy. Tony goes on to say that he used it on all the early Black Sabbath stuff right up until "Heaven and Hell". When asked why he stopped using it he said that he hired a guy to re-build his amps and when the guy found the Rangemaster he threw it away. Since Tony didn't know what modifications were made to the circuit he had no way of making another just like it. He also says that he used the Rangemaster in the bass input of his Laney amp.

[Bayou_Picker]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

http://www.jaydeecustomguitars.co.uk/old_boy_sg.html

His main guitar has custom wound pickups from JD.

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

this is the info i got from the byoc site regarding Tony's rangemaster:

There's an interview with Tony in the Jan. 2010 Guitar Player magazine. In it he says a guy in a band with Bill Ward in the late 60's told Tony he could make his Rangemaster sound better. Tony doesn't know what the mods were but he says it had a lot more sustain when he got it back from the guy. Tony goes on to say that he used it on all the early Black Sabbath stuff right up until "Heaven and Hell". When asked why he stopped using it he said that he hired a guy to re-build his amps and when the guy found the Rangemaster he threw it away. Since Tony didn't know what modifications were made to the circuit he had no way of making another just like it. He also says that he used the Rangemaster in the bass input of his Laney amp.

Yeah, I read that interview. That's why... Iommi says he hasn't found a pedal yet that can do what that pedal did.

http://www.jaydeecustomguitars.co.uk/old_boy_sg.html

His main guitar has custom wound pickups from JD.

Yeah, but that was built for him after the 6th album was made. I'm more interested in his early tones. Very sweet guitar though.

[Gypsyblue]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

Its all in the fingers...... or lack thereof!!!!!

That's right. He's missing the tips of his fingers and wears something like "thimbles" on them. http://www.feelnumb.com/2009/10/16/b...ic-fingertips/

[Fusion1]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

The "devil" is in the details on his tone! I think he "sold his soul for rock n' roll"

[xxxplorer]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

I'm going with what tgwif said. I unfortunatly played a handwired jtm45 offset reissue years ago and cranked it and it is like remembering that hot as hell woman that was 'talented' and lovely but basically unable to really keep... Haunts me daily. What a sound. Yes, the cops showed. I had to refrain from grinning!

[Bayou_Picker]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

Yeah, I read that interview. That's why... Iommi says he hasn't found a pedal yet that can do what that pedal did.



Yeah, but that was built for him after the 6th album was made. I'm more interested in his early tones. Very sweet guitar though.

My bad. Sabbath was all i listened to in my high school/stoner days. Probably the reason i never graduated. I loved the 3 pickup SG he played in the iron man video.

[Mincer]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

I always loved his solo tone from the beginning of 'Wheels of Confusion'. Sounds like the mic was across the room. His later (Dio-era) tones were really different, in a good way too. After that, he probably was experimenting so much with gear and guitars (He even used a BC Rich Ironbird with scalloped frets) that his tones really varied.

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

My bad. Sabbath was all i listened to in my high school/stoner days. Probably the reason i never graduated. I loved the 3 pickup SG he played in the iron man video.

I love all his guitars man....






The one below was recently stolen and hasn't come up...



Monkey SG - used on first 6 albums



Old Boy- His favorite



I can't find any pictures of the SG Custom (3 pickup) but I know what guitar you're referring to. All his guitars sport John Birch pickups other than the black and red Gibson SGs above... (he also has a white one) and those have his signature pickups from Gibson though I read somewhere he prefers the Birch pickups and likes the Gibsons for a change.

I really like his monkey SG because of the P90s and history behind the first 6 albums. He said he loved the tone of the monkey SG but the neck was really thin and the guitar always had really bad tuning problems. When he had the new guitar made in 1975 (Old Boy), he stopped using the monkey and in 2005 (?) donated it to somewhere....? Maybe the rock n roll hof or one of those little rock resturants.... forgot but you could probably find it somewhere lol.

[xntrick]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

Yeah, I read that interview. That's why... Iommi says he hasn't found a pedal yet that can do what that pedal did.



Yeah, but that was built for him after the 6th album was made. I'm more interested in his early tones. Very sweet guitar though.

i can get fairly close with a byoc tri-boost with phat cat/mean 90 in my SG but i also like his modern tone as well, i'd like to try the Iommi pickup from Gibson but that thing is damn expensive...