How did Iommi get his tone?

[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. :headbang:

 

[Gypsyblue]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

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

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/black-sabbaths-tony-iommi-plastic-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. :headbang:

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. :headbang:

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...

 

[James Rock]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

An important thing is the recording and the string gauge (tuned down low) I always loved his older tone compared to his tone from the 80s onwards like the tone on Sabotages Symptom of the Universe and the tone on A National Acrobat and when the bass comes in on some of the songs it gets so heavy.

 

[Bayou_Picker]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

I love all his guitars man....

Yeaaah boy!

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

Holy hell.

What the fudge are all those extra knobs and switch for? Preamp?

 

[Quencho092]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?



YEAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

 

[PRSfan nym 1985]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

If you go to guitar center with a briefcase full of hundred dollar bills they'll take you to a room in the back full of your favorite guitarists talent you just have to pay a hefty investment to get it but once you have it you don't need to ask silly questions.

honestly I don't understand why people are so concerned with mimicking what everyone else has already done go be unique, creative and original and make your own art from the instrument. Do you really think you are making these artists proud by wasting your life achieving something they worked so hard to do? I don't know if I were famous I'd rather inspire someone to push the boundaries like most of these rock and roll pioneers did. I guess that's why pop music today sucks because people are lazy and they are imitators.

I'm seriously not trying to sound like a smart ass but a lot of peoples tone is honestly in their hands and in their head. A lot of his tone in particular is due to the specific piece of wood he played, how the amp was set, pedal in front of it, the room recorded in, the miking used on the recording, etc. I mean we are talking about dozens if not hundreds of parameters gear and non-gear related. There is a huge relationship between guitarist-gear-room and it's hard to duplicate that relationship unless all things are the same, you can come close but you'll never duplicate it.

 

[Mincer]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

I'll just post one of his latest recordings- kind of a supergroup with Ian Gillian, Jon Lord & Nico McBrain- absolutely massive.

 

[xntrick]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

I'll just post one of his latest recordings- kind of a supergroup with Ian Gillian, Jon Lord & Nico McBrain- absolutely massive.

that tune is killer, i wish he'd do more work like..his playing on Fused was also great to listen to...

 

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

honestly I don't understand why people are so concerned with mimicking what everyone else has already done.

Don't get to into this. I know what you are saying, I agree, but I only want to know... I don't really use the same equipment as my heroes or try to get the same sound... I have my own sound... It's just interesting to know what they used. Sometimes I like to take part of my sound and part of their sound... it is still new and exciting to me.

that tune is killer, i wish he'd do more work like..his playing on Fused was also great to listen to...

+1, His solo albums were too cool.




As a sidenote... A lot of what I am reading is that he really liked his neck pickup... I don't want to go against you TGWIF, you probably know plenty but I am reading that Tony liked neck pickups except for solos and some random parts in songs... I don't think it really matters though... I was messing with my set up and getting lots of cool Iommi like sounds... from both pickups... it's all good. :friday:

 

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

Now that I think about it.... I have completely different taste in amps and pedals vs. my heroes.... the only similarity is that I use a P90 SG like Iommi but I wasn't thinking about him when I bought it.... I just really liked SGs and P90s so I bought the guitar....

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: How did Iommi get his tone?

Watch these clips...







The majority of these tones do not come from a neck P-90...just sayin'