Question, what works best to achieve a Tony Iommi tone ?

[rheight]

I am trying to decide on which humbucker/s that would work best to get a Tony Iommi sound .

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Question, what works best to achieve a Tony Iommi tone ?

Depends on which album. He used P90s early on, then PAFs, then customs.


Then there's the exploding Laneys, and Orange amps.

However, I've gotten very close to the tones on Black Sabbath through Vol4 with the Custom Custom and C5.
And a rack with tons of EQ.

 

[Brow]

Re: Question, what works best to achieve a Tony Iommi tone ?

Depends on which album. He used P90s early on, then PAFs, then customs.

Then there's the exploding Laneys, and Orange amps.

However, I've gotten very close to the tones on Black Sabbath through Vol4 with the Custom Custom and C5.
And a rack with tons of EQ.

I thought he only used the Orange stuff for the 'Live at the Beat Club' performances that Sabbath (and alot of other bands in the 70s) did?

I'm sure I've read somewhere that Tony only used the Oranges for those shows and that he hated them :banghead:

An SG with P90s with some of the tone rolled off, a treblebooster into a cooking Laney amp (which themselves do have kind of a fuzzy edge to them) would be my suggestion.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Question, what works best to achieve a Tony Iommi tone ?

Wasn't 100% sure on the Oranges. I didn't think tv shows and such had the foresight to have "house gear" back then.

I know he was Laney's Guinea Pig in the company's early days, but wasn't sure if he was using more reliable gear in between experiments :lol:


Another note regarding the tones: the mahogany body/neck combo definitely has more influence than the scale length - my "Sabbath" axe is 25.5" scale, and Floyded, and as I said, I can get scary-close on some tones.

 

[Brow]

Re: Question, what works best to achieve a Tony Iommi tone ?

Wasn't 100% sure on the Oranges. I didn't think tv shows and such had the foresight to have "house gear" back then.

I've just done some digging on here and came across these statements:

Anyway, if you want to hear a sampling of old Orange amps check out the old Beat Club videos on you tube. It was a German club that used to have various bands perform live and in front of cameras. The entire backline was sponsored by Orange, so bands that weren't Orange users would have them anyway.

If you watch old live footage form variosu TV spots in the 70's you'll see loads of bands with them but only because they were the house amps for several places for years...lots of bands even complained about having to use them, in fact Tony Iommi said that Sabbath used them for one gig and he hated everything about them!

I knew I'd seen it confirmed somewhere.

I also agree on the Mahogany body/neck thing, it all adds to the dark tone he had!

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Re: Question, what works best to achieve a Tony Iommi tone ?

Also, don't forget to chop the tips off the middle and ring fingers of your right hand...

 

[Archer_of_Fish]

Re: Question, what works best to achieve a Tony Iommi tone ?

I have found that teeny strings is also pretty important to nailing Iommi's sound.

 

[Elessar [Sly]]

Re: Question, what works best to achieve a Tony Iommi tone ?

Well a Laney GH50L or even the Iommi sig amp will get you there amp wise. Gibbo SG standard - or if you prefer the Epi Iommi sig guitar. That'll get you pretty much there!

 

[Strat111]

Re: Question, what works best to achieve a Tony Iommi tone ?

Don't forget the Analogman Beano Boost treble booster that he got to replace his stolen Rangemaster.

 

[marvelous_seven]

Re: Question, what works best to achieve a Tony Iommi tone ?

Also, don't forget to chop the tips off the middle and ring fingers of your right hand...

This

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: Question, what works best to achieve a Tony Iommi tone ?

Treble boost and a 490R.

 

[Inkstained]

Re: Question, what works best to achieve a Tony Iommi tone ?

Also, don't forget to chop the tips off the middle and ring fingers of your right hand...

:bigok:

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Question, what works best to achieve a Tony Iommi tone ?

1) volume
2) SG
3) mustache
4) thimbles

 

[Jeff5]

Re: Question, what works best to achieve a Tony Iommi tone ?

The era and sound your looking for is important. He changed amps and pick ups over time and his sound varies from album to album and somtimes song to song. Which album/era/song are you trying to emulate?

 

[vegetablejoe]

Re: Question, what works best to achieve a Tony Iommi tone ?

Am interested in the Sabbath tones from 1st to 4th album myself. Am currently setting up a Gibby '02 LPS DC with Duncan P-90's. Will be plugging into a Peavey Classic 30 with a Weber Blue Dog Ceramic. Beano Boost is available if needed.

Can't wait to finish setting-up the guitar and plugging-in this weekend.

Would anyone have tips specific to this set-up? Thanks!

Jaime

 

[DonP]

Re: Question, what works best to achieve a Tony Iommi tone ?

I have a 63 SG Special, a 98 SG Std., a DSL100 1/2 stack, and a Laney AOR 50. I mix and match these depending on the era. I've seen Tony in concert back in Feb 1998 and it looked like he was playing a stock SG Std. That was an awesome show. It was an Ozzy reunion tour, and Pantera openned for them.

 

[xntrick]

Re: Question, what works best to achieve a Tony Iommi tone ?

I use a mahogony SG with Iommi pickups, byoc treble booster into the 2nd channel of a Peavey 3120. Not perfect but certainly close enough. I had also tried the phat cat/mean 90 combo and that also sounded good but they didn't play along so well and i didn't like the 60 cycle hum.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Question, what works best to achieve a Tony Iommi tone ?

Main thing you need is Tony's fingers/hands. All the rest of the gear is just fine-tuning.

 

[rheight]

Re: Question, what works best to achieve a Tony Iommi tone ?

The guitar I'm using is a Epi limited edition korina g-400 . So I guess what I should be asking is what humbuckers could possibly help me out with getting a tone similar to Iommi's.

 

[richard parker]

Re: Question, what works best to achieve a Tony Iommi tone ?

These:

https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/pickups.php?cat=humbuckers&sub=contemporary&pickup=warpig