Nail the ToneBlack Sabbath

Paranoid

Black Sabbath · Paranoid · 1970

The main riff is a bridge-pickup Gibson SG straight into a cranked 100-watt Laney Supergroup with a modified Dallas-Arbiter Rangemaster in front — no scooped mids, no modern gain. Kill the bass, push mids, presence and treble to the top, and let the treble booster do the distorting so the sound stays tight and papery rather than fat. Iommi's own account names his white three-pickup SG Custom for this specific track, while most gear writing on the album points to his P-90-loaded '65 SG Special.

Where these numbers come from: the player said these settings themselves

Tuning

Standard tuning, no capo

Standard E — the C#/C down-tuning starts with the next album, Master of Reality; Iommi has said he plays the riff's E5 on the sixth and fifth strings at the 12th fret, not the 7th-fret shape most tabs show.

Part: Riff

Guitar

  • Gibson SG Custom (white, three pickups, left-handed) · Gibson humbuckers (gold covers) · bridge pickup
  • Gibson SG Special "Monkey" (1965) · P-90 (bridge encased by John Birch) · bridge pickup

Amp

Laney Supergroup MK1 100-watt head

GAIN
10.0
BASS
0.0
MID
10.0
TREBLE
10.0
PRESENCE
10.0

Guitar World's teardown of the Paranoid sessions has Iommi into the Supergroup's bass/normal input with Gain 1 wide open for power-tube crunch; cab was a Laney 4x12 (Celestion G12-25M or Goodmans), though Iommi told Guitar World in 1992 it may have been "either a Laney or Marshall cabinet."

Pedals

  • Dallas-Arbiter Rangemaster Treble Booster (modified) · treble booster · Set control near maximum, always on — it cuts bass and slams the amp's input, which is where the honk and dirt come from

Tone character

forward, honking mids · scooped bass · biting treble boost · moderate tube breakup · dry, close-miked

easy

Two-note power chords with quick hammer-ons and a palm-muted, syncopated right hand at a brisk tempo, plus fast position jumps up and down the low strings.

Want this on your own amp?

These are the record's settings. Tell us what you play through and we'll translate every knob to the amp you actually own — free.

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Sources