GuitarBest guess1

Paranoid

Black Sabbath

Adapt to my rig

Tone Snapshot

Pickup: Likely Gibson humbucker-equipped white SG

0Gain

0Middle

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Tone profile

Gain

Tightness

Brightness

Mid Scoop

Ambience

What makes this tone

Bright Attack

Signal chain

Guitar: White three-pickup Gibson SG
Pickup: Likely Gibson humbucker-equipped white SG
Amp: Laney LA100BL/Supergroup-era 100W head
Effects: Modified Dallas Rangemaster treble booster

Adapt to my rig

Tone Character

Recorded tone character

Gain character

Raw, cranked early-metal overdrive with a hard upper-mid push from the booster.

Bass

Lean enough to keep the fast riff from becoming woolly.

Mids

Very strong and boxy, forming the unmistakable Iommi voice.

Treble

Bright but thick rather than fizzy.

Brightness / presence

Forward, gritty and immediate.

Compression

Natural loud-amp compression with a rough, lively attack.

Effects

Modified Dallas Rangemaster treble booster into the Laney; essentially no ambience is needed for the main riff.

Adapt to my rig to read the full tone character

Evidence / Sources

Tone character: raw, mid-heavy, gritty, aggressive, vintage, dry, boxy, urgent

Tony Iommi has said the white three-pickup SG was the guitar he recorded Paranoid with. Other accounts correctly associate the red Monkey SG with much of the Paranoid era, so this seed keeps the song-specific statement separate from the broader album rig.

2 sources