Best way to get this Iommi tone...

BillyZeppa

Power User
AXE Tone Gurus.. Does anyone know what the best place to start would be to get this tone (Toni Iommi - Iron man), Amp, drive?, settings?

Isolated Iommi 'Iron Man' guitar stem... (or so it claims - it does sound like it)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbYSLTI2sug

I'll be happy to try a tone match, but thought i would get some advice on the best starting point using amps, cabs, drive pedals, etc. in order to make the TM easier to accomplish. Thanks, y'all. :encouragement:
 
I'm using a Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra fuzz pedal in front of the AxeFX using a Friedman BE. I also use an SG tuned to C#, so that helps get the Iommi tone.

This is a great pedal. I'm sure you could try other amp/cab sims to tune your sound to different Sabbath eras.

I don't think the AxeFX has a model for Iommi's Laney Supergroup head that he used on the early Sabbath recordings.
 
When I think early Iommi, I think Dallas Rangemaster -> Laney (because that's what he used).

In the AxeFx this translates to Treb Boost->100W Plexi->Old school Marshall cab of choice.

It's a pretty trivial tone to cop on the AFX IMHO.
 
I'm using a Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra fuzz pedal in front of the AxeFX using a Friedman BE. I also use an SG tuned to C#, so that helps get the Iommi tone.

This is a great pedal. I'm sure you could try other amp/cab sims to tune your sound to different Sabbath eras.

I don't think the AxeFX has a model for Iommi's Laney Supergroup head that he used on the early Sabbath recordings.

Lots of ways to do it but that pedal gets it done, no question! Ahh…takes me back….
 
The tone is close, but that's certainly NOT the original track.
Listen for the warbly stuff int he beginning. Then compare it to the original track. It ain't there...
 
You can always get the tone but it doesn't mean you sound like him. In a nutshell:

- SG type guitar with medium output pickups
- play every riff with your lowest string, even if it's high up the neck -> you get a darker sound
- he uses .009–.042 gauge strings with a lower tuning (C#)
- use vibrato to make power chords sound "bigger", mind that he has an unique sounding vibrato
- have his fingers

Then use a vintage Marshall with treble booster to make it fizzy. Here's an isolated guitar track:


Keep in mind that his gain settings vary pretty much through the years. Here's an example from the early days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yZA4TC_pt4#t=255

All information taken from Custom Sounds blog (a great Finnish guitar blog): https://translate.google.com/transl...gs/on-vain-yksi-tony-iommi&edit-text=&act=url

Slightly offtopic: I read from that blog entry that Iommi's daughter is married with a Finnish guitarist Mikko Lindström (HIM). What's funny is that Iommi and Mikko share the same sounds and did even before Mikko met Iommi's daughter. At some point Iommi has actually been impressed by Mikko's live sound after a gig he went to see and changed back to Layney because of him :lol
 
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