Riff Tone

Believer (Live from Blizzard of Ozz Tour)

Ozzy Osbourne

Guitarmetal1980s

Original Gear

Guitar1974 Gibson Les Paul Custom

AmpMarshall JMP 1959 Super Lead MKII 100-watt head into two Marshall 1960A/B 4x12 cabinets with Altec 417-8H speakers

PickupsSeymour Duncan SH-4 JB (bridge humbucker, likely swapped in), stock Gibson humbucker (neck)

Amp Settings

gain7

bass5

mid6

treble7

reverb1

presence5.5

Effects & Signal Chain

distortionMXR MXR Distortion +

eqMXR MXR Ten Band EQ

wahDunlop Dunlop Cry Baby Wah

noise_gateUnknown Noise Gate (model unknown)

Notes

Live from Blizzard of Ozz Tour, 1981. Riff section. Randy Rhoads used his Les Paul Custom with the bridge pickup for most heavy rhythm parts. Amp was a rented mid-70s Marshall JMP 1959 Super Lead MKII, not his later white Marshall. Effects from pedalboard, not amp. Settings reflect live rig as used on tour, not studio. No evidence of effects loop.

Tone Character(10)

tight and percussiveaggressive palm mutingsaturated but clear distortioncutting upper midsslightly scooped low endarticulate note separationfast attackminimal ambienceclassic British crunchcompressed sustain

Difficulty

The riff requires fast, tight alternate picking with aggressive palm muting and precise timing, as well as rapid position shifts and string skipping, making it challenging for most intermediate players.