Riff Tone

Iron Man

Black Sabbath

Guitarmetal1970s

Original Gear

Guitar1964 Gibson SG Special ('Monkey')

AmpLaney Supergroup 100W MK I head with Laney 4x12 cabinet (Celestion G12-25M speakers likely)

PickupsGibson P-90 single coils

Amp Settings

gain0

bass6

mid7

treble6.5

reverb0

presence5.5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1970, Paranoid album. Clean sections are rare in 'Iron Man'; most of the song is heavy/distorted. No evidence of a dedicated clean amp or channel—cleaner passages are achieved by rolling down guitar volume and picking lightly. No evidence of pedals or effects used for clean tone in the riff section.

Tone Character(10)

dry and directbright and mid-forwardarticulate and uncompressedslightly scooped lowsno audible reverb or delayclear note separationtouch-sensitive dynamicsno modulation or time-based effectsclassic British amp voicingcontrolled by picking and guitar volume

Difficulty

The clean riff section is beginner-friendly, requiring only basic power chords and straightforward rhythm, with the main challenge being clean articulation and timing.

Sources

Iron Man guitar tone settings — Black Sabbath | ToneMirror Tonal Recall: The Secrets Behind the Extraordinary Guitar Sounds—"Iron Man," "Pride and Joy" | Guitar World Master of Reality: Sound Like Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi | Reverb News

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