Early Black Sabbath in a pedal

[axdxm]

I know Castledine has this wicked pedal called "The Wizard" which simulates a rangemaster into a Laney Amp. It nails the tone, imo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOQZhsECVIc

However, I do not have the $$ to buy this from the UK. At the current exchange rate it is £ 195.00 = $320. And that doesn't even include shipping.

Is there any other pedal out there that is like this or is as convincing of the early Sabbath tone?

 

[chankgeez]

 

[monwobobbo]

keep in mind that the early Sabbath sound is just as much about geezers bass as it is tony's guitar. the two blend for a huge sound.

 

[AXXA]

What amp are you using? I'm guessing a clean amp if a regular treble booster won't do it for you.

 

[V-man]

Early Sabbath is a SG with P-90s boosted by a modified Dallas Rangemaster through a Laney Supergroup.

I don't have any of those things. I like flying Vs, I play Marshalls, and nobody made Iommi's Rangemaster in a box.

However, Gibson Flying Vs share some heritage with SGs, and Laney Supergroups are immensely similar to JMP NMV amps (my understanding is they are half Super Lead, half Super Bass circuit). As for the box, I found that Iommi actually got a Beano Boost Treble Booster from Analogman, which was a faithful Dallas Rangemaster clone with extras. I took that a step further and got a Sun Lion, the double pedal that pairs the BB with the Sun Face (their Fuzz Face clone), Which actually surpasses that pedal you cited. At the end of the day however, the rig brings the Sabbath.

Someone else nailed it here... without the right amp, you be most challenged to cop the tone. The truest specimen is the Laney. The next best thing is a NMV Marshall. Further down the line is a MV Marshall ala JCM800. Past that is hit or miss, depending on what sort of tone purist you are.

And that is really the thing there... the biggest asset to tone is the player's fingers. After that the amp, and so forth. If you want the closest Sabbath sound (other than acquiring Iommi's signature chops) you are going to have to grab an old Laney or a Marshall (clone), and even the cheapest of those is going to make a $300+ pedal a minor expense by comparison. The funny thing is that with the wrong amp, you can have that pedal you want... hell, you could have HIS very own Rangemaster and sound way off.

My rig will get you there as close as anything else with the right hands (second only to the actual rig), but that was a $3,500 rig for my Guitar/Pedal/NMV Marshall or a $2,500 for my Guitar/Pedal/MV Marshall (which I got a killer deal on). The point I am making is if you don't have a similarly voiced Gibson(ish) guitar, and the right style amp you may as well stop worrying about the true-to-life pedal, and work on your chops and tone-shaping with what you have, because you are only going to ballpark his tone, not nail it.

Plenty of guys tossed a Tubescreamer or a DS-1 in front of a JCM 800 and were rather happy with their ballpark sounds however close (or far away) they really were.

 

[Gretsch 5120]

There's an excellent model of the Supergroup in the Digitech GSP1101 (and other modellers of Digitech); I run a Rat in front of my 1101 for extra dirt. As a matter of fact it's my only dirty/heavy sound I use and the reason why I keep the GSP1101.

 

[guitargod2u]

i've always been able to nail early black sabbath with just one pedal usually. Running a clean amp with a big muff with the sustain/gain turned down some. I've always assosicated that sound with tony's sound. I would always play along with "we sold our souls for rock and roll'. For on the cheap a big muff will get you pretty close. Remember some of his stuff was recorded with a strat.

 

[db9]

Walrus Iron Horse

 

[monkmiles]

IIRC, the early version of the Subdecay Blackstar was aimed at some Sabbath tones. Worth checking into and possibly finding a good deal on a used one.

 

[Holzar1988]

Walrus Iron Horse

That's exactly what I thought when I first saw this thread. I rented one for a week from tryapedal.net (no affiliation), and my thought was that this would be the perfect Sabbath pedal. Pretty dark and brooding and thick in a Sabbathy kind of way.

I'm not a Sabbath tonal expert, though, so it seems like some of the other suggestions here are really worth exploring, too.

If you're looking for a Marshally NMV kind of groove to play with as a base tone, the Catalinbread DLS Mk. 2 nails that pretty well. I had one and eventually traded it because I wanted more gain. But for '70s Marshall tones, it's a really solid pedal.

I'm also partial to Weehbo's whole range, and I'm guessing the JTM Drive would get you in that neighborhood, too, (though, admittedly, I've only used some of their higher gain stuff).

 

[bobcunningham]

Great recommendations here. The gear that Tony used at various times throughout his career is no secret, so what you're basically asking is how you can achieve his signature sound with your gear plus a new pedal.

 

[OotMagroot]

One of the dudes from Catalinbread once posted a clip of their Naga Viper running into a v.1 DLS. I think he was running those into their ubiquitous Princeton Reverb reissue. NAILED the tone (In fact, I think he was playing The Wizard, IIRC). I'm sure you could fine both of those used, on the cheapz!

 

[lostpoet2]

Early Sabbath is a SG with P-90s boosted by a modified Dallas Rangemaster through a Laney Supergroup. I don't have any of those things. I like flying Vs, I play Marshalls, and nobody made Iommi's Rangemaster in a box. However, Gibson Flying Vs share some heritage with SGs, and Laney Supergroups are immensely similar to JMP NMV amps (my understanding is they are half Super Lead, half Super Bass circuit). As for the box, I found that Iommi actually got a Beano Boost Treble Booster from Analogman, which was a faithful Dallas Rangemaster clone with extras. I took that a step further and got a Sun Lion, the double pedal that pairs the BB with the Sun Face (their Fuzz Face clone), Which actually surpasses that pedal you cited. At the end of the day however, the rig brings the Sabbath. Someone else nailed it here... without the right amp, you be most challenged to cop the tone. The truest specimen is the Laney. The next best thing is a NMV Marshall. Further down the line is a MV Marshall ala JCM800. Past that is hit or miss, depending on what sort of tone purist you are. And that is really the thing there... the biggest asset to tone is the player's fingers. After that the amp, and so forth. If you want the closest Sabbath sound (other than acquiring Iommi's signature chops) you are going to have to grab an old Laney or a Marshall (clone), and even the cheapest of those is going to make a $300+ pedal a minor expense by comparison. The funny thing is that with the wrong amp, you can have that pedal you want... hell, you could have HIS very own Rangemaster and sound way off. My rig will get you there as close as anything else with the right hands (second only to the actual rig), but that was a $3,500 rig for my Guitar/Pedal/NMV Marshall or a $2,500 for my Guitar/Pedal/MV Marshall (which I got a killer deal on). The point I am making is if you don't have a similarly voiced Gibson(ish) guitar, and the right style amp you may as well stop worrying about the true-to-life pedal, and work on your chops and tone-shaping with what you have, because you are only going to ballpark his tone, not nail it. Plenty of guys tossed a Tubescreamer or a DS-1 in front of a JCM 800 and were rather happy with their ballpark sounds however close (or far away) they really were.

Good points. I guess tone is in the fingertips or lack thereof.

I had a beano boost, and in full range mode, it definitely had that early Sabbath vibe. Really any treble booster with a full range mode should work into a vintage Marshall style amp or MIAB pedal.

 

[Lullabies]

I can cop that Wizard sound pretty good with any NYC big muff ... may not be EXACTLY accurate but it gets that sound pretty good.

 

[VHS analog]

I can cop that Wizard sound pretty good with any NYC big muff ... may not be EXACTLY accurate but it gets that sound pretty good.

My thoughts exactly. The right big muff will get you there, something lower gain w/ plenty of mids.

 

[rawpower]

the plum crazy fx squawk is great for that, 6 position dial to select the range it boosts and a ton of gain.

 

[jazzguitar14]

on the cheap -- to a clean amp -- MXR 78 Badass will get close

 

[Sterling#Sound]

I have a load of Sabbath covers on YouTube and the important elements are a Gibson SG with P90s and a treble booster.

Here with a Magnatone type amp:
http://youtu.be/sDFNu8tNBEM

 

[Sterling#Sound]

Here with a Laney 100w Supergroup (TB kicks in at the end): http://youtu.be/L7vyxmofXa8

 

[Mystik Spiral]

I always got a early black sabbath out of the hbe power screamer... I know it's meant to be a tweaked 808 but it has so many sounds in it..