Paranoid amp settings — Fender Champion 20

The Black sabath guitar tone for “Paranoid”, dialed in for a Fender Champion 20 with a Fender Player Stratocaster. Studio version, Paranoid album (1970)

Original rig

Gibson SG Standard (bridge pickup) → Dallas Rangemaster treble booster → Laney LA100BL heads into 4x12 cabs, inputs overloaded for preamp saturation

Aggressive, cutting mid-forward crunch with sharp treble attack and minimal low-end — raw and biting

Amp settings — Fender Champion 20

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	7
Bass	2
Mid	10
Treble	8
Presence	0
Reverb	0
Master	6

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Treble Booster / Tube Screamer style OD (e.g., Boss SD-1, Ibanez TS9)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. The Rangemaster is essential to Iommi's tone; a TS-style pedal with low drive and high tone approximates that treble-forward boost. Without this, the Fender's clean headroom cannot replicate the aggressive cut.

Drive 3 · Tone 8 · Level 7

Why these settings

The Champion 20 is a scooped, bright solid-state Fender — the opposite of Iommi's mid-heavy overloaded Laney. I maxed the mid knob to compensate for the Fender's natural mid-scoop, dropped bass to 2 (Iommi ran zero bass but your Strat's single coils are already thin), and pulled treble back to 8 because your amp's treble shelf is higher than a Laney and the Strat bridge pickup is already ice-picky. Without an overdrive pedal, this amp cannot achieve the harmonic saturation of the original — the recommended TS-style pedal is critical.

PRO TIPIommi's attack came from aggressive downstroke picking right over the bridge pickup pole pieces — dig in hard with the pick angled slightly and you'll get that percussive bark even on a Strat. Roll your guitar's tone knob to 7-8 if the bridge pickup gets too shrill on the high strings.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Fender Champion 20. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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Song, artist and gear names are used to identify the tone being matched; ToneAdapt is not affiliated with or endorsed by the artists or manufacturers mentioned. Settings are AI-generated starting points — trust your ears.