Paranoid amp settings — Kinsman 10 watt

The Black Sabbath guitar tone for “Paranoid”, dialed in for a Kinsman 10 watt with a Squier Affinity Stratocaster. Studio version, Paranoid album (1970)

Original rig

Gibson SG Standard (bridge pickup) → Dallas Rangemaster treble booster → Laney LA100BL 100-watt head, all EQ maxed except bass at 0, amp cranked to overdrive

Aggressive, trebly crunch with scooped bass and biting upper-mids, raw and grinding

Amp settings — Kinsman 10 watt

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	7
Bass	2
Mid	4
Treble	8
Presence	0
Reverb	0
Master	6

Don’t have a Kinsman 10 watt? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Treble Booster / Clean Boost (e.g., TC Electronic Spark Mini, MXR Micro Amp, or Electro-Harmonix LPB-1)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. The Rangemaster treble booster was essential to Iommi's tone, pushing the amp into saturation while adding treble cut-through. A basic clean boost or treble booster clone is necessary to get this tone from a small practice amp.

Level/Gain 7

Why these settings

Your Kinsman 10W is a small solid-state practice amp with limited gain and headroom — it cannot replicate a cranked 100W Laney naturally overdriving. I've pushed gain to 7 and treble to 8 to compensate for the Strat's brighter, thinner single-coils vs Iommi's fat SG humbuckers. Bass is dropped to 2 (original was 0) because the Strat already lacks low-end. Without a boost pedal, you will get a thin approximation; the amp simply cannot saturate like the original rig.

PRO TIPPalm-mute the low E string aggressively and dig in hard with your pick near the bridge — Iommi's attack is percussive and punchy, and this playing technique matters more than gear when your amp has limited gain on tap.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Kinsman 10 watt. 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.