Paranoid amp settings — Marshall MG30CFX

The Black Sabbath guitar tone for “Paranoid”, dialed in for a Marshall MG30CFX with a Yamaha Pacifica 112V. Studio version, Paranoid (1970) — main rhythm riff

Original rig

1965 Gibson SG Special (P90 pickups) into custom Dallas Rangemaster Treble Booster into cranked Laney Supergroup LA100BL head (EQ: Bass 0, Middle 10, Treble 10, Presence 10) into Laney 4x12 cabinets

Raw, mid-heavy proto-metal crunch with pushed upper midrange and tight, trimmed low-end

Amp settings — Marshall MG30CFX

CHANNELCrunchBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	7
Bass	3
Mid	8
Treble	7
Reverb	1
Master	5

Don’t have a Marshall MG30CFX? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE9 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Dallas Rangemaster style Treble Booster / Overdrive

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned (adds authentic Tony Iommi upper-mid bite into the amp's front end)

Boost 7

Why these settings

The MG30CFX lacks an onboard presence control and runs brighter than a vintage Laney Supergroup, so the Crunch channel with gain at 7 provides the raw power-stage crunch without turning fizzy. Bass is pulled back to 3 and mid pushed to 8 to mimic Iommi's famous Laney EQ (bass cut, maxed mids) and Rangemaster frequency cutoff. The Pacifica's bridge humbucker supplies the necessary output and punch to match Iommi's hot P90 attack.

PRO TIPTony Iommi used extremely light custom strings and tuned standard E on this album; pick with aggressive downstrokes directly over the bridge pickup to emulate the sharp, percussive attack of his thimble-tipped fretting fingers.

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These settings are for a Marshall MG30CFX. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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