Paranoid amp settings — Vox Vx1

The Black Sabbath guitar tone for “Paranoid”, dialed in for a Vox Vx1 with a Mad axe El-st-3. Studio version, Paranoid album (1970)

Original rig

Gibson SG Standard → Dallas Rangemaster treble booster → Laney LA100BL (presence/mid/treble at 10, bass at 0)

Grinding, midrange-heavy crunch with treble-boosted bite and no low-end mud

Amp settings — Vox Vx1

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

Don’t have a Vox Vx1? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Treble Booster or Tube Screamer (TS9)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. A treble booster clone (like an Electroharmonix Screaming Bird or TC Electronic Spark Booster) is ideal; a Tube Screamer with low drive and high tone/level approximates the midrange push and input-stage saturation Iommi got from the Rangemaster.

Drive 3 · Tone 7 · Level 7

Why these settings

The Vox VX1 is a darker, more compressed amp than Iommi's cranked Laney. I pushed gain to 8 to compensate for the missing Rangemaster boost, dropped bass to 2 (Iommi ran zero bass—the VX1 needs some cut to avoid mud), and raised mids to 8 to capture that nasal bark. Treble at 7 rather than 10 because the VX1's treble shelf is already bright. Your El-st-3's single coils are brighter and lower output than Iommi's SG humbuckers, so the higher gain compensates.

PRO TIPIommi's attack is all downstrokes with a hard pick grip, striking the strings closer to the bridge than the neck. This adds the percussive 'chunk' that defines the Paranoid riff—technique matters more than gear here.

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These settings are for a Vox Vx1. 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.