War Pigs amp settings — Nevile Xl 10

The Black Sabbath guitar tone for “War Pigs”, dialed in for a Nevile Xl 10 with a Fender Player Stratocaster. Studio version, Paranoid album (1970)

Original rig

Gibson SG Standard (bridge humbucker) → Dallas Arbiter Rangemaster treble booster → Laney LA100BL (substituted as Marshall Plexi in most references)

Thick, grinding mid-forward doom crunch with treble-boosted bite cutting through the low-tuned riffs

Amp settings — Nevile Xl 10

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

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

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE7 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Dr. D (as Rangemaster substitute)

The Rangemaster was a treble booster that pushed amp mids and added grit. Use your Dr. D with moderate drive, high tone to emphasize upper-mids, and level set to push the amp input. This is the secret sauce of the Iommi sound.

Drive 4 · Tone 7 · Level 7

Why these settings

Your Strat's single-coil bridge pickup is thinner and brighter than Iommi's SG humbuckers, so I boosted mid +1 and dropped bass -1 vs the original Plexi settings to compensate for the weaker low-mid output. The Dr. D functions as the Rangemaster here—it adds the harmonic thickness and push your single coils lack. Rolling tone knob to 7 tames the Strat's ice-pick highs.

PRO TIPIommi's doom tone relies on palm-muting closer to the bridge than typical—about 1 inch from the saddles—to keep the low-E riffs tight and percussive rather than boomy. Dig in hard with the pick for that grinding attack.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Nevile Xl 10. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

Get ToneAdapt on Google Play

Find your amp

Browse

War Pigs on other ampsSAME SONG, YOUR AMP Black Sabbath tonesALL SONGS Fender Player Stratocaster tonesSAME GUITAR Tone libraryEVERYTHING

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.