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Monday July 8th, 2002
Tony Iommi on his Gibson Signature Pickups, SG and rockin with the royals
by Lisa Sharken for gibson.com
Tony Iommi is a player who needs very little introduction. As the forefather of heavy metal guitar, Iommi was recently honored by Gibson with his own signature model pickup and SG guitars by Gibson Custom and Gibson USA. We asked Iommi to fill us in on how these two projects began and to describe what makes each of them different from other standard model Gibson pickups and guitars.
We had spoken with Iommi shortly after his performance with Ozzy Osbourne at the Queens Golden Jubilee Concert, which took place Buckingham Palace in celebration of Queen Elizabeths 50-year reign. The two played Paranoid to an audience of 12,000 lucky ticket holders, as well as millions of viewers who watched the event on television. So in addition to discussing his signature pickup and SG, Iommi also provided us with a colorful account of his experience at the Royal event and the surprises that were in store with some unexpected fans.
Tell us about the development of your signature model Gibson pickups. How did that come about? What did you use as the starting point?
Well, I used a pickup that Id done many years ago with a chap who used to work with me as my tech. His name was J.D. John Diggins. Then we got a shop going because he was a guitar maker and he started making guitars. But he also made a pickup for me and thats basically the way it started.
Was there one particular guitar that you had used in the voicing of the pickups?
It was an old Gibson SG, a red one that I had for many years. But this pickup thing started a long, long time ago. Since the 70s, I used to have such a problem with pickups and, in those days, I dont think there were any pickups that you could get that wouldnt squeal. Whenever Id turn up the guitar, it would just squeal and it was driving me mad. I needed something that could handle the volume without squealing or feeding back. So thats where it started from. Originally, I think I got some pickups myself and took them apart. I started dipping them in wax and wrapping stuff around them, trying to eliminate the squeal and feedback. It had helped it a little bit, but nothing like I wanted. So eventually, we came up with an idea of dipping them in epoxy resin and that tended to stop the coils from vibrating as much. It sort of worked and we went from there upwards, until one with the right sound. It was just a matter of doing different windings on the pickup until one came up that I liked. The idea was that once we came up with one that I liked, then we could hopefully reproduce it, but we couldnt. Every one that we tried to make after that was never quite the same. Thats why we finally got round to Gibson. We were trying to see if we could get one that would work the same.
What year did you begin the pickup project with Gibson?
Three or four years ago.
How long ago was it that you had worked on the other pickup with J.D.?
It was in the late 70s/early 80s.
How would you describe the tonal characteristics of your signature model pickup?
Its got nice highs and its really beefy sounding. It also has a bit more bite to it than a stock Gibson pickup. The over all tone of the Gibson pickups was always very good. But I found that for me, because Im playing at a high volume, when you turn down the volume, you lost some of the tone. I wanted to be able to turn down the volume on the guitar and retain the same tone. It tended to go a bit muffly, but I wanted it to be a bit cleaner. The pickups that we worked on gave it that clarity and when you turn them down, so you can still get that cleaner sound. I have certainly given those pickups a good bashing. Ive used them on all the tours since I got them, including the last Sabbath tour and on albums. So its worked out really well and Im very pleased with them. They really have proven themselves in roadworthiness. There are always a good amount of people that come up and tell me they love the sound of my guitar, so then I tell about the pickup.
Are the neck and bridge pickups the same?
Yes, they are.
Which came out first, the Tony Iommi pickup or your signature model SG?
The pickups.
Which of your guitars was the signature model SG based on?
It was a guitar that J.D. built for me. In fact, even further back than that, in the 70s, I had a thing going with a guy called John Birch, and Id put the money in to build the guitars and wed started a guitar company. I put the money up for him to build me a 24-fret guitar. Before then, I went to different companies and asked them to make me a guitar with 24 frets, and they thought I was a loony. So I figured that the only way that I was going to be able to do this was to find another loony that will do it for me. Eventually, I hooked up with this John Birch and Id got the money up for him to make me a 24-fret guitar. We proved that it could work. It would work! So it basically went from there. I used that guitar for quite a long time, until then I met J.D. who made me another guitar which then became my stage one. That one had 24 frets, but it also had a slightly thinner neck. So wed improved on the one before that.
What is the neck shape like on your Gibson signature model guitar?
Its much like my J.D. Its sort of thinner neck. If you want to compare it to another Gibson, its something like the early Gibson Les Paul/SG like the fretless wonder sort of feel. They were always nice.
In what ways do the tonal characteristics of your Gibson signature model differ from a stock SG Standard?
Its quite different from the regular Standard one. For a start, the pickups make it a lot different and its the 24 frets, which makes it different, too. It doesnt really change the tone, but you can play higher notes.
Tell us about the Palace Concert and what it was like to perform for the Royal Family.
It was really good fun. I think it was a great event. It was nice to see them and it was fun to be backstage. I had a good chat with everybody, including friends I hadnt seen for a while. The whole thing was a great couple of days. We went down the day before to do the soundchecks, camera checks and all that. I thought the whole event was really good.
But it was a bit nervy though, a bit frightening, because we were going on and just doing one song, so if something goes wrong.... Its not like youre doing your own show. Youre actually going on and there are so many other people going on and off. When youre in that kind of situation, sometimes things go wrong as they did for some of the other artists where the mics werent working and things like that happened. Then I start to think, gosh, what if I break a string or if Ozzys mic is not working, or the amp blows up, or somebody plays it wrong? Its going to go out to over 200 million people and its live. But it was all good. It went well and we were pleased with it, and it was great afterwards because we went back and met the Royal Family.
What was their reaction to your performance? It seemed like the Princes were really into it.
They loved it, actually. Afterwards, they asked why we didnt you play Black Sabbath, which we thought was an inappropriate song for that sort of concert. I dont know, maybe the Queen would have like that if she had heard it. But yes, they really liked it.
One other thing about the Palace Concert.... When I went to walk into the Palace, Tony Blair came flying over to me and was telling me that he was really excited to meet me and that he was a big fan. It was really funny, actually. We must have talked about guitars for 35 minutes. He does play guitar in his spare time. I thought he was a really nice guy. He was telling me how he had all the Sabbath albums and he really loved the stuff. He said, I love your playing, youre a great lead guitar player. It was surreal, really! You could have knocked me over with a feather. Hed be the last one Id have thought to be a fan. You just dont know! But he seems to know a lot of the stuff I did. I think were going to present him with a guitar with the signature pickups and everything.
What are the future plans for Black Sabbath? Will there be a new studio album?
Tony's guitarsI dont really know. Ozzy and myself have been working on putting some stuff together. So when Ozzys finished doing his tour, I think well start jotting a few more ideas down. So there is the potential for another album coming out, but I think its a bit in the air at the moment. So Im going to say that well just have to see what happens and what sort of things we come up with.
Will you be doing another solo record?
At the moment, Im in my own studio here putting ideas together and its still at a stage where I dont really know who Im going to use to sing. But Im not going to use a lot of different singers, as I had on the last album. I want just one singer on this one. I really enjoyed doing the last album with all different people, but this one will be one that I can hopefully go on tour with. Its really very difficult to take a project like the last one on the road, which I was going to do. People were up for doing it, but the problem was that we could have only done selective shows because getting that many people together would be difficult. But if I just use one vocalist, then we can possibly go out and do some shows.
Ive heard that youve recently built a studio. How has that affected your writing and recording?
Oh, its been great for me because its a proper studio now and Ive got the drum rooms, guitar rooms, all the rooms Ill need. Its made it a lot easier now to record.
Which recording format are you using?
At the moment, weve got Mackie gear. Its digital stuff and Ive still got all the ADATs, but we havent been using them. Weve been experimenting with the Mackie at the moment and its really good.
So might we expect a new Sabbath or solo record first?
Well, Im hoping to do one or the other fairly soon. I dont know when either will be out. Ive got a producer coming over in July to work on my solo album, so well actually start putting tracks down soon. At the moment, Im just putting down ideas. Ive got a drummer here and we just put a rough stage down. But in July, then well start putting stuff down properly. Its hard to say how long it could take to finish. It depends on who I get to sing. So I dont know when its going to be done, but its going to be finished quickly. It doesnt take me long once Ive got things together. The last album took a while because we were getting all these people together and because I was touring with Sabbath, so I had to do it in stages. But for this one, once I start it, Ill get it done.
Visit Tony Iommi here.
Check out Tony's signature pickups, his Gibson Custom SG and Gibson USA SG.
For more information about Tony Iommi pickups and Signature SGs call 1-800-4GIBSON anytime or send us an email.
Lisa Sharken is a New York City based freelance writer. She regularly contributes to national guitar and music media as well as gibson.com.
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