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Independent research by truerecs. Not affiliated with, endorsed or verified by Black Sabbath. Every item links to its public source.
22 items · Last checked

What gear does Black Sabbath use?

Tony Iommi has said he plays his Monkey SG and a JayDee Old Boy through Laney heads. Geezer Butler has said he moved from a Fender Precision to Lakland basses and was seen with Ashdown Head of Doom amps. Bill Ward said early Sabbath records used his Super Zyn cymbals.

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What gear Black Sabbath uses: a sourced gear guide

Independent research by truerecs: every item links to the public source it comes from.

Tony Iommi

6 items

Geezer Butler

11 items

Bill Ward

5 items
Questions

About Black Sabbath's gear.

What bass does Geezer Butler play?

He told Vintage Guitar his first bass after a Top Twenty was a Fender Precision, that he played an Ampeg Dan Armstrong around Vol. 4, and that a Lakland became his main bass. For Back to the Beginning in 2025 he played Lakland basses made for the gig.

What amp does Geezer Butler use?

His Ashdown signature Head of Doom. At Back to the Beginning he ran four of them into four 2x15 and four 2x12 Ashdown cabinets, a 2,400-watt rig.

What cymbals did Bill Ward use?

He said his Super Zyn cymbals were used on early Black Sabbath recordings and onstage, along with Avedis Zildjian cymbals played on early Sabbath records.

What guitar does Tony Iommi play?

His left-handed 1964 Gibson SG Special known as Monkey, and the JayDee Custom Old Boy he first used on Heaven and Hell. His live rig ran Laney GH 100 TI heads.

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Black Sabbath
About this guide · Last checked

Black Sabbath were the Birmingham band of Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward and Ozzy Osbourne, who invented heavy metal with Paranoid and Master of Reality and said goodbye at Back to the Beginning in 2025. This guide covers the band's gear: Iommi's SGs, Laney amps and effects, Butler's basses and Ashdown rig, and Ward's drums and cymbals.

truerecs put this guide together from public videos, interviews and posts. Each item says how we know and links to the source. Black Sabbath didn't write it or choose anything on it. How we source gear guides.

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