BREAKING: Black Sabbath Guitarist Tony Iommi C…read more.
When people think of rock icons and their guitars, certain pairings come to mind Jimmy Page with his Les Paul, Angus Young with his schoolboy outfit and SG, and Jimi Hendrix with his Stratocaster. For Tony Iommi, the man who helped invent heavy metal with Black Sabbath, the bond between him and the Gibson SG is just as legendary. But as he explains, it wasn’t always a glamorous choice it was practical, personal, and rooted in survival.
“I couldn’t get up to the top frets on a Les Paul,” Iommi admitted with a chuckle. “It just didn’t feel right for me. But the SG… that one suited me perfectly.”
It might sound like a small detail to most people, but for Iommi, it made all the difference. The Les Paul, with its solid body and thick tone, is often celebrated as one of the greatest guitars ever built. But for him, its bulk and design were obstacles. The SG, with its sharp double horns and slim body, gave him freedom the kind of freedom he needed to play the riffs that would shake the music world.
A Guitarist Against the Odds
Iommi’s story is already remarkable without even mentioning his choice of guitar. As a teenager, he lost the tips of two fingers in a factory accident. For most people, that would have been the end of their guitar dreams. But Iommi refused to give up. He built prosthetic fingertips from melted-down plastic and adjusted his playing style to work around his injury.
That determination meant he needed a guitar that would meet him halfway. The SG did just that. Lighter, more comfortable, and easier to navigate at the higher frets, it became more than just an instrument it became an extension of himself.
“The SG wasn’t heavy on my shoulder, and I could play all the way up the neck,” he explained. “For me, it was a lifeline. It made it possible to keep going.”
The Birth of Heavy Riffs
It’s hard to imagine the sound of Black Sabbath without picturing Iommi hunched over his SG, fingers pounding out the thunderous riff to Iron Man or weaving the haunting intro to Planet Caravan. The guitar’s raw, biting tone was the perfect match for the darker, heavier style that Sabbath pioneered in the early ’70s.
Fans often assume the SG was chosen because it looked rebellious, with its devilish horns and sleek design. But for Iommi, the truth is more personal. It wasn’t about image it was about what felt possible in his hands after life had thrown him such a cruel twist.
“The Les Paul is a beautiful guitar,” he admitted. “But for me, it just didn’t work. The SG did. And once I found it, I never looked back.”
A Symbol of Resilience
Over the decades, the SG has become inseparable from Iommi’s identity, much like the man himself is inseparable from the genre of heavy metal. Watching him on stage, you don’t just see a guitar player you see someone who turned pain and limitation into a sound that shook the world.
Younger musicians often look at his story as a reminder that the “right guitar” isn’t about prestige or following trends. It’s about connection. For Iommi, the SG wasn’t the obvious choice, but it was the right one.
“You’ve got to find what works for you,” he reflected. “That’s the only way you’ll find your sound. For me, that was the SG. It always has been, and it always will be.”
The Sound of a Legacy
Half a century later, Iommi’s decision still echoes. The riffs he carved out on that guitar didn’t just define Black Sabbath they laid the foundation for heavy metal as a whole. And it all came down to one man finding the instrument that fit him, not the one tradition said he should play.
In the end, the SG wasn’t just Tony Iommi’s guitar. It was his partner, his weapon, and his voice. And for millions of fans, it will forever be the sound of heavy metal’s birth.
