Tony Iommi
Black Sabbath

I remember the first time I heard Black Sabbath. My older brother got their album Master of Reality from a kid who lived next door, and we'd been passing it around like it was crack. We were playing it with the lights down and a candle burning, when my dad burst into the room. He was like, "What is this shit?" Then he broke the record right in front of us. But the music had just struck me like lightning. I truly enter the Iommi-sphere every time I put a guitar on. Tony is a metal pioneer, but there's a real finesse to his playing; it's not all that fast. His phrasing has such a classic vibe, and I draw a lot of inspiration from Tony's trilling.
I injured myself at a Black Sabbath reunion concert in 1999. During "Snowblind," we were all holding each other, and then we fell over and I hit a chair and broke my ribs. I was like, "Fuck, it hurts so bad, but I don't want to leave. I have to keep watching Tony play!"  By Brent Hinds of Mastodon


This is the original SG that was used on the majority of the original line-up albums and tours. It has been identified by Gibson as a 1965 SG Special. It has a Gibson P90 pick up in the bridge position that was fitted into a metal case by John Birch. The neck pick up is a John Birch custom P90 type single coil. The finger board is finished with clear polyurethane.
Instantly identified by the cartoon monkey sticker, this guitar became the main instrument when the bridge pick up on Tony’s white Stratocaster failed after the band recorded ‘Wicked World’ on the ‘Black Sabbath’ album. It was not, however, without its problems. Due to the thin neck profile at the heel, there were always tuning stability problems and the single coil pick ups were always susceptible to picking up interference.
The guitar was donated by Tony to the Hard Rock Café organisation (as seen in their documentary ‘Hard Rock Treasures’). At the time of writing it is on display at the Times Square location in New York City.

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Tony Iommi's 1965 Gibson SG Special aka Red Monkey