Tony Iommi talks through his Gibson SG Special 'Monkey' signature model

By Rob Laing
published

The Sabbath legend on the original's history and the new, detailed recreation

Is Tony Iommi's 1964 SG Special (opens in new tab) the most important guitar in heavy metal history? He think it probably is. As the mainstay for Black Sabbath's seminal early album run it's earned its place as a meticulously recreated Gibson Custom Shop signature model (opens in new tab). And now the man himself talks us through the history of the original and its mods. 

For more info head over to Gibson.com (opens in new tab)

Rob Laing
Rob Laing
Guitars Editor, MusicRadar

I'm the Guitars Editor for MusicRadar, handling news, reviews, features, tuition, advice for the strings side of the site and everything in between. Before MusicRadar I worked on guitar magazines for 15 years, including Editor of Total Guitar. I've currently set aside any pipe dreams of getting anywhere with my own songs and I am enjoying playing covers in function bands.