Shred Like Angus Young

ON THE HUNT FOR SOME ROCK ‘N’ ROLL DAMNATION OR HOPING TO MAP OUT YOUR OWN HIGHWAY TO HELL? WHETHER YOU’RE A BAD BOY LOOKING TO BOOGIE OR A GIRL WHO’S GOT RHYTHM, WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED.

Few rock guitarists have ever earned the same respect from the blues world as Angus Young. There’s an undeniable, tangible honesty to AC/ DC’s music that paid homage to the very roots of rock ’n’ roll, sticking to the traditional formula of a few easy chords and powerful pentatonic licks.

Along with his brother Malcolm, who sadly passed away in 2017, Angus’s raw and uncomplicated tones echoed that essence of sonic purity – favouring a more direct and undiluted kind of attack.

With rumours of the icons being back in the studio reunited with singer Brian Johnson, who they had parted ways with in 2016, we thought we’d look at the recipe for those world-conquering guitar sounds.

One thing to remember is that while Angus Young’s signal path has been long renowned for its simplicity, it’s one that works because of the sheer quality of its combined ingredients. There are no pedals to hide behind – you need a good-sounding humbucker-equipped guitar running through a mid-range-y and vintage-sounding tube amp. The rest of the tone, as he’s so often reminded us, comes from the hands…

GIBSON SG

Although he’s been occasionally spotted holding a Les Paul, ES335 and even a Fender Mustang on one occasion – there really is only one guitar associated with AC/DC’s duck-walking lead maestro. And it would be fair to say his loyalty to the Gibson SG has never waned…

“I liked the SGs because they were light,” Angus told Guitar World in 1984. “I tried Fenders but they were too heavy and they just didn’t have the balls. And I didn’t want to put on them DiMarzios because then everyone sounds the same. It’s like you’re listening to the guy down the street. And I liked the hard sound of the Gibson.”

PLEXI-STYLE AMP

That infamous AC/DC crunch is one of the most classic examples of Marshall magic. Save for a few television appearances with an Orange OR100, and dabbling with Wizard Amps in more recent years, the Marshall logo has proudly followed Angus wherever he goes. It’s a tradition which continues to this day.

On Back In Black, he used various Super Leads, including a ’76 1959. On Let There Be Rock and

Powerage, it was predominantly late-’70s Marshall 2203s. Elsewhere, he’s been known to use other Marshalls like the JTM45, 1959SLP, Super Bass, 9001 Tube Preamp and 1974X – which might explain why the guitarist has been seen using up to ten different heads for their live performances.

PEDALS

Considering Angus’s signal path is pretty much as basic as it gets, there’s not really much needed on the pedal front here. The only pedal he used on AC/DC’s last tour was a Rocktron Hush at a very low setting for a discrete noise reduction that didn’t squash or suck his tones – operating more like a gate to control the noise coming from running vintage Marshalls at full blast.

“I found that pedals were too much to fool around with,” Angus once told Guitar World. “You’d be halfway through a solo and the batteries would go dead and conk out. And if you tread on the lead going to the pedal, something would always go wrong. Or some crazy kid would pull the lead out just at the moment when you’re about to do your big number on it.”

STRINGS

Angus has played 9-42 gauge strings since the early days, and has been an Ernie Ball endorsee for around four decades.