Angus Young Shows How He Coaxes "Rude Noises" Out of His Guitar
Angus demonstrates how he gets "effects" without using pedals, including "rude noises," and siren and rifle sounds.
In early 2000, right around the time AC/DC unleashed their Stiff Upper Lip album, Angus Young grabbed a Gibson SG (or two) and sat down for an initmate on-camera interview.
During the resulting video, which you can check out below, Young discusses how he and his brother Malcolm got started on guitar, why he favors GS's over Les Pauls ("If you're a little guy like me, [a Les Paul] can give you hip displacement"] and how he developed "little chords" to compensate for the "big stretch" chords he was unable to play because of his small hands.
Best of all, Young breaks out his best Chuck Berry riffs, followed by riffs inspired by Freddie King, Jimi Hendrix and John Lee Hooker. He also discusses—and demonstrates—his own approach to bending strings:
"I suppose people of an average, medium height, when they bend, they just bend the string. With me, you have to sort of lean into it. A lot of people will say they see a lot of movement when I'm on stage. But it's actually me trying to get around the fretboard [laughs]."
At the 7:02 mark, Young shows how he gets "effects" without using pedals, including "rude noises," and siren and rifle sounds. He then launches into "Stiff Upper Lip" around the 9:14 mark.
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month**
Join now for unlimited access
US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year
UK pricing £2.99 per month or £29.00 per year
Europe pricing €3.49 per month or €34.00 per year
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.
“I was in full fear that I had just repeated someone else’s song – it was way too accomplished for the kind of stuff I had been writing”: Gavin Rossdale remembers the moment he wrote Bush’s biggest hit – and thought he’d stolen it
“Clapton’s manager says, ‘George Harrison wants you to do the tour and play all the slide parts – he doesn’t want to do it’”: When rhythm guitar hero Andy Fairweather Low was recruited by a Beatle to play slide – even though he’d never played slide before