Latest from Guitar World in Angus-young

“I’ve lost count of how many SGs I have. But none of them match up to that one guitar”: Angus Young on his favorite Gibson SG from his collection – and the hunt to find a replacement

Phil Weller — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Besides great guitar playing, two things come to mind when Angus Young is mentioned: Gibson SGs and his iconic school uniform.

The Australian riff machine has stayed loyal to the Gibson double-cut across his career. He’s bought many, and played them all across his prolific career. But one holds dominion over all the rest.

“I’ve lost count of how many SGs I have,” Angus Young admitted to Guitar World in 2009. “But none of them match up to that one guitar.”

His late brother and rhythm master, Malcolm, favored a heavily modded 1963 Gretsch Firebird. Angus, by comparison, has never been able to look past his red 1968 SG. And it’s not for a lack of trying.

“I’ve tried getting copies of it, but no, they’re not even close,” he said. “You might get the feel, but you don’t get that same kind of sound out of it. I don’t know why. I wish I did.”

The '68 SG in question is one of Young's most iconic instruments. It was used for most major AC/DC recordings and taken across the globe on numerous world tours. It was also the source material for an Angus Young signature SG in 2009. Noted for its unusually slim neck, it became the bedrock of the AC/DC lead sound.

Young's 2009 GW interview charted the creation of their 15th studio album, Black Ice. Brendan O’Brien (Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden) was tasked with producing the 15-track barnstormer, and he wanted to change things up a little by prizing Young away from his tried-and-trusted workhorse.

“I’ve got a couple of other guitars that I use onstage and as spares,” Angus relayed at the time. “I’ve got an early Sixties black SG, and we’d try that one. I’ll try anything and, if it works, use it.”

(Image credit: Getty Images)

So, what fans are hearing on Black Ice isn’t always that guitar – Young is happy to experiment.

“Another guitar that I’ve got, a ’68 SG, dates from the Highway to Hell days, and I’ve used it for backing tracks and stuff,” he continued. “It’s a factory reject, I think – it has the number ‘2’ on it. I got it for 70 or 75 bucks when I first came to America. It was quite beat up.”

The Aussies played their first US shows in July 1977, meaning the $75 price tag is roughly $650 in today’s money. That alone makes it sound like a steal, but given its provenance, it's probably added a couple of zeros by now.

Today, the SG is finding plenty of love in the hands of Derek Trucks, Samantha Fish, Grace Bowers, and Yungblud as new generations take to the iconic axe. That said, a new signature Angus Young SG from Gibson wouldn't go amiss...

In a 2020 interview with Bass Player, AC/DC low-end legend Cliff Williams explained how he got the AC/DC gig in 1977, and charted the gear that defined his sound.

“They can show you what a guitar is about right away”: Wolfgang Van Halen names the 2 classic rock tracks he plays to test any electric guitar

matthew.owen@futurenet.com (Matt Owen) — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 12:46:43 +0000

What is Wolfgang Van Halen’s go-to track to test out a new electric guitar? Does he riff through Another Celebration at the End of the World? Tap up Eruption? Or is his new harmonic slap workout from The End the ultimate fretboard tester?

Turns out, it’s none of the above. Instead, the Mammoth multi-instrumentalist dives into the repertoire of another classic rock ’n’ roll group whenever he needs to test out a new six-string. And, no, he doesn’t play any of the Forbidden Riffs.

Having developed the game-changing EVH SA-126 – a versatile semi-hollow that’s suitable for metal and rock – Wolfgang knows a thing or two about gauging the behaviour of a guitar.

“I think it would be something by AC/DC,” he says when asked in the new issue of Guitarist about his guitar-testing tracklist. “I’ll usually do Night Prowler because it has those big chords, which can tell you a lot about guitar.

“And then for single notes I might do Beating Around the Bush or something like that. I think those classic open chords can show you what a guitar is about right away. You can hear how the acoustics resonate together.”

Wolfgang defaults to AC/DC songs to test out his guitars for good reason. In that same conversation with Guitarist, he highlighted Angus Young as a key blues-based rock influence – and drew similarities with the playing approach of his father, the late Eddie Van Halen.

He continues, “I wasn’t much of a blues guy to begin with. But I think out of all the blues-based players, I really love Angus Young from AC/DC. He sticks to what is generally pentatonic stuff but has this anarchistic way of attacking it.

“That’s what makes it so attractive to me. It’s almost like he doesn’t know what he’s doing and it’s all about the way he does it, rather than the notes he’s playing. When you listen to him, it’s incredibly blues-based, but it’s the aggression he plays with that makes me enjoy it. I guess it was the same kind of thing with my dad.”

For Wolfgang, Young’s ability to get more out of less is a key trait of his playing. That’s probably why his riffs make such good material for testing out a guitar: it doesn’t need to be fancy. It just needs to work.

“It doesn’t need to be complicated,” he concludes. “You can hit one note with attitude and that’s all that matters.”

Elsewhere in his Guitarist interview, Wolfgang discussed what sets his favorite modern metal hero apart from his peers, and looked back on how he’d have to keep Eddie in check during early Van Halen gigs.

Pick up the new issue of Guitarist at Magazines Direct for further interviews with Kiki Wong, Joanne Shaw Taylor and Jared James Nichols.

Wolfgang Van Halen's advice is timely. With Black Friday fast approaching, now is the best time to pick up a new electric guitar for a bargain. It might be wise to brush up on Night Prowler and Beating Around the Bush for when you take delivery of a new guitar...

Visit our guide to the best Black Friday guitar deals to see what savings are about.

“George was into some crazy things. He'd tell me the D string annoyed him. The G string, too. ‘Too sweet for rock and roll,’ he'd say”: You’ve heard of AC/DC’s Angus and Malcolm, but a third Young brother was responsible for a ’60s power-pop masterpiece

damian.fanelli@futurenet.com (Damian Fanelli) — Sun, 23 Feb 2025 09:13:00 +0000

A few years ago, I had to learn (or brush up on) the lead guitar parts and solos for about 83 songs – everything from classic Merle Haggard and Kinks tunes to the Cars’ Bye Bye Love to two entire Beatles albums – all of which I eventually performed at clubs, theaters, and outdoor festivals that spring and summer.

Buried on this two-ton list of tunes was Friday on My Mind, a late-1966 single by the Easybeats, a high-energy Aussie band that churned out some seriously catchy power pop.

The song was huge by the spring of ’67; it reached Number 16 in the U.S., Number 1 in Australia, and Number 6 in the U.K. It even was voted “Best Australian Song” of all time by the Australasian Performing Rights Association back in 2001.

The most striking thing about the tune – from a guitarist’s point of view – is the deftly and relentlessly alternate-picked root-fifth and root-octave figures that outline an implied chord progression during the intro and verses.

And then there’s the Eastern-flavored use of the harmonic minor scale and its fifth mode, Phrygian-dominant, in the single-note fills! And how can we ignore the contrapuntal interplay between the primary and secondary guitar parts, featuring contrary melodic motion?

Anyway, I was so intrigued by the song that I actually paused in the middle of all my relentless song-learnin’ to do a bit of serious research about the band and their guitarists. That’s when I stumbled upon their connection to AC/DC.

First of all, the band – as heard on this particular tune – featured Stevie Wright (lead vocals), Harry Vanda (guitar), George Young (guitar), Dick Diamonde (bass), and Gordon “Snowy” Fleet (drums), and the song was composed by Vanda and Young. As any AC/DC super-fan knows, Young was the older brother of AC/DC cofounders Malcolm and Angus Young.

When the Easybeats called it quits in 1969, Young and Vanda concentrated on writing and producing songs for other artists – not to mention a few for themselves, most of which were recorded under different stage names. One of their studio-based groups, the Marcus Hook Roll Band, featured Malcolm and Angus.

George (along with Vanda) went on to co-produce AC/DC’s early albums, including Let There Be Rock, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, T.N.T., Powerage, and High Voltage. He played bass for the band very early on and wound up producing their 2000 album, Stiff Upper Lip.

George Young’s famous saying to his younger brothers was, “You can’t call yourself a band until you’ve done at least 200 gigs.”

In a 1992 interview with Guitar World, Angus Young reflected on what he learned from his older brother, saying he “was so quick that you learned a lot when you were with him. Especially when you were 14 or something.

“He'd pick up a bass and hand you the guitar. And you'd think you were incompetent, but before you knew it you were playing with him. He'd go ‘G... A...’ And you were away.

He was never a fan of light strings – he'd say, ‘You can't tune 'em’
Angus Young, on George Young

“He also taught me... like, say you play a song five nights in one key, but on the sixth night the singer's throat ain't makin' it. You might have to go down a tone or so. George was really used to that, and he got me used to that.”

The elder Young's six-string eccentricities also left a large impression on his brothers.

“He was into some crazy things too, you know,” Angus told Guitar World. “Like he'd tell me the D string annoyed him. The G string, too. ‘Too sweet for rock and roll,’ he'd say – so off went the G string!

“When I last saw him in the Easybeats, he had like four strings on that guitar. He was never a fan of light strings either – especially when those slinky strings came out. He'd say, ‘You can't tune 'em.’”

Young died on October 22, 2017, only a month before his younger brother, Malcolm.

“Malcolm said, ‘I've got this riff, it's driving me nuts.’ It's three o'clock in the morning and I'm trying to sleep. I said, ‘It sounds fine to me.’ That was Back in Black”: Through 50 years of triumph and tragedy, they remain hard rock's greatest titans

Alan di Perna — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Great rock and roll needs no explanation; it hits you so squarely in the chest that you start feeling good long before your brain has had time to figure out what happened. AC/DC know this. For 16 years they've been making powerful, masterful rock and roll – without pretense, self-analysis, or the slightest regard for the never-ending parade of fashion.

Those 16 years are summed up beautifully on AC/DC's new live album, Live – a collection of classic after classic from the quintessential live hard-rock band. Through it all, Angus Young's lead guitar rages like a forest afire.

He stands no taller than five feet, but he throws every ounce of his compact frame into each power chord and stinging lead, playing with brutal conviction. As singer Brian Johnson says, “You cannot bullshit the kids.” AC/DC wouldn't know how to try.

In New York to promote Live, Johnson and Young come on like a duo from a Charles Dickens novel: a boisterous highwayman from the chilly north of England and a diminutive, wise-cracking Artful Dodger.

Though Angus has not lived there for years, his speech is still peppered with the sharp cadences of Australia, where he and his brother, Malcolm, started AC/DC all those years ago.

With each wry observation, Angus squints one eye behind a perpetual cloud of cigarette smoke that trails up and gets lost in his fine, auburn hair. He and Johnson throw themselves wholeheartedly into the business of talking barre chords, bared bottoms, and other rock essentials along the Highway to Hell.

Your performance style is so strenuous, Angus. Have you ever hurt yourself onstage?

Angus Young: “Sure. I've lost teeth. I mean I don't go out there to do myself a deliberate injury. But when you're on the road for that length of time, you're bound to twist an ankle or something. I once had splints on my fingers. I soon learned how to play slide with them on! I've jumped off amps and fallen ass over tit – made a complete fool of myself.”

What was your most embarrassing moment onstage?

Young: “Well, I've had my pants fall off. All of a sudden my wedding tackle was out there for all to see. You know, I've even had my shorts stolen a couple of times.”

What's the origin of that time-honored part of your show where you strip off and moon the audience?

Young: “A lot of that came from the days when we'd be playing clubs and it'd be hot inside. So I'd take off my jacket, and half the audience would go ‘whooooooo.’ Especially with my physique – I'm not exactly Mr. Arnold Schwarzenegger. So it's all built off that. I'd take off my shirt and the drummer would go ta-dump. A bit of cheap cabaret, really.

“And the mooning thing... well, it's a great way to shut up a heckler. Or to get attention back up on the stage.

“One time we were playing this big festival in England and there was this woman photographer with a real Dolly Parton physique, you know? She gets up and walks across the front of the stage. And of course more than half the audience are hotblooded males; so they're all following her like this. [rolls his eyeballs to the right] And my brother says, ‘You better do something quick to get their attention back.’ So I mooned 'em. That certainly jolted them back quick. Very popular with the law, too.”

I'll bet!

Young: “Oh, yes. On one of the early tours of Britain we had the vice squad on tour with us the whole time. 'Cause Bon... [the late Bon Scott, AC/DC's first singer]... he took the French language, you know. Well, he had a colorful language anyway.

(Image credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

“I remember there was many a time in Australia, playing in these outback places, where we'd have to put up bail money. And if we did anything wrong – like me pulling my pants off or Bon swearing or anything – we'd lose the bail money.

“The mayor and the councilmen would come along to the show to monitor us. They thought it was a great thing. They invented it. Not us. It was their way of trying to stamp us out.

“I remember once Bon getting up there and saying, ‘I've been told we can't say ‘fuck.’ Okay, we won't say ‘fuck.’ I've been told we can't say ‘shit.’ Okay, we won't say ‘shit.’ They left out ‘suck.’ But we won't say that either...’ You know? Our bankbook didn't grow, but our popularity did.”

You've said somewhere that you can't play guitar well unless you're jumping around like a lunatic.

Young: “Yeah, well I go with the guitar, because I'm pretty small. On most people, a Gibson SG looks small – like a violin. On me, it looks like a big guitar. I've got small fingers, too.

“Now, when most people bend a string up, their finger bends the note. With me, my whole body's got to go. [He falls into Angus stage move number 1, miming how he uses his entire forearm to bend a string.] I hug the guitar, if you want to get technical about it. Now for vibrato... [he convulses with laughter as he illustrates]... I've got to shake me leg a little. When you're a little guy, there's not much pull on the strings – especially with the heavier gauges.

“The most important thing for me onstage is playing the guitar. The whole epileptic routine – whatever I do up there – comes out of that. I do become a little... possessed, as Malcolm says. But there's nothing Satanic in it. I do become another person. But that other person comes from me concentrating really hard on playing the guitar.”

Do you feel that AC/DC are essentially a live band?

Young: “I think that all good bands are essentially live bands. The great ones – the ones that last – are the ones that had that approach. Your Stones, Who, whatever. Your only real gauge for AC/DC is if we play someplace and people come to see us the next time we play there. That's the only way we know if we were good the last time. You can't trust the hype side of it.”

Do you see a lot of fans from the beginnings of your career – 1976?

Young: “Sure we do. There's a lot. You can tell. The older ones are in the back.”

We weren't a punk band, but they'd put us on the same bill as punk bands. And they sure got a shock when they started spitting at us and we spat back
Angus Young

Brian Johnson: “We're just about on first-name terms with some of them. Some guys have got a standard pass to get in. They know the crews and all.”

Young: “Europe accepted us before America did. So when we went through Europe last time it was like an army following us. Kids with tents coming out and stuff. You walk in and they give you the set list they want you to play.”

Johnson: “We feed 'em, too. There's always a lot of food backstage – more than we can eat. So as we're leaving the venue, we say, ‘Okay guys!’ And the kids come in with haversacks and fill them up – so they can get to the next gig.”

Young: “They've got great networks, the fans. They can tell you what happened the night before. Like if you played a few different songs or did a song a bit faster the previous night, they know all about it.”

(Image credit: Steve Rapport/Getty Images)

Is it kind of like the Grateful Dead phenomenon?

Young: “Naaooowww. I mean, the last four letters of the Grateful Dead say it all, don't they?”

Brian, you joined AC/DC in 1980, after the band had enjoyed a bit of success. Did the band live up to your preconceptions of what they were like?

Johnson: “Well, I hadn't known about AC/DC long enough to have a preconception of them. I was up in Northern England. And it was just six months before I auditioned for them that I first heard them.

“A couple of me buddies... Malcolm Waley, I'll never forget... he brought back an album, 'cause he'd seen them at the Newcastle Mayfair. And he said [his voice drops even lower than usual], ‘You gotta fookin' hear these! Fook!’ [To Angus] You know Mal.

“At the audition, we started doin' Whole Lotta Rosie; I knew it 'cause there was a big buzz in England on that song.

“Europe and England were the first places where the boys were really gettin' red hot. It was great 'cause it was right in the middle of the big punk thing. Now, I heard punk and I said, ‘I fuckin' don't get it. I know everybody's raving about it...’ But I didn't like it at all. So with the boys, at least there was something out there that was decent. Ya could tap ya foot to it – know what I mean?”

Young: “At that time he's talking about – the middle Seventies – we were giving punk music a good name. Because that was the word they used to describe us – punk band. They'd get a wrong idea. We weren't a punk band, but they'd put us on the same bill as punk bands. And they sure got a shock when they started spitting at us and we spat back.

“We were never ones for getting slumped under a tag or filed under A, B, or C. We started as a rock and roll band. That's what we play – what we do best. We never claimed to be anything else. And then in the Eighties, they'd slump us in as a heavy metal band. Even before that they had other things: power pop. Crap.”

Johnson: “You put all the names together and it spells bullshit.”

Young: “It's true. I mean, okay, the word ‘blues’ conjures up something definite. You know where you're going. It says it right. But the heavy metal thing? I immediately think of men in armor. And then that split leg routine. You know what I mean?

It ~was~ a highway to hell. It really was. When you're sleeping with the singer's socks two inches from your nose, that's pretty close to hell
Angus Young

“There's more to playing the guitar than being able to do a leg split and wearin' a pair of tights. The heavy metal tag offended me more than the punk thing. 'Cause I thought, ‘Jesus, what have they conjured up now?’ Then just because you call an album Highway to Hell you get all kinds of grief. And all we'd done is describe what it's like to be on the road for four years, like we'd been.

“A lot of it was bus and car touring, with no real break. You crawl off the bus at four o'clock in the morning, and some journalist's doing a story and he says, ‘What would you call an AC/DC tour?’ Well, it was a highway to hell. It really was. When you're sleeping with the singer's socks two inches from your nose, that's pretty close to hell.”

Presumably it's gotten a little better now.

Young: “It has. He can do his laundry now.”

Johnson: “I've got two pair of socks now.”

(Image credit: David Corio/Redferns)

So Angus, did you listen to a lot of blues early on?

Young: “Sure. That was my diet. Other kids would come to school with the latest Top 40 thing. I was always buying a lot of imports: Muddy Waters. That music.

“When I was young, one of the earliest records I heard was Little Richard's You Keep a Knockin'. I think I nearly invented rap with that record: I'd take the needle and keep putting it back to the same spot, to the blues bit, over and over again; 'cause that was the best part of the song. My mother said, ‘You touch that needle one more time and you're going to have a very sore fist.’ But I couldn't help it. I just loved that one bit.

“I was never a lover of the harmony-type stuff. For some reason that seemed too... eeuuuewww... it brought in that sweetness. When I heard the Beach Boys, I just thought it was an older version of the Chipmunks.”

Johnson: “Hah – at the real speed!”

Young: “You know what I mean. 'Cause it was like [sings in a hilariously nasal California accent], ‘We're suurrfun Yew Ess Ayyy.’ Then when my family immigrated to Australia [from Scotland, in the mid Sixties], you'd see these kids that had nothing to do with the real thing, but they all looked like they came out of Hawaii Five-O. Standing there with these great wooden lumps of board.

“I'd never seen a surfboard in my life. But they've all got these bits of wood, and they're all going, ‘Surrrfun Yew Ess Ayy.’ I went home to my mother and said, ‘Mum, I think they put us on another planet.’”

Johnson: “In Newcastle [England] we didn't know what water was.”

Young: “It was oil.”

Johnson: “The only water we had was what you put in your whiskey.”

Young: “That's right, Newcastle invented the word pollution.”

As soon as I saw the SG, I knew that was the one I wanted
Angus Young

So you weren't impressed by the ‘American-ness’ of it all?

Young: “Oh, no, no, no, don't get me wrong. I love what's come from America, musically. But I don't think the people here see it for what it is a lot of times.

“For me, the culture is blues music. That's what I grew up on, and I have great respect for Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Chuck Berry, Willie Dixon... If those people weren't there, you wouldn't have your Stones, your Zeppelins, the Who... all the big blues-based bands. The Beatles – same thing.

“I mean, if Paul McCartney played in Boston tomorrow, he would finish off the night with seven or eight Little Richard songs. That, to me, is rock music. The other things are really the housewife, ‘cry in the tea towel’ shit. That ain't rock music.”

When did you start up with that SG, Angus?

Young: “Just as I came out of school. I saved up my pesos and went to the guitar shop. I always wanted an SG.

“I had a friend, an American guy, who had a Gibson catalog. As soon as I saw the SG, I knew that was the one I wanted; I think it was because the horn things [i.e., the sharp cutaways] reminded me a bit of myself. And the other thing, when I saw the Beach Boys with a Stratocaster, I think that also swayed me the other way. It didn't look right. And that surfin' thing was popular at the time.”

(Image credit: David Corio/Redferns)

That Fender sound.

Young: “I'm not condemning it. You've got your Hendrixes and all that. But even he said he didn't like playin' surf music.”

The Who did.

Young: “Well, yeah. They were a strange case.”

So you discovered the guitar of your life pretty early on.

Young: “Well, not right off the bat. I mean, I played other guitars. I had an acoustic guitar first. My mum got it for 10 bucks when I was nine or so. She got both me and Malcolm one, so there'd be no fighting over it. There was always a guitar around the house, always some brother that had some guitar lying about somewhere.”

Were you influenced by your brother George being in the Easybeats? [The Easybeats were a mid Sixties beat group that had a worldwide hit with Friday on My Mind.]

Young: “Not that much, 'cause he formed that band as soon as we arrived from Scotland – formed it from the immigrant camp. So from the moment we arrived, he was out playing a lot. I never really saw him much. And then I had another brother, a saxophone player, who had also taken off. He went to London and then ended up in Hamburg, Germany, during the Beatles' times.

“My father wanted to get us all off the music kick – he thought we should be working. That was his thing. That's why he moved to Australia. So at school, I wasn't allowed to tell anyone that my brother was a member of a band. I remember one headmaster found out and gave me a hard time over it.”

Did you and Malcolm start your thing together?

Young: “Not really. We just used to play away. George would say to Malcolm sometimes, ‘Here Mal, pick up the guitar.’ Like if he was working out an idea or something. 'Cause Mal was very competent. He's a great all-around guitarist. I know it says ‘rhythm guitar’ on the albums. But for me, if he sits and plays a solo, he can do it better than me.”

Does he ever play solos on records?

Young: “In fact, there's a couple of solos from him on our first album. But even then it's the way he plays rhythm – it's got that distinct sound, especially with that Gretsch. I've tried to emulate his rhythm style myself, at home, with one of his guitars, and it's no easy task. He's got those .32 guitar legends big thick strings on it, like tram tracks, you know? It's all in his little wrist.”

You guys have an amazingly tight thing together.

Young: “I think that's part of the brother thing, too. It used to be a game, sort of. It becomes instinct with you. And my other brother George was so quick that you learned a lot when you were with him. Especially when you were 14 or something.

“He'd pick up a bass and hand you the guitar. And you'd think you were incompetent, but before you knew it you were playing with him. He'd go ‘G... A...’ And you were away.

Instant transposition!

Young: “Right. And he was into some crazy things too, you know. Like he'd tell me the D string annoyed him. The G string too. ‘Too sweet for rock and roll,’ he'd say – so off went the G string! When I last saw him in the Easybeats, he had like four strings on that guitar. He was never a fan of light strings either – especially when those slinky strings came out. He'd say, ‘You can't tune 'em.’”

So now Malcolm uses real heavy gauge strings and you use lighter ones.

Young: “Well, Malcolm just seems to get heavier and heavier with his strings. Now he's at the point where they're not making that gauge any more, since the youth want them lighter and lighter. These days, you see, they all want to run from one end of the fretboard to the other. They want to practice their scales. I mean, that's all very good, so long as they do it at home.”

Why should we have to hear it?

Young: “Right.”

(Image credit: Dick Barnatt/Redferns)

A lot of your greatest hooks are single-string riffs where you alternate between fretted notes and playing the string open – like Thunderstruck, for example.

Young: “Yeah, I was just fiddling with my left hand when I came up with that riff; I played it more by accident than anything. I thought, ‘Not bad,’ and put it on a tape. That's how me and Malcolm generally work. We put our ideas on a tape and play them for one another.

“Malcolm came in to see me once when we were on the Highway to Hell tour and said, ‘I've got this riff and it's driving me nuts.’ It's three o'clock in the morning and I'm trying to sleep, and he's saying, ‘Well, what do you think of this?’ I said, ‘It sounds fine to me.’ And that was Back in Black. Bang.”

So you like being in a band with your brother, then?

Young: “Well, it's good and bad. When I play something in the studio and the producer says, ‘Oh, that's great,’ I always look around and say, ‘Yeah, but what does Malcolm think?’ 'Cause Malcolm knows me, and if he says yay or nay, it's the difference between getting to go home or sitting in the studio all night.

“So, sometimes it's like having two producers. But that's good, because it keeps you on your toes. And if I really get disheartened, I can just hand Mal the guitar and say, ‘Here, you try it.’ Then he'll show me up and I'll say, ‘Right, I'll beat him.’”

What can you recall about your first tour of the States?

Young: “When we first came here, we toured around with a station wagon. We got put on with Kiss. This was when they had all the makeup and everything – the whole hype. They had everything behind them, the media, a huge show and stuff. And here we were – five migrants, little micro people.”

Johnson: “Migrant workers – that just about describes it! ‘Where's your green cards?’”

Young: “It was tough to even get into the show with that station wagon. Many a time they wouldn't let us in the venue 'cause they didn't see a limo. [Another nasal Yank accent] ‘Wheeahs duh limo? If yaw duh rock band, wheeahs yaw limo?’”

When was this?

Young: “1977 was the first time we got to America. So this would have been '78. It was pretty strange. I hadn't even heard of a lot of the music here at the time – I thought there would be more rock. But when we got here it was a disco-type thing.”

It was a dismal place in 1977.

Young: “What was real strange was that although the media was pushing this really soft music, you'd get amazing numbers of people turning out to hear the harder stuff. We were playing big stadiums and getting a great reaction.

“We'd be on the bill with a whole heap of acts – like in Oakland, playing a Bill Graham ‘Day on the Green’ event. We were on at 10:30 in the morning – the first act. But at 10:30 in the morning there were 65,000 people. And they knew what we were about when we came on. We were only on for 35 minutes. But in 35 minutes you had to do a lot. It was fun. It was exciting. I'd do it again.”

Johnson: “Yeah, yeah, that was excitin' times, that. Pick yer best and go out. Pow!”

Young: “Sometimes we could be real mercenary. Like if another band was givin' us a bit of stick – the headlining band or something. We get on and just sort of say, ‘Okay, we'll just turn up to 11 here, and let's go.’ Blow 'em away. We were good at that, too.”

Johnson: “Fuck 'em. Hah!”

(Image credit: Michael Putland/Getty Images)

Were you overwhelmed by the groupie scene here?

Young: “No, no, no, no, no. In those days, girls were only interested in... well, not us. You met more of that when you started in clubs and pubs. Because in that time, you got rich people coming to slum it, and other people coming to see what the fuss was about. So those were your times when you could meet more of the weird and wonderful women. The crazy people. But during those first tours in the States... no. No more than what would be now. Same thing.

“We were never that sort of band, anyway. I never ever saw a girl out there that would faint over me. Maybe she'd look and go, ‘Mmmm, I've never seen something as ugly as this!’ Maybe I'd get some of that. But not a – what would you call it? – a fan sort of thing.”

Johnson: “The Top of the Pops syndrome.”

Young: “But in a way that's always worked for us. You don't see an audience of young little girls screaming for us. So other people say, ‘Now that's a real band. That I like. It's real.’ 'Cause we aren't the prettiest things in the world. With AC/DC, it's not like we're here to steal your wife and your girlfriend and your daughter. We may borrow them, but...”

Johnson: “Only for a while.”

But don't girls like the schoolboy suit?

Young: “Well, they used to come out in England. But then, the English have been known for their craziness in the, um, sexual department.”

Johnson: “The public toilet department. ‘Vicar please, take yer hands off me. It's not yer turn!’”

Young: “I guess there's something a bit sexy in the blues element of what we do. That's probably more what's associated with the old strip club routine. I think that's somewhere in the back of people's heads when they hear that sort of music: the strip club image, you know? The smoke-filled room and the girl onstage. Well, I would like to believe that.”

Johnson: “I was startin' to feel good.”

One last thing: what's the origin of the schoolboy?

Young: “My sister. As a kid, I'd come right home from school and pick up my guitar, without changing out of my school suit. At dinner time, I'd still be in the school suit, playing away. My sister always remembered that. She thought it was cute.

“She was the one who said to Malcolm and me, ‘You know, it would be great if he'd get onstage with that school suit. It'll give people something to look at.’ I suppose she was right. At least it's worked for us.”

This interview was originally published in Guitar World magazine in 1992.

“I want to convey our heartfelt regret”: Angus and Malcolm Young’s childhood home has been demolished – despite being on the National Trust Register of Historic Houses

matthew.owen@futurenet.com (Matt Owen) — Tue, 07 Jan 2025 12:45:23 +0000

The childhood home of AC/DC electric guitar heroes Angus and Malcolm Young has been demolished, despite the fact it had been listed on Australia’s National Trust Register of Historic Houses.

Located at 4 Burleigh Street in Burwood, Sydney, the property became the Young home when the family moved in back in 1965, the same year that the pair’s older brother George Young released his debut album with The Easybeats.

In 1973, AC/DC formed at the address, and in 2013, it was added to the National Trust Register of Historic Houses. However, when it came to demolishing the property, the company responsible stressed it was unaware of the building’s cultural significance.

“We regret that the previous long-term owner did not share this vital part of the property’s background with us,” says Burwood Square Pty Ltd general manager Leon Kmita. “Learning about this connection after our plans were already underway has shocked us. We are genuinely sorry for this oversight.

“On behalf of the team at Burwood Square, I want to convey our heartfelt regret. We now recognise how deeply this location resonates with the AC/DC community and fans worldwide. We feel a strong responsibility to honour AC/DC’s legacy and to make amends to all the fans who hold this band in such high regard.

"While we cannot change the past, we are dedicated to celebrating this significant part of their story. To the global fanbase of AC/DC, please know that we hear you, appreciate your deep admiration for this legendary band, and are devoted to making this right."

The property was originally demolished to make way for a $28.75 million residential development, but now, in response to backlash from music fans, the site will be repurposed as a new tribute to AC/DC and the Young brothers.

Using material salvaged from the property, the developers have vowed to set up a bar or cafe where fans can “gather to celebrate the band’s enduring legacy”.

In response to the demolition and fan backlash, the local council stressed that, despite the fact the property was listed on the National Trust Register of Historic Houses, it was not protected under local or state legislation.

“As it is not heritage listed or protected under local or state legislation, and because The National Trust is a community-based, non-government organisation, with no statutory authority, the property does not have enforceable protections. Burwood Council remains committed to finding new ways to celebrate the Young family and the area’s rich musical heritage,” the council writes.

Childhood homes of influential musicians and guitar stars are often seen as sites of cultural significance. In 2022, Paul McCartney opened his own childhood home for unsigned artists to write and perform.

Before that, the home of fellow Beatle George Harrison went up for auction.

“Match the tone of the short-pants rock God”: Crazy Tube Circuits bottles Angus Young’s tone in a pedal – including the secret sauce that shaped his guitar sounds (and Kiss, Pink Floyd and Metallica’s, too)

Phil Weller — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 16:25:07 +0000

NAMM 2025: Greek pedal maker Crazy Tube Circuits has unveiled the Heatseeker – a threefold amp-in-a-box pedal that promises to nail Angus Young’s guitar tone.

But, to go one step further, it also boasts a preamp and an additional dynamic enhancer circuit inspired by the Schaffer Vega Diversity wireless system – a cult piece of vintage gear that was championed by the likes of AC/DC, Kiss, Pink Floyd, and more throughout the mid-1970s.

In fact, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett would later use a replica on 72 Seasons, calling it the “secret weapon” of the band's Grammy-nominated LP.

So, expect a pedal that “features the most important sonic elements to match the tone of the short-pants-rock-God”, but one that looks to throw extra versatility into the mix.

CTC adds that, while the pedal’s blueprint was all about capturing the tonal magic of early AC/DC, the pedal can go far beyond it, too, with the Schaffer/Marshall-inspired circuitry supposedly also capable of producing Van Halen, Kiss, and Peter Frampton-flavored tones.

As the mastermind behind the new stompbox explains, the Schaffer system went beyond simply freeing guitarists from cables. Instead, its preamp helped tighten up low-end frequencies with a slight accentuation for the mids, while its in-built Dynamic Expansion circuit “enhances the dynamic response and harmonics of the signal”.

That, as a result, “gives punch and attack to ensure that it will cut through the mix”.

Going one step beyond simply integrating that circuit into Heatseeker’s innards, CTC has linked it to an Enhance knob to give players “more control over the guitar tone’s dynamic response”.

Setting it at 10 o’clock promises “extra sparkle” and maxing it out brings “even the most dull and colorless sounds” to life.

A smart switching circuit is said to follow the signal path and respective gain stages tuned for each amp, with a Marshall-style EQ – that’s Bass, Middle, and Treble augmented by Master, Presence, and Volume controls – giving tone-tweakers plenty to experiment with.

Elsewhere, the Master Volume packs enough output to double as a preamp, and it can be plugged into a clean power amp, or direct into DAWs to make demos pop.

CTC does, however, note that the pedal does not offer any speaker emulation circuitry, so when going into a DAW, you’ll still want some kind of cab emulation.

A further new addition to CTC electronics is the Heatseeker’s Wall of Sound circuit, which creates “thundering lows and thickening high mid frequencies” by tuning the amp section of the pedal.

(Image credit: Crazy Tube Circuits Heatseeker)

As such, the firm talks up a level of projection that is akin to standing in front of a wall of 4x12 cabinets. It is a very bold claim, but it’s one that CTC is distinguished enough to make. After all, this is the firm behind Joe Bonamassa's favorite pedal of 2024, having already delivered the sound of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here in pedal form.

“In combination with the tube power amp simulation and the enhance circuit of the right section we’ve made sure that the pick attack will be as dynamic as it gets,” says CTC. “The softer picking will produce clean and slightly crunchy sounds, hard picking will give explosive distorted sounds.”

The Heatseeker is rounded out with a passive effects loop for pedalboard integration, while the two different amp/preamp sides can be run independently.

The Heatseeker is available now for $279.

Visit Crazy Tube Circuits for more details.

The firm's stock has been on a meteoric rise in recent years, with founder and tube amp obsessive Christos Ntaifotis telling Guitarist how his love for collecting amps has inspired one of the most exciting stompbox brands in the world.

“There are so many emulators of Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Eddie Van Halen, but no one has been able to play like Frank Gambale”: Matteo Mancuso names 10 guitarists who shaped his sound

Amit Sharma — Wed, 18 Sep 2024 11:13:52 +0000

On his latest track Paul Position, Italian fusion mastermind Matteo Mancuso reminds us all why he stands as one of the most extraordinary talents to emerge in recent years. Mixing elements of country swing and heavy blues into a stunning four-minute display of genre-crossing brilliance, it’s the kind of song that will appeal to just about anyone who listens to instrumental guitar music.

None of that should come as a surprise, however, given the dazzling musicality and technical brilliance on display on last year’s debut album The Journey. What might be a surprise, however, is Mancuso’s usage of a six-string baritone for rhythmic ideas that dance into the realm of tech metal.

His instrument of choice was made by Italian company Bacci, rather than the Yamaha models usually seen in his hands. As it turns out, the idea had been bubbling away in his mind for quite some time.

“I was looking for a guitar that could cover the lower range for rhythms and riffs, like a seven-string,” the 27-year-old prodigy tells Guitar World. “But seven-strings feel really strange. For me they’re uncomfortable to play, and I don’t find them to be aesthetically pleasing – they just don’t look sexy!”

That thinking led him to longer scale length six-strings. Given that Yamaha aren’t currently in the business of baritone guitars since their Drop 6 models were discontinued, there was no conflict of interest in being seen with instruments made by other brands.

Tuscany-based luthier Bruno Bacci, meanwhile, specializes in high-end baritones which have ended up being wielded by modern funk masters like Mark Lettieri and Cory Wong. Clearly, it was meant to be.

“To my ears, a sixth string tuned down to B sounds better than the low B of a seven-string,” says Mancuso.

“The chords sound more even; I just prefer what I hear. They’re also easier to play! Basically baritones are regular guitars tuned one fourth down. For chordal work, it’s much easier than having to deal with an extra string. That was the start for me. Some people have been asking if I’ve left Yamaha, but that’s not true. Bacci will be just for baritones. My regular guitars will always be Yamaha.”

The track title Paul Position came to him after its completion. Parts of the solo section reminded him of certain Paul Gilbert licks – so why not acknowledge the influence head-on?

“Bacci asked me to record a song using only baritones,” he says. “It started around NAMM 2023. I had to do a demo, but I didn’t know what to play. I came up with some ideas that used open strings, so you could hear the bass frequencies and low end. I was also experimenting with a lot of country licks.

“I composed the song in April last year and decided to keep it separate from my first album. When I listened back, I realized the solo was inspired by Paul Gilbert – which is why I referenced him, swapping ‘Pole’ for ‘Paul’ as a little joke.”

As well as nods to the Racer X and Mr. Big legend, moments of the track are surprisingly reminiscent of Tosin Abasi’s work in progressive metal trio Animals As Leaders – perhaps not so much in terms of tone, but certainly in the thumb-led rhythmic chug of a detuned lower string, resulting in some of the most metallic flavors the Italian has given us to date.

There’s always been that side to him, he reasons, citing players like Yngwie Malmsteen and Randy Rhoads among his more aggressive influences when he’s looking to unleash the fury. Other lines are reminiscent of modern blues giant Joe Bonamassa – who famously championed Mancuso early on, and even invited him up on stage in Berlin on his last European tour.

Keen-eyed viewers of fan-filmed clips noted Bonamassa seemed to be laughingly shrugging at the notion of trying to keep up with Mancuso. In many ways, it felt like a passing of the torch. “Joe has definitely influenced me a lot, especially with his pentatonic stuff,” the rising star confirms.

“I was really nervous before taking the stage in front of 5,000 people. It felt like a challenge. Joe was great at making me comfortable – he’s such a nice guy. We did a soundcheck earlier in the day and he told me to just have fun and not to worry about anything else.

“That was so helpful because it set up the mood. I was nervous until I walked out – and then I suddenly felt really happy. Everyone was smiling and the whole band were supporting me. It was an incredible experience; easily one of my favorites from this year so far.”

Here Mancuso tells Guitar World about the 10 guitarists who shaped his sound – a list which reflects why he’s such a rounded player, well-poised for a long career of guitar stardom.

1. Jimi Hendrix

(Image credit: Getty Images)

“I know people who listen to me might think I’m far away from the Hendrix style, but he was my first big influence. Like many people, the first songs I learned were Hendrix songs like Purple Haze. And one of the first chords I learned was the Hendrix chord... that was its official name for me!

“Hey Joe taught me the basic chord shapes like C, G and A Minor. Other tunes like Voodoo Child (Slight Return) and Little Wing were a great starting point for learning my first pentatonic solos, as well as the importance of bending and wide vibrato.

I learned about not sticking to boxes and moving horizontally rather than vertically. It was a major discovery

“Many people think I started out playing classical because I use fingerstyle, but actually it was electric, and Hendrix was the backbone of all my technique.

“In terms of vocabulary and technique, it was mainly pentatonic, but there was some Dorian stuff I learned from Hendrix, especially going across one string. That’s how I learned about not sticking to boxes and moving horizontally rather than vertically. It was a major discovery for me as a 10-year-old.”

2. Angus Young

(Image credit: Getty Images)

“During my first years of playing I was all about Jimi and Angus. One of the first songs that blew my mind was Whole Lotta Rosie. There’s a famous live version where Angus plays an extended solo and he’s really ripping on that SG. I remember thinking, ‘I need an SG right now!’

“Angus has small hands like me, but he still has a lot of power when it comes to bending and vibrato. As a kid, I thought you needed big hands for that, but Angus proved you didn’t.

“He had a very clean, natural and dynamic sound – just an SG going into a loud Marshall. Sometimes that’s not the easiest tone to work with, because it can be harder to play and people can hear all the imperfections. It’s the total opposite to the metal compressed thing, which is very forgiving. That’s why I love Angus’ tone. It’s so raw and you can hear he’s having a good time!”

3. Eddie Van Halen

“Eddie was my introduction to the late ‘70s and ‘80s shred movement. The first Van Halen record is very special – it has Eruption, as well as Ice Cream Man, which is one of my favorite tracks by them. I remember watching his most famous live versions of Eruption on YouTube. I had no idea you could do things like that with a guitar!

“Seeing that led to me trying to play with a lot of gain. I found it really difficult because you need a lot of control in your right hand. Being a fingerstyle player, controlling all that distortion was a hard thing to master.

“Beyond what Eruption did for guitar solos, there was the Van Halen remake of You Really Got Me, reinterpreting older music for a new generation. I loved the look and sound of the Frankenstrat. Eddie always looked so cool on stage.”

4. Eric Johnson

“Eric was and still is one of my biggest influences. I first heard him through a live version of Cliffs Of Dover from 1988. It blew my mind immediately; and to this day I would say it’s one of the greatest live recordings ever captured, just because of how clean he plays those lines and the sound of his vibrato.

“The next tune I learned by him was Zap, from the same album [Live In Austin, TX]. I became completely obsessed with Eric. I wanted the same sound, the same feel, the same everything! He was doing stuff that I didn’t really hear from the other players.

In order to improvise like him, I started to actually imagine I was him! That exercise helped a lot

“I learned a lot from his music, such as the spread triads concept – which is actually very simple. You take whatever triad it is, let’s say a C Major one, and instead of playing the major third in the same octave, you play it in the next one. That’s why it’s called a spread triad! That was a big discovery and I still use that concept in my own playing.

“Then there’s all the pentatonic cascading stuff. He could make his guitar sound like a violin because of how clean he played. In order to improvise like him, I started to actually imagine I was him! That exercise helped a lot, actually.”

5. Scott Henderson

“Scott was probably one of the first fusion guys I heard. One of the first songs I heard was Dolemite. Immediately I could tell he was a genius player, even if there’s no crazy technique behind his music. His solos are – well, I wouldn’t say easy – but not technically incredible. But what he plays is always musical; he does the right thing for the song in every situation.

“His touch is amazing, especially when you look at his whammy bar control. He’s one of the few players that can play through the changes in a really interesting way, stringing through different scales and arpeggios. He can deliver a lot of information; but at the same time he’s rocking out with a bluesy sound that’s like Stevie Ray Vaughan on steroids.

“Because of that, I think he brings the best of both worlds. He has the aggression and power of rock players, but the sophistication and colors of jazz. I knew I wanted to be that kind of guitarist: someone who could rock out but also have a clear understanding of scales and what works where.

“I’ve seen Scott live twice. The first, at the Blue Note in Milan, was one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen. After hearing Dolemite, I started listening to his work in the Chick Corea band. There’s one solo I transcribed from a song called King Cockroach; even after hearing it 100 times, it still gives me the chills. Then there’s his work with Tribal Tech, which is more fusion-sounding. I really like the song Face First from those recordings.”

6. Frank Gambale

“Frank is another player who stunned me the moment I heard him. By this point, I’d reached a certain technical level, so that stuff was less important to me and came second. What really got me hooked was his endless exchange of ideas.

“His solos are very original. I’ve never heard anyone play like Frank, to be honest. There are so many emulators of Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Eddie Van Halen, but no one has been able to play like Frank. He’s such an innovator – and not because of the sweep picking, because that’s what people tend to focus on.

He has a lot of sophistication and knowledge, but he can also rock and play hard

“Of course it’s an important aspect, but it’s his vocabulary that I find truly unique. It’s all the quartal stuff and outside ideas. I also like his compositions, because he’s really influenced by one of my favorite bands, Steely Dan. You can hear it in how he searches for all those interesting harmonies. Like Scott Henderson, he has a lot of sophistication and knowledge, but he can also rock and play hard.

“There’s one album that I listen to a lot – Thunder From Down Under – which has him riding a giant kangaroo on the cover. The song Leave Ozone Alone is one of my favorites.”

7. Allan Holdsworth

(Image credit: Getty Images)

“You can classify guitar players before Allan and after Allan – he’s that important in the history of guitar. But interestingly, I don’t think his mind was very guitarist. Sometimes he sounded like a sax or violin player. His style was so unorthodox, especially when you listen to what he did in Soft Machine or with Tony Williams. Even when he was 20 years old he was innovating.

“He influenced me in a lot of ways, especially when I was starting to experiment with how I looked at the fretboard. Allan helped me see it all differently. I love how he wasn’t thinking about modes; it wasn’t about Dorian or Phrygian and that stuff – he was thinking in terms of three scales. It was the major, melodic minor and harmonic minor, with some harmonic major as well.

I didn’t understand Allan when I first heard his playing; it was too advanced

“He didn’t really care about the modes. He just thought about one root note and a scale that went across the fretboard. I’m a big fan of that mindset. It’s better to think of one scale going across your guitar than seven different ones breaking it up. He inspired me to look at the neck like that.

“Of course, the playing was amazing too. Tokyo Dream is one of his many masterpieces, with all those giant chords. I can’t play some of them because my hands are too small. I didn’t understand Allan when I first heard his playing; it was too advanced. Then around the age of 20, I was like, ‘Woah, I get it!’

“Devil Take The Hindmost has one of the best fusion solos of all-time. In terms of innovating the guitar, Allan is up there with Jimi, Eddie and Django Reinhardt.”

8. Django Reinhardt

(Image credit: Getty Images)

“Speaking of Django, there was a period of time where I really started digging into the world of gypsy jazz. Django taught me a lot. I think he’s one of the best pickers of all time. There’s something magical that happens when he does all the chromatic stuff – even though he’s only using two fingers, it’s so on-point. It almost sounds like MIDI guitar!

“If you imagine that level of technique in the 1940s, it’s incredible. People were looking at him like a god. Learning his music was a technical challenge for me – gypsy jazz arpeggios with fingerstyle is very tricky because you need a lot of volume, which comes from using a pick. And those players often use very thick picks to get that sound. It was difficult for me to achieve that with just fingers on an acoustic.

“Through him I learned a lot about playing through chord changes. His music isn’t that complex harmonically. There aren’t a lot of chords like there are in fusion; instead he’d use a lot of vocabulary over just a few chords, like a II-V-I progression with 10 different possibilities for the V.

“He used so many scales from whole tone to half diminished. Some of it sounds like modern jazz, but he was doing this stuff 80 years ago. Django was ahead of his time. He created a magical sound.”

9. Wes Montgomery

(Image credit: Getty Images)

“All the first clean jazz licks I learned came from Wes. What I love about his playing most is that all his solos were improvised, but they sounded like they were preconceived.

“There’s no incredible technique behind his playing, but he had such melodic control and this incredible flow of ideas. I love how he found his sound through his limitations, because he was using just his right hand thumb. Most players wouldn’t be able to do much with just that.

“His rhythmic concepts were amazing – that was one of his greatest strengths. Over the years he’s one of the players I’ve transcribed the most. When you hear me playing clean, I would say 80 percent of the single note lines have come from him.”

10. Pat Metheny

“Pat has influenced me a lot in life – not so much in terms of how I play, but definitely in how I compose. But I love his use of chromatics and his approach to soloing. He tends to be very melodic at first, then right at the end he starts doing all the crazy stuff.

“I feel like there are two characters that coexist in his sound, from the really sweet-sounding ideas to the extremely out-there jazz madness. He’s one of the best single note line improvisers out there and also one of the best composers.

“I remember the first time I heard Last Train Home and Still Life (Talking), which is one of his best albums with the Pat Metheny Group. There are so many tunes which inspired me, like Minuano and First Circle. He’s an incredibly well-rounded player.”

The Journey is on sale now via Mascot Label Group.

“Dirty Deeds… has some more complicated ideas that go up inan Eddie Van Halen kind of way. It reminds me of the kind of things Steve Hackett was doing in 1972”: Black Midi’s Georgie Greep on the high-voltage genius of Angus Young

Amit Sharma — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 11:25:30 +0000

The jarring rhythms and unorthodox math rock brilliance of Black Midi is a world apart from the raw rock ’n’ roll of AC/DC, but as guitarist Geordie Greep tells Total Guitar, influence can take form in all kinds of ways…

Here, he explains what makes Angus Young a bona fide guitar hero who changed the sound of rock 'n' roll electric guitar.

I love Angus Young, but it doesn’t necessarily come across in my music…

“You might read this, listen to my band and think I’m talking gibberish, but there is definitely an influence! One thing that’s very prevalent in some of the best music is people taking influence from other things and imitating it in their own way. I guess if you played AC/DC to a hardcore Chuck Berry fan back in the day, they wouldn’t have liked it, mistaking it for noise.

“Sure, Angus is trying to play like Chuck Berry and old blues guitarists like that, but he doesn’t sound like them. It became his own thing. Look at Jimi Hendrix, he was playing his own version of the blues. But it didn’t come across like that at all; it sounded like something new.”

One thing I learned from AC/DC is how to get the most out of every song.

“They are masters of tension, knowing exactly when to extend something and take their time before moving on. That’s what gets you hyped up. They would jam out Jailbreak for 10 minutes, taking their time like a volcano about to erupt. And when it finally drops, it’s so satisfying and one of the best feelings. It’s about making the most out of that power.”

Angus manages to achieve so much with a simple approach.

“His solos usually have a similar kind of arc to them, using the same kind of vocabulary. But every time you hear one, he makes you listen. He never meanders – there’s always a very clear start, middle and climax.

“His leads never seem to trail off. There are lots of guitar players who are fantastic but they have a tendency to trail off… we all do, as guitarists! You’ll be in the middle of something and then let it get away from you. With Angus, that’s very rare.

His solos sound free, but they’re actually pretty choreographed. They’re like set pieces within a song

“He’s always on top of what he’s doing, what the song requires and how to make best use of the solo section. His solos sound free, but they’re actually pretty choreographed. They’re like set pieces within a song. The band will build up to sections completely reserved for the solo and work around him.

“A great example is the song What’s Next To The Moon, which has a brilliant solo. You can tell it’s a big feature because it doesn’t fit to eight or 16 bars or whatever. There’s a specific part they worked out which perfectly leads back into the verse, adding to the momentum.”

Angus changed the sound of an electric guitar

“Everyone was playing through the same equipment back in the ’70s, stuff like Marshall Plexis, but no-one sounded like him. There was so much attack and bite in his tone, but he kept the clarity.

“When people play AC/DC songs in a covers band or on YouTube, I notice they almost always use way too much distortion. But with AC/DC it’s not that overdriven; it’s just an amp being played really loud. The sound of the guitar that gets amplified, without all the mush or extra saturation.

Everything comes through clearly because it isn’t too distorted. You can hear all the chords and frequencies of each voicing

“Of course, AC/DC rely on simple chords, in a way that’s not too different to what Pete Townshend was doing. Everything comes through clearly because it isn’t too distorted. You can hear all the chords and frequencies of each voicing. That’s what helps make the music more nuanced than it could have sounded.

“Another thing I love about Angus is his use of the volume control, which is quite an underutilised thing in general. He taps into different levels of overdrive just through his guitar.

“He might keep it halfway up and reserve maximum power for his solos. And that’s why his solos always pop out… they’re never unsatisfying. That takes discipline – choosing to have a cleaner sound so he has the space to take it further when needed.”

Angus is mainly a blues player, but there are moments where he dabbles with classical ideas

“If you listen to Let There Be Rock from the If You Want Blood You’ve Got It live album, there’s one arpeggio he keeps repeating, getting faster and faster, almost like a faux neoclassical kind of thing. It’s something that many guitar players try to do, carving out their own solo section and risking pomposity.

“But with Angus it’s always good-natured and fun. It always sounds cool and gratifying. You never get the sense it’s too self-indulgent. I love Ritchie Blackmore as a player, but there are times where you can tell he’s taking himself a bit too seriously, sometimes he can start to lose his charm. With AC/DC, that doesn’t happen.

Angus often comes up with ideas like that which sounded tapped, though he uses his fretting hand against an open string

“Another favourite is Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, which has some more complicated ideas that go up almost in an Eddie Van Halen kind of way. It reminds me of the kind of things Steve Hackett from Genesis was doing in 1972. Angus often comes up with ideas like that which sounded tapped, though he uses his fretting hand against an open string.

“That’s quite a hard thing to control – if you’re using fingers to tap, it’s all roughly around the same volume level. Open strings, however, jump out a lot, but Angus can always control it.”

One thing that’s great about Gibson SGs is the access to the upper frets.

“Angus tends to make great use of that area. Almost every solo will involve ideas up to the 18th or 22nd fret. He’s in that range a lot. So if you’re hoping to sound more like him, that’s one thing you could do: start out lower and work your way up. He also knows not to play too much.

“He makes a feature out of every riff or lick, rather than noodling the whole time. He has a very disciplined way of going about himself, with not too much gain. If you get a Plexi-style amp, a guitar with humbuckers and maybe an EQ pedal for more bite, that will get you there.

“Me and Morgan [Simpson, Black MIDI drummer] used to do an AC/DC tribute just for fun. We only played a few shows but it was such a blast. All I had was a Boss EQ pedal for a push in the upper mids, and then I’d use my SG to control the volume. We got pretty close… there’s not much to it, gear-wise!”

AC/DC announce new bass player “to carry the torch for Cliff” ahead of long-awaited Power Up tour

Phil Weller — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 12:02:30 +0000

AC/DC will return to the stage with a 21-date European tour this summer, and the band has picked Jane’s Addiction’s Chris Chaney to fill in on bass.

Longstanding bassist Cliff Williams, who joined in 1977 and debuted on Powerage a year later, initially retired from the band in 2016. He did, however, return for the 2020 album, Power Up as well as last year’s headline performance at Power Trip, California.

Away from Jane’s Addiction, Chaney is an established session musician, having previously toured with Joe Satriani, Slash, Eddie Vedder, and Meat Loaf, among others.

He was also a member of Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders, performing at Wembley Stadium as part of the late Foo Fighters drummer’s tribute concert.

“We are thrilled to finally announce the ‘POWER UP’ European Tour,” the band wrote in a statement. “Angus, Brian, Stevie, and Matt will be joined by Chris Chaney to carry the torch for Cliff.”

Chaney completes a line-up that includes Brian Johnson, Angus Young, and Stevie Young. Drummer Matt Laug, who deputized for Phil Rudd at Power Trip, takes the drum throne for this tour, too.

Tickets go on sale at 10am local time on February 16.

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The 21-date European trek kicks off at Gelsenkirchen Veltins Arena soccer stadium in Germany on May 7 and wraps up in Ireland's Croke Park on August 17. Along the way, there are two dates at Wembley Stadium on a tour that takes in 11 different countries.

The Aussie rock 'n' roll icons had begun teasing an announcement via their social channels last week. At first, their signature thunderbolt had flashed into life amid the sound of fizzing electricity before making way for the words “ARE YOU READY”.

Other clips followed, counting down to what has now been unveiled as the band’s first run of dates since they released Power Up nearly four years ago. Before ‘23’s Power Trip frenzy, they hadn’t played a gig since rapping up the Rock or Bust tour in 2016.

It was during that tour that Brian Johnson, after developing hearing issues, was forced to abandon the tour. Guns N’ Roses vocalist Axl Rose was tasked with taking the mic off the band’s frontman.

The dates announced so far take only European locations, meaning no shows are currently confirmed for North and South America, or Asia of Australasia. However, Brazilian sources (via Louder) claim the band has been approached regarding topping the bill at this year’s Rock in Rio event, scheduled for September.

For tickets and more information, head to Ticketmaster.

Announced dates:

May 07: Gelsenkirchen Veltins Arena, Germany
May 21: Gelsenkirchen Veltins Arena, Germany
May 25: Reggio Emilia RCF Arena, Italy
May 29: Seville La Cartuja Stadium, Spain
Jun 05: Amsterdam Johan Cruyff Arena, The Netherlands
Jun 09: Munich Olympic Stadium, Germany
Jun 12: Munich Olympic Stadium, Germany
Jun 16: Dresden Messe, Germany
Jun 23: Vienna Ernst Happel Stadium, Austria
Jun 26: Vienna Ernst Happel Stadium, Austria
Jun 29: Zurich Letzigrund Stadium, Switzerland
Jul 03: London Wembley Stadium, UK
Jul 07: London Wembley Stadium, UK
Jul 13: Hockenheim Ring, Germany
Jul 17: Stuttgart Wasen, Germany
Jul 21: Bratislava Old Airport, Slovakia
Jul 27: Nuremberg Zeppelinfeld, Germany
Jul 31: Hannover Messe, Germany
Aug 09: Dessel Festivalpark Stenehei, Belgium
Aug 13: Paris Hippodrome, France

Phrasing, vibrato and rock-solid timing: inside the essential elements of AC/DC's legendary guitar style

Jon Bishop — Wed, 05 Jul 2023 16:13:46 +0000

The sound and playing style of AC/DC’s Angus and Malcolm Young is legendary and constantly emulated. The core elements, though rarely complex, are harder to master than you might imagine, however.

Malcolm’s open shapes and powerchords are delivered with unrelenting, rock solid groove. And Angus’s leads? Well, his phrasing and vibrato are instantly recognizable – which, while making him the icon he is, does mean you’ll be aping quite an individualistic style.

Tonally, the AC/DC sound epitomises the idea that less is more. A Marshall amp is a core ingredient, as is the combination of Gretsch G6131 Jet and Gibson SG guitars with bridge pickups selected.

Assuming you’re not in a position to crank your amp to stadium-ready volume levels, Young brothers style, we recommend keeping the gain low for the rhythm parts and using a Tube Screamer-style overdrive pedal for a mid boost on lead parts. Now, let there be rock...

Example 1. Malcolm-style open powerchords

(Image credit: Future)

The driving force of the AC/DC rhythm section, Malcolm Young predominantly favored open chords and powerchords, where open strings would maximize resonance and sustain.

Coupled with the lightest of drive tones this gives loads of dynamic range and bucketloads more power than you’d expect. Here in our Dirty Deeds-style riff, the minor 3rd G note can be bent slightly sharp for a bluesy flavour.

Example 2. Malcolm-style sparse riffs

(Image credit: Future)

Space and raw simplicity are key to Malcolm’s vibe – he’d never overplay. His parts let the drums and bass breath and never got in the way of Angus’ lead parts. Inspired by tracks like Rock ’N’ Roll Train and Highway To Hell, our example here is best delivered with downpicking for a consistent attack.

Example 3. Angus-style doublestop lick

(Image credit: Future)

Angus' lead style is a blend of rock ’n’ roll and blues, and this doublestop (two notes together) idea demonstrates his Chuck Berry influences.

We've taken our inspiration from Hells Bells here with a lick that's based in the minor pentatonic scale – but listen out for the 14th-fret note on the second string, which comes from the Dorian mode.

Example 4. Angus-style bends & vibrato

(Image credit: Future)

Many would say Angus’ frenetic vibrato is instantly recognizable. Break the vibrato in our example riff into two elements by copying first the speed and timing, then analyzing how much pitch bend to apply.

Example 5. Angus-style pentatonics

(Image credit: Future)

One trick that Angus uses is to mix up the major and minor pentatonic scales. Our example is inspired by You Shook Me All Night Long and starts out with the bright-sounding A major pentatonic scale (A B C# E F#) before moving to the darker A minor pentatonic scale (A C D E G). Try to exploit this mood change in your own licks.

The greatest guitar albums of the ’80s: the rise of the next-gen guitar hero

Jenna Scaramanga — Mon, 29 Aug 2022 12:00:32 +0000

Stevie Ray Vaughan reignited the blues. AC/DC delivered the biggest selling rock album of all time. New guitar heroes rose up – Slash and Joe Satriani among them. But if one guitarist owned the ’80s, it was Eddie Van Halen...

10. Iron Maiden – The Number Of The Beast (1982)

Some critics and industry bods genuinely thought metal was over by the early ’80s, and guitars were outdated. The Number Of The Beast definitively proved it was only just getting started. The giants of the ’70s were one-guitar bands, but in Maiden, Adrian Smith and Dave Murray’s Thin Lizzy-inspired harmonies made it compulsory for metallers to have two guitarists.

Their tone, powered by DiMarzio Super Distortion pickups into Marshalls boosted with overdrive pedals, was the metal recipe for most of the decade. Murray and Smith’s fluid soloing kept one foot in the blues but nodded to Ritchie Blackmore, upping the tempo for the new decade.

9. Prince – Purple Rain (1984)

Steve Vai once said Prince had no right to play guitar so well on top of his other talents. Purple Rain distilled that genius. On opener Let’s Go Crazy, a better rock/RnB crossover than Beat It (yeah, we said it), Prince riffs with the best, lays down soaring bends, and closes with an outrageous burst of wah-soaked shred worthy of an Ozzy album.

An octaver-aided shred frenzy opens When Doves Cry, and Darling Nikki’s guitars and lyrics are almost equally filthy. The matchless title track unites Wendy Melvoin’s gorgeous but finger-breaking add9 chords with Prince’s rapturous final solo.

8. Dire Straits – Brothers In Arms (1985)

Mark Knopfler’s guitar sound on Money For Nothing was actually an accident. Having set up the session the night before, producer Neil Dorfsman found an SM57 mic pointing at the floor when he arrived. Before he could fix it, Knopfler’s tech Ron Eve came on the talk back mic insisting they left it because the tone was amazing. Despite drawing detailed diagrams, Dorfsman could never repeat the effect.

Knopfler’s steadfast refusal to buy a pick means clichés about tone being in the hands are even more true than usual

Dorfsman says Money For Nothing used a Morley wah, Laney 2x12 combo, and a Les Paul Jr. The rest of the album was largely made with Knopfler’s Schecters and his 80s Les Paul Standard. Although Knopfler was an early adopter of the Soldano SLO100, it’s likely his main amp for Brothers was still his Marshall JTM45.

The title track tone comes from a cranked amp, with the Les Paul’s volume and tone backed off to create the dark, touch sensitive sound on the album. Walk Of Life is a distinctively Telecaster approach, while Strat-style guitars dominate elsewhere. The National resonator on the album’s cover only sees service on The Man’s Too Strong.

Knopfler was keen to try new technology, with Brothers In Arms being an early all-digital production. He used a Pensa-Suhr R Custom synth guitar controller to trigger sounds on a Synclavier synth – as seen in the video for So Far Away. Knopfler’s steadfast refusal to buy a pick, though, means clichés about tone being in the hands are even more true than usual.

7. Ozzy Osbourne – Blizzard Of Ozz (1980)

On the 1978 Never Say Die tour, openers Van Halen made the tired and increasingly dysfunctional Black Sabbath look like dinosaurs. When singer Ozzy Osbourne was fired by Sabbath the following year, he assembled a line-up that would never be embarrassed like that. Crucially, he found the one guitarist in LA who could rival EVH – Randy Rhoads.

Although frequently compared, Rhoads’ and Van Halen’s guitar styles are not very similar beyond the fact they both tapped and played fast. Ironically, the Dutch-born Van Halen sounded much more American, while the Floridian Rhoads’ classical influences had more in common with European guitarists. The Van Halen brothers had tons of swing, but Rhoads played much straighter. This was perfect for Ozzy’s solo debut, Blizzard Of Ozz, which came on like a jet-fuelled Black Sabbath.

For the recording of this album, Rhoads had not yet received the white modified Marshall he is known for, and instead used a rented Marshall JMP 1959 head. The amp was run relatively clean, with most of the crunch coming from his MXR Distortion+, enhanced by an MXR 10-band EQ with a strong mid boost centred at 500hz. Most guitarists would struggle through such an unforgiving setup, and it’s wild that Rhoads delivered those pinched harmonics and punishing legato lines so confidently.

The ’80s dawned with great guitarists in abundance, but Randy was clearly top of the pile. As neo-classical guitar got huge, Blizzard Of Ozz stood out for its melody, finesse, and great songs.

6. Joe Satriani – Surfing With The Alien (1987)

You can’t go platinum playing guitar instrumentals – it’s just not done. But Satriani did it with Surfing With The Alien, charting two rock radio singles along the way with the title track and Satch Boogie.

Joe’s virtuosity put him on guitar magazine covers immediately, and his warp-speed legato was the latest evolution of shred. But it was really his sense of melody that drew audiences. There were far more technical guitarists releasing albums in the aftermath, but none of them had a song as good as Always With Me, Always With You.

Joe’s virtuosity put him on guitar magazine covers immediately, but it was really his sense of melody that drew audiences

The guitars were recorded direct with a Rockman Headphone Preamp, and every song except Satch Boogie features a drum machine. It’s remarkable how much groove Satch extracted from those unpromising beginnings. Incredibly, all the solos except Crushing Day are improvised, showing Joe could think melodically even on the fly.

His tapping approach on Midnight was clearly Van Halen-inspired while doing something original with the technique. On the title track, Joe tapped with a pick, allowing faster taps than are otherwise possible, an approach that influenced his former student Kirk Hammett.

Surfing With The Alien stays interesting because Joe uses a range of modes and harmony to evoke different moods. The major climax of Always With Me is all the more joyous for the contrasting harmonic minor section that precedes it. The album remains the benchmark for instrumental rock 35 years later.

5. Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble – Texas Flood (1983)

Stevie’s guitar sounded so good on Texas Flood that he single-handedly changed the conventional wisdom about guitar strings. Despite most of the other records on this list being recorded with strings so thin you could barely see them, SRV convinced a generation to string their axes with suspension bridge cables in a quest for tone.

It was the ferocity of Vaughan’s attack and his unbelievable swing that mattered, though. The heavy strings were just there to take the punishment from his picking hand.

In a regular blues shuffle, the second eighth note comes slightly late, perhaps 60 per cent of the way through the beat, creating the bounce. Stevie, though, would hit it 70 per cent of the way through the beat, for a driving hard swing that few guitarists can replicate. Combined with his ability to rake through every note of a riff, it was an extremely aggressive take on the Texas shuffle that immediately converted rock fans.

Here was a new talent with the range, skill, and excitement to bring blues to an entirely new audience

Guitarists sometimes imagine that the hallowed SRV tone is in the gear. It doesn’t help that one of the amps was an unobtainable Dumbleland Special (if you can find one for sale, expect a $50k price tag).

The Stevie connection also saw the prices of 1980s Ibanez Tube Screamers skyrocket, prompting Ibanez to reissue them. As with all these sounds, it’s much more about how you play. Who do you imagine would sound more like SRV – you playing through his rig, or him playing through a cheap amp?

Extreme volume definitely helps them. Such was the fire, passion, though, and Stevie’s Strat was able to sustain so much because of the coupling of the amp and pickups at intense levels. Although his amps’ tones were quite clean, his Fender Vibroverb amps were adding some breakup and a lot of valve compression.

Conventional wisdom is that Stevie used the Tube Screamer as a clean boost, with the drive at or close to zero and the level cranked. That does sound great, but it’s not the only way he used them: he often had two running at once, which would inevitably add dirt, and with high-headroom amps he would sometimes increase the drive on one or both of them.

Stevie’s influences were not hard to spot – Hendrix, Albert King and Lonnie Mack chief among them. Such was the fire, passion and sheer quality of Vaughan’s delivery, though, that no one could dismiss him as a mere imitator.

Testify, an Isley Brothers song that Hendrix had played during his stint with the group, became an earth-shaking instrumental in Stevie’s hands. Buddy Guy’s Mary Had A Little Lamb was similarly beefed up, and the fact the young Vaughan’s playing easily stood comparison to those giants showed how special he was.

At the close came Lenny, an instrumental for his wife that was as delicate and subtle as Rude Mood was raw and aggressive. That Vaughan was capable of such contrast signalled his depth. Here was a new talent with the range, skill, and excitement to bring blues to an entirely new audience.

4. AC/DC – Back In Black (1980)

Writing about how Back In Black sounds seems almost inappropriate. The raw, visceral energy coming from every riff connects to a primal instinct deeper than language. This is gut-level music, not brain music.

That’s not to say there are no subtleties. The title track has a straight groove, but Angus Young swings the descending lead lick in the riff, a nuance almost everyone misses.

By running their amps just past the point of breakup, Angus and brother Malcolm achieved sensitive guitar tones that magnify all the details in their playing

By running their amps just past the point of breakup, Angus and brother Malcolm achieved sensitive guitar tones that magnify all the details in their playing. The breakdown before the last chorus of Shoot To Thrill sees Angus brushing his strings as lightly as possible, and you can hear the difference in how hard he plucks each one.

The tone is clear enough to hear every note in chords, and the arpeggiated choruses of You Shook Me All Night Long are positively jangly. Yet the intro chords of the title track crunch like a dinosaur eating cars. This range of tones comes almost entirely from Malcolm and Angus’ picking dynamics.

Thanks to Filippo Olivieri’s forensic studies, we know that a contributor to Angus’ tone was the Schaffer-Vega wireless he used even when recording. The receiver included a preamp which restored frequencies lost in transmission but also boosted the signal in unique ways. But what you really need is a picking hand spiritually synced to the groove. We can’t explain it. Just turn it up.

3. Metallica – Master Of Puppets (1986)

Most bands are lucky to have one great guitarist, but Kirk and James both star on the greatest thrash album of all time. Hetfield’s right hand is like Cristiano Ronaldo’s right foot, a marvel at the pinnacle of achievement in its field. If the timing is at all off when double tracking, the attack of each note gets ‘smeared’, losing the crunch.

Hetfield triple-tracked his guitars with laser-guided precision, some of the tightest and most brutal rhythm playing ever laid down. It helped that the band had riffs to burn, churning through an album’s worth in the title track alone.

One consistently underrated aspect of Kirk Hammett’s playing is his ability to create melodies over clean breakdown sections. The harmonised lines over Hetfield’s arpeggios in the title track are a moment of beauty amidst brutality, and it makes everything sound more crushing when the band starts breathing fire again. Kirk’s whammy bar action is also top notch, in a decade of tremolo shenanigans.

The Puppets guitar tone was transitional between their early, nasal, Marshall-and-Tube Screamer tone and their later scooped Boogie sound. Kirk and James slaved the preamp from Mesa/ Boogie Mark IIC+ heads into the power amp of a Marshall 2203.

James had not yet discovered EMG pickups, and was using a Jackson King V equipped with Seymour Duncan Invaders. Kirk mainly used a Jackson Randy Rhoads with EMGs, but his stock Gibson Flying V appears on some solos.

2. Guns N’ Roses – Appetite For Destruction (1987)

Mid-’80s Los Angeles had two kinds of guitarist: shredders with amazing technique but no feel, and posers with none of either. Into this void came Slash, reinventing classic rock guitar on Guns N’ Roses’ debut record Appetite For Destruction.

Other bands talked tough, but singer Axl Rose actually sounded ready to jump off the stage and mess you up, and Slash’s solos had the attitude to back it up. After Axl yells “why don’t you just... f**k off?” in It’s So Easy, Slash’s grinding two-string bend repeats the invitation. When Axl threatens “I wanna watch you bleed!” in Welcome To The Jungle, Slash delivers double stops tough enough to make it happen.

80s records could sound mechanical, but Appetite was deeply human, as the accelerating outro to Paradise City showed

Equally important was rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin. He and Slash proved themselves easily the best riff writers since AC/DC, and the interplay between their parts was essential to Appetite’s magic.

Judas Priest bashed out identical riffs in unison, and Def Leppard orchestrated unique parts for each guitarist. Slash and Izzy found another way, each of them often playing his own interpretation of the same riff. This created a dynamic push and pull between the parts. ’80s records could sound mechanical, but Appetite was deeply human, as the accelerating outro to Paradise City showed.

Appetite also sounded honest. Some ’80s ballads sounded like the result of a board meeting to produce a hit single, whereas Sweet Child O’ Mine was naturally melodic. Slash’s ear for melody produced hooks you could whistle, giving Paradise City, Sweet Child O’ Mine and Welcome To The Jungle some of the decade’s most memorable single-note riffs.

Slash’s solos showed the influence of Michael Schenker, Angus Young and Jimmy Page, but he had the speed to impress in the decade of Vai and Yngwie. He never sounded like a shredder, though. He had controlled sloppiness like Keith Richards and Joe Perry that just sounded cool.

He was also more rhythmically interesting than the shredders delivering hails of unbroken 16th notes or sextuplets. Even Slash’s breakneck licks in Nightrain and Paradise City use a variety of note lengths and articulations.

Mix engineers Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero wisely left the guitars raw, and this helped Appetite to stay relevant even through the 90s, when most 80s records sounded painfully dated

As with Van Halen’s first album, Appetite’s guitar tone is shrouded in myth and legend because the rented modified Marshall Slash used was later stolen. But the important thing was that it sounded like a guitar amp, rather than a signal that had been fed through so many digital processors it barely resembled the original source.

Mix engineers Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero wisely left the guitars raw, and this helped Appetite to stay relevant even through the ’90s, when most ’80s records sounded painfully dated.

In hindsight, Appetite started paving the way for the ’90s even as it embodied ’80s excess. It spearheaded a return to live sounds and Les Pauls and away from day-glo pointy headstocks. Guns N’ Roses represented authenticity, a love of music, and real emotion at a time of cynicism, and their debut is a testament to the life-affirming powers of rock’n’roll.

1. Van Halen – 1984 (1984)

Van Halen’s sixth album, 1984, was the climax of a battle for creative control between Eddie Van Halen and the band’s producer Ted Templeman. After 1981’s Fair Warning – Van Halen’s heaviest album – produced no hit singles, Templeman pushed for covers on 1982 follow-up Diver Down. It yielded hits, but Eddie was unhappy.

“I would rather bomb with my own music than make it with other people’s music,” Eddie told Guitar World in 2014. “Ted felt that if you redo a proven hit, you’re already halfway there.”

To wrest control from Templeman, Eddie and engineer Don Landee converted a racquetball court at Van Halen’s house into a studio. They named it 5150, and the 1984 album was its first project. Ironically, the album made entirely on Eddie’s terms became Van Halen’s most commercially successful effort. Templeman resisted recording at 5150, but relented after he heard the song Jump. “He didn’t care much about the rest of the record,” said Eddie. “He just wanted that one hit.”

Jump sounded really fresh. The simple major chords that we’ve heard a million times just for some reason sound new.
Joe Satriani

With Eddie, a classically trained pianist, playing the main riff on synthesizer, Jump put a new twist on Van Halen’s sound. As Joe Satriani says now: “Jump sounded really fresh. The simple major chords that we’ve heard a million times just for some reason sound new.

“I would say that’s like Mozart. There’s a history of amazing classical music before him, so what did he do? He used the same chords as everybody else, but the way he did it made you go ‘Oh! I like the way he goes I-IV-V.’ Jump has that same thing. It’s just I-IV-V, but it sounds great.”

With Templeman pacified, Van Halen got serious. Limited space at 5150 made for an unusual working environment. The Marshall Plexi sat in one corner behind isolation panels, and Eddie sat on a stool in front of brother Alex’s drumkit and did not even wear headphones. There wasn’t space for cymbals, which were overdubbed later. Only the snare was live; Alex used electronic Simmons drums for everything else.

“Can you imagine what it sounded like in the room?” laughs Satriani. “This is insane. He’d do a drum fill and where there should be a crash at the end, there’s nothing. How did they work that out? Just the monitoring, so that they could do something like Hot For Teacher and make it sound so perfect?”

What makes this album so interesting is the fact that there are guitars that are not totally in tune - but good luck trying to get as good a take as that!
Joe Satriani

The visual connection between the Van Halen brothers was essential. As Eddie recalled of Hot For Teacher: “I distinctly remember sitting in front of Al on a wooden stool and playing that part during my solo where it climbs. Well, I can’t count, so Al needs to follow me. I’d sit right in front of him, and then he’d look at me like, ‘Now!’” Satriani is thrilled by this story. “No wonder it sounds like so much fun!” he enthuses. “They were sort of autonomous and yet they were totally linked together.”

As Satriani sees it, the sound of the brothers playing live was essential to the Van Halen sound. “That sound of Alex’s snare drum, I just hear that as something that pulls the whole album together. There are a couple of drummers out there that do that. Watching the Get Back documentary [2021], I realised The Beatles were not The Beatles until Ringo started playing.

“When he was off having a cup of tea, it just sounded like John, Paul, and George as individuals. It didn’t sound like The Beatles. Ringo starts to play and it’s this gigantic thing. Van Halen is the same way. We’ve all heard Eddie jamming with other people and it’s nowhere near the same.”

Joe discussed the recording of 1984 with Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony when they worked together in the supergroup Chickenfoot. Since 5150’s live room only had space for Eddie and Alex, Anthony overdubbed his bass later.

“Mike told me every song you’d have to find out where Eddie was tuned, because you never knew what take they used and whether anything was tuned at the time,” Joe says. “What makes this album so interesting is the fact that there are guitars that are not totally in tune – but good luck trying to get as good a take as that!”

Eddie’s 1984 tone is distinct from his early sound, but it used largely the same gear. The Frankenstrat was largely retired for this album in favour of the banana-headstocked Kramer 5150, but the magic Marshall Plexi was still his only amp. Eddie did use his Eventide harmoniser on every song, but it was not as prominent as it would become on later albums. “I used it mostly to split my guitar signal so it came out of both sides,” he commented.

It’s a different kind of music altogether. It’s both whimsical and deadly serious, and you just have to be so good to pull that off
Joe Satriani

The guitars are still single-tracked with few overdubs, making it unique among rock albums of the time. As Joe comments: “There’s not like rhythm guitar left and right. I’m always adding a Tele and a Strat and a Les Paul, but because David Lee Roth’s voice was so charismatic, they didn’t have to. They left space for each other.”

Templeman’s lack of concern for album tracks left Eddie and Alex free to stretch themselves creatively. As Joe notes: “When you make albums, there are songs that the band likes but from the production point of view it doesn’t have commercial potential, suddenly people start to work on it differently. Everyone plays differently. They say, ‘Well it’s not gonna be a single so we can do this instead of having to edit that part.’

“I love House Of Pain so much. It’s not as complete as Jump or Panama, where you can tell they worked on it because it had single potential. The verses are so out there. When I try to imagine one of the four parts not being there, it doesn’t work. I remember just listening to that over and over again, thinking ‘This is a moment.’

“What I really like about that first the first version of Van Halen was that they all seem to be playing separate parts with separate accents, yet they came together so well. Eddie never really went for that triple-tracked, all playing the same thing, the drums and bass are doing the same thing. It’s a different kind of music altogether. It’s both whimsical and deadly serious, and you just have to be so good to pull that off.”

Joe still recalls Van Halen’s seismic impact on America’s guitarists. “When Eddie came on the scene it scared the shit out of so many guitar players,” he says. “I saw it as a total vindication of what I liked to play and what I liked to listen to, whereas people in other styles were feeling, ‘This is bad competition. I don’t want to have to deal with someone who can play that good.’ I always thought Eddie is going to be great for guitar. I was keen not to copy something that Eddie had done. Like, ‘I’m not going to get in his territory. What’s my contribution?’

“When I wrote the two-handed piece Midnight for Surfing With The Alien I was thinking, ‘Guys like Eddie and other two-handed players – what did they not do?’”

For Joe Satriani, 1984 exemplifies great music. “The music we listen to decade after decade is the stuff with character and love in it. You can’t get that just by sitting down with the metronome and trying to get one click faster. The thing we should be practising is just playing music. Eddie and Alex jammed for hours until they hit upon something so unique that is so perfectly natural. It jumps out of the album.”

Seymour Duncan launches Eddie Van Halen, Peter Green and Angus Young-inspired humbuckers

matthew.parker@futurenet.com (Matt Parker) — Thu, 05 May 2022 13:42:43 +0000

Seymour Duncan has announced the arrival of three new additions to its electric guitar pickup range, in the form of the ’78, Green Magic and High Voltage models.

The three new pickups are all humbucker builds that have been inspired by a trio of iconic players, including Eddie Van Halen, Peter Green and Angus Young – though the brand stops short of name-checking them in the product descriptions.

Seymour Duncan ’78 humbucker (Image credit: Seymour Duncan)

First up, the ’78 takes its cues from a P.A.F. rewind first completed by Duncan in 1978 “with the instructions to rewind it and make it more sensitive to natural and artificial harmonics”.

It seems the brand are alluding to the Alnico 2-based humbucker that Duncan produced for Eddie Van Halen’s iconic Frankenstein Strat build in ’78. As such, it is reportedly “wound to the exact same hot specs as that original P.A.F.” and suited to “overtone-laden tapped runs”.

Seymour Duncan Green Magic humbuckers (Image credit: Seymour Duncan)

Next on the list of new additions is the Green Magic humbucker. Here, the clue is in the name as the new pickup pair takes its tonal inspiration from the unusual P.A.F. humbuckers on Peter Green’s ’59 Les Paul, which were out of phase (having been installed with a magnet that was accidentally placed in the reverse position).

Activate them both and you get a more single coil-style out-of-phase sound, courtesy of a flipped magnet on the neck unit. Expect them to produce the sort of neck-tone warmth of late ‘60s-era Fleetwood Mac.

Seymour Duncan High Voltage humbuckers (Image credit: Seymour Duncan)

Finally, the High Voltage pickups are all about hard-rocking, long-sustaining lead work and “legato riffage”, which – alongside the units’ name and the SG promo pic – calls to mind the tonal exploits of Australia’s finest rock exports, AC/DC. Expect them to be aggressive and tight, yet clean up nicely when required, utilizing Alnico 2 magnets.

Prices for the ’78, Green Magic and High Voltage humbuckers start from $129 per unit. For more information, head to Seymour Duncan’s official site.

Learn the licks of 10 Gibson SG legends

Total Guitar editors — Tue, 01 Feb 2022 12:32:03 +0000

60 years ago, Gibson introduced the SG as a new alternative to the company’s Les Paul models. Early examples still bore the Les Paul signature, until Les himself expressed a disdain for its radical design and the instrument was renamed SG (short for Solid Guitar).

The SG is a thinner, narrower and lighter guitar than the Les Paul, with easier access to the higher frets, and, though long sitting in the shadows of its esteemed sibling, the SG has inspired an army of loyal users – and it’s a versatile beast...

While legendary rockers like AC/DC’s Angus Young and Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi chose it for its stinging leads and powerful rhythm tones, the SG is equally comfortable filling out The Roots’ layered hip-hop tracks courtesy of Captain Kirk Douglas and helping Brittany Howard provide soulful grooves for Alabama Shakes.

It goes without saying that you don’t need an SG to play these examples. Any humbucker-equipped guitar will be fine. Alternatively, if your guitar has single coils, roll off a little treble, boost the bass, and experiment with neck and middle pickup positions.

Example 1. Angus Young

(Image credit: Future)

This lick is typical of how SG-lifer Angus Young would play over a song’s final chorus. We’ve used screaming bends combined with rhythmic doublestops that complement the rhythm guitar. Be sure to employ trademark Angus-style fast, wide vibrato for an authentic AC/DC sound.

Example 2. Sister Rosetta Tharpe

(Image credit: Future)

Sister Rosetta spent a lot of her time hammering an acoustic guitar, and this transferred to her super-aggressive SG playing. Her leads often follow the songs’ chord progressions closely, using chromatic notes to lead into chord tones. Remember, fretting the right notes is only half the battle – hit every note hard!

Example 3. Brittany Howard

(Image credit: Future)

Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard runs her SG through an Orange amp to produce a beautiful, warm tone which is perfect for her soul-inspired chordal embellishments. Make sure you play on your fingertips to ensure the notes ring into each other.

Example 4. Tony Iommi

(Image credit: Future)

Godfather of metal Tony Iommi gets his trademark riffing sound by relying heavily on the fifth and sixth strings. Because he rarely moves to the lighter-gauge strings, this creates a thick, consistent sound.

You’ll need to move quickly, so lock your fingers in the powerchord shape and move your hand while holding your fingers in place.

Example 5. Brent Hinds

(Image credit: Future)

A diehard Gibson fan, Brent Hinds has been smashing out riffs on Les Pauls, Flying Vs and, of course, SGs for over 20 years with influential prog-metallers, Mastodon.

We’re using one of the band’s preferred tunings, D standard (DGCFAD) here. Aim for a consistent attack throughout and use all downstrokes if you can.

Example 6. Robby Krieger

(Image credit: Future)

The Doors’ fingerpicking, SG-wielding guitarist is difficult to sum up in a single example – throughout his career, he’s drawn from styles as wide ranging as blues and flamenco.

This example shows how he blends classic blues licks with jazzier legato lines. Pick with your thumb and index finger in true Krieger style.

Example 7. Jake Kiszka

(Image credit: Future)

Jake Kiska’s biting, classic rock-influenced riffing shows off the SG’s raw power. The key to this riff is to ensure you cut the staccato notes (the ones with dots over/under them) short. Play close attention to the audio track to make sure you nail the phrasing.

Example 8. Captain Kirk Douglas

(Image credit: Future)

‘Captain’ Kirk Douglas is the resident SG expert for hip-hop heavyweights, The Roots. The guitar doesn’t sit up front often on their tracks, but when it does you can hear Douglas driving things along with staccato chords like those in our example. To get the choppy sound, release pressure on the strings just after you hit the chord.

Example 9. Derek Trucks

(Image credit: Future)

Derek Trucks’ masterful slide guitar work is so expressive you could be forgiven for thinking you were listening to a vocalist. His unique sound comes from the way he approaches and embellishes notes with quick movements to mimic the way a singer would approach a melody. We’ve tabbed the lick as we’ve played it, but the fluid sound of slide guitar invites experimentation.

Example 10. Eric Clapton

(Image credit: Future)

Clapton has used Fender Strats almost exclusively for over 50 years, but earlier in his career, most notably with Cream, SGs were a mainstay of his arsenal – and a key part of his patented 'Woman Tone'.

Play our example with a light picking attack. Try not to create accents in the hammer-ons and pull-offs by hammering on too hard or pulling-off too aggressively.

Prince William begins his week by listening to AC/DC's Thunderstruck

Sam Roche — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 16:19:13 +0000

With such decorum and public composure, it's hard to imagine members of the British royal family listening to hype music. And if such an imagination can be conjured, they're surely listening to some spritely orchestral composition, right?

Wrong. Prince William, grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, listens to rock music – specifically AC/DC – to get himself ready for his royal duties, as he explains in a new episode of Apple's Time To Walk podcast.

“There's nothing better than, on a Monday morning, when you're a bit bleary-eyed after the weekend and trying to get yourself back into the grind of the week, listening to AC/DC, Thunderstruck,” the Duke of Cambridge says during a stroll round the Queen’s Sandringham estate (transcribed by Blabbermouth).

“I have to say the first time I put it on – and I’ve heard it a million times now – I was kind of, like, ‘Well, this is quite heavy for a Monday morning. But now, when I listen to it, it’s the best tonic for a Monday morning. It absolutely wakes you up, puts your week in the best mood possible, and you feel like you can take on anything and anyone.

“I’d imagine you’re going to walk quite fast listening to it, maybe with a skip in your step, with the headbanging. It’s a difficult song not to dance to or to nod along to.”

Thunderstruck appears on AC/DC's 1990 album, The Razor's Edge, and remains one of the Aussie rock giants' most popular tracks. Despite the track's stratospheric influence on rock music in general, its main riff actually originated as one of guitarist Angus Young's acoustic guitar warmup licks.

“It started off as a practice thing on an acoustic guitar I had at home,” the guitar icon revealed in a conversation with Zane Lowe for Apple Music earlier this year.

“I had a cassette and I was fiddling around with the guitar and I thought, ‘That's interesting’, so I put it down.”

Young explained that it was his brother – late AC/DC founding rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young – who encouraged him to pursue the practice lick and transform it into the Thunderstruck we all know today.

“Angus, go back, go back to that little guitar thing you had on the acoustic – that's a little hooky thing... there's something about that,” Malcolm reportedly told Angus.

Angus also revealed that when he took a one-week break away during the recording of The Razor's Edge, Malcolm tweaked the track's original arrangement.

"When I came back, Malcolm came to me and he said, ‘Listen and hear what we've done to your song,’” Angus recalled. “I put it on, and he had added the big thunder choruses at the beginning, and the chant, which we originally only put in the middle section of the song.”

When Malcolm asked for his opinion, Angus simply replied: “You've made it better, you've improved it. It sounds great.”

Malcolm Young: "We were going to get a keyboard player, but I got Angus instead"

matthew.owen@futurenet.com (Matt Owen) — Wed, 31 Mar 2021 15:34:34 +0000

A never-before-published interview with Malcolm Young from 2003 has recently been released by The Coda Collection, in which the late electric guitar legend and AC/DC founder takes a deep dive into the iconic rock band’s roots and his guitar-playing relationship with his brother, Angus.

The newly unearthed conversation was released alongside a whole host of AC/DC-related material, including seven hours of video footage documenting the Bon Scott and Brian Johnson eras, which are currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

Also included in the comprehensive catalog are a handful of timelines and in-depth essays, which chart the band’s meteoric rise from outback rockers to one of the most formidable bands in rock ‘n’ roll history.

Notable highlights from Young’s previously unpublished interview include a discussion of his musical relationship with his brother Angus, of which Malcolm revealed, “It was never a brotherly squabble.

“I was more into the chord thing, the complete song, rather than the individual part. I was glad in a way, because I was more of a melodic player. Angus was more into the rock world,” he said. “Straight away I said, ‘This is great.’ There was never any question. I thought, ‘Angus, it’s pointless for me to play solos.’ We just wanted to do good as a band.”

(Image credit: Bob King/Redferns/Getty Images)

When asked whether he had heard about the rock 'n' roll trope of brothers in bands falling out, Young replied, "We do suffer a bit of that. It's not that dramatic. We have our moments. That's what we do, knowing each other all our lives.

"Brothers do fight, but there is a closeness too. Within the band, a little bit of aggro rears its ugly head. But it's certainly not a problem for AC/DC," he continued. "During the making of the albums it's the worst, because everyone is a bit under pressure. You're in a confined area and things happen."

Young also took the time to discuss how the axe-slinging siblings originally joined forces, recalling, “It just happened at one point when I was putting together a band. We were going to get a keyboard player, but I got Angus instead.

I was more into the chord thing, the complete song, rather than the individual part. Angus was more into the rock world

“We never really played together. I was more into the Beatles and Stones, and Angus was more into the heavier stuff, Hendrix and Cream, with the lead guitar. I used to listen to songs as songs. I tended to pick up on the chords, the whole picture around the guitar.

“I said, ‘Come down tomorrow and have a bash.’ We were going to play rock ‘n’ roll, it was simple as that. When Angus came in, it was a big piece.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Young touches on how he was heavily influenced by blues music in his early years, and discusses how the band's live career blossomed from "rowdy, made, brawling Aussie" clubs.

Head over to The Coda Collection to read the conversation in full and to explore the full list of AC/DC-related titles currently available in the catalog.

AC/DC's iconic Thunderstruck originated as one of Angus Young's acoustic guitar warmup licks

matthew.owen@futurenet.com (Matt Owen) — Tue, 23 Feb 2021 13:41:06 +0000

Sometimes, ideas with humble beginnings are destined for greatness. That mantra is all too true for AC/DC's electrifying classic Thunderstruck, which Angus Young recently revealed originated as a practice routine he used to play on, yes, an acoustic guitar.

In a conversation with Zane Lowe on Apple Music's Essential Music show, the electric guitar icon was joined by bandmate Brian Johnson to discuss the band's legendary career and select their essential AC/DC tracks.

When quizzed on the history of Thunderstruck, Angus Young revealed that the larger-than-life lead lick had an unlikely origin.

"It started off as practice thing on an acoustic guitar I had at home," revealed Young. "I had a cassette and I was fiddling around with the guitar and I thought, 'That's interesting', so I put it down."

Young continued, saying that when he showed his brother and bandmate Malcolm, the late guitar great pursued the idea, saying, "Angus, go back, go back to that little guitar thing you had on the acoustic – that's a little hook-y thing... there's something about that."

Angus, per Malcom's request, then began to add to the track, transforming it from a humble warmup lick into a rock guitar classic.

Young also revealed that Thunderstruck was taken to the next level by Malcolm, who tweaked the original arrangement while Angus took a one-week break away during the recording of Razor's Edge.

"When I came back, Malcolm came to me and he said, "Listen and hear what we've done to your song,"" Angus recalls.

"I put it on, and he had added the big thunder choruses at the beginning, and the chant, which we originally only put in the middle section of the song."

In response to Malcolm asking for his opinions on the newly arranged track, Angus said, "You've made it better, you've improved it. It sounds great.

"I was really happy," continued Angus. "I said, 'you've given it life!'"

There you have it, folks. Don't neglect your practice, because those little mindless noodles you play without thinking may have more potential than you think.

Elsewhere in the podcast are a number of other insights into the origins of classic AC/DC tracks, including the tale of how Angus Young came up with the vocal line for Highway to Hell on the toilet – the clip of which can be seen above.

Australian Guitar #141 kicks the new year off in style with a double-length AC/DC cover story

Australian Guitar — Tue, 05 Jan 2021 13:28:20 +0000

Happy (slightly belated) New Year! For those lucky enough to enjoy some time off over the holiday season, we hope you had a wonderful break with your loved ones and took advantage of some well-earned relaxation after the clusterf*** that was 2020.

We’re excited to leap straight into an exciting new year filled with endless opportunities for greatness – and we’re even more excited to be kicking it off with a giant new edition of Australian Guitar! In issue #141, we’re celebrating the long-awaited return of a local institution, one of the most recognisable names in music history and quite possibly the biggest rock ‘n’ roll band to ever don the axe: of course, we're talking about AC/DC! We’ve crammed in two extra special, one-on-one interviews with legendary guitarist Angus Young, who fills us in on everything there is to know about the band's epic new LP Power Up, plus a heap of interesting facts about his past, present and future as a bonafide shredlord.

If AC/DC ain't your jam (no judgement here), don't sweat it – we've packed AG #141 with plenty of other in-depth artist interviews. With the help of Billy Corgan himself, we get down to the nitty gritty on the Smashing Pumpkins' defiantly experimental new album, Cyr. We catch up with Tash Sultana on the eve of their monumental second album, and vibe on how 2020 completely flipped their perspective on time.

We've always been huge on celebrating Australian talent, and issue #141 is no different, featuring interviews with such legendary locals as Orianthi, Plini, Luca Brasi and Jess Locke, plus our regular Fresh Frets column (where we highlight some of our favourite up-and-coming acts) and an all-Australian Spotlight special. And for those looking beyond our sunny shores, you'll find interviews with overseas acts both iconic, like Bring Me The Horizon, Architects, Julien Baker, Laura Jane Grace and Steven Wilson – and emerging, like Pale Waves, Yungblud and Amahiru.

Elsewhere in Australian Guitar #141, you'll find the ultimate guide to building the pedalboard of your dreams, our tips for beginners keen to podcast like a pro, a hands-on dive into the world of the women revolutionising lutherie, and a special look back at the guitarists that invented what we know and love today as the blues. And if your new year's resolution was to up your ante as a player, you'll find plenty of invaluable lessons in our epic 10-page bootcamp feature!

Australian Guitar #141 is available now from newsagents all around the country, and online via techmags.com.au or iSubscribe.

Exclusive interviews in this issue:

Amahiru
Architects
Bring Me The Horizon
Jess Locke
Julien Baker
Laura Jane Grace
Luca Brasi
Orianthi
Pale Waves
Passenger
Plini
Smashing Pumpkins
Steven Wilson
Tash Sultana
You Me At Six
Yungblud
Kiah Gossner (Producer Profile)
Jarryd James (Spotlight)
Kelly Jansch of Totty (Spotlight)
Matt Stevens and Paul Musolino of The Gloom In The Corner (Spotlight)
Maddy Jane (Spotlight)

All the hottest gear reviews:

IK Multimedia Z-Tone Buffer Boost + DI
Vox Bobcat V90 + S66
Fender American Professional II Telecaster + Stratocaster HSS
Faith Lyra Cutaway Nylon-String Acoustic
DV Mark Eric Gales 'Raw Dawg' 60W Amp Combo
Kramer Original Collection (2020 Lineup)
Zoom G11 Multi-Effects Processor
Fender Acoustic SFX-II + Acoustic Junior Amplifiers

Subscribe to the print edition of Australian Guitar, and you'll enjoy each new issue on the day it's published, delivered straight to your door. Click here for all the details, including how to get 12 issues delivered for under a hundred bucks and win a ZOOM G11 Multi-Effects Processor valued at $1,799!

Angus Young names AC/DC's “most regrettable” song

Richard Bienstock — Tue, 15 Dec 2020 17:01:25 +0000

Best of 2020: Angus Young doesn’t seem like a man with many regrets. But the AC/DC electric guitar legend does have a most regrettable AC/DC song.

In a recent interview with Vulture, Young pointed to the 1975 ballad (yes, AC/DC have a ballad), Love Song, which appeared on the Australian version of their debut album, High Voltage, as the unfortunate winner in this category.

“That was very different for us,” he said of the tune. “I didn’t know if we were trying to parody love songs of the time, because Bon [Scott] wrote the lyrics. I don’t even remember what the words are.

“I remember that song because the guy who worked for us at our record label told us that’s what was on the local radio at the time – very soft music. His thought we should release that song, because it’ll probably get some airplay. I remember thinking, Who in their right mind would want this to go out?”

He continued, “We were very fortunate, though, because all of the radio stations who had seen us live knew this was not who we were. So these stations started to flip the record over and play the other song, which was a cover of a blues standard called Baby, Please Don’t Go. We actually scored a hit from the B-side! That was the one saving grace of the song.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Angus is asked to name his No. 1 AC/DC song, and picks two. “If I was just thinking of the guitar, since I’m a guitar player, I’d say Riff Raff,” he responds. “The guitar work was a challenge but interesting in the way the song rolled out. That’s my guitar answer. But if it’s for a whole song, Thunderstruck is a big one. I like that answer.”

Interestingly, Love Song, like Thunderstruck, features a single-note pull-off motif in its melody, suggesting there’s perhaps, in some instances, a fine line between “regrettable” and "number one”.

Angus Young: “I’ve always said if I do anything music-wise, I can only do it the AC/DC way“

Richard Bienstock — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 12:24:46 +0000

As it turns out, Young has indeed spent a fair amount of time these last few years “tucked away somewhere in a room and putting together ideas and songs.” Which is how we’ve wound up, rather unexpectedly but certainly quite happily, with Power Up, AC/DC’s 16th (or, if we’re counting in Australian, 17th) full-length effort.

As for what makes it unexpected? For starters, the band recorded it under a complete media blackout – traditional, social or otherwise.

Aside from a few rumors – kicked off by surreptitious photos that surfaced in 2018 of various band members, coffee cups in hand, trolling alleyways around Vancouver’s Warehouse Studio, where they’ve recorded their last few efforts – things have been radio silent in the AC/DC camp for several years.

More significantly, of course, there’s the fact that since the end of the Rock or Bust world tour there has been the looming question of just who, or even what, AC/DC is anymore.

My older brother George used to always tell me that chances are when you come up with an idea, you come up with an image

The tour itself was, like every AC/DC jaunt for decades now, a massive success – and maybe their most massive yet. It kicked off with a headlining stint in front of a crowd of more than 100,000 at, of all places, Coachella, and then over the next year-and-a-half proceeded to sell out arenas and stadiums from Brisbane to Buffalo, racking up ticket sales of more than $200 million in the process. Internally, however, things weren’t running so smoothly.

AC/DC is not a band immune to trial and tragedy – the death of inimitable front man Bon Scott in 1980, and the band’s subsequent resurrection with Back in Black, is a permanent part of rock lore – but even by their standards the Rock or Bust era was exceedingly challenging.

It began with the pronouncement that the band’s co-founder, stalwart rhythm guitar player and, in many ways, musical and ideological rock (not to mention Angus’ older brother), Malcolm Young, was battling severe dementia and stepping away from the group.

Malcolm co-wrote the songs on Rock or Bust, but his parts on the recording, as well as his spot on the stage, were assumed by his and Angus’ nephew, Stevie Young.

Malcolm passed away in November 2017 at age 64; just three weeks earlier, he and Angus’ older brother, George, who had helped guide AC/DC to success, as well as co-produced several of their albums from their 1975 debut, High Voltage, to 2000’s Stiff Upper Lip, died at age 70. Experiencing this sort of deep loss would be difficult enough on its own.

In AC/DC land, it was compounded by the fact that, just prior to the release of Rock or Bust, longtime drummer Phil Rudd, who had played with the band on and off since 1975, became mired in legal troubles and was replaced by a former drummer, Chris Slade.

Toward the end of the Rock or Bust tour, meanwhile, singer Brian Johnson was forced to exit the band as a result of hearing loss, with his slot assumed, in a move no one could have seen coming, by Axl Rose.

To put a final punctuation mark on events, by the time the tour wrapped in September 2016, bassist Cliff Williams announced his retirement from AC/DC after four decades with the band. Which meant that, just two years after the release of Rock or Bust, only two members – Angus and Stevie – remained from the lineup that had recorded the album.

(Image credit: Josh Cheuse)

So what did Angus do? What Angus always does – he wrote. And while he didn’t have his brother next to him physically during this time, he did still have his riffs.

According to Angus, the majority of the material on Power Up, as with Rock or Bust, was constructed from songs and ideas he and Malcolm had logged over the years.

“They were things that we knew were good, and so we put them aside and said, ‘We should get them down on record at some point,’ ” Angus says. “And I thought, well, maybe now’s the time to go through and pick out all those ideas.”

When it came to getting them down on tape, Angus called up a few friends. In fact, amazingly, Power Up finds the Rock or Bust-era lineup – Angus, Stevie, Phil Rudd, Cliff Williams and, in a welcome return, Brian Johnson – back together and ready, to borrow a Rock or Bust song title, to play ball.

The result is an album that is 100 percent pure and unrefined AC/DC (and with this band, is it ever not?). From the power-chord slam and Thunderstruck-like Angus single-note figure that kicks off the opening track, Realize, to the mid-tempo stomp of Wild Reputation and Rejection, the Shake a Leg-style boogie of Demon Fire and the deep-in-the-pocket grooves and big chorus hooks of first single Shot in the Dark, Power Up finds the venerable lads in very fine, if not absolutely top, form.

Elsewhere, the new album is littered with all of the original band’s beloved calling cards – Brian Johnson’s gravel-soaked shrieks and growls, Phil Rudd’s impossibly solid and swinging drum wallop and, of course, Angus’ monolithic riffs and explosive solos – while throwing in a subtle curveball or two here and there.

I’m not on some sort of mission. I just look at everything on the musical side and then I say, ‘Does it attract me?’

Witness, for example, the twangy guitar lick that punctuates the verses in Kick You When You’re Down or, more conspicuously, the honeyed Angus guitar line and ultra-melodic major-key chorus that highlights the (gasp!) almost ballad-like Through the Mists of Time…

But as far as Angus is concerned, at the end of the day it’s all just AC/DC. “I treat everything as a song and I hear it as a song,” he says. “I’m not on some sort of mission.” Angus laughs. “That might not be the right word. But I just look at everything on the musical side and then I say, ‘Does it attract me?’”

You mentioned that many of the songs on Power Up have their origins in riffs you and Malcolm came up with together. Do you have a stockpile that you can just tap into whenever you’re writing music?

”I have lots of ideas the two of us worked on pretty much through the years. Even when we were in studios and recording rooms there were always ideas that we would put down. It’s just something where, the two of us together, we always seemed to be playing back and forth and coming up with stuff. From the beginning that was always a part of us.”

I’ve got boxes full of stuff the two of us have done over the days

Do you also write on your own? Or do you prefer having someone to bounce ideas off of?

”I’ve done it both ways. You get an idea and if you have a tape recorder you try to put it down. And if you haven’t got a tape recorder you do your best to try and remember it. But then when Malcolm and myself would get together it would be a case of rolling through the ideas and seeing what we believed was material for AC/DC.

”And the material you’re hearing is stuff that we did that was always for AC/DC. We would try to separate what we had. You know, we could have 100 things, and out of that hundred here are 20 good, strong AC/DC ideas. And we’d put them to the side.”

One hundred things? How many ideas do you think you have?

”If I had to estimate? [Laughs] That’d be hard. But all I can say is I’ve got boxes full of stuff the two of us have done over the days.”

For Power Up you guys worked with Brendan O’Brien, who also produced your last two records. What does he bring to your sound as opposed to other producers you’ve had, like Harry Vanda and your brother George, or “Mutt” Lange?

”Well, Brendan… I always say the role of your producer is pretty much that he’s your audience. He’s the man that’s sitting there hearing the whole picture, the outside ear that’s listening to everything. And he’ll tell you, 'I think this is AC/DC,' or, 'That bit there, I don’t know...'

”That’s the role he plays in order to get the best performance from you. And Brendan’s very talented. He knows his music. So if we get stuck somewhere, maybe if we say, 'Oh, do we do a break here?,' he’ll sit down and we can have it out together and he’ll help us come up with a good idea to try.”

I always go positive with song ideas. And with AC/DC, we never get too serious about what we’re doing

On first listen, my early impression of Power Up is that it’s a bit darker in tone than Rock or Bust.

“A lot of it’s down to the songs and what you’re working on. But when we’re doing a song, I always think… I never go negative. I always go positive with song ideas. And with AC/DC, we never get too serious about what we’re doing. We don’t try to put in, you know, a real 'statement' that means something. It’s just, that’s the mood when you wrote the song and then you bring it to the track.“

If there’s any song on the record that sticks out as a slight departure from the standard AC/DC approach it’s Through the Mists of Time. It has more of a major-key sound, and you also weave an incredibly melodic guitar line through it.

“Yeah.“

Did that one feel a bit different to you?

”Um… no. [Laughs] As I said earlier, I treat it as a song and I hear it as a song. You know, my older brother George used to always tell me that chances are when you come up with an idea, you come up with an image. And he said, 'You might even come up with a singin’ line, and it might not fit the track at that time but it sets the mood in what you do.

”So jot that down. If there’s birds twittering in the background, just write, ‘birds twittering.’ Call it that, even just to get you started.' [Laughs] Obviously, you’re not going to write a song called “Birds Twittering,” but you just want to get something that’s going to fit in that melody line, if that makes sense.”

I just wanted something that meant something to the band, and especially to my brother

Did that happen with any of these new tracks? Was there one where you wrote down a phrase like “birds twittering” and it turned into a song?

”Well, I came up with a lot of titles. Malcolm would call them 'hook titles'. And I’ve always done that. The two of us from the beginning always did that. So especially with titles and things, I’ve written down a lot over the years and I would just go through some of the books and mark out ones I liked and then sometimes bring singin’ lines. Or sometimes I might see a title and go, 'That’s a great title.' And then I say, 'Ah, I’ve got some great riffs here that’ll work with that.'”

A good example of that might be something like Hells Bells, where the title is so evocative and the music really sounds like the name of the song.

”Yeah. And that’s what you aim for. Or something like Highway to Hell – you hear those opening chords and you go, 'Uh oh… what’s coming?'”

“We’re on our way…”

”It’s something a little ominous. [Laughs]”

As far as titles are concerned, I want to ask about the name Power Up. It’s not too often that an AC/DC record isn’t titled after one of the songs in the track list. Is there any special significance here?

“Well, the significant side of it was I just wanted something that meant something to the band, and especially to my brother. I always thought his whole thing with AC/DC was it had to be powerful as a band. So I wanted something that called up what we do and that sums up what AC/DC is.

“And also, being guitarists, whenever I would plug in the guitar I always felt I was plugged into the 'big electrical grid.' [Laughs] So Power Up just sounded very powerful. Simple. Direct. Or you could go the other way and say it’s very Frankenstein, you know? Almost like creating a monster.“

Power Up just sounded very powerful. Simple. Direct. Or you could go the other way and say it’s very Frankenstein, you know? Almost like creating a monster

AC/DC has obviously experienced a lot of turmoil over the past few years. After you came off the Rock or Bust tour and it was just you and Stevie remaining from the lineup that recorded the album, was there ever a moment where you felt, “This could be it”?

“At that point you’re at the great unknown. We didn’t know what would happen. You’re in a bit of a case of limbo. But at the time you just go, 'I’m committed to getting through this, and then after that I’ll concentrate on what comes.'“

Could you ever envision a life without AC/DC?

“Well, I’ve been doing this most of my life, since I was in my teens. So it’s very hard to think of something other than that when it comes to making music. I’ve always said if I do anything music-wise, I can only do it the AC/DC way. Even if I wasn’t in AC/DC, I think it would probably still sound like AC/DC. [Laughs]“

After Brian Johnson exited so abruptly I think a lot of fans questioned whether he would ever return to the band. How did he come back into the picture for Power Up?

He was getting a lot of help with his hearing. And he kept up with it and kept trying various things to see how he could improve. Then he wanted to do something to test it out, so I think he did a few prep runs to see how it would go.

“And the people who look after us, our management, they were all wanting to know, 'When are you going to do an album?' So it was a case of seeing who wanted to be on board. And everyone was happy and wished to participate. So it was good. And Brian felt, yeah, he would come in and try and see how he would do.“

Stevie can do solos and stuff like that too, but he went the route a bit like Malcolm. It’s the rhythm that he enjoyed doing best and that’s how he applied himself

Was it in Vancouver that the five members – you, Stevie, Brian, Phil and Cliff – first got back together and played?

“Yeah. And if you’re in a recording studio you’ve got a different environment to, say, if you’re playing live. You’ve got more control on the hearing side of things. You can isolate to very good listening levels.

What was the first thing you played together as a band?

“Well, if you’re in a studio you always try out some things even just to get your sounds together. So you play a little Back in Black or something.“

Following the end of the Rock or Bust tour there had been rumors that you were going to continue on with Axl in the singer slot. Was there any consideration about doing a record together?

“That never really came up. Axl was really very generous and he helped us out to get through our touring side at a difficult spot. He had contacted us and said he could help if it didn’t interfere with his own commitments of what he was doing.

“He wanted to come in and try songs that he himself liked, and he was suggesting songs I hadn’t played in a long time. I’m definitely grateful that he volunteered and that he helped us finish off our commitment. But he has his own life.“

On the guitar side of things, how did you and Stevie work together on this record?

“Stevie is a bit like… even when he was starting off with us he picked up on what Malcolm did rhythm-wise. I mean, Stevie can do solos and stuff like that too, but he went the route a bit like Malcolm. It’s the rhythm that he enjoyed doing best and that’s how he applied himself.

Nothing could ever replace Malcolm, because Malcolm is the founder and he set the whole style. But Stevie certainly can do the role

“And you know, Stevie had filled in for Malcolm in the past, in the Eighties [when Malcolm left the Blow Up Your Video tour in 1988 to battle alcohol dependency]. So for me it was, I’m looking at somebody I know is dependable and who can also do that role.

“And I mean, nothing could ever replace Malcolm, because Malcolm is the founder and he set the whole style. But Stevie certainly can do the role. He knows how it should be. So it’s just a case of the two of us sitting down and making sure we’re in sync.

What gear were you using this time out?

“Well, the guitar that I use and that I consistently use has always been the same guitar, the Gibson SG. And everyone always asks me what year it is. You know, I’ve heard somebody say, 'Oh, it’s a 1970s Gibson.' And then other people say, “No, it’s a bit earlier than that.”

“I don’t really know what year it is but all I know is it couldn’t have been past 1970, because that’s when I got it! [Laughs] So I used that a lot, and then I’ve got a few other guitars. One is a black SG, I think there’s a photo of it from Back in Black. And then I have another SG that’s maybe a ’68 or ’69, that I used on Highway to Hell.“

if you go to a song that’s dependent on following a lead line, you’d best get your lead lines sorted out

So there are three guitars on the record, and they’re all SGs.

“Yeah. But the main, most consistent one is the one I’ve always had. It’s got, like, lightning bolts on the fretboard that, I don’t know, it was getting repaired and some guy put them in. I said, 'What the hell is that?' And I didn’t have time to go, 'Can you put it back the way it was?' [Laughs] How about amps? Marshall. They’re 100 watts. But they’re all older, going back to the Seventies. And the cabinets have the older-style Celestions.“

How do you approach your solos? Do you work them out in advance or are you just going for it on the spot?

“Well, if you go to a song that’s dependent on following a lead line, you’d best get your lead lines sorted out. And it also depends on how prominent it is and how long you’re gonna go – 'Okay, am I going to do a long piece here or a rhythmic piece?' So it’s always track by track what you do.

“Like on Back in Black, the track Shoot to Thrill? If you listen to where you would say, “Here comes the guitar solo…,” it’s actually more rhythmic playing. It’s got a little bit of a guitar bite to it but it’s more of a rhythmic thing. And it’s only really at the later part of the song, after a little breakdown piece, that the guitar – what you would call lead lines and phrases – picks up more.

“So what I’m trying to say is, it’s really down to the song itself and how you hear it. Because one note can be a hell of a lot better than 50 notes, you know? You clearly have this guitar thing figured out. Even so, does Angus Young ever sit at home and just practice? Oh yeah! All the time.

What do you practice?

“Sometimes I just sit and doodle. I’ll maybe play a bit of blues or I’ll try and get my fingers moving and see if I can come up with any different phrases. Experiment a little bit. So yeah, I do practice. But I mean, I don’t sit there… even when I was younger, I didn’t sort of say, 'It’s two o’clock – I’d better practice now!'

“I played when I felt good about playing. I’d pick up the guitar and start playing and then, you know, you end up going, 'Oh geez, I’ve been sitting here now for hours!' [Laughs] You don’t know where the time goes.”

AC/DC's new album, Power Up, is out now via Columbia.

Angus Young responds to the charge that every AC/DC album sounds the same: “This is what we do best”

Richard Bienstock — Fri, 27 Nov 2020 16:53:08 +0000

Ever hear the one about AC/DC making the same album over and over again?

Yeah, Angus Young has heard it, too.

And now the AC/DC electric guitar player has responded to the oft-stated, somewhat backhanded compliment.

"With us, it's to be expected," he told The Project TV. “As my brother [late AC/DC rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young] used to say, when somebody said, 'Every album you've ever made sounds the same,' he said, 'Yeah. It's the same band!' ”

Angus continued, “When we started, we weren't reinventing the wheel. This is what we do best. We make rock and roll."

As previously reported, Malcolm, who passed away in 2017, contributed riffs to every song on the newest AC/DC album, Power Up, and is credited as a co-writer on all 12 tracks.

As Angus explained, “I know Mal’s not with us anymore, but he’s there with us in spirit. You know, this band was his baby, his life. He was always one [to say], ‘You keep going.’ ”

And keep going they will. As singer Brian Johnson tells the Project TV in the same interview, “If Malcolm’s spirit is still there like he was on this last album, I’ll be there ‘til the bitter end.”

Angus Young pays tribute to his brother and AC/DC rhythm man Malcolm: “It was his creation, his idea, his whole thing”

Sam Roche — Wed, 18 Nov 2020 13:35:40 +0000

In an emotional new interview with Australia's 60 Minutes, Angus Young has paid tribute to his older brother Malcolm, who tragically passed away at the age of 64 on November 18, 2017. The AC/DC rhythm man had been diagnosed with dementia at the end of the band's Black Ice World Tour.

A statement from AC/DC at the time described Malcolm as “the driving force behind the band”.

“As a guitarist, songwriter and visionary, he was a perfectionist and a unique man,” the statement read. “He always stuck to his guns and did and said exactly what he wanted. He took great pride in all that he endeavored. His loyalty to the fans was unsurpassed.”

In the new 60 Minutes piece, Angus reflects upon Malcolm's original idea for the band, and his 2017 passing.

“It was his creation, his idea, his whole thing,” he says. “When I was younger and he said, ‘Me and you are going to play together’, I said, You’re kidding? He said, ‘No, you’ve got the goods.’ I was like, Are you sure now, you want me playing next to you onstage? and he said, ‘Yeah, yeah, you’re as good a guitarist as anyone else.’ It was all his idea.”

Angus also recalls music providing Malcolm comfort and joy in his final days at Lulworth House, a nursing home facility in eastern Sydney which specializes in dementia care.

“I think the hardest part was not so much him passing, because that was a kind of end, the relief,” he notes. “I think the worst part is the decline – that’s the hard part. Because of how you knew him, and then to see that that was gone.”

“I would say, even to the end, if I was there, from [ear to ear], he had a big smile,” the visibly emotional guitarist continued. “And for me, that always gave me a kind of joy. Even though he was in that state, that was always the joy of it. And he still got a great kick if I played him guitar. He would try to tap his foot. But he always knew I was there. So that was a big thing. I was with him towards the end.”

Watch the full interview with Angus, and AC/DC vocalist Brian Johnson, above.

Although his playing doesn't appear, Malcolm Young is credited as a songwriter on every track on AC/DC's new album, Power Up.

In a new interview with Guitar World, Angus has also paid tribute to his brother's lead guitar talents, claiming that “Malcolm could solo even better than me”.

Angus Young says AC/DC has a “mountain” of song ideas still to be recorded

Richard Bienstock — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 16:53:33 +0000

As if a dozen new AC/DC tracks weren’t enough of a gift (and, let’s be honest, something well needed and deserved in 2020), apparently there might be even more new music from Angus and Co in the coffers beyond the new Power Up.

In a new interview with Radio.com, the electric guitar player was asked if there was still a "mountain" of AC/DC material yet to be released. To which he replied (via Blabbermouth): "Oh, yeah. If I went through [all the boxes], there's a lot of ideas that were [recorded] through our career.

“The hard part is just keeping up with the technology of that time. Because in a lot of the early years, when cassettes mainly came around, you were using a lot of early cassettes. And then from that point, then when it went into CDs, we were using that.

“A lot of people go to their computers, but we'd pretty [stuck to] the CD world. We may have a few DAT tapes and other formats — ADATs and stuff like that."

Elsewhere in the interview, Angus shared his thoughts on Eddie Van Halen, who died on October 6 at age 65.

“The first time I met him was in the ‘90s,” he said. “We were doing a tour through Europe and did some shows together.

“He was such a warm person and the first thing you noticed about him was had a big smile. He’d laugh and give you a big hug and was excited to see you.

“To the music world, it’s a big loss. Those of us lucky to have met him, it’s probably an even bigger tragedy.”

Angus Young: “Malcolm could solo even better than me”

michael.astley-brown@futurenet.com (Michael Astley-Brown) — Mon, 09 Nov 2020 13:09:23 +0000

We are just days away from hearing AC/DC’s new album, Power Up, which arrives on Friday (November 13), and befittingly, Angus Young graces the cover of the latest issue of Guitar World, which is on-sale now.

During the in-depth cover interview, Angus looks back at the guitar relationship between himself and his departed brother, Malcolm – and how Mal’s reputation as a rhythm king often outshone his lead abilities.

“I remember a [Guitar World] cover me and my brother did together going way back [November 1995],” Angus told GW.

“That was nice, because there was always a tendency for people to only look at solo guitarists, while Malcolm was an out-and-out rhythm player. A lot of people forget that there's some great rhythm players out there. And the two of us were doing it together.

“But what a lot of people never knew was that Malcolm could do a solo probably even better than me. He’d come up with some great licks. Whenever I heard his things, I’d always say, ‘How's he doing that?’”

Angus and Malcolm Young on the cover of Guitar World's November 1995 issue (Image credit: Future)

It was recently revealed that Malcolm co-wrote every track on Power Up, although his actual playing doesn’t feature on the record.

Guitar World’s full cover story sees Angus go into detail on the writing and recording of the album, his guitar philosophy, and how Mal’s spirit lives on in the new songs.

You can order a copy from Magazines Direct, while subscribers receive an exclusive cover.

Guitar World's Holiday 2020 newsstand cover (left) and subscriber cover (right) (Image credit: Future)

Angus Young: “I can still feel Malcolm communicating to me when I’m playing guitar”

michael.astley-brown@futurenet.com (Michael Astley-Brown) — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 12:27:39 +0000

Aussie rock legends AC/DC are currently gearing up to release new album, Power Up, which features 12 new tracks co-written by the band’s late rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young. Now, in a new interview with the band, Angus Young has reflected on his connection with his departed brother.

“His death was a huge blow to us,” Angus told NME. “But I still think he’s there when I’m playing. It sounds funny, but I can still feel him communicating to me when I’m playing guitar.”

In the interview, Young goes on to detail his final visits to his brother, and how guitar continued to unite the pair right up until Malcolm’s passing on November 18, 2017.

“I’d play him a bit of guitar, and he was happy whenever we were doing that,” Angus recalls. “One of the last records I ever played him was The Rolling Stones when they were doing a lot of old blues tracks [2016’s Blue & Lonesome], and he just thought it was great.”

During the conversation, returning frontman Brian Johnson also reveals he has lofty aspirations for the album – and its impact on guitar sales.

“Instead of looking at dancers on TikTok, I’m hoping this album will make young kids go out and buy a guitar, learn the riffs and discover the rest of our catalogue,” he says.

“It would just be great to get more young rock bands out there, writing their own songs and getting up there on stage.”

Last week, Angus Young revealed why his brother’s playing doesn’t feature on the new album, with his parts instead performed by Mal’s nephew, Stevie Young.

“I know a lot of people have been saying, ‘Did Malcolm actually play – is it his instrument on the new album?’” Angus said. “I chose not to do that because I felt Malcolm himself wouldn’t like me trying to splice his guitar work.”

Power Up is available on November 13, and available to preorder now.

What is Angus Young’s number one Gibson SG?

Richard Bienstock — Thu, 22 Oct 2020 15:15:16 +0000

You’d be hard pressed to find a more guitarist-and-guitar perfect pairing than Angus Young and a Gibson SG.

The AC/DC man has played one on basically every record and at every live show since the band’s 1975 debut, and the electric guitar model was even encased in bronze right alongside him on the cover of their 2000 effort, Stiff Upper Lip.

But of all the SGs in the world, which one is Angus’ favorite?

"It's a vintage one," he told host Dean Delray in a virtual recent sitdown on the Let There Be Talk podcast, where he appeared remotely with AC/DC singer Brian Johnson. "The one that I've always had and been on nearly…well, every album I've ever done is a guitar that now, because it's been on so many AC/DC songs, I just save it for the studio. And I keep it away.

“Over the years when I used it live it got so many bumps and cracks and I got to the point where I don't want it damaged any more. I want to make sure to preserve it so it's there for when I'm doing studio stuff."

He continued, "When I've got that guitar, it's so reliable, you know? I just have to plug it in. I can get all my guitars and line them up, and I can go through them all and go in and everyone'll go, 'Yeah, that's a great sound, that's a good sound. But that one, that's the one.' It's just got its own thing to it."

The guitar that Angus is referring to is likely his SG that at some point was customized with lightning bolt inlays. As Angus previously told Guitar World, he believes this model to be “a '69 or '70.”

Although, he continued, “I had someone else tell me it might even be a '71 or '72. So I don't really know for sure."

Whatever year it is, you can hear this magical SG on AC/DC's forthcoming Power Up, which is available to preorder now.

Angus Young explains why Malcolm’s playing is not on AC/DC’s 'Power Up' album

Richard Bienstock — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 16:48:54 +0000

It was recently revealed that every track on the forthcoming AC/DC record, Power Up, features songwriting contributions from late electric guitar player and co-founder Malcolm Young., who passed away in November 2017.

But while Mal’s riffs are all over the record, Angus Young recently revealed why his brother’s actual playing is not.

“I know a lot of people have been saying, did Malcolm actually play, is it his instrument on the new album?” Angus told Spain’s RockFM radio. “I chose not to do that because I felt Malcolm himself wouldn’t like me trying to splice his guitar work.”

He continued, “Malcolm and myself, a lot of what we had done through the years, we’d make notes with the tracks. Some might be a little bit rough here and there, and I polished them up. In other cases, Malcolm might have done just a small bit and then I would do the next verse. The bulk of the contribution of Mal is mainly musical.”

As previously reported, in a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Angus said several of the riffs on the new album stem from the writing sessions for 2008’s Black Ice.

“There was a lot of great song ideas at that time,” he said. “At that time he said to me, ‘We’ll leave these songs for now. If we keep going, we’ll be overboard. We’ll get them on the next one.’

“That always stuck with me. When I went through and listened to them, I said, ‘If I do anything in my life, I have to get these tracks down and get these tracks out.’ ”

Power Up is out November 13. The album is currently available for preorder.

Malcolm Young co-wrote every song on the new AC/DC album, Power Up

Richard Bienstock — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 16:14:04 +0000

Engineer Mike Fraser, who worked with AC/DC on their forthcoming Power Up album, recently stated that the record includes several ideas from late electric guitar player Malcolm Young, who passed away in November 2017.

But it’s now been revealed that Malcolm is credited as a writer for every track on the album, including the first single, Shot in the Dark.

As Angus Young says in a new video interview posted to the band’s YouTube channel, “I know Mal’s not with us anymore, but he’s there with us in spirit. You know, this band was his baby, his life. He was always one [to say], ‘You keep going.’ ”

“He would have been proud of this, I think,” adds singer Brian Johnson about Power Up. “He’s not far away.”

Continues Angus, “His big line always, every now and again, he’d go, ‘If you’re a musician, it’s a bit like being on the Titanic, the band goes down with the ship.’ That’s how he viewed it.”

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Angus said several of the riffs on the new album stem from the writing sessions for 2008’s Black Ice.

“That always stuck with me. When I went through and listened to them, I said, ‘If I do anything in my life, I have to get these tracks down and get these tracks out.’ ”

Power Up is out November 13. The album is currently available for preorder.

(Image credit: AC/DC)

AC/DC confirm 2020 line-up, reveal first official photo of reunited band

Richard Bienstock — Wed, 30 Sep 2020 15:26:07 +0000

Hot on the heels of AC/DC’s recent teaser on their social media sites of a short video clip featuring their iconic lightning bolt, the band has officially released the first photo of the reunited band.

As speculated, the official AC/DC 2020 lineup is electric guitar player and stalwart leader Angus Young, vocalist Brian Johnson, bassist Cliff Williams, drummer Phil Rudd and rhythm guitarist Stevie Young – the same configuration that played on the band’s most recent album, 2014’s Rock or Bust.

Since then, drummer Phil Rudd had been replaced on the Rock or Bust tour by Chris Slade, after Rudd was found guilty of drug possession and other charges in 2015.

Later on during the outing, Brian Johnson exited the band due to hearing issues, with his slot filled by Axl Rose for the remaining dates.

ARE YOU READY? #PWRUP ⚡ AC/DC
A photo posted by @acdc on Sep 30, 2020 at 5:00am PDT

At the end of the tour, Williams announced his retirement from the band after close to 40 years of service.

Meanwhile, guitarist Stevie Young, who is also Angus’ nephew, stepped in for founding member Malcolm Young in 2014 when it was revealed he was suffering from dementia. Young passed away in 2017.

This poster has popped up outside Angus Young's old High School. What are AC/DC up to? Triple M Rock
A photo posted by @triplemrock on Sep 28, 2020 at 8:33pm PDT

In addition to the new photo, readers of local newspapers in the UK have been treated to AC/DC ads featuring the question "Are you ready?" above the PWR UP logo – the same one that appeared on a poster outside Angus' old high school, Ashfield Boys, in Sydney, Australia.

The rock ’n’ roll train appears to be leaving the station…

AC/DC post official teaser in the wake of reunion and new album rumors

Richard Bienstock — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 16:47:29 +0000

All has been relatively quiet on the AC/DC front since the band wrapped its Rock or Bust tour in 2016 – notably, with Axl Rose in the frontman slot in place of Brian Johnson, who had been suffering from hearing loss.

But now there seems to be a rumbling coming from down under, as the band, led by electric guitar player Angus Young, have updated their social media sites with a short video clip featuring their iconic lightning bolt.

Speculation is that AC/DC will announce a comeback, highlighted by their first album of new material in four years.

Adding to the rumors is the fact that, earlier this month, stills from what appeared to be a video shoot were posted to the band’s website before being quickly removed.

pic.twitter.com/0WKzNSi3ixSeptember 28, 2020

The images showed Angus Young joined by returning vocalist Brian Johnson, as well as drummer Phil Rudd (who had been replaced on the Rock or Bust tour by Chris Slade due to legal troubles), bassist Cliff Williams (who had announced his retirement after the tour) and guitarist Stevie Young, who stepped in for founding member Malcolm Young in 2014 when it was revealed he was suffering from dementia. Young passed away in 2017.

Additionally, two years ago Johnson and Rudd were photographed outside Vancouver's Warehouse Studios, leading to rumors that both were back in the band and that AC/DC were, in fact, recording.

What all this means remains to be seen. But if AC/DC are once again about to rock, we of course salute them.

Stay tuned to Guitar World for updates.

Angus Young on life in one of the world's biggest rock bands: an in-depth interview with the AC/DC icon

paul.elliott@futurenet.com (Paul Elliott) — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 12:42:05 +0000

Angus Young is a rock ’n’ roll legend, but not a man to take himself too seriously. As he once said of his art: “You don’t go to the butcher for brain surgery.”

Born on March 31st, 1955 in Glasgow, the youngest of eight children, Angus was just eight years old when his family emigrated to Australia, and it was in Sydney, in 1973, that he and his older brother Malcolm, rhythm guitarist, formed AC/DC.

The band went on to sell more than 200 million albums worldwide, including 50 million of Back In Black.

The death of Malcolm Young on November 18, 2017 left Angus as the last remaining founder member of AC/DC. But it was Malcolm’s wish that the band carried on, banging out loud, raw rock ’n’ roll, just as they always did. And as Angus said: “I enjoy playing. That’s what keeps me going.”

What first turned you on to rock ’n’ roll?

"The sound of Chuck Berry’s guitar. It’s everything rolled into one: it’s blues, it’s rock and roll, and it’s got that hard edge to it. To me, that’s pure rock ’n’ roll. It’s not clean - it’s nasty."

Did playing guitar come easily to you?

"As a kid, I was never one for the tennis racket. I was more interested in getting my fingers round the guitar neck, because when I was little - I’m little now, but I was ‘little’ little - getting a hand around the neck was a big thing. That was the hardest part."

I got into a lot of trouble when I was young. I wouldn’t say I was a budding bank-robber or anything, but I was a bit of a juvenile delinquent

What do you remember of those early days, when you were just a regular schoolboy like all the others?

"I didn’t go to school much. I was prize truant. When I went in it was like, ‘Welcome, Mr. Young! A year is a long holiday, you know?' The first day I went to that school, we all went to assembly and the headmaster dragged all the boys who’d been caught smoking up on the stage in front of the whole school. Of course Malcolm was one of them."

So, you were always a naughty boy then?

"I got into a lot of trouble when I was young. I wouldn’t say I was a budding bank-robber or anything, but I was a bit of a juvenile delinquent."

(Image credit: Francesco Castaldo/Archivio Francesco Castaldo/Mondadori via Getty Images)

Angus Young's guitar gear: everything you need to nail the AC/DC star's high-voltage tones

You also got into blues music at an early age. What did you love about it?

"It’s the emotion in those old blues records. I’ve never really been into the depression stuff. I’ve always liked the happy sort of blues music, like Muddy Waters. Even though he might have been singing about his woman running off with a nineteen year-old bus driver from Florida, there would be an element of humor in it, and that’s what I’ve always loved.

"I’ve never been a great lover of the real sad element of the blues. There are some great sad songs, but I prefer the happier side. And the grammar in blues music is fantastic.

"Some of the things that Muddy would sing: ‘I just love them pretty womens, I’ll kill for them young pretty things.’

"They’d sing ‘whummen’ instead of women, and ‘choo’ instead of you. But you get what they mean."

I had just one thing on my mind: I didn’t want to be a target for blokes throwing bottles. I thought if I stand still I’m a target. So I never stopped moving

When you and Malcolm formed AC/DC, with Dave Evans as the singer, were you thinking big?

"Early on, we always thought we’d be lucky if we got past the first week!"

There was a defining moment in April 1974 when AC/DC appeared at an open-air concert in Sydney’s Victoria Park, and you wore your old school uniform on stage for the first time...

"That was the most frightened I’ve ever been on stage, but thank God, I had no time to think. I just went straight out there. The crowd’s first reaction to the shorts and stuff was like a bunch of fish at feeding time - all mouths open.

"I had just one thing on my mind: I didn’t want to be a target for blokes throwing bottles. I thought if I stand still I’m a target. So I never stopped moving. I reckoned if I stood still I’d be dead."

The band played on the Aussie pub circuit, where audiences were notoriously tough. How scary was it?

"Some of the places we played were worse than toilets, let me tell you, and there was that much scrapping going on, you were behind the amps!

(Image credit: Dick Barnatt/Redferns)

"When I was at school and there was a dance with a band, it was always a band like Van Halen, with the guy with the long blonde hair wiggling his hips.

"In the pubs we played in, in front of that hot, sweaty, beer-swilling crowd, you couldn’t even hope to do that. This was the kind of audience you couldn’t even tune your guitar to. If you bust a string, that was it.

"Sometimes you finished with just two strings, because there was no way they were going to put up with a couple of minutes of you fixing the guitar.

"I remember one night I said to the rest of the band, ‘I’m not going out there.’ The police couldn’t get in the place. There was some madman running around inside the hall with a meat cleaver, chopping into the people! And the front row was all bikers. I said, ‘They just want blood!’

"You looked out and it was just like murderers’ row, and the look on their faces is like, ‘Send us the little guy in the shorts!’"

Is it true that Malcolm once had to ‘assist’ you in getting on stage?

Sometimes you finished with just two strings, because there was no way they were going to put up with a couple of minutes of you fixing the guitar

"Yeah. Suddenly I just felt a boot and I was on. And there’s this deathly silence. All you can do is play - and pray! You put your head down and hope a bottle doesn’t come your way. That became part of my stage act. I learnt to duck and keep moving.

When Bon Scott became AC/DC’s singer in 1974, he’d already been around the block a few times with various bands, and had a taste for the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle. What did you make of him back then?

"Bon joined us pretty late in his life, but that guy had more youth in him than people half his age. That was how he thought, and I learned from him. Bon used to say to me, ‘Whatever I do, you don’t.’

"Oh, I had a few wild nights over the years, but most of the time everyone else was having them for me. Because of the schoolboy uniform, some women have tried to mother me - they think I’m cute because I’m so short. But playing has always been the thing for me.

(Image credit: Michael Putland/Getty Images)

"I never really looked beyond the next gig. In the early days, all my mates used to say to me, ‘You must be meeting loads of girls...’ Well yeah, I used to meet plenty of girls, but none of them used to want to go home with me.

"Some women would come up and make, er, bold statements, but I don’t know why. There’s nothing sexy about a schoolboy, is there?"

In the summer of 1976, when the band first played in the UK, it was during a performance at the Reading Festival that you first treated an audience to something that would become a tradition - a little on-stage striptease. What prompted you to do this at Reading?

"Some blonde girl walked real slow across the photo pit right in front of the stage and thirty thousand eyes went with her. It was a real showstopper. Malcolm said to me, ‘You gotta do something to get the crowd’s attention back!’ So, I dropped my trousers.

And ever since, you’ve had AC/DC audiences singing ‘Get ’em off!’

"I always thought they were singing, ‘Get ’im off!’"

Malcolm said that it was Bon’s voice, and his witty lyrics, that gave the band its ‘flavor’.

"Bon called himself a ‘toilet wall graffitist’. He was full of compliments about himself! But he could conjure a story from anything.

My dad took my knife off me when I was four. Just having a guitar was bad enough, I suppose

"She’s Got Balls was about his first wife. And he did say he wrote Problem Child for me, but you now, I never owned a knife like it says in the song. My dad took my knife off me when I was four. Just having a guitar was bad enough, I suppose. But yeah, Bon summed me up in two words!

"He could have used one word...

"That’s right (laughs). With four letters!"

On April 30th, 1978, AC/DC played at the Apollo theatre in Glasgow, the city where you and Malcolm were born. And from that came one of the greatest live albums ever made: If You Want Blood You’ve Got It.

"It was the magic show. One night, guitars out of tune, feedback, singer farting, whatever..."

In 1979, the band had its first million selling album with Highway To Hell.

"That was the album that broke us in America."

(Image credit: Ron Pownall/Getty Image)

But the album’s title provoked outrage among America’s so-called ‘moral majority’ - as did the cover, on which you were pictured with devil horns and a forked tail. What did you make of the controversy?

"As soon as we called the album Highway To Hell, the American record company immediately went into a panic. With religious things, I thought everywhere was like Australia. There, they call them Bible-thumpers, and it’s a limited species, very limited!

"Christianity was never a popular movement. It’s that convict background! But in America, you had guys in bed sheets and placards with prayers on, picketing the gigs.

"I said, ‘Who are they here for?’ And they said, ‘You!’ And we had that thing - that if you play the record backwards you get these Satanic messages.

As a person, Bon stared death in the face a lot. The way he said it was, ‘One day you gotta go. You gotta be a stiff'

"F*cking hell, why play it backwards? It says it right up front: Highway To Hell!"

After the Highway To Hell tour, you, Malcolm and Bon got together in London to begin working on the album that would become Back In Black. How much of it was written with Bon?

"Bon wrote a little of the stuff , a week before he died. We started writing the music with Bon on drums. He was a drummer originally. He’d bang away while me and Malcolm worked out the riffs."

When Bon died in February 1980, after one too many drunken nights, had you feared that his life might end that way?

"As a person, Bon stared death in the face a lot. The way he said it was, ‘One day you gotta go. You gotta be a stiff.’"

(Image credit: Dick Barnatt/Redferns)

Did you feel, as most AC/DC fans did, that Bon was irreplaceable?

"Well, when we auditioned singers, they'd say, 'How am I supposed to sing over all this volume?' We said, 'We don’t want you to sing - we want you to scream!’"

You certainly found the right man for the job in Brian Johnson.

"Yeah. I always said he sounds like somebody dropped a truck on his foot. And, like Bon, Brian had a good sense of humor."

On the simplest level, Back In Black was a great rock ’n’ roll record. But on a deeper level it was, as you described it, a memorial.

"The whole Back In Black album was our dedication to Bon. That’s why the album cover was pure black, and why the album starts with a bell ringing, something sombre and different to anything else we’d done."

We play rock music. It’s a little bit late for us to do a ballad. Rock is what we do best

Was this album also Brian’s finest hour?

"Brian has recorded a lot of strong stuff with the band - the Back In Black album especially, and For Those About To Rock, which still gives me goosebumps."

After all that this band has been through, can you explain its longevity?

"People have said we’ve hung around long enough! But some bands fade when they try to adapt to what’s current. We play rock music. It’s a little bit late for us to do a ballad. Rock is what we do best.

"Sometimes I’m asked if I want to play music other than AC/DC. Sure, at home I play a little blues, but after five minutes I’m like, 'sod this!' And I’m playing hard rock again.

From the start, you’ve played it simple, straight-up hard rock ’n’ roll, nothing fancy...

"It’s a challenge to keep coming up with songs of the calibre of Let There Be Rock, Highway To Hell and Back In Black. Every song we write has got to stand up. Most of our stuff is just about sex, as is most rock music. It’s pretty hard to write a song about your dog.

"But I’ve never really found a sexual thing in music. I’ve never found anything sexy that was meant to be sexy.

"Now, that’s a good Freudian thing. But if you go back to the blues, that’s the standard tempo in most of the strip joints, and that’s what we rely on too. It has to be earthy."

The inside story of AC/DC's Back In Black, the biggest-selling rock album of all time

Have you kept up with modern music?

"Nah. When I get in a car, the first thing that goes in is a Muddy Waters tape, even though I’ve played in four hundred times. I love that and Chuck Berry. Nowadays everything sounds so nice - buzz-free, hiss-free. I like that hiss! I like to hear the valves on the amplifier warming up. It’s pure energy.

"I still spend hours sitting and listening to the sound Chuck Berry’s guitar makes. There’s not a day that goes by when I don’t pick up a guitar. And I’m getting there - I’ve got two fingers going now!"

What you learnt the hard way in the early '70s - to go on stage and keep moving - is something you’ve done ever since. How do you keep it up?

I wouldn’t like to be the ‘Angus Young on stage’ all the time. I’d be burnt out inside a week

"After a show I just wind down for a couple of hours. I try to hide, just in case somebody grabs me and says, ‘Hey, you didn’t play this song tonight!’ I need time to relax. I wouldn’t like to be the ‘Angus Young on stage’ all the time. I’d be burnt out inside a week.

"On one American tour my weight went down to ninety-four pounds, and I was a hundred and nine pounds when we started."

Do you still get nervous before a show?

"Sometimes it is frightening. But you’ve got to psych yourself up a bit, give yourself a good kick up the ass. Usually, once I’ve got the uniform on, I’m okay. I’m on edge, nervous, but I’m not in a panic.

"At least I don’t have to put on make-up. I sport my own pimples.

"And some nights I’m in stitches when I’m trying to be The Schoolboy. But because of nerves, I’ve tripped over and even forgotten to do my zipper up a few times. I go for a pee and forget.

"Last thing before I go on stage, I always go for a p*ss and then have a cigarette. If you ever see my shorts smoking, you know I didn’t put it out right!"

(Image credit: Martin Philbey/Redferns)

How do you feel when you’re up there on stage?

"I’m on my own little cloud. Adrenaline takes over. It’s like when you take off in an airplane. It’s exhilarating. When you’re firing well, it’s the best feeling in the world. And when it goes wrong, it’s like someone’s shoved a red-hot poker up your backside.

"But for me, the shows go so quick. You’re on and you’re off, and then you have to go back to how you are as a person. That’s the hard part, because once you go into being The Schoolboy it’s pretty hard to come off it. I’m like two different people - sometimes three!"

I like to hear the valves on the amplifier warming up. It’s pure energy

Who’s the third?

"That’s what I’m trying to figure out! I’ve been up there playing and thinking, what are those feet doing? I’m watching them to see which way they want to go. That’s all I ever do, follow the feet and the guitar. The duckwalk comes naturally.

And it’s still the best feeling in the world?

"Yeah. When I put the uniform on, and the legs start shaking... I’m ready."

Get Angus Young's gargantuan Back in Black tone in a box with SoloDallas's Schaffer Replica pedals

jackson.maxwell@futurenet.com (Jackson Maxwell) — Wed, 29 Jul 2020 21:19:30 +0000

It's unmistakable, really. It's the sound - equal parts swagger, grit, determination and aggression - that powered the best-selling rock album of all-time.

We speak, of course, of the extraordinary, still-awe-inspiring guitar tone Angus Young achieved on AC/DC's blockbuster 1980 album, Back in Black. Though one of the key ingredients to Young's tone was, obviously, the fact that he's Angus Young, another major key was the Schaffer-Vega wireless system.

Though untold thousands of guitarists had their minds blown by Young's tone on the album, Italian guitarist Filippo Olivieri took things a step further, making it his mission in life to learn and duplicate the idiosyncrasies of the Schaffer-Vega system, and replicate them in pedal form.

With his company, SoloDallas, and its latest pedals - the Schaffer Replica Storm and Classic pedals - Olivieri aims to do exactly that, make Young's positively monstrous, "clean-dirty" sound accessible to guitarists on any kind of a budget.

Olivieri recently took the time to sit down with our Tech Editor, Paul Riario, and chat about Solo Dallas's pedals, and how he meticulously engineered them to perfectly deliver the sort of guitar tones that fill stadiums around the world.

For more info on the pedals, stop by SoloDallas.

Slash, Jared James Nichols, members of Lamb of God, Alice in Chains and more pay tribute to AC/DC’s Back in Black

Richard Bienstock — Mon, 27 Jul 2020 16:12:16 +0000

AC/DC’s Back in Black album turned 40 on July 25, and to pay tribute to the landmark record on its birthday, Consequence of Sound and Gibson gathered electric guitar players and other musicians from across the music world for Back in Black 40th Anniversary: A Virtual Celebration.

The stream ran live on Consequence of Sound’s social media, YouTube and Twitch channels.

Among the many artists who appeared for the virtual event included Slash, who testified to the importance of Back in Black in his own development as a guitarist.

“The first time I ever heard it was at my friend's house,” he said. “This was 1980 and this was a crucial point in rock ’n’ roll at that time, because all my favorite bands had either disbanded or members had died.

“And there was a lot of new music, but nothing really turned me on that much. I was familiar with Highway to Hell and Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap and I was into those two records. But I didn't know Bon Scott had died, I didn't know they had a new singer.

“Then all of a sudden Back In Black came out, and it was like a battle cry for rock ’n’ roll and heavy metal at that time. It was a killer record from start to finish."

Slash continued, “I think one of my favorite songs on the record was Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution. And then even to this day one of my favorite guitar solos of all time is in Hells Bells. So that particular record, it was pivotal for me. I just started to play guitar and it was the first really great rock ‘n’ roll band to come along in a while.”

The stream also featured artists ranging from Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider and Sebastian Bach to REO Speedwagon's Dave Amato and Alice In Chains’ William DuVall.

Trivium frontman Matt Heafy performed a solo acoustic version of Hells Bells, while guitarist Emily Wolfe demonstrated why she loves Angus Young’s lead work in Let Me Put My Love Into You.

“Every phrase is a response to the previous phrase,” she said while playing the solo. “To me it’s like watching a movie.”

Among the other highlights included Airbourne’s Joel O’Keefe teaching how to play Shoot to Thrill, a Jared James Nichols guitar tutorial and a Twitch cover of You Shook Me All Night Long.

Said Lamb of God’s Mark Morton, “Back in Black is testimony to how much you can do with just a few chords. Because those songs are classics and they’re great but they don’t need all those notes and that flash. There’s just that groove and those chord progressions and that voice.”

You can check out Back in Black 40th Anniversary: A Virtual Celebration in full above.

Consequence of Sound partners with Gibson for AC/DC Back in Black 40th anniversary livestream with Slash, Alice in Chains, Lamb of God and more

Richard Bienstock — Thu, 23 Jul 2020 14:37:51 +0000

AC/DC’s landmark Back in Black album turns 40 on July 25, and in honor of the occasion, Consequence of Sound and Gibson have announced an online event, Back in Black 40th Anniversary: A Virtual Celebration.

The livestream will be hosted by Jared James Nichols and features a massive lineup including Slash, Sebastian Bach, Dave Amato, Orianthi and members of Alice in Chains, Cage the Elephant, Anthrax, Trivium and Lamb of God.

Other artists on the schedule include members of Refused, Airbourne and GWAR, as well as Cherie Currie, Emily Wolfe, Brian Posehn and Sergio Vallin of Mana.

The event, which takes place July 24 at 5:00 PM ET, will feature AC/DC testimonials, appearances, tutorials and performances, and is free to view across CoS' Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitch channels.

(Image credit: Gibson)

Additionally, Gibson will be giving away a very Angus Young-like rig, headlined by a Custom Shop 1961 Les Paul SG “Red Devil” guitar, as well as two Gibson SG Standards in Ebony.

Other gear in the giveaway includes a SoloDallas Schaffer Tower EX signed by inventor Ken Schaffer, a Marshall JTM45 amp with a SoloDallas Black Mod converting it to a JTM50 (similar to the one Young used on Back in Black) and a Marshall cabinet loaded with vintage speakers. The total value for the rig is estimated at $15,000.

Five runners-up will each receive a Schaffer Replica Storm pedal and a vinyl copy of Back in Black.

Entries for the AC/DC giveaway are limited to residents of the U.S. and Canada. You can enter by heading over to gleam.io.

In the meantime, bone up on your Back In Black knowledge with Guitar World’s inside story on the making of the biggest-selling rock album of all time.

Oh, and looking to nail Angus Young's tone? Our guide to his guitar gear will help you find everything you need to nail the AC/DC star's high-voltage tones.

Best Gibson SGs: Our budget-spanning picks of Gibson’s famous Solid Guitar

daryl.robertson@futurenet.com (Daryl Robertson) — Thu, 21 May 2020 12:17:17 +0000

Starting life as a radical costume change for the flailing Les Paul, the SG would go on to become a rock 'n' roll icon in its own right, earning accolades from guitar heroes such as Angus Young, Tony Iommi, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Frank Zappa, among many, many more. These musical legends have used the SG's fierce mid-range bark to create some of the most recognizable tones of all time. Luckily, if you fancy following in the footsteps of rock royalty, now is the time, as the guitar giant is producing some of the best Gibson SGs ever, with more configurations than you can shake your devil horns at.

While its flashier, flame-topped brother is often thought of as the poster child for the brand, the SG has an enduring presence in the Gibson catalog, having never been out of production since it hit the scene in 1961. Today the Gibson SG's legacy is celebrated with a slew of era-specific reissues, modern updates and affordable variations – meaning there's most definitely an SG out there for everyone.

Join us as we walk you through our budget-spanning picks of Gibson's Solid Guitar, with some handy buying advice if this is your first venture into the wonderful world of the SG. So, for those about to rock, we'd advise you to start right here.

Best Gibson SGs: Our top picks

Gibson's SG Standard '61, for many, is the quintessential SG, and for us, it was the obvious choice for our number one slot. With its effortless SlimTaper mahogany neck and roaring '60s Burstbucker pickups, this electric guitar more than delivers on playability, tone and looks.

Now, if you are looking for the SG charm on a budget, the Gibson SG Tribute is the axe for you. The Tribute takes the SG back to basics with either a Vintage Cherry Satin or Natural Walnut Satin finish, a rounded maple neck and open-coil 490R and 490T pickups. Okay, it may not be the most traditionally constructed SG, but it certainly captures the spirit of this beloved guitar – and all while keeping the cost to a minimum.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, we have the Gibson 1963 Les Paul SG Custom Reissue. Gibson has recreated the striking beauty of this early '60s SG – specifically the last year the Les Paul name was used for this model – resulting in a guitar that will transport you back in time with a single strum.

Best Gibson SGs: Product guide

(Image credit: Gibson)

1. Gibson SG Standard '61

The best Gibson SG overall

Body: Mahogany | Neck: Mahogany | Fingerboard: Rosewood | Frets: 22 Medium Jumbo | Pickups: 60s Burstbucker

Vintage style without the price tag

Perfectly balanced pickups

No finish options

Coming from Gibson's aptly named Original Collection, the SG Standard '61 comes in a few slight variations. Now, while you have the choice of either the Maestro Vibrola or Sideways Vibrola, we've decided to showcase the Tune-O-Matic version, as we believe it will appeal to the vast majority of players.

As you'd expect, the SG Standard '61 follows the tried and tested formula that made the initial guitars so beloved. The SlimTaper mahogany neck is a joy to play, while the bound rosewood fingerboard has beautifully rolled edges, making it one of the most comfortable necks Gibson presents.

The tonal center of this stylish guitar is a set of '60s Burstbucker humbuckers, which deliver a fierce growl and a stunning amount of clarity. If you are in the market for the best SG, Gibson SG Standard '61 has to be at the top of your must-try list.

(Image credit: Gibson)

2. Gibson SG Tribute

The best budget Gibson SG

Body: Mahogany | Neck: Maple | Fingerboard: Rosewood | Frets: 22 Medium Jumbo | Pickups: 490R/ 490T

Affordable

Great sounding pickups

Maple neck isn't for everyone

The SG Tribute from Gibson's Modern Collection is a stone-cold classic rock machine boasting open-coil 490R and 490T humbucking pickups, and it comes in a choice of two satin nitrocellulose lacquer finishes – a '60s-vibe Vintage Cherry Satin or 70s-chic Natural Walnut.

Now, the Tribute isn't the most traditional SG on this list. While it sticks to the typical mahogany body of the original, it forgoes the mahogany neck for maple, resulting in a different feel – that said, it's arguably a stronger design.

Rounding out the spec list of this affordable American guitar is a rosewood fingerboard, 22 Medium Jumbo frets, a Graph Tech nut and an aluminum Nashville Tune-o-matic bridge with an aluminum stop tailpiece.

(Image credit: Gibson)

3. Gibson SG Special

Best SG for P-90 tone

Body: Mahogany | Neck: Mahogany | Fingerboard: Rosewood | Frets: 22 Medium Jumbo | Pickups: P-90

Perfect P-90 tone

Stunning finish options

Compensated Wraparound bridge isn't for everyone

This dual P-90 classic from Gibson's distinctly retro Original Collection now comes in a choice of four '60s-style gloss nitrocellulose lacquer finishes – Faded Pelham Blue, Vintage Sparkling Burgundy, Vintage Cherry and Ebony.

Aside from its head-turning good looks, the Gibson SG Special also makes sure it delivers on playability and tone, as well. With a mahogany body, a slim taper mahogany neck and a bound rosewood fingerboard, the guitar is sure to satisfy vintage gear hounds.

The duo of soapbar P-90s provides a broad base of tone with a virtually endless array of further possibilities available via the guitar's hand-wired volume and tone controls.

Read our full Gibson SG Special review.

(Image credit: Gibson)

4. Gibson 1963 Les Paul SG Custom Reissue

The best SG for the vintage fanatic

Body: Mahogany | Neck: Mahogany | Fingerboard: Ebony | Frets: 22 Authentic Medium-Jumbo | Pickups: Custombucker Alnico 3

High-end build quality

Super versatile

Too much bling for some

Middle pickup can get in the way

Okay, so now we turn to see what the folks over at the Gibson Custom shop have been cooking up. Top of the line in '63 – and today – this Custom Shop reissue has been painstakingly recreated using Gibson's traditional building methods and is easily one of the best Gibson guitars money can buy.

Sporting a solid one-piece mahogany body and long tenon, hide-glue fit neck, Classic White vintage patina nitro finish, solid ebony fretboard, mother-of-pearl block inlays, and Custombucker Alnico III humbuckers, this guitar was built to turn heads and melt faces.

So, if you are looking for something a little special – and insanely versatile – then you'll want to check out the timeless classic that is the Gibson 1963 Les Paul SG Custom Reissue.

(Image credit: Gibson)

5. Gibson Tony Iommi SG Special

The best for Black Sabbath fans

Body: Mahogany | Neck: Mahogany | Fingerboard: Indian Rosewood | Frets: 22 Medium-Jumbo | Pickups: P-90

Ideal for Sabbath fans

The rounded neck profile is very comfortable

Not everyone likes signature models

Black Sabbath riff lord, Tony Iommi is arguably one of the most iconic SG players of all time – and his heavily modified 1964 Gibson SG was the guitar that helped birth some of the most legendary riffs in heavy metal.

While Gibson did release a limited edition Custom Shop clone of Iommi's "Monkey" guitar, the restricted quantity and hefty price made it unobtainable to everyone except a very select few. Luckily there is now a more affordable Gibson USA version, which makes this iconic guitar available to everyone.

The Tony Iommi SG Special features a mahogany body, bound mahogany neck with a rounded profile, Indian rosewood fretboard, Graph Tech nut, Grover Rotomatic tuners and chrome-covered P-90 pickups – and yes, you do get the Monkey sticker in the case!

(Image credit: Gibson)

6. Gibson SG Modern

Best for modern shredders

Body: Mahogany/AA Figured Maple | Neck: Mahogany | Fingerboard: Ebony | Frets: 24 Medium-Jumbo | Pickups: Burstbucker Pro +

24 frets

Seriously versatile

Too modern for some

The look is not for everyone

The majority of the guitars on this list fall under the vintage reissue category, but that's not to say that all Gibson SGs are stuffy old six-strings that can't shred. The bold Gibson SG Modern proves that this horned devil can deliver a contemporary playing experience.

Featuring a AA maple top and mahogany back, the SG Modern is clearly taking some style cues from its big brother, the Gibson Les Paul. It also differs from the classic SG design in other ways with an ebony, 24-fret compound radius fingerboard, which features an asymmetrical SlimTaper neck profile.

At the heart of this contemporary guitar is a pair of calibrated Burstbucker Pro Alnico 5 humbuckers, which feature push-pull controls allowing you to effortlessly switch between the fierce power of a humbucker to the bright attack of the P-90.

(Image credit: Gibson)

7. Gibson SG Junior

Best for those who like it simple

Body: Mahogany | Neck: Mahogany | Fingerboard: Ebony | Frets: 22 Authentic Medium-Jumbo | Pickups: Custombucker Alnico 3

As simple as it gets

Very playable

No finish options

Some may prefer two pickups

Pros and students alike have long favored the Junior for its sheer simplicity and killer tones, not to mention its comparatively low price. Everyone from Tom Petty and Ray Toro to Jake E. Lee has used this simple SG to great effect.

Recently revived for the Original Collection, the SG Junior has been reintroduced with a design that strongly mirrors its original '60s counterpart, including a Vintage Cherry gloss nitrocellulose lacquer finish, mahogany body and neck, rosewood fingerboard, compensated wraparound bridge, single dog-ear P-90 pickup, and hand-wired volume and tone controls.

So, if you are looking for a no-nonsense approach to the SG design, then you'll most definitely want to grab the Gibson SG Junior.

(Image credit: Gibson)

8. Gibson SG Standard '61 Faded Maestro

Best for those who like satin finishes

Body: Mahogany | Neck: Mahogany | Fingerboard: Rosewood | Frets: 22 Medium Jumbo | Pickups: 60s Burstbucker

Beautiful faded finish

Very easy to play

Not available without the Maestro Vibrola

The Gibson SG Standard '61 Faded Maestro is essentially the same guitar as our top pick, but this time in a "faded" finish. After a very short period of time, this satin nitrocellulose lacquer will start to look played in, giving the SG a vintage feel – something that would take years on the full gloss version.

While the "standard" Gibson SG '61 is available in three options – Maestro Vibrola, Sideways Vibrola and Tune-O-Matic – the Faded option is currently only available with the Maestro Vibrola. Hopefully, this will change in the future.

Read our full Gibson SG Standard '61 Faded Maestro review.

Best Gibson SGs: Buying advice

(Image credit: Future)

A brief history of the Gibson SG

From a modern viewpoint, it's hard to believe that Gibson was having a hard time selling the Les Paul model, but the guitar-playing community of 1960 just wasn't interested in a heavy hunk of mahogany topped with flamed maple. Guitarists of the day were flocking to Fender's futuristic – and double cutaway – Stratocaster and Gibson knew they needed to do something radical to keep up with their Californian rivals.

What notable guitarists play an SG?

We all know that the Gibson SG is a hard rock staple, with the likes of AC/DC axeman, Angus Young and the godfather of heavy metal, Tony Iommi relying on the SG to bring power to their iconic riffs.

That said, the SG is more than a rock 'n' roll tone machine, with the likes of Derek Trucks, proving that it can bring a touch of soul to beautiful slide licks, while Gary Clarke Jr uses his SG to seamlessly blend the blues with modern soul and hip hop.

Other notable SG players include George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Frank Zappa, Robbie Krieger, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Mastodon guitarist, Brent Hinds.

How to choose the best Gibson SG for you

When it comes to selecting the best Gibson SG for you, the first thing to consider is budget. Luckily, Gibson offers plenty of options at various price points. If you want the SG look, feel and tone but don't want to spend a fortune, the Tribute series is most definitely for you. Of course, if even that is a little too much, there are affordable Epiphone options as well.

As you move through the range from Standard to Custom Shop, the guitars get progressively more expensive, adding more features and desirable additions.

Next, you'll want to consider the tone you are looking for. Despite looking very similar, the pickups vary wildly from SG to SG. Some are loaded with the retro-sounding 60s Burstbuckers, while others opt for the Alnico 3 Custombuckers, modern Burstbucker Pro + or even P-90s. So, our advice would be to spend some time thinking about the sound you are looking to produce and use that as a starting point.

Lastly, you'll want to decide on the feel. The most common neck shapes on the SG are the fan favorite, SlimTaper or the slightly chunkier Rounded profile. Now, this is a matter of taste, so there are no wrong answers here. Simply choose the one that's more comfortable for you.

(Image credit: Future)

How we selected the products for this guide

Here at Guitar World, we are experts in our field, with many years of playing and product testing between us. We live and breathe everything guitar and bass related, and we draw on this knowledge and experience of using products in live, recording and rehearsal scenarios when selecting the products for our guides.

When choosing what we believe to be the best Gibson SGs available right now, we combine our hands-on experience, user reviews and testimonies and engage in lengthy discussions with our editorial colleagues to reach a consensus about the top products in any given category.

First and foremost, we are guitarists, and we want other players to find the right product for them. So we take into careful consideration everything from budget to feature set, ease of use and durability to come up with a list of what we can safely say are the best Gibson SGs on the market right now.

Read more about our rating system, how we choose the gear we feature, and exactly how we test each product.

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Angus Young's guitar gear: everything you need to nail the AC/DC star's high-voltage tones

Amit Sharma — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 11:11:02 +0000

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 - favoring a more direct and undiluted kind of attack.

With rumors 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-rangey 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."

No expense spared

Best all-rounder

On a budget

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 10 different heads for their live performances.

No expense spared

Best all-rounder

On a budget

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 always played 9-42 gauge strings and has been an Ernie Ball endorsee for around four decades.

AC/DC's Angus Young handles a heckler during Bad Boy Boogie

damian.fanelli@futurenet.com (Damian Fanelli) — Tue, 31 Mar 2020 19:19:10 +0000

(Image credit: Mick Hutson/Getty Images)

Warning: There's nothing timely about the video below. The action takes place decades ago, during an AC/DC show in Phoenix, Arizona.

In the clip, we see someone - a 'bad boy,' if you will - throw a drink at guitarist Angus Young midway through the breakdown of Bad Boy Boogie.

Bearing in mind the old adage, "You can take the schoolboy out of Glasgow, but you can't take the streets of Glasgow out of the schoolboy," Angus walks over, points the guy out and beckons him over.

So what does the idiot 'fan' do? He - of course - throws another drink at Angus. Watch as Angus takes off his guitar, hands it to his roadie and lowers himself to get closer to the drink-thrower. As soon as contact is made, Angus grabs the guy's nose and doles out - we assume - some priceless verbal abuse before security leads the trouble maker away.

When the incident ends, Angus grabs his guitar and continues playing as if nothing had happened.

We just thought we'd share!

"He was our spiritual leader": A tribute to the life and career of AC/DC's Malcolm Young

Alan di Perna — Mon, 06 Jan 2020 21:40:31 +0000

The rhythm guitar playing of Malcolm Young is one of rock’s great monuments. A massive edifice - solid and weighty, yet hewn with brutally exacting precision - it was the cornerstone of AC/DC’s music from the Seventies right up to our own time. Many rank Young as the greatest rock rhythm guitarist ever, which puts him out front in a distinguished company that includes icons like John Lennon, Keith Richards and all who have followed in their wake.

Rhythm guitar is an often-underrated art, but it was far from Young’s only contribution to the AC/DC juggernaut. He was also the band’s founder and one of its chief songwriters, working in both cases in tandem with his younger brother and AC/DC lead guitarist Angus Young. In 2014, AC/DC vocalist Brian Johnson summed up Malcolm Young’s importance to the band as follows:

“He was the one that was behind AC/DC. He was our spiritual leader. He was our spitfire.”

It was indeed a sad day for rock and roll, as Eddie Van Halen tweeted, when that flame was extinguished on November 18, 2017, particularly as Malcolm’s passing came just a month after the death of his and Angus’ elder brother George Young, who had played a key role in AC/DC’s career. But Malcolm’s death was far from unexpected. Rock fans all knew that his health was poor. He’d suffered from lung cancer, heart trouble and dementia. The latter affliction had forced him to leave AC/DC in 2014 and go into managed care.

Facing: Malcolm Young performs with AC/DC at London's Marquee Club on May 12, 1976 (Image credit: Michael Putland/Getty Images)

That sad departure marked the end of an adventure that had begun in 1973, when Angus and Malcolm first formed AC/DC in Sydney, Australia. The brothers were born in Scotland but had emigrated Down Under in 1963 with their family. It was a major, and sometimes difficult, transition for two young boys. Angus once recalled coming home and saying, “Mum, I think they put us on another planet.”

But that only served to strengthen the bond between Angus, Malcolm and George, as well as their eldest brother Stephen and sole sister Margaret. (There were two other brothers, William Jr., who came to Australia with the family, and Alex, who remained behind in the U.K.) One of the major ways in which that bond was expressed was through music.

“Among all my brothers, we all played instruments,” Angus told me in 2014. “We could all play a party and try to cover all the different styles of music. Because some liked a bit of folk or jazz, some liked blues, other ones wanted rock.”

Rock would turn out to be the family business. George was the first sibling to find fame, with the mid-Sixties beat group the Easybeats, which he’d formed with a fellow migrant, Harry Vanda. It was Vanda who gave Malcolm the guitar that would be his signature ax for the entirety of his career, a 1963 Gretsch Jet Firebird that he’d modify extensively over the years.

The 1977 version of the band featured (from left) Phillip Rudd, Angus Young, Mark Evans, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott (Image credit: Hulton archive/getty images)

“It was Harry’s guitar,” Malcolm told me in 1995. “He gave it to me when I was 14, just as a gift. He’d played it for a while, but he’d moved on to Gibsons. He knew I was keen and he threw it my way. And I just adapted it for rhythm - with a fuzz box in the early days. You know, a kid in the bedroom - just stripping it apart for rhythm. It evolved out of necessity, that guitar.”

Malcolm and Angus even played with George and Harry in a group called the Marcus Hook Roll Band for a short while. This was right before Angus and Malcolm got AC/DC going, taking that band’s name from an electrical voltage indicator on Margaret’s sewing machine. Even at this early stage of the game, the siblings’ guitar roles were already pretty much locked in.

“Angus always just played lead,” Malcolm told me. “He never bothered with chords. He just wanted to solo. And I used to sit there figuring out tunes - the chords and what have you. I was playing guitar since I was about four. So I’d be strumming along to a little Elvis riff or whatever. And of course when the Beatles came out, I was around ten, 11 or 12; I was trying to learn their tunes, with the chords.

"Angus played at an early age as well. But by the time he got to be like ten or 11, it was Hendrix and things like that. So he was already hearing the guitar in a different way than me. Sometimes he’d say, ‘Mal, you should play leads as well.’ But I just felt so uncomfortable with it. So I said, ‘The band’s rockin’. Let’s just keep things as they are.’ All we wanted to do was make a noise, to be honest with you.”

Rhythm guitarists often double as a rock band’s lead singer/front person. But Malcolm never fancied that role. From the moment Angus first wore his schoolboy suit onstage - another idea suggested by sister Margaret - he was destined to become the brother who grabbed the attention of the crowd, frequently upstaging each of the band’s three vocalists: Dave Evans, Bon Scott and Brian Johnson. And while Malcolm would step out front to nail the occasional backing vocal, his place was generally the backline. From there he drove the band like a locomotive - albeit one with a lot of heart.

While AC/DC went through three drummers and two bassists over the course of their career, the band’s groove never sounded like anything other than AC/DC. That strutting, swaggering backbeat, that randy, rhythmic push-and-pull - that’s what Malcolm Young gave to rock. And it’s one of the things that defined AC/DC, from their 1976 debut album, High Voltage, onward.

“You do have to hit the guitar pretty hard to get that thing from it,” Malcolm once explained to me. “But it’s not just a smash smash. It’s a dig. You actually dig into those strings. You’re gettin’ under them! It’s percussion, is what it is. It’s rhythm. I think of it more like piano playing sometimes. It’s what I know - all I know. And it suits me right down to the ground.”

Young’s rhythm guitar mastery is ultimately a matter of that unquantifiable factor known as feel, although Fender heavy picks and heavy gauge strings - often Gibson Sonomatics, .012–.056 - also contributed the nasty bark of his tone.

“That came about by accident, really,” he said of the heavy gauges. “Just to keep the band in tune! With two guitars, thumpin’ the Christ out of ’em at the same time, nothing ever sounded like it was in tune. But it came with a sound, these thick strings.”

Factor in vintage Marshall amps, and heavy is the key word here. But Malcolm never considered AC/DC a heavy metal band, although they were sometimes described as one. Then again, they also initially were classified as a punk band, largely because their mid-Seventies emergence coincided with the dawn of punk rock and they seemed a bit bratty and working class.

“We were giving punk music a good name,” Angus once quipped. “Because that was the word they’d use to describe us - punk band. They’d get the wrong idea. They’d put us on the same bill as punk bands. And they sure got a shock when they started spitting at us and we spat back.”

Malcolm preferred to describe AC/DC simply as rock and roll, once stating that AC/DC and the Rolling Stones were the only real rock and roll bands left. And while their career hasn’t lasted quite as long as the Stones, AC/DC have survived the vicissitudes of changing rock fashion and setbacks that might have defeated a lesser band.

Malcolm is credited with holding AC/DC together when singer Bon Scott died in 1980, keeping Angus focused on writing the songs that became Back in Black, hailed by many as AC/DC’s greatest album. They got the songs down first, then they went out and found the voice that would bring them to life. The nasty, high-pitched screech that Brian Johnson could produce with his vocal cords seemed an anatomical impossibility. But it was the perfect voice for AC/DC’s rough-and-ready brand of rock and roll.

Songcraft was another one of Malcolm’s priorities and strong suits throughout AC/DC’s career. He’d often fine-tune riffs and ideas that Angus brought to the table, building songs that grab you from the first note and keep your head banging right through to the very end.

“We play with dynamics a lot in this band, through the years,” Malcolm explained to me. “Just being a straight-ahead four-piece band, you’re very limited. So we’ve got to use a lot of dynamics. It’s all about suspense and drama.”

Malcolm’s personal life wasn’t devoid of drama either. In 1988 he had to take time off, missing the majority AC/DC’s Blow Up Your Video U.S. tour to get his alcoholism under control. This was the first occasion on which he was replaced by his and Angus’ cousin Stevie Young - another family member with the right DNA and many hours of jamming with Malcolm and Angus under his belt. But Malcolm was soon sober and back on the job, spearheading AC/DC through their 1990 comeback album, The Razors Edge, a latter-day classic.

Over the years AC/DC worked with many legendary producers. Along with the stalwart team of George Young and Harry Vanda, there was Mutt Lange, Bruce Fairbairn, Brendan O’Brien and Rick Rubin - a virtual who’s-who of top rock producers. But Malcolm was always the ultimate authority for Angus, when it came to guitar parts.

“No matter who we did work with,” Angus told me. “I always looked to Mal in the end if I played a guitar solo or a little break here and there. And he would always say yea or nay.”

Malcolm and Angus’ guitar playing is so closely interwoven that it’s difficult to consider either one in isolation. This is also what’s quintessentially rock and roll about AC/DC. They’re heirs to the two-guitar tradition of John Lennon and George Harrison, or Keith Richards and any of his co-guitarists in the Rolling Stones. Only Malcolm and Angus’ sibling connection made the mesh even tighter.

“If you’ve been jammin’ since you were kids together, I guess it becomes second nature,” Malcolm said. “We know each other so well. Any brothers. If you can imagine two brothers, they know each other inside out. It’s virtually the same with guitar playing.”

Given the brothers’ close fraternal bond, Angus was among the first to detect the early signs of Malcolm’s dementia - the confusion and memory problems that are part of the condition. But the closeness made these distressing symptoms all the harder to accept.

In 2014, Angus told me that Malcolm’s symptoms had been growing for “a number of years. He got a little disconnected when we were making the album Black Ice. It was becoming more and more kind of noticeable. But I’ve also noticed over the years, in hindsight, that he was having problems. But it was hard to figure out what it was, strange enough as it seems.”

Dementia usually strikes people much older than Malcolm was at the time, and there are also many specific forms of dementia. These factors made it difficult for the Young family to obtain a definitive diagnosis at first.

“We were kind of hoping that Malcolm would get better,” said Angus. “We kind of delayed on that, not knowing. I suppose it is a kind of hard thing. I mean he’s still there. But the condition itself, you know that it’s not him. I know his wife kind of feels that way. It’s like she’s lost her husband.”

Malcolm was also diagnosed with lung cancer shortly after the Black Ice tour. Surgery to remove the cancer was successful, but the ordeal must surely have weakened him further. He also suffered from a heart condition which required that he wear a pacemaker. The Twenty-teens were a bleak time for AC/DC in general. In 2016 severe hearing loss forced Brian Johnson to leave the band.

But even in Malcolm’s absence from AC/DC, his presence was still felt. Much of the band’s most recent album, Rock or Bust, was pieced together from unfinished song ideas that Malcolm had left behind. And this is most likely how it will be in the years to come. While Malcolm Young has left his body, his influence and his contribution to rock music will continue to loom large.

“Malcolm’s always been a strong presence in the band,” said Angus. “He formed the band. It was his brainwaves that put it all together. It was him who guided us from the beginning.”

Angus Young Shows How He Coaxes "Rude Noises" Out of His Guitar

damian.fanelli@futurenet.com (Damian Fanelli) — Wed, 19 Jun 2019 14:19:12 +0000

(Image credit: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)

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.

The Basics Of AC/DC-Style Guitar Playing

Alex Bruce — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 13:55:12 +0000

AC/DC are among the best and most famous rock bands of all time, with scores of iconic hits like "Highway To Hell," "Back In Black" and "You Shook Me All Night Long." The distinctive playing of guitarist brothers Malcolm and Angus Young defined the band's sound, and cemented their place in rock history.

It’s fair to say that AC/DC's guitar style is a topic that could be explored in enormous depth, with the many technical, tonal and compositional elements at play in the band's music. What we’re going to look at here though, are the absolute basic essentials to get you started—playing the right kind of things, in the right kind of way, with the right sound.

1. Get The Sound

First, you need roughly the right sound. Otherwise—no matter technically good your playing is—it’s just not going to sound right. The AC/DC sound is a recipe comprised of a few simple, high-quality raw materials, rather than a concoction of pedals, technology and quirks.

In short, it’s an electric guitar with humbucker pickups, plugged into a valve amp with the volume and EQ cranked up and the gain way lower than you might think. It’s easy to hear AC/DC as a ‘high-gain’ sound that requires you to crank your gain up to 10, but this isn’t the case. Follow the steps above and you’ll hear a more authentic tone. The power comes just as much from the pickups and a cranked valve amp as it does from gain.

You may need to tweak this based on the equipment in your setup, but use the above as a starting point and you’ll get pretty close.

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(Image credit: Rob Monk/Classic Rock Magazine)

• The Secrets Behind Angus Young's Guitar Tone on AC/DC's "Hells Bells"

2. Power Chords

Power chords are key to the AC/DC sound. Particularly the most common power chords, the ‘root and fifth’ kind. These are famous for their heavy, low-end sound and their being technically neither major nor minor. This means that they provide a more driving, dynamic element to a song than an emotional one.

Again, this is a starting point—AC/DC guitar parts often involve plenty more than just power chords. However, very often the parts will be power chords with a changing bass note, or power chords with a riff played in the gaps, and so on. So, power chords are your route into the style. If you get the sound right as above, and blast out some power chords, you’ll be well on the way.

3. Expressive Rhythm Parts!

Here’s a bit more elaboration on the above. What does the band do to make these power chord-based rhythm guitar parts more interesting? Well, it’s mostly about adding rhythmic or expressive interest. Some of the main ways they do this are:

Strongly accenting certain beats, particularly less obvious beats, to make a dynamic, exciting rhythm
Lots of gaps, pauses, staccato beats and stop/start playing in the rhythm parts. This breaks things up, creates rhythmic interest and creates space for interplay with the lead guitar.
Expressive techniques, i.e. Sliding from one chord to another, chords with bass notes hammered onto from on open string, low-end legato riffs between chords etc.

As before—the list goes on. The essence of the point is that once you’re on the right sound and using the right kind of chords, don’t forget to add expressive and rhythmic interest to create a better, more interesting and more authentic guitar part.

4. Pentatonic Scales

Now, we move more toward the lead guitar element. Many of the solos in AC/DC tunes are based on pentatonic scales, particularly the minor pentatonic scale—the heart of classic rock soloing. You probably know position 1 of the minor pentatonic scale, nearly always the first scale a rock-oriented guitarist will learn.

If you don’t already know them, learn the remaining four positions of the minor pentatonic scale (how to play the same scale elsewhere on the fretboard so the whole neck becomes open to you). Though Angus Young often sticks to pentatonic scales when soloing, he rarely sticks to one area of the neck.

5. Soloing Habits

Another point that could be discussed forever. But the key elements are held in the patterns of behavior in Young’s soloing. Including:

Climb the Neck—Constructing solos that begin low down the neck, then work their way up as they progress. This naturally adds anticipation, growing intensity and expression—the sense that the solo is ‘climbing’
Pentatonic Scales—It doesn’t take much for any of us, when soloing, to fall into our own familiar patterns—our usual licks, moves and note choices. In a way, there’s nothing wrong with this, that’s what Angus Young himself does, and part of why his guitar sound is so distinctive. However, if our aim is to emulate the style, we need to be in his patterns, not our own. One jazzy note choice and the authenticity is gone. Keep it pentatonic!
Lots of Legato—Legato playing is crucial to this style. Loads of slides, hammer ons and pull offs, enabled of course by the sustain provided by the underlying power, volume and to an extent, gain. A good excuse to develop or revise your legato playing!
Bag of Licks!—A lot of the time, we’re trying to improve our soloing by making it feel less like a sequence of licks and more like a cohesive solo. Here, we want to do the opposite. Many of Young’s solos are in very deliberate phrases, or licks. It’s partly what makes them memorable, and he definitely has his own bag of tricks—often fast, repetitive licks.

If you follow this advice, you’ll be AC/DC-ing it up in now time. You can also learn from this advice about how to emulate other guitarists’ and bands’ styles by applying the same key principles and asking yourself the same key questions about their sound.

Alex Bruce is a writer for Guitartricks.com. GuitarTricks.com has over 11,000 lessons covering everything a beginner guitar needs to know to get started, as well as more complicated techniques like tapping, sweeping, scales, and more.

How to Solo Like Angus Young, Jimmy Page and Tony Iommi

Andy Aledort — Thu, 21 Feb 2019 14:50:28 +0000

Regarded by many as the three most vital purveyors of pure hard rock/heavy metal sonic evil, AC/DC’s Angus Young, Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi have each forged a distinct, instantly recognizable guitar style and sound.

After decades of dedicated service, all three players continue to influence countless up-and-coming metalheads the world over, and an in-depth study of each guitarist’s distinct musical personality is mandatory for any aspiring hard rock player.

Young, Page and Iommi share a few similarities in their respective crafts.

All three have relied on Gibson solidbody/dual-humbucker-style guitars for the majority of their careers, inspiring signature models of their respective axes: Angus Young has favored Gibson SG-type guitars and has his own Gibson signature model; Jimmy Page is most closely associated with the 1959 sunburst Les Paul, replicated in limited quantity by Gibson (with a retail price of more than $20,000); and Tony Iommi’s long association with the ’61 SG led to the creation of the similarly designed Gibson Tony Iommi model (as well as the custom-made SG-type Patrick Eggle and JayDee models that Iommi also uses). When soloing, all three guitarists most often use the bridge pickup.

Armed with their respective axes, the three defined the sound of metal in the late Sixties and early Seventies by relying on specific amplification: Jimmy Page favors Marshall SLP-1959 100-watt amps modified with KT-88 tubes, while also employing Voxes, Hiwatts, Fender Super Reverbs and Orange amps.

Angus Young has generally used Marshall 100-watt “Plexi” models along with JTM-45 “Plexis.” Iommi is also known for his use of Marshall and Orange gear and has long been a fan of Laney amplification; he even has his own Laney 100-watt signature amplifier.

Another commonality among the three guitar gods is their choice of scale for soloing. In the spirit of their American blues guitar heroes, all three rely most heavily on the minor pentatonic scale. FIGURE 1a shows the A minor pentatonic scale (A C D E G) played in fifth position; FIGURE 1b shows the same scale as played in an extended pattern that traverses the neck from the third fret to the 12th. The root notes are circled in each figure; once you have become familiar with these fingering patterns, be sure to move them to all other keys.

Let’s now look at these two patterns one octave and 12 frets higher: FIGURE 2a depicts A minor pentatonic played in 17th position while FIGURE 2b shows an extended pattern that spans the 15th–22nd frets, ending with a whole step bend from D to E. Young, Page and Iommi all cover the highest reaches of the neck in many of their solos, so be sure to practice the minor pentatonic scales in every key and all over the fretboard.

Angus Young

With his comedic school-boy outfit and hyperenergetic stage antics, Angus Young has been both celebrated and reviled for his over-the-top persona. But in truth, he is simply one of the greatest rock soloists ever. His intense, exciting playing style is equal parts adrenaline, blues rock fire, and precision, all of it spiked with a crash-and-burn attitude. In other words, it’s hard rock at its absolute best.

One of Young’s greatest solos is the one he recorded in the AC/DC classic, “You Shook Me All Night Long” (Back in Black). FIGURE 3 presents a solo played in this style: it’s played over a repeating I-IV-V-IV chord progression in the key of G—G-C-D-C—and is based primarily on the G minor pentatonic scale (G Bb C D F); bars 1–4 are played in third position, and then the next phrase shifts one octave higher to 15th position in bars 5–8.

The figure begins with a whole-step bend from C to D on the G string that is sustained and played with vibrato for three beats. Use your ring finger to fret the note and both your ring and middle fingers to push the string, with the middle finger one fret behind the ring finger. This two-finger bending technique is known as reinforced fingering and is used extensively by Young as well as Page and Iommi.

The first note in FIGURE 3 is a prime example of Young’s signature bend vibrato: upon bending the string with the ring and middle fingers (the index finger may also be used to help push the string for additional strength and support), the bend is then repeatedly released partially—somewhere between a quarter step and a half step—and restored to a whole step (“full”) in quick, even rhythm.

When executing this type of bend vibrato, you’ll find that it helps to push your fret-hand thumb against the top side of the neck, as this provides leverage for the fingers that are pushing and releasing the string. Young’s vibrato is relatively fast and not very wide and will require practice and keen listening to emulate authentically.

The C-to-D bend is followed with an index-finger barre across the top two strings at the third fret, and in bar 2 the pinkie frets F (second string/sixth fret), followed by the same reinforced ring-finger bend and release on C (third string/fifth fret). At the end of bar 2, after fretting the G note, roll the tip of the ring finger from the fourth string over to the fifth string and then back. This “finger roll” may take some practice to get used to, but it’s a very useful technique that is worth learning.

What makes a solo like this great is its simplicity and melodic quality. Each idea is balanced against the next in an effortless way, and the overall result is a memorable solo that one could easily sing—an earmark of every great hard rock guitar solo.

Beginning in bar 5 of FIGURE 3, the second half of the solo relates to the first half in that it also leads off with a sustained bend, this time from a high F, the flatted seventh, to G, the root note, which is played vibrato in a similar manner. When playing minor pentatonic licks like these in high positions, many blues, blues/rock and hard rock players adopt a three-finger approach—index-middle-ring—for the majority of their licks, presumably because of the closeness of the frets. Young, however, chooses to use his pinkie in many of his licks, regardless of his fretboard position.

I wrap the solo up in bar 8 by switching to a riff based on G major pentatonic (G A B D E). A staple of blues soloing is to alternate between the “sweet” sound of major pentatonic and the darker sound of minor pentatonic, and Young does just this in many of his solos.

Another great example of Young’s masterful soloing can be heard on the title track to Back in Black. FIGURE 4 shows a solo played in a similar style. This example is played over a simple repeating chord progression in the key of E: E-D-A (I-fVII-IV). The majority of the solo is based on the E minor pentatonic scale (E G A B D), although I begin with a phrase that incorporates notes from the E Dorian mode (E F# G A B C# D) by including the sixth, C#. The placement of this pitch is critical in relation to the accompanying chord progression, as it lands on the A chord, and C# is the major third of A.

Like FIGURE 3, the goal with this example is to illustrate Young’s clear sense of melody and melodic development: FIGURE 4 begins with a “hooky” phrase that is developed by descending the G string in a similar manner across the first two bars. At bar 3, I jump up to the 12th-position E minor pentatonic “box” pattern, beginning with a high D-to-E bend and vibrato that is sustained through the first two beats of the bar, followed by a fast phrase based on descending 16th-note triplets.

The solo then stays rooted in 12th position through the remainder of bar 3, all the way to the end of bar 7. As with the high-position pentatonic licks in the previous example, the majority of these licks may be played comfortably with three fingers.

Particularly noteworthy is the classic lightning-fast blues/rock/metal run that spans bar 7 of FIGURE 4: based entirely on descending 16th-note triplets, the run begins with a pull-off from a high G (first string/15th fret) to E (12th fret) followed by D (second string/15th fret). The next 16th-note triplet starts one note lower, on E, and is followed by a pull-off from D to B (15th fret to 12th fret). The pattern of starting one note lower with each subsequent 16th-note triplet and using pull-offs wherever possible is repeated throughout the run.

As the solo develops, analyze each beat and notice how the progression of the lines contributes to the overall phrase. Young is a master of “phrase-ology,” a skill/gift that lends an almost effortless quality to his solos and the feeling of constantly pushing the music forward and telling a story.

JIMMY PAGE

Jimmy Page was inspired by many of the same American blues guitar heroes as his British blues/rock contemporaries Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Peter Green. These heroes include the three Kings—Albert, B.B. and Freddie—as well as T-Bone Walker, Buddy Guy and Otis Rush.

Page was also equally influenced by the fiery intensity of rockabilly guitarists Cliff Gallup (Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps) and Scotty Moore (Elvis Presley), as well as the futuristic daring of Les Paul. A student of many different styles of guitar playing, Page always combines in his solos a well-balanced structure and sense of melodic development with true depth of feeling. His progressive approach to soloing has pushed the nature of blues/rock guitar to previously unimagined territory.

FIGURE 5 is an eight-bar solo representative of Page’s improvisation style. It’s played in the key of A minor over a repeating Am-G-F (i-bVII-bVI) chord progression. The majority of the solo is based on A minor pentatonic (A C D E G), beginning in fifth position with a D-to-E bend on the G string. This note is bent and shaken using the same reinforced fingering and thumb leveraging techniques described earlier in reference to FIGURE 3.

This initial bend is followed by a stream of cascading 16th notes played across the next four beats on the top three strings, with notes quickly alternating between either the fifth and seventh frets or the fifth and eighth frets. Through the majority of this solo, a balance of eighth and 16th notes is achieved, giving the solo a forward-leaning quality as each phrase flows seamlessly into the next.

Over an F chord in bars 2, 4, 6 and 8, I occasionally incorporate an F note into the A minor pentatonic-derived lines in order to clearly relate the solo line to the backing chord progression; this approach is a Page trademark. Adding this one note also serves to broaden the solo beyond the strict blues territory while also strengthening the melodic quality of the licks.

Bar 5 begins with a descending run wherein a stream of 16th notes are phrased in two six-note groups that form an interesting melodic contour. A similar phrasing approach is used in bar 6 with successive four-note descending groups. The solo develops interestingly and builds to a climax in bars 7 and 8 with a repeated melodic “shape” that ascends the A minor pentatonic scale in seven-note phrases, starting from either the root note or the fifth each time.

While this may sound overly analyzed, in truth it is the application of these melodic phrasing techniques that gives the solo its clear sense of structure, which is a hallmark of all of Page’s best lead work.

TONY IOMMI

As the progenitor of the heaviest of heavy metal, Tony Iommi set high standards for the writing of demonic-sounding riffs while he simultaneously created the template for the heavy metal soloing of future generations.

As a teenager, Iommi, a left-handed player, was the victim of an unfortunate accident in which he lost the tips of his right hand’s middle and ring fingers while working in a sheet metal factory. Discouraged but not defeated, the resourceful guitarist devised plastic covers made from bottle caps to wear over those fingertips.

In later years, he would wear custom–fitted leather finger protectors. Iommi also switched to using super light-gauge strings: .008, .008, .011, .018w, .024 and .032, which are much easier to fret and bend than a standard set of .009s or 010s.

In its earliest days, Black Sabbath tuned to concert pitch, but soon after Iommi began tuning his strings down one half step (low to high: Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb) and subsequently tuned down even further by one and a half steps (low to high: C# F# B E G# C#), all the while continuing to use very light strings.

A signature element in the characteristically dark vibe of Iommi’s solos is the incorporation of minor modes. In his outro solo for “War Pigs” (Paranoid), Iommi utilizes the E Aeolian mode (E F# G A B C D) along with E minor pentatonic (E G A B D). FIGURE 6 illustrates a solo played with a similar approach.

Within the key of E minor, the chord progression simply alternates between Em and D, and in his solo, Iommi’s ties his licks squarely to the chord progression with the use of chord tones that relate to each specific chord. Bars 1–4 of FIGURE 6 demonstrate this approach by favoring the notes E and G, the root note and minor third, respectively, over Em, and the notes D and Fs, the root and major third, respectively, over D. The additional notes and overall phrasing serve to fill in the space and effectively set up the incorporation of these shifting chord tones (also known as guide tones).

Another key aspect of Iommi’s soloing style that FIGURE 6 demonstrates is the intensity of both the pick attack and vibrato. Iommi’s playing is well-loved for its aggressive power, so lean into the lines with both hands, and listen closely to his recorded works to get a clear picture of and feel for his playing style.

Beginning on beat two of bar 5, I repeatedly bend E, third string/ninth fret, up one and one half steps (the equivalent of three frets) to G. When performing “overbends” like this, it’s even more important to harness the strength of at least two fingers, the ring and middle, if not three (the ring, middle and index). This is followed in bar 6 by fast whole-step bends that alternate with hammer-on/pull-of combinations between the seventh and ninth frets on the G string. This is a challenging lick that will take a bit of slow practice to master.

In the second half of bar 7, I borrow a signature phrasing technique of Iommi’s, with a 16th-note run that descends the E Aeolian mode in three-note groups on a single string, using pull-offs and finger slides. This type of line serves to add both rhythmic and melodic interest to a pentatonic- or mode-based solo.

FIGURE 7 offers another example of soloing in Iommi’s style, this time incorporating the detuning of one and one half steps. (All notes and chords sound in the key of C# minor, one and one half steps lower than written.) This example demonstrates Iommi’s penchant for using fast hammer-ons and pull-offs within repeated short phrases, as he does on his solo in “Supernaut” (Vol. 4).

The solo is based entirely on the E minor pentatonic scale, played in 12th position, and begins with a repeated phrase that starts with a quick hammer/pull on the first string from the 12th fret to the 15th, followed by D, second string/15th fret. This sequence is played four times through bar 1, and bar 2 consists entirely of trills in 12th position. (A trill is executed by quickly alternating between two notes, usually using hammer-ons and pull-offs in combination.)

Bars 3 and 4 are similar in that both feature fast phrases based on 16th-note triplets; in bar 3, note bursts are performed with hammer/pulls on the D string, and in bar 4 the hammers occur on the G string. Bars 5 and 6 offer an example of the “threes on fours” concept—16th notes phrased in groups of three—and bars 7 and 8 wrap up the solo with fast hammer/pulls, played in 16th-nopte triplets, that traverse the strings, moving from high to low.

In all of their solos, Young, Page and Iommi combine well-structured melodic ideas, solid execution and spirited performance—essential factors in any great, memorable guitar solo that you should strive to achieve in your own solos.

Illustration: Tim O'Brien

The Secrets Behind Angus Young's Guitar Tone on AC/DC's "Hells Bells"

Chris Gill — Wed, 06 Feb 2019 21:28:11 +0000

Angus Young performs at London’s O2 Arena April 16, 2009 (Image credit: Rob Monk/Classic Rock Magazine)

It’s well-documented that Angus Young is a no-nonsense player who prefers the sound of just a guitar and amp with no other effects. But there’s much more to Angus’ tone than just his timeless Gibson SG Standard and Marshall amp rig. In the studio — particularly when recording AC/DC’s monumental Back in Black album — Young used a wide variety of different Marshall amp heads to narrow down the perfect individual guitar tones for each song. Some of his favorite recording amps for Back in Black included various plexi Super Lead 100-watt heads when he needed crisp treble and crunchy overdrive, various 50-watt Marshalls for solos and Marshall 2203 JMP 100-watt master volume heads for when he wanted darker tones with fatter midrange and more saturated distortion.

Unfortunately, Angus didn’t keep detailed records of what amps he used on which Back in Black songs, but his tone on “Hell's Bells” has the unmistakable midrange growl and thick saturated grit of a Marshall 2203. Angus recorded his primary rhythm track (panned hard right) using just his favorite 1970 Gibson SG Standard and a Marshall 2203 half stack (the amp can be heard bleeding into the mics used to record Malcolm’s amp, which is panned to the left channel), but when recording overdubs for his center channel rhythm guitar track and solo he also employed his favorite secret weapon — a Schaffer-Vega Diversity System wireless transmitter and receiver.

Angus used the Schaffer partly because it allowed him to play in the control room and hear his performance over the monitors. But more importantly, the Schaffer system’s circuitry provides more than 30dB of clean boost along with compression and expansion (a.k.a. com-panding) to deliver richer harmonic content, more dynamic touch sensitivity and fuller body while maintaining percussive attack and the raw metallic crunch of the strings. The Schaffer essentially took what was good about Angus’ Marshall tones and made them great, which explains why many guitarists who plug into SG and Marshall rigs in search of his sound fail to truly replicate his elusive magic.

GET THE SOUND, CHEAP!

● Epiphone G-400 Pro ● Marshall Origin 50C combo ● SoloDallas Storm pedal

TONE TIP: The SoloDallas Storm may be a little pricey but as it’s an exact replica of the Schaffer-Vega’s boost and companding circuitry, nothing gets you closer to Angus’ signature tones from AC/DC’s classic recordings.

ORIGINAL GEAR

GUITAR: 1970 Gibson SG Standard with stock Gibson “T-Top” humbucking pickups (bridge pickup setting), Volume: 10, Tone: 10
AMP: Late-’70s Marshall 2203 JMP 100-watt head (Presence: 0, Bass: 5, Middle: 6, Treble: 5, Master Volume: 5, Preamp Volume: 6, High Sensitivity input), Marshall 4x12 cabinet loaded with Celes-tion G12M greenback speakers
EFFECTS: Schaffer-Vega Diversity Wireless
STRINGS/TUNING: Gibson Ultra Lights .009, .011, .016, .024, .032, .042/Standard
PICK: Fender Extra Heavy

What Guitarists Get Wrong When They Play AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds"

Guitar World Staff — Fri, 14 Sep 2018 16:38:33 +0000

In this old Guitar World favorite, former GW music editor Matt Scharfglass shows you the right way to play AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds."

As it turns out, many guitarists play the song's main riff with closed chords, which—while getting close to the song's sound—is the wrong way to go about it.

In the lesson—which you can watch above—Scharfglass demonstrates the correct chords, and how exactly they should be played.

Enjoy!

How to Play Crushing Open-Chord Riffs Like Tom Scholz, Angus Young and Brian May

Martin Goulding — Fri, 06 Jul 2018 14:09:12 +0000

(Image credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

This time, I’ll show you how to play crushing open-chord riffs in the styles of five legendary classic rock riffmeisters.

The use of open power chords embellished with single-note melodic fills and quarter-step bends has provided a framework for some of the most powerful and enduring riffs of all time.

These types of riffs were pioneered by the blues-rock players of the Sixties and Seventies, like Jimmy Page and Angus Young, and refined further by the modern hard-rock styles of Eighties acts like Whitesnake.

Big and powerful sounding, these driving riffs serve as perfect examples of how to hot-rod your open chords and get that old-school, authentic blues-rock feel. Set your amp with the gain, bass and midrange controls halfway up, with a slight boost on the treble knob for a classic rock guitar “crunch” tone.

Accent the beats, using downstrokes for the eighth notes. Hold the pick firmly and let the motion come mainly from the wrist, with the arm relaxed.

Our first riff is built around an A open power chord, embellished with the sixth and flat seventh on beats three and four, giving a Chuck Berry–style rock and roll groove. Use downstrokes throughout.

This riff is based around an E5 power chord, with the move from the minor third to the major third on beat two imparting a blues-rock feel. Use downstrokes throughout, moving from the wrist and using the edge of the palm to mute the strings in front of the bridge.

This example is based around the G5, D5 and A5 power chords, with open-string pull-offs and quarter-step bends used as melodic decorations. The pairs of 16th notes are picked down-up and are muted with all four fret-hand fingers to achieve a percussive chuck-ka.

Here we have a riff based around an A5 power chord, with the C5/A and B5/A double-stops on beats one and two of bar 2 implying Am7 Dorian tonality. Use downstrokes on the eighth notes, bouncing onto the strings with your wrist and accenting the downbeats.

Our final riff moves between E5 and A5 power chords, with neat single-note connecting lines that convey a bluesy dominant-seven tonality. Use downstrokes, bouncing from the wrist. Memorize the riff slowly before approaching full tempo.

Angus Young Plays AC/DC's "High Voltage" on Acoustic Guitar

damian.fanelli@futurenet.com (Damian Fanelli) — Wed, 28 Mar 2018 17:27:26 +0000

Below, check out a very interesting clip of AC/DC's Angus Young—sitting with a well-worn acoustic guitar—as he discusses the roots of the band's 1976 tune "High Voltage."

The song is a chunky rocker in the key A, but it seems that wasn't just an accident.

"[I thought] it'd be cool if we had a song that had the chords A, C, D, C in it," Young says in the video. "So we more or less threw it together, and I had this 'high voltage' chant I was singing. Phil, the drummer, felt it was rather corny, but it paid the rent."

Actually, the chorus is A to C to D to A, but they made their point. You can watch a high-quality lesson video at the bottom of this story; it shows what Malcolm Young is playing on the song.

The top clip is from Episode 4 of a DVD called Long Way to the Top, which is basically a history of Australian rock and roll—with a few New Zealand bands included in the mix. Enjoy!

How to Play AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" Intro

Guitar World Staff — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 19:28:31 +0000

In this video, guitarist and instructor Jimmy Brown shows you how to play the iconic intro to AC/DC's "Thunderstruck."

Brown first demonstrates the intro at its recorded speed, before breaking it down into more bite-size pieces.

Check it out above, and be sure to stay tuned for more classic lessons!

What to Remember When Performing AC/DC's "Touch Too Much"

Jeff Perrin — Fri, 23 Feb 2018 15:29:15 +0000

When playing through the pre-chorus and chorus of “Touch Too Much” (see sections C and D in the transcription), you’ll notice that guitarists Angus and Malcolm Young will often strum two or more open strings just before changing chords (as in bar 14, for example). Using open strings in this way—playing what may be called the “all-purpose passing chord”—buys you valuable extra time to move your fretting fingers to the next chord in a progression without having to jump to it in the blink of an eye.

This practice not only helps produce more natural and relaxed-sounding rhythms, it also adds a bit of dissonance and musical “dirt” to the proceedings, which can help create a “heavier” and more rock-and-roll guitar sound without resorting to using tons of distortion or other effects. When performing these open-string passing chords, you needn’t be overly concerned about hitting the exact same strings shown in the tablature, as the notes go by quickly and are more felt than heard.

Their contribution is more rhythmic and tonal in nature than melodic, and as such, it’s not uncommon for guitarists to randomly vary which open strings they strum during any particular chord transition. And, as is often the case in rock music, the open notes “agree with” the key of the song and don’t sound the least bit odd.

On the recording of “Touch Too Much,” all the instruments sound slightly flat of concert pitch, most likely due to a deliberate slowing of the master tape speed, a common studio production technique used to make a recording sound “heavier.” In order to play along, you’ll need to tune your guitar or bass approximately 28 cents flat (a little more than an eighth tone, or eighth step).

For Jeff Perrin's tab of "Touch Too Much," check out the April 2018 issue of Guitar World.

Watch Hungarian Figure Skater Ivett Toth Perform to AC/DC at the Winter Olympics

jackson.maxwell@futurenet.com (Jackson Maxwell) — Fri, 23 Feb 2018 14:51:48 +0000

Last week, we told you about French figure skaters Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres and their rather unconventional choice of Disturbed's cover of "Sound of Silence" as the soundtrack to their routine. This week, we have an even wilder merging of the worlds of hard rock and Olympic figure skating to report, courtesy of Hungarian skater Ivett Toth.

Toth, it seems, is a major AC/DC fan. Not only did she soundtrack her routine to a medley of the band's songs ("Back in Black" and "Thunderstruck"), she also wore a studded leather vest with an Angus Young patch on the back.

You can watch Toth's hard-rocking routine—which, sadly, did not earn Toth a medal—via NBC here.

How to Play AC/DC's "Hell's Bells"

Guitar World Staff — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 19:09:28 +0000

In this classic GW lesson, you can learn how to play "Hell's Bells," one of AC/DC's most iconic tracks.

The lesson video—which you can watch above—is hosted by Andy Aledort, who takes you through the song's iconic riff piece by piece.

Check it out, and be sure to stay tuned for more classic lessons in the coming days!

Guitarists Mourn Malcolm Young

jackson.maxwell@futurenet.com (Jackson Maxwell) — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 14:50:03 +0000

Malcolm Young—the co-founder of AC/DC, and one of the greatest rhythm guitarists of all time—died on Saturday, November 18, at the age of 64. He had been battling dementia since 2014, when he was forced to leave the band.

Young's rhythm parts were the backbone of AC/DC, one of the most commercially successful and influential rock bands of all time. His rock-solid playing inspired untold thousands to pick up a guitar themselves, and it's difficult to imagine a hard-rock landscape without the lasting influence of his tone and style.

Unsurprisingly, guitarists around the world mourned his untimely passing over the weekend, paying tribute to him and his influence on social media.

Below, you can see a selection of these tributes, beginning with one from his longtime bandmate and brother, Angus Young, who said "As his brother it is hard to express in words what he has meant to me during my life, the bond we had was unique and very special. He leaves behind an enormous legacy that will live on forever. Malcolm, job well done."

AC/DC's Angus Young on the Rhythm Guitar Playing of Malcolm Young

Nick Bowcott — Sat, 18 Nov 2017 16:45:22 +0000

(Image credit: Martin Philbey/Getty Images)

This entry comes from Angus Young's classic Guitar World column, "Let There Be Rock."

Last time, we ended the column by talking about your brother Malcolm's rhythm playing and what it adds to AC/DC's sound.

ANGUS YOUNG: Malcolm's really underrated. He makes the band sound so full, and I couldn't ask for a better rhythm player. Sometimes I look at Malcolm while he's playing, and I'm completely awestruck by the sheer power of it. He's doing something much more unique than what I do—with that raw, natural sound of his.

People like Malcolm, Steve Cropper, Chuck Berry and Keith Richards—they're all doing something better than the rest of us. I can't deny that Eric Clapton's and Eddie Van Halen's lead stuff has influenced a stack of people, but for me it's the rhythm thing that's way more impressive and important to a band. Malcolm is a big inspiration to me; he keeps me on my feet.

Even when I'm tired from running around the stage for two hours, I'll look back at what he's doing and it gives me that boot up the backside I sometimes need. [laughs] Also, he can always tell me if I'm playing well or if I'm not. Mal's a very tough critic, and I know that if I can please him, I can please the world.

A lot of people say, "AC/DC—that's the band with the little guy who runs around in school shorts!" But I wouldn't be able to do what I do without Malcolm and the other guys pumping out the rhythm. They make me look good. Mal is really a great all-around guitarist. I know it says "rhythm guitar" on the album jacket, but if he sits down to play a solo, he can do it better than me. Not a lot of people have picked up on this, but in the early days he used to play lead. But then he said to me, "No, you take the solos. I'll just bang away back here." And what's more, he actually plays rhythms. He just doesn't make a noise; he works them out, and he knows when not to play.

What Malcolm plays behind your intro to "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)" is a great example of what you're talking about here. It's powerful, yet sparse, complements your part perfectly and is very well thought out.
Yeah, he's right on the money on that one. As soon as he comes in, he kicks the song into a higher gear. He immediately lets you know what it's all about and who it is. I mean, as soon as you hear that first B chord, you know it's him. And, if you listen carefully to what he's doing, he's not just repeating the same four-bar riff over and over. It's different each time around, and that really helps build up the intensity of the intro until the whole band gets going.

To do this kind of thing well isn't easy; you have to be a master of rhythm, and that's exactly what Mal is. My part in AC/DC is just adding the color on top. Mal's the band's foundation. He's rock solid and he pumps it along with the power of a machine. He doesn't play like a machine, though. Everything he does grooves and he always seems to know exactly what to play and when to play it. He's a very percussive player too, his right hand just doesn't stop sometimes. It's scary, it really is!

The first verse riff in "Dog Eat Dog" [Let There Be Rock] is a perfect example of Mal's percussive approach.
Yeah. I play short, sharp stabs while Mal does something a little more busy. He's like a friggin' human metronome. It's all in his right wrist, y'know!