Angus Young tone

[toneseeker74]

Why do so many people talk about turning their Marshall 1987/2204 style amps up to 5, 6...heck even 8 on the volume knob to Angus' tone & overdrive? I ask because he plays clean-with-some hair to light overdrive. Just curious.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Angus Young tone

Depends on the era. In the 80's through early 90's he was using Boogies. His tone actually has a fair amount of drive. It's Malcolm who has the light overdrive. I would say that Angus' is more of a medium overdrive. They drive their amps hard and that's a big part of the sound.

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Angus Young tone

It probably takes turning them up that much to get the tone in many cases, not that I think turning a Marshall up to 6..or 8..or 10 is a bad thing ever! He doesn't sound clean clean to me. Angus plays a JTM45 with EL34s last I heard. You can hear the sag from the tube rectifier in many solos. Without the tube rectifier it may take more overdive/compression to get it.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Angus Young tone

Why do so many people talk about turning their Marshall 1987/2204 style amps up to 5, 6...heck even 8 on the volume knob to Angus' tone & overdrive? I ask because he plays clean-with-some hair to light overdrive. Just curious.

because thats more or less how angus does it.

 

[Gone_Shootin]

Re: Angus Young tone

because thats more or less how angus does it.

Yep, poweramp distortion is part of Angus' tone.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Angus Young tone

Screaming greenbacks and jtm45/wizard amps..

 

[toneseeker74]

Re: Angus Young tone

Hmm, maybe I'm mixing up Malcolm's and Angus' guitar tracks when I listen. I hear the squish and compression in Angus' solos sometimes, but he still doesn't sound all that dirty to me. Well, maybe my definition of mild overdrive is different than other people's. :dunno:

 

[Lovegun]

Re: Angus Young tone

. I hear the squish and compression in Angus' solos sometimes, but he still doesn't sound all that dirty to me.

I've read that the compression comes from his wireless system. I think he has used it since the late seventies.

Edit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schaffer-Vega_Diversity_System

 

[brunogio]

Re: Angus Young tone

I don't know if it's his exact tone or not but the JMP with a Gibson has a lot of cool light overdrive. I have a Master Vol model which makes it easy to dial in but if you don't you'll need to push it a bit to get that drive. It's very cool, open and organic to me at least.

 

[jackson111]

Re: Angus Young tone

I never know angus used boogies? I always thought he used marshal and only marshal. I have heard that he use the amps dry and relay the only other thing he uses is a wireless system that has a boost function. actually the tech I use used to be a master tech for marshal and he told me he always knew when acdc was on tour cause about 1 a month they would receive 6 amps to be rebuilt. pretty much he just opens his amps wide open and uses his guitar volume pot to get the level of distortion he wants, just after playing 5 to 6 shows a week the amps would be need service

 

[aleclee]

Re: Angus Young tone

My understanding is that AC/DC used Park amps on their earliest albums

 

[jackson111]

Re: Angus Young tone

from what I understand park amps were designed and manufactured by jim marshal to get around a bad distribution deal he signed that lasted 15 years from 65-80. the distribution company raised his amplifier prices to the point he could not compete in the world market, so he launched park amps to get around the distribution deal and keep marshal going. so even by using park amps early in their career they still were marshals

 

[JeffB]

Re: Angus Young tone

^
Exactamundo

 

[toneseeker74]

Re: Angus Young tone

Thanks for all the great info! I forgot about the wireless system. I remember reading an AC/DC biography that mentioned that fact. Didn't know about the Park amp connection. That's cool.

 

[B2D]

Re: Angus Young tone

Is Angus still using Wizard amps?

Video: Scott Ian jamming on Angus' rig.

 

[crusty philtrum]

Re: Angus Young tone

AC/DC's sounds are really nothing more than what was normal back in the late 1960s/ early 1970s ... big, powerful and relatively clean tube heads (pre master-volume), driving a bunch of 12" speakers. Guitar connected to the amp via a single cable. The rock was obtained by simply cranking them way up ... almost totally phase inverter/ power tube overdrive. By the early '70s we were all discovering that some kind of simple booster between the guitar and amp was helpful. It was all very simple, very primitive but it worked.

I haven't followed AC/DCs gear, and it's possible that they experimented with technology in the '80s and in the years since then, but the sounds have never strayed far from the early '70s ethos i described above (to my ears anyway). I did read an interview a long time back where it was said that the backline was all 100 watt Marshalls, possibly '80s models, but the amp that Angus had mic'ed up for the PA was a 50 watt, non-master Marshall.

 

[Jeffrec]

Re: Angus Young tone

The Wampler Plexidrive nails his tone really well IMO