Nail the ToneAC/DC

Highway to Hell

AC/DC · Highway to Hell · 1979

The main riff is two guitars, not one: Malcolm's single-pickup '63 Gretsch Jet Firebird into a 1971 Marshall Super Bass on the left, almost clean and picked hard, and Angus's early-'70s SG Standard on the bridge pickup into a cranked 100-watt Marshall on the right, boosted by his Schaffer-Vega wireless. Keep the preamp low and the master high so the dirt comes from power-amp compression, not gain; the meat is in your right hand and in the space between chords. Tony Platt got the size at mixdown by re-amping guitars through Altec speakers in a live room, so a small room reverb helps more than more distortion.

Where these numbers come from: worked out from the documented rig and the sound of the record

Tuning

Standard tuning, no capo

Standard tuning, but the record sits a touch below A440, so a strobe-tuned guitar can sound slightly sharp against it; the riff is doubled, Malcolm's Gretsch left and Angus's SG right, and both use open A5, D/F# and open G5 shapes.

Part: Riff

Guitar

  • Gretsch 6131 Jet Firebird (1963, "The Beast") · Filter'Tron · bridge pickup (only pickup fitted)
  • Gibson SG Standard (c. 1970-71) · Gibson humbuckers (T-Top) · bridge pickup

Amp

Marshall Super Bass 100 (1971)

GAIN
7.0
BASS
6.0
MID
4.0
TREBLE
6.0
PRESENCE
5.0

Malcolm's rhythm amp into a Marshall 4x12; the Super Bass has Volume I/II rather than a gain control, so the "gain" figure is the input volume, run loud for power-amp compression rather than preamp dirt. Gear is documented; exact knob positions from the session were never recorded, so these are inferred from his consistently reported settings and the sound of the track.

Amp

Marshall 1959 Super Lead 100 (4-input)

GAIN
9.0
BASS
5.0
MID
5.0
TREBLE
5.0
PRESENCE
6.0

Angus's side, cranked with inputs jumpered; he has said he keeps treble, mid and bass around noon and adds presence only if it needs more bite. Guitar.com reports a Super Lead paired with a rare Marshall JTM50 for Highway to Hell and Back in Black, while Fil Olivieri (SoloDallas) and many Marshall forum regulars argue Angus tracked Powerage and Highway to Hell on a JMP 2203 master-volume head — both accounts are credible and the record was likely a blend.

Pedals

  • Schaffer-Vega Diversity System (SVDS) · wireless unit used as a clean boost/compressor · Boost up; Angus said Mutt Lange asked him to use his stage rig in the studio, so the SVDS is on his signal only, not Malcolm's

Tone character

cranked plexi crunch · tight low-gain breakup · bright Filter'Tron snap · open-chord chime and bite · dry, room-boosted attack

easy

The chord shapes are open A5, D/F# and G5 that any beginner can grab, but the riff enters on the "and" of beat 3 and needs clean muting of the A string in the D/F# plus firm, even downstrokes to sit right.

Want this on your own amp?

These are the record's settings. Tell us what you play through and we'll translate every knob to the amp you actually own — free.

Adapt it to my gear

Sources