Riff Tone

Down Payment Blues

AC/DC

Guitarrock1970s

Original Gear

GuitarGibson SG Standard (early 1970s, likely 1970-1971, stock)

AmpMarshall Super Lead 1959 (100-watt, non-master volume, late 1960s/early 1970s, likely JMP Plexi)

PickupsGibson humbuckers (stock, likely T-Top)

Amp Settings

gain7

bass6

mid7

treble7

reverb0

presence6.5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1978 (Powerage album). Angus Young's rig for this era was extremely simple: Gibson SG into Marshall Super Lead, no pedals, no effects loop, no amp reverb. All overdrive/distortion comes from the amp being cranked. No evidence of pedals or effects used on the riff section of this song. Pickup selector set to bridge. Volume and tone on guitar both at 10. No evidence of Schaffer-Vega wireless preamp on this specific studio track (introduced later, mainly live).

Tone Character(10)

mid-rangey and vintage-soundingnatural overdrivevicious crunchtight, punchy rhythmraw, uncompressed attackdynamic, touch-sensitive responseclassic Marshall crunchbridge pickup biteopen, uncompressed feelno pedal coloration

Difficulty

The riff requires solid rhythm technique and dynamic control to achieve the punchy, crunchy sound, but does not involve complex chord shapes or advanced techniques.

Sources

Angus Young's guitars and gear: nail the AC/DC star's tone | Guitar World ac/dc guitar tone help : r/ACDC - Reddit Guitar Tones : r/ACDC - Reddit Angus's guitar tone : r/ACDC - Reddit AC/DC Foundations of Tone | Guitar Tricks - YouTube

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