Riff Tone

Guns for Hire

AC/DC

Guitarrock1980s

Original Gear

GuitarGibson SG Standard (early 1970s, likely 1970-1973, as used by Angus Young on 'Flick of the Switch')

AmpMarshall Super Lead 1959 (100W, non-master volume, EL34 tubes, used in studio for 'Flick of the Switch')

PickupsGibson humbuckers (stock, vintage output, likely T-Top or similar)

Amp Settings

gain5.5

bass5.5

mid7

treble6.5

reverb0.5

presence6

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1983. Angus Young plugged straight into the amp, no pedals for rhythm/riff. Pickup selector set to bridge for main riff. No reverb or delay; dry, punchy tone. Multiple Marshall heads were used in the studio, but the Super Lead 1959 is most consistently cited for this era. Settings estimated from era-accurate sources and typical AC/DC practices.

Tone Character(10)

crunchy and mid-forwarddry and punchybright and articulate bridge pickup soundtight and percussive attackminimal sustain, quick decayraw and unprocessedmoderate bass for mix clarityprominent mids for British rock cutslightly rolled-off treble to avoid harshnessamp-driven overdrive, not pedal-based

Difficulty

The riff requires precise, fast alternate picking and tight palm muting to maintain clarity at tempo, but does not involve advanced chord shapes or complex techniques.

Sources

Amp Settings for Hells Bells by AC/DC (guitars and tone) - Guitar Chalk Angus's guitar tone : r/ACDC Angus Young 1983 : r/ACDC

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