Riff Tone

Shoot to Thrill

AC/DC

Guitarrock1980s

Original Gear

GuitarGibson SG Standard (Angus Young, rhythm/riff section)

AmpMarshall Super Lead 1959 100W (non-master volume, late 1970s/early 1980s)

PickupsGibson humbuckers (stock, late 1970s/early 1980s spec)

Amp Settings

gain6.5

bass6

mid7

treble7

reverb0

presence6.5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1980. No pedals used for rhythm/riff section; signal is guitar straight into cranked Marshall amp. Schaffer-Vega Diversity System wireless unit with built-in boost was used in the studio, acting as a clean boost. No evidence of additional pedals or effects for the riff section.

Tone Character(10)

classic British crunchtight and percussiveclear and articulatedynamic and touch-sensitiveopen and uncompressedupper-midrange biteraw, unprocessed soundslight natural compression from power tubeshigh volume amp breakupno pedal coloration

Difficulty

The riff requires intermediate-level technique due to its fast tempo, tight right-hand picking, and dynamic control, but does not involve advanced chords or complex lead work.

Sources

AC/DC – Back In Black - Gear & Equipment Used on the Album AC/DC guitar tech Trace Foster explains why Angus Young’s live sound requires no fewer than 12 Marshall stacks | MusicRadar

This tone has been researched 5 times by the community

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