Riff Tone

Stiff Upper Lip

AC/DC

Guitarrock2000s

Original Gear

GuitarGretsch G6131 Jet Firebird (Malcolm Young signature, heavily modified, bridge pickup only, middle pickup removed, neck pickup disabled)

AmpMarshall Super Bass 100W (vintage, likely late 60s/early 70s, run clean and loud)

PickupsGretsch Filter'Tron humbucker (bridge position, only active pickup)

Amp Settings

gain5

bass6.5

mid7

treble7

reverb0.5

presence6

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording for 'Stiff Upper Lip' (2000). Malcolm Young's rhythm tone. No pedals or effects used, straight into amp. Amp set for maximum headroom and punch, minimal breakup. Guitar volume and tone rolled back slightly for clarity. Confirmed by multiple interviews and gear rundowns. No reverb or time-based effects; pure dry signal.

Tone Character(10)

big, clean soundtight and punchyclear yet grittyarticulate rhythmraw, aggressive energyminimal breakupclassic Marshall crunchno added effectspercussive attackfat, uncompressed lows

Difficulty

The riff is rhythmically straightforward but demands tight, consistent muting and a strong, punchy pick attack to achieve Malcolm Young's signature groove and clarity.

Sources

From the Archive: AC/DC's Angus Young and Brian Johnson Discuss the 'Stiff Upper Lip' Album | Guitar World Malcolm Young AC/DC Members, Gear & Sound AC/DC's Angus and Malcolm Young: 'Most of our early tracks speed up toward the end. After the guitar solo we’d start to take off!' | Guitar World Angus's guitar tone : r/ACDC

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