No. 0161980·hard-rock·3 blocks
Back in Black
The most iconic rhythm guitar tone in hard rock. Angus Young's tone on Back in Black is deceptively simple: a Gibson SG plugged straight into a cranked Marshall Super Lead 1959 (Plexi) with nothing in between. No pedals, no effects, no tricks. The entire sound comes from the interaction between the SG's bridge humbucker and the amp pushed to the edge of breakup. The bright, biting attack of the SG cuts through the mix, while the Plexi's warm British overdrive provides just enough grit without losing note clarity. Malcolm Young's identical rig on rhythm creates the massive wall of sound.
Back in BlackSignal path · input → output · 6 blocksLive values · Fractal Axe-Fx
Guitar
Gibson SG Standard
Pickups
HH
Tuning
bridge
Strings
standard
Studio Comp
Plexi 100W High
4x12 Green 25W
Plate
Filter Tilt
Studio Comp
← Studio compressor
Threshold
-34dB
Ratio
2:1
Attack
38s
Release
200s
Mix
0.5
Level
0dB
Plexi 100W High
← Marshall Super Lead 1959 (Plexi)
Drive
7.5
Bass
4
Mid
5
Treble
7
Presence
6
MV
7
Plate
← Compass Point Studios plate
Mix
0.1
Decay
1.4s
Predelay
30ms
Filter Tilt
← Tilt EQ (global brightness)
Tilt
0.5
CenterFreq
1000Hz
Level
0
Engineer's note
File 016
The most iconic rhythm guitar tone in hard rock. Angus Young's tone on Back in Black is deceptively simple: a Gibson SG plugged straight into a cranked Marshall Super Lead 1959 (Plexi) with nothing in between. No pedals, no effects, no tricks. The entire sound comes from the interaction between the SG's bridge humbucker and the amp pushed to the edge of breakup. The bright, biting attack of the SG cuts through the mix, while the Plexi's warm British overdrive provides just enough grit without losing note clarity. Malcolm Young's identical rig on rhythm creates the massive wall of sound.
— Angus Young
Sources · Verified by
Field notes for this tone
All field notes →AC/DC Rhythm Tone Recipe: Angus Young Amp Settings, Gear Breakdown, and How to Nail It
AC/DC guitar tone settings for both eras; the SG, the Marshall, amp dials by era, and how to approximate it on Helix and Quad Cortex.
Marshall Silver Jubilee vs. JCM800: The Overlooked Middle Sibling
The 2555 Silver Jubilee sits between the JCM800 and the JCM900 in both era and gain structure. Here is what makes it different, who used it, and the settings that get you there.
When the V30 Is Still the Right Speaker: Medium-Gain Rock and the Case Against Modern
The Celestion V30 takes a beating in modern djent contexts, and that criticism is fair. But in the medium-gain rock zone (Marshall plexis pushed to breakup, Bluesbreaker-stacked Twin Reverbs, AC30 territory), the V30 is still the speaker its 1990s reputation was built on. Here is when to choose it, and what it does that nothing else quite does.
