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 · 7 blocksLive values · Line 6 Helix
Guitar
Gibson SG Standard
Pickups
HH
Tuning
bridge
Strings
standard
Volume Pedal
Deluxe Comp
Brit Plexi Brt
4x12 Greenback 25
Dynamic Plate
Tilt
Volume Pedal
← Volume pedal
Level
100%
Deluxe Comp
← Studio compressor
Threshold
-36dB
Ratio
2:1
Knee
6dB
Attack
60s
Release
910s
Mix
74
Level
0dB
Brit Plexi Brt
← Marshall Super Lead 1959 (Plexi)
Drive
7.5
Bass
4
Mid
5
Treble
7
Presence
6
Master
1
Bias
0.5
BiasX
0.5
Sag
0.5
Hum
0.5
Ripple
0.5
Ch Vol
7
4x12 Greenback 25
← Marshall 4x12 Greenback
LowCut19.9Hz
HighCut20100Hz
Level
0dB
Pan
0.5
Delay
0
Dynamic Plate
← Studio plate (Compass Point ambience)
LowCut130Hz
HighCut8000Hz
Mix
15
Decay
1.2s
Level
0
PreDelay
20ms
BassFreq
100
BassBoost
0
VarDelayAmpl
0.5
Damping
4500
MatrFreq
0.3
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
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