Highway to Hell
The swaggering riff that opens AC/DC's breakthrough. Angus Young plugged a 1968 Gibson SG Standard straight into a cranked Marshall 1959 Super Lead Plexi — no pedals — and producer Mutt Lange shaped it into a tighter, glossier sound than the band's earlier records at Roundhouse Studios, London. Angus's Schaffer-Vega wireless added a subtle preamp boost that tightened the top end. Standard tuning; the swagger is in the right hand.
Highway to Hell
What we checked
Computed by a program, on this recipe, every time this page is built. How this works
Preset files — 1 of 3 complete
- Helix builds complete — every block in the recipe is in the file
- Quad Cortex 6 blocks replaced with a stand-in model
Which ones
Replaced with a stand-in: Studio Comp, Klon, 1959 SLP Treble, 4x12 Greenback, Plate, Tilt EQ. These load cleanly but are not the model named above — the file will sound wrong here until we map them. Set these blocks by hand.
- Katana 3 blocks replaced with a stand-in model
Which ones
Replaced with a stand-in: Brown, Treble Booster (off), Reverb. These load cleanly but are not the model named above — the file will sound wrong here until we map them. Set these blocks by hand.
What we didn't check
- Nobody played this through a real amp. There is no human listening test behind any number on this page.
- The settings are reasoned from the sources below, not measured off the record.
- No audio has been rendered for this recipe yet, so you cannot hear it before you load it.
- 3 platforms on this page (TONEX, Kemper, Fractal) get a model pointer, not a preset file — nothing was built or checked for them.
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