Crayon Sky Music

Angus Young Sig Pickups?

hey i have an ibanez ex and i really love the sweet tone that these angus young pickups put out i heard them played on an gibson sg i know it wont sound as good as the sg would but will it still have like the acdc type tone and sound on my ibanez plz serious answers only

Well, some preliminary research on the guitar says its a Gibson SG with specially designed humbucking pickups. A little more research tells me that the pickups are specially-matched Alnico V bar. As far as the guitar itself, one link I found suggested that it might be a mahogany body and neck with rosewood fingerboard. The type of wood is important, it will determine that basic underlying tone of the guitar itself.

To cop the AC/DC sound guitar-wise, I would find a high-output humbucking Alnico pickup. Try Seymour Duncan, I’ve included a link to their “Compare Tones” page – the type of material used inside the pickup is listed. The George Lynch Screamin’ Demon and the JB model are both excellent choices, for instance. If you can get a guitar with woods similar to mahogany that would help out, too – koa, for instance, if not mahogany itself. You would want a wood that is relatively low in overtones, with good bass response. Basswood might be another possibility.

The type of string is probably less of a concern…. I would use the heaviest strings you feel comfortable with, though, for a little bit thicker of a tone. That’s me talking. Actually, using nickel strings would be good – a little mellower than steel. Elixirs are nickel, and are coated to last longer.

Your amp and speakers will make the biggest tonal contribution, in my opinion, and if you’re going to sink your money anywhere, getting a good amp and speakers is the way to go.

Angus is said (by the wikipedia entry below) to use plexi Marshall amps… the JTM series, especially JTM45, with Marshall cabs. I would recommend a 50w tube plexi with a cabinet loaded with vintage 30 Celestions. 50w would mean that you get your saturated tone sooner without having to crank as loud as a 100w, and lower watt speakers will give a warmer, sweeter sound (speaker distortion) at lower volumes. I can’t stress enough that too much volume is actually a bad thing – sound men really don’t like guitar players who turn up too much on stage.

If you can’t afford a 50w plexi Marshall, you can probably get close with a different tube amp… you’d have to play around with the preamp tubes, but putting EL34′s in the power tube section would give more of a midrangey sound, a classic Marshall trademark. I’m sure you can get somewhat close with using a multifx pedal going into a tube amp, as well.

So, let’s review….

Bassier sounding guitar
High output Alnico V humbucker (Seymour Duncan JB?)
Probably thicker nickel strings (Elixir?)
Low watt tube amp with EL34 power tubes (Marshall plexi)
Cabinet with low watt speakers (Marshall, vintage 30′s)

and/or

Multifx pedal with “Plexi” amp model

Good luck… hope this helped!

Saul

Gibson SG Angus Young Signature- Shook Me All Night Jam