Quest for Early Angus Young Tone

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shuie

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I?m amp shopping. I?m looking for a small head that I can use to get close to Angus Young's tone from the High Voltage album. That real glassy bell like and borderline clean sound, not the later half cranked 100 watt Marshall stuff.

I know the Komet can do it, but that?s out of the question. Too loud, and honestly, it?s too much money.

I put a deposit down on a Zinky blue velvet 25 watt combo this weekend but I think I?m going to either bail out on that deal or flip it quickly. It?s #29 and it?s a really great amp, but it?s not what I set out looking for. Total impulse decision after finding the unexpected and noodling around with it. Neat amp.

I've been looking at the Dr Z specs for the Route 66. I don?t know the circuit or have any experience with the amp, but they must have been shooting for JTM45 tone since it has the KT66 power tubes and the GZ34 rectifier.

Does anyone have any experience with the Dr Z amp? Any recommendations for recreating early Angus Young tone?

TIA
 
I seem to recall Angus using 70's Marshall JMP Master Volume heads, so why dont you look for one of those, either a 50 or 100watt, depending on the sort of volume you require. Also it's a more authentic way of getting a Marshall sound, to buy a Marshall, also a hell of a lot less expensive than a Dr Z or whatever boutique amps you've been looking at. Plenty on ebay ?350-?500.

G :eek:
 
+1, just listening to that album again - lovely... 8) I think it's a SG guitar over a 50 or 100w non-master volume Marshall with solid state rectifier and a 4x12" Marshall cab, probably with G12H30 Celestions. Didn't he invent that sound? Reminds me that I didn't test my 1969 JMP50 combo with my Marshall cab yet...
 
That is my absolute favorite guitar tone. I dont know how much any of these guys really reveal about their tone but Ive read several pieces in the guitar rags where Angus says he used a JTM45 for a long time before going to the 100 watt Marshalls at half volume. The two old JTM45s Ive played through could get me real close. The Komet prototypes did to. No surprise there since they were based off of an early JTM45. Also no surprise that the reissue JTM45 that I used to have did not get me close :)
 
I'm not sure if the old JTM45 also had a solid state rectifier in the power amp section, but to me it doesn't sound like a tube rectified Marshall, because it doesn't break down early, more like a 100w head. Anyhow, the speakers in the Marshall cab are also very important, that's why I mentioned the Celestion G12H30 which are louder, clearer and "ballsier" than the G12M25 Greenbacks. I have a pair of both in my cab. By the way, still listening to that album... ;)
 
I remember some ACDC interviews through the years...

Angus started out with a JTM45 equipped with KT66, then changed to MR1959, in the 80ies to Marshall 2000 Lead with six 6550 tubes and about 200-250 watt... recordings in the 80ies often with a "little fatty" Studio 15.
In the 90ies he came back to JTM45 RI with 4x12 G12M cab in an isolation box.

I think you can plug Angus with a Stratocaster into a solid state Roland and it will still sound like Angus. It?s his vibrato and his picking attack that makes him sound unique.

I made some very good results with an SG (it was a cheapo Kasuga from the 70ies) and a JTM45 RI that I modified to preamp specs of MR 1959 from ?69/?70. I added a pre-phase-inverter-master too to make the amp more controllable.

Check www.18watt.com (site is down now, but hopefully back soon). These Amps give you a real BIG CHUNKY GREAT POWERAMP DISTORTION !!!

Best regards, Twango
 
JTM 45's have tube rectifiers (GZ34/5AR4). Totally cranked JTM's have a bit more sag that the solid state rectified 1987's and 1959's but not a whole bunch IMHO. The GZ34/5AR4 is a pretty "stiff" tube rectifier compared to other recto tubes like the 5Y3's used in the tweed Deluxes.

Jim
 
I agree with 18w,it's the AC/DC sound all there and at reasonable audio levels.I had a JTM45 but I did not use tyoo much because you have to dial it very high to get the good sound out of it(KT66 tubes)....
Loverocker is a great guy to deal for a 18w for sure.Just call him....
 
My only beef with the 18 watt Marshall circuit is lack of headroom at gigging volumes. The thing a lot of people overlook with the Angus Young sound is just how clean he plays - not much in the way of distortion at all. That's why the JTM's with KT66's sound the best for the style in my opinion.

Jim
 
Hi,

I'm a new user here and a longtime AC/DC fan.

My tip is: talk with greg germino.
I'd suggest:
a jtm 45 (classic 45)
a jtm 50 (club 40 High power with ss rectifier)
a 1967 superlead (fillmore classic)

Speakers:
g12m25s - alien/mcgourty or southbay/scumback - not the celestion RIs
g12h30s - southbay/scumback - not the celestion RIs
 
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That would be a good start... 8)

http://cgi.ebay.com/1972-Marshall-Model-1987-JMP-50-Watt-Head_W0QQitemZ7399262455QQcategoryZ38075QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Although it's obviously not a JTM45, but they will be even more expensive than this JMP50.
 
I grew up here in Australia playing the same pub rock scene as Angus and AC/DC(still am...no millions for me sadly) and we all used to use either plexi's or the straight 4 input marshalls and we used to overdrive one channel by using a patch lead to bridge the channels.
We used to swap gear all the time...Angels...AC/DC....Cold Chisel...Rose Tattoo...I had a backline of Marshall 4x10 cabs with AC/DC's spray painted logo's all over them...and they had a backline with "THE ANGELS" all over them....ahhhh...them's were the days.
Playing festivals with AC/DC headlining and a cover price of $5(Aud)...that's about 2 quid for you pommies.
 
shuie said:
I?m amp shopping. I?m looking for a small head that I can use to get close to Angus Young's tone from the High Voltage album. ...

TIA

which high voltage album - the australian one (1974) or the european one (1976)?
 
What u need to understand is that Angus's tone on those early albums was his guitar straight into an amp.
We would use the occasional whah pedal...maybe some flanger,phaser or chorus but for the most part it was guitar and amp.
Sometimes for a clean accoustic sound we would plug straight into the board.
So the "secret" tone is the right guitar........right amp AND right playing style.
With the recent advances in amp modelling it's pretty easy to get a closer sound with the aid of effects.
Even the way i get my sound has changed...I run a Zoom G2 through the clean channel on my Marshall and use the effects channel for a solo boost.
The one thing that has remained the same?
The WAY that I play....I'm old school...like Angus...like the Brewster brothers...like Ian Moss.
Soloing around the blues pentatonic scale...crunchy rythym tones...smooth creamy solo tones....and sustain by the truckload.
So basically yes,the equipment does play a small role in the tone...but the key to THE sound is in the playing style.
 
Coming from the same era playing pubs in australia what Ozeshin said is spot on.
Angus's sound is really just Angus with a good guitar and amp not like all the mystical BS associated with EVH.
In those days you plugged your fender or gibson or maybe an Ibanez into a marshall and just rocked out using the blues scale.
Usually everyone was too drunk to care about tone and all that stuff.
 
I think that the Ozmeister and JS are right with the style thing. Quality gear helps but I think all this schmengulation 'tween guitar and amp and this setup v that setup gets in the way of things a bit. Keep it simple I say. I know Angus uses a humbucker equipped guitar but you can nail that almost clean sustaining tone of his with a Junior and a 20 - 50 watt Marshall head. Try the new smaller hardwired Marshall series and get some power stage distortion going.

Mike.
 
You need to think overdrive rather than distortion...that saturated tone works great if you're after a Steve Vai type of sound(which I think sounds great in his hands) but to get that classic low end WHOOMP it's a vintage valve or handwired amp and humbuckers.
Like I said in an earlier post...for years and years that was my setup...Les Paul or SG straight into a plexi.
Sadly(as we all have experienced) lack of funds and changes to lifestyle(i.e.wife and kids) has meant that all the good stuff I had is gone.
Now it's a Marshall solid state MGDFX50...4x12 Celestion quad ....ZOOM G2 effects modelling and either my Love Rock or Peavey.
It's the closest I can get to the classic sound that I used to cherish :cry:
 
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