Pete Townshend has enormous respect for Angus Young. He also believes the AC/DC guitarist is living proof of what can happen when a musician spends too much time on the road.

Speaking to Guitar Player in 2000, the Who guitarist argued that many rock musicians stop evolving because they're constantly touring instead of developing new ideas in the studio.

“I think a lot of great musicians become frozen in time because of their obsession with the road,” Townshend said. “I mean, look at AC/DC. They've never stopped touring and Angus is still wearing those stupid shorts. He still plays brilliantly—and he's one of my favorite guitar players—but the band is definitely stuck in a rut.”

It was a surprising jab at one of rock's most enduring guitar heroes — and, in fact, AC/DC are currently out on their massive Power Up tour, which returns to the U.S. on July 11.

But for Townshend it illustrated a larger point. Long before home studios became commonplace, he'd built one of his own and made it the center of his creative life.

“I was the first person,” Townshend told Guitar Player. “The only people I know who had home studios before I did — apart from electronic music composers — were Les Paul, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Barry Gray, who did music for English cartoons.”

Having his own studio gave Townshend a place to experiment with sounds and develop songs long before he brought them to the Who. Working alone, he built remarkably complete demos that served as blueprints for ambitious projects including Tommy, the abandoned Lifehouse project and Quadrophenia, allowing the band to hear exactly what he envisioned before they entered the studio.

Many of those recordings were eventually released on the Scoop albums, Lifehouse Chronicles and expanded editions of classic Who releases, including Who's Next/Lifehouse and My Generation.

Despite his reputation as one of Britain's most influential guitarists, Townshend said recording — not playing guitar — had always been his true passion. In addition to his fluency on electric and acoustic guitar, he’s also a capable drummer, bass guitarist and keyboardist when it comes to turning his ideas into fully formed demos.

“Recording has always been a passion of mine, and it still is,” he said. “I find it hard to talk about guitars and amplifiers because playing guitar is just something that I do—it's not a passion. The guitar just happened to be what I fell into, and the guitar has become an icon that has grown out of all perspective. The way that I used the guitar in the early days was incredibly irreverent. To some extent, I continue to be irreverent about it.

“My passion and enthusiasm has often been contained in my home studio — partly because it's private, and it's where I've found a way of expressing my complete musicianship. For me, the creative idea is about a neighborhood. The creative spirit needs roots — you have to be fairly well grounded before you can set it free. My studio provides me with a place to create and to be creative.”

Townshend believed the place where music is made becomes part of the music itself, pointing to early rock pioneers like Eddie Cochran and Buddy Holly, who rehearsed and recorded in garages.

“I’m a great believer in the concept that the creative process is often about where the music comes from,” he said. “People like Eddie Cochran and Buddy Holly rehearsed their routines and made recordings in their garages — Cochran used to engineer his own records!

“So you can't remove the garage from the sound of their early work. You'd never find a painter, for example, who would say they didn't need a place to work, but a lot of musicians undervalue the importance of the studio space. They'll say, ‘Here's my guitar and my bottle of water, so now I can go anywhere.’ Crap! You can't really do that.”

Townshend's own fascination with home recording began in the early 1960s after meeting Barry Gray, whose electronic soundtracks for British television introduced him to the creative possibilities of recording outside a commercial studio.

“He was doing those cartoon soundtracks electronically with simple organs,” Townshend recalled. “Pete Wilson, the guitar player in my very first band, had his father arrange for us to record our first demo in Gray's studio. We recorded one of my first songs, ‘It Was You,’ which was also the first song I ever published. This was around 1963 or ’64.”

Townshend soon began experimenting with a pair of film-location tape recorders, bouncing tracks between the two machines to create sound-on-sound recordings before upgrading to a Revox recorder with Dolby noise reduction and, later, a 3M eight-track machine.

By 2000, Townshend had embraced Pro Tools, but his old analog studio remained his creative refuge. It was the kind of space he believed every musician needed—a place to experiment, evolve and avoid becoming, in his words, "frozen in time."

“If I want to make a great-sounding demo,” he said, “I'll go back to my classic analog equipment.”

“I remember a cover me and my brother did together going way back [November 1995],” Angus Young told Guitar World in 2020. “That was nice, because there was always a tendency for people to only look at solo guitarists, while Malcolm was an out-and-out rhythm player. A lot of people forget that there's some great rhythm players out there. And the two of us were doing it together.”

Angus Young has written some of the most memorably riffs in hard rock, but his solos are equally hailed as some of the greatest. The Aussie guitarist was heavily inspired by the electric guitar work of players like Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townshend and Chuck Berry. Among his most celebrated solos can be heard in songs like “Back in Black,” “You Shook Me All Night Long,” “Thunderstruck,” “Highway to Hell” and “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You):”

Yet to hear Angus tell it, his contributions aren’t nearly as important as those of the group’s rhythm guitarist. For much of AC/DC's history, his late brother Malcolm held down the rhythm end, often with a Gretsch Jet Firebird in his hands. Since 2014 that role has been filled by his nephew Stevie Young, who took over when Malcolm retired due to dementia.

Speaking with Guitar Player in our February 1984 issue, Angus told assistant editor Jas Obrecht, “That's the easiest part, the solos. There's no great thing in being a soloist.”

Which cuts contain the essential Angus Young?

That's hard, because I never look at them as a solo thing. It's our band; we all play together. The guys all around me — it's just like a little team. I could tell you the best songs. I like "Let There Be Rock" very much. “Whole Lotta Rosie" I love, the song "Back in Black," "What Do You Do For Money Honey" — the list is endless.

Do you play all the solos on AC/DC records?

Yeah, my brother's too lazy. It interferes with his drinking.

What is the difference between your brother's and your roles in the band?

I'm just like a color over the top. He's the solid thing; he pumps it along. His right hand is always going. In that field, I don't think anyone can do what he does. He's very clean; he's very hard. It's an attack. Anyone that sees him or knows about guitars can tell.

Does the fact that you're the most recognizable member of the band ever bother Malcolm?

No. He was the one that shoved me in the first place. He got me into it: "I want you to do all of this." In the early days we used to fool around on some of our first albums. He would do little bits of guitar. We would double up, swap, do a solo here, a solo there. Malcolm's more experienced at it than me.

Playings solos or rhythm?

Anything. He knows what he's doing with it. He's got his own style and his own sound.

Could you switch roles?

I could copy it. I don't think I could fill it, not like he does.

Could he play your solos?

Ah yeah, easy [laughs]. I look at it this way: That's the easiest part, the solos. There's no great thing in being a soloist. I think the hardest thing is to play together with a lot of people, and do it right. I mean, when four guys hit the one note all at once — very few people can do that.

Will he ask you to redo solos?

Yeah, if he thinks they're not happening — if he think they’re not rock enough or don’t suit the song. It’s mainly the songs that we worry about. I won’t sit there and spend 12 hours on a guitar solo. I couldn’t. That’s pointless. I like to go in and just go — bang away at it.

Do you have a fairly good idea of what you're going to do with the solos?

No, I never work that out before, unless there's an important part, like if it's part of the song.

Are your parts ever double-tracked?

No, it's never been an important element. I'd rather go for something that's natural than to double-track. You can make it sound thick by double tracking. You can make it quiet; you can add acoustic guitars to bring it down. There are a lot of tricks like that. We've done things in the past, but it's mainly been the natural sound that we've always ended up with.

What should an Angus young solo do?

I just want to add to the song, I don't want to take away from it. You don't want to suddenly give a raging solo in a song where really it should be sitting in there. Sometimes it can go over the top. Guys will try to get in every lick they can get, cover every bit of space. We just like to go with what the track requires.

Most of your leads and fills are blues based.

I'm a sucker for that. Yeah.

How do you construct solos? Do you work out of the chords?

It's mainly spontaneous. I mean there are some things I've played where I've gone, how in the hell did I do that? You can sit there and try to figure it out for years and there's nothing to match that. In the early days. If you're playing an A chord you might play a solo that's in A. But then again, you might put progressions or notes in there that don't sound right. It sounds like you're playing in the wrong key or something, and sometimes that works.

Do you know what you're doing in musical terms?

I haven't a clue.

AC/DC are currently preparing to launch the North American leg of their Power Up tour. It marks the first time in nine years that the rockers have toured in the United States. The road stint is named for the group’s 2020 album. Since its release, the band have played just one U.S. show, on October 7, 2023, as a co-headlining act of the Power Trip music festival, in Indio, California. The Power Up tour launches April 10 in Minneapolis, and concludes May 28 in Cleveland. Tickets are available for all dates as of this story’s publication.

20 years ago, back in 2003, Guitar Player sat down with Angus and Malcolm Young to look back over their career. Prompted by AC/DC's induction in that year's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame it became a funny and insightful trip through their back catalog, made all the more poignant today with Malcolm Young's death back in 2017.

In many ways, it was a normal night for AC/DC. Guitarist Angus Young donned his famous schoolboy uniform, stepped onstage backed by the mighty rhythm playing of his older brother, Malcolm, and proceeded to electrify the crowd like a Gibson-wielding demon. However, for perhaps the first time in AC/DC’s history, Angus wasn’t the only one in the building sporting a tie.

“It was our first restaurant gig,” cackles the guitarist, “and hopefully our last.”

But while the audience was full of white tablecloths and black tuxedoes, this was by no means your average restaurant gig. It was March 10, 2003, at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, and AC/DC was being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The irony of it all wasn’t lost on Angus.

“The whole thing was kind of amusing,” he says about playing such a posh room, “because it was exactly the type of place that would normally throw us out!”

But no one was going to throw the Young brothers out of this ceremony—especially since they took a fistful of stock, Chuck Berry-style rhythm and blues licks and created one of the most identifiable rock-guitar styles of all time. In fact, the duo’s imprint on rock and roll couldn’t be more obvious if the generations of guitarists they’ve influenced had “Angus and Malcolm were here” branded on their foreheads.

Here, the Young brothers reflect on their long, adventurous journey to the Hall of Fame and the albums that got them there…

How did it feel being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
Angus: Weird—you wouldn’t really think of us in an institution like that, you know? You’d think of us somewhere else, like maybe in the Hall of Insane.

Looking back on the three decades of hard work that landed you in the Hall of Fame, is there anything you wish you had done differently?
Malcolm: No, I think we’ve done just what we’ve wanted to do. We’ve always been forceful in getting what we wanted from record companies, management, and everything else. If we had done something differently, we might not still be around. If we’d have jumped on one of the bandwagons, it might have been costly for us, like it was for many other bands. That’s why we never changed hairstyles for the latest fashion or embraced the latest musical trend. We just stuck to what we always were.

Angus: It’s like when the music of the day dictates that the guitarist has a wah pedal or a tremolo effect or something. You listen to it five years later, and go, “Jeez, it sounds so dated.” We never did that.

Ever have a temptation in the ’70s to put a disco beat on any of your records?
Malcolm: No, but a few other people wanted us to do exactly that. We literally had record company people asking us for a disco hit!

How did you deal with that?
Malcolm: We gave them Highway to Hell.

How do you respond to critics that say AC/DC’s sound hasn’t evolved much over the years?
Angus: I think what those people are really saying is that we’ve never changed our style.

Let’s look back on some of the recording sessions for the albums that have now been remastered. What do you guys remember most about tracking High Voltage?
Angus: That was our first real album, and it was the one that defined our style. Up until that point, all we had really done was a lot of touring around Australia, so it was great to get into a studio and really hear how we sounded. What was impressive about that album was that it sold on word-of-mouth alone, because music on Australian radio at that time was really soft.

Air Supply, huh?
Angus: Worse than that!

What did you guys learn from the Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap sessions?
Angus: Never to do an album that way again! [Laughs.] The “dirt cheap” part of the title says it all.

What were the Highway to Hell sessions like?
Malcolm: That’s when we first met up with [producer] “Mutt” Lange, and, to be honest, recording that album went really smoothly for us—even though the budget was tight, and we had to put the whole thing together in about three weeks.

How did Lange prepare you for the sessions?
Malcolm: He’d have us play our songs, and then he’d record them on his little tape recorder. When he came back the next day, he’d have all his ideas organized, and he’d tell us exactly where he wanted things rearranged, what parts he wanted changed, and where little breaks could be added.

Angus: For example, he put in that great break near the end of “Highway to Hell” where the band drops out, and I scrape the pick down the strings. He created the hole, and I filled it. I’m the dentist. [Laughs.]

Before that, your albums were produced by your older brother, George Young, along with Harry Vanda. What was different about working with Lange?
Malcolm: George and Harry had free studio time, so things were usually pretty relaxed. They’d say, “Come on guys, let’s go in and see what we can come up with,” and we’d end up working out arrangements while we were tracking. Sometimes we’d change a song ten times in a night. And if we thought a take was good, we might leave a weak snare or a rough-sounding guitar on it. But Mutt was very strict about making sure no bad tracks got through.

Did you have any concerns about switching to Lange?
Malcolm: Having never worked with him before—and with him being fairly new to hard rock at the time—we were worried his sounds might be a little too clean for us. But when he mixed everything, it came alive. It wasn’t as raw as before, but it sounded raw enough. And it was punchy.

Did you learn any mixing tricks from him?
Malcolm: Well, he didn’t like the room we were tracking in, so he recorded everything very dry. Then, when it was time to mix the album, he switched to another studio, pumped the drums and guitars through some P.A. speakers, recorded that room’s sound, and blended it into the mix for added ambience. We thought that was quite clever. When we heard it all together, we were knocked out.

What was the emotional climate like jumping back in the studio to record Back in Black after losing Bon Scott?
Angus: It was a bit of a do-or-die effort. We really didn’t know what would happen with that album. Luckily, Malcolm and I had a lot of good song ideas—a lot of which Mal had came up with during the Highway to Hell tour.

Malcolm: Putting those riffs together was really all that kept us going. We were in a fog after Bon died, and we had to do something, you know—just to keep ourselves alive. But we had ideas, and working on them was the only light at the end of the tunnel for us.

Did Lange help you through?
Malcolm: Yeah—although he suffered, too, because he liked working with Bon. But he kept us going by keeping us on the go. We didn’t have time to stop and think, which was good, because once you thought, it hurt.

Back in Black was mixed so well, it’s hard to imagine remastering could make it sound better.
Malcolm: I must say, the new CDs sound a lot better, and the fans seem to agree. But, to be honest, I prefer vinyl because it has that warmth. They’re also bringing out all our albums on vinyl, which is great because that’s our era.

Angus: Plus, we like the big covers! And I like the hiss when you first put the needle on a record. You can always tell just how loud it’s going to be. You don’t get that with CDs. They just suddenly go “Wahhh!”

Let’s talk about some riffs. Who wrote the three-chord theme to “Back in Black”?
Angus: Mal had that all sketched out on tape with just an acoustic guitar. He even had that little descending lick between the chords. To this day, I still don’t know if I’ve got it right, because it sounded so huge on his demo.

Malcolm: Oh, he got it right.

How did you guys come up with “Highway to Hell”?
Malcolm: Well, that was Angus. He had those chords there at the start, and I said, “Whoa, that sounds really good.” But then I wondered, “What can we do with the drums?” So I got on the drums and put down this straight beat right through it—which most drummers would never do. But it quickly locked in, and the song just flew out. It was done about five minutes later.

Angus: Yeah. We were in a rehearsal room in Miami, and Mal was banging on the drums. I went to the toilet for a minute, and I started singing the words “highway to hell” for the chorus. And then Bon put his pen down and came up with the verses.

Everybody talks about AC/DC’s huge guitar sound, but perhaps one reason your riffs sound so massive is that they often have big holes in them that let the drums jump through.
Angus: It’s kind of like a good book. Part of it’s written, but most of it is a mental picture that’s created when your imagination takes over. Those spaces make things sound bigger, because you fill them in with your mind.

Do you write with the drums in mind?
Malcolm: Yeah—that’s the main thing for us. If the drums aren’t right, it ain’t gonna work. We’re both toe-tappers. When we sit down and play guitar, our feet are going.

Angus: Usually, when we’re playing riffs like “Highway to Hell” or “Back in Black,” we hit the chord, and then tap our feet where the snare would be. We’re really two frustrated drummers. But if you listen closely to our stuff, it’s actually the vocal that holds it all together—like on “You Shook Me All Night Long.” You’ve got the guitar playing in the groove with the drum beat, but it’s the lyrics that push it along. We always look for a melody you can sing. It’s okay if it sounds pretty at first—we’ll make it rough later.

Malcolm: It’s always the songs that are good, not just the riffs.

One way you seem to make guitars sound huge—like on “You Shook Me All Night Long” and “Highway to Hell”—is by having the bass wait until the chorus to come in.
Angus: See, we are subtle after all! Pretty deceptive, huh?

“You Shook Me” is remarkable in that it’s possibly the only hard rock song that gets spun regularly in dance clubs.
Malcolm: That’s right. AC/DC is really a dance band. We got our start having to get people to dance in the small clubs in Sydney. The managers would say, “If you want to work here again, get people out on the dance floor so they sweat and buy more beer.” We’ve basically stuck to that.

When many people think of AC/DC, they think of huge power chords. But not everybody realizes you use more open chords than barre chords.
Malcolm: The big, open G chords are great. Just be careful not to hit too many of the thin strings when you’re strumming. Stop your strum at about the G string, and it just rounds bigger. The tone is crucial, too, because there’s a fine line between being too clean and too distorted. It’s all about getting that perfect edge going with your Marshall, rather than having the chords sort of fart through.

You’re known for using a fat set of strings, Malcolm—including a wound G.
Angus: He uses barbed wire for a G string.

Malcolm: I use Gibson Sonomatics [later sold under the name “L-5”] gauged .012-.058. I switched to that gauge three months after the band formed, and I’ve never changed. I first went to them because we’d been having tuning problems. I thought, “Well I’m just playing rhythm, so I’ll get the thick strings and keep my tuning solid.” Then I realized that we sounded better, too, because the rhythm sounds were bigger. You get more volume from thick strings. And they do stay in tune better when you’re digging in as hard as I do. I rip the chords as hard as I can so the wood really resonates. There’s no finesse involved.

Angus: He doesn’t tickle it [laughs]. And if you actually watch him, he goes through so many guitar picks! It’s a real piece of art—all those picks lying around him at the end of the night. They’re all just shredded.

Malcolm: On “For Those About to Rock,” we do a big, extended ending, and I might tear up four heavy picks in that closing section alone. They just burn down. You can literally smell them in the air.

And you guys are still sticking to your same guitars?
Malcolm: They’re like extra limbs, those guitars. I’ve used my [1963] Gretsch Jet Firebird from day one, and, in the studio, Angus uses the same Gibson SG that he always has. But he doesn’t bring that one out on the road because it’s a lot more delicate than his others. It has a really thin neck, and with the hammering he gives his guitars, it doesn’t stay in tune for long.

Do your SGs get beat up, Angus?
Angus: Believe it or not, the biggest problem is that they get waterlogged.

With sweat?
Angus: Yeah. The screws and pickups start rusting, and the guitar techs are always having to open them up and clean them out.

What about amps?
Angus: I’ve found that Marshall 50-watters produce the best sound in the studio. I can get more drive out of them—which also suits the tonal difference in our guitars. My SG has a more mid- to top-range sound, and Mal’s guitar has more bottom-end. Onstage, however, I usually play through four 100-watt Marshalls with the volume just over halfway up.

Malcolm: I’m running through three 100-watt Marshalls, but the only one that gets miked is my early-’60s Super Bass, which I’ve had forever and use in the studio, as well. Even when we’re doing arenas, I’m rarely above two. If those amps are on three, that’s a loud night for me. I’m up just enough to put that sharp edge on the chords. Live, Angus plays a little bit more distorted than he does in the studio, so that he can use the volume knob on his Gibson to pump up the drive for his solos.

Angus: A big reason we’ve ended up with such huge rigs is because when we were still doing opening slots, we’d often get shortchanged at soundchecks. The guitar amps would usually be the last things to get miked, so we said, “Let’s make sure we get heard.”

Malcolm, you’ve watched Angus run around the stage for decades now. Has he slowed down any?
Malcolm: He’s only getting more hyper. The only time he’s still is in that ten minutes just before we go on. He just goes completely silent.

What’s going on in those ten minutes, Angus?
Angus: I’m just finding the demon inside [laughs]. I think we all carry around someone else who’s bursting to get out of us, and that’s what usually happens with me. Plus, I’m a chain smoker and the only time I don’t have a cigarette is when I’m onstage. So perhaps nicotine withdrawal plays a part in the wildness.

Malcolm, do you ever get bored standing in back of the stage all night?
Malcolm: No. I love planting myself next to the drums and getting that groove thing going. I even put one of my feet against the drum riser so that I can feel the drums vibrating. Besides, Angus and Brian are the showmen—as was Bon—and they provide more than enough visual excitement. And it’s a good idea to stay out of their way because you can get run over!

Have you two ever had any serious arguments in the studio or in rehearsal?
Malcolm: We do have our “had enough” days. Particularly when the pressure is on, or if we’ve been working in the studio for a long time—you know, not sleeping and eating take-out food around the clock. But we’re not ones to stew for long. When we hear stories of what some bands go through—like Guns N’ Roses, for example—we think “Wow, what a waste.” Those guys should just grow up, get back together, and get back out there.

This interview first appeared in the July 2003 issue of Guitar Player. For more info on AC/DC, visit their website.

If there is a message to be taken from AC/DC, it’s simply “Don’t give up.”

In early 1980, the band were on the cusp of a commercial breakthrough. Highway to Hell, their 1979 album, had been a Top-20 record in the U.S., putting the Australian group in a make-or-break position to barrel its way to the highest reaches of the charts the next time around.

They had already begun working on their follow-up release. But the band’s dreams seemed to meet an abrupt end on February 19, when its frontman, Bon Scott, died after a night out in London.

Over the next month, the dispirited group considered disbanding. It was Scott’s own parents who convinced them not to give up.

After auditioning singers, they recruited Brian Johnson, the frontman for an English glam-rock act called Geordie, who had been one of Scott’s favorite vocalists.

Returning to the album they’d been making, the group transformed it into a tribute to their fallen singer – not a sorrowful record but a celebration of his spirit through the high-powered rock and roll that had inspired all of them to become musicians in the first place.

The result was not only AC/DC’s commercial breakthrough but also an album that has gone on to become the best-selling rock and roll record of all time: Back in Black.

“I guess at the time you don’t know,” lead guitarist Angus Young told Classic Rock. “So it was kind of ‘go for broke.'”

“It was a force of nature,” added Johnson. “I remember putting the first song on and just going, ‘Wow.’ I couldn’t believe it was that good. But nobody thought it was going to do what it did.”

Second only to Michael Jackson's Thriller on the best-selling albums list, Back in Black has sold an estimated 50 million copies to date.

Far from calling it a day, AC/DC went on to enjoy a long, thriving career.

Imagine it’s 1960 and you’re working for Gibson in Kalamazoo, Michigan. You’re sitting at a table with other employees looking at what will one day become the Holy Grail of electric guitars: the sunburst Les Paul Standard from the period 1958 to 1960.

It has Honduran mahogany, big-leaf maple, Brazilian rosewood and PAF humbucking pickups. It is timeless and achingly beautiful.

But the financial picture for this guitar isn’t pretty.

The company revived the Les Paul with humbucking pickups in 1957, and again in ’58 with the sunburst finish. Sales peaked in 1959, but you’ve shipped fewer than 1,800 ’Bursts in all. Your biggest-selling guitars are the lower-priced slab-bodied Les Paul Junior and Melody Maker. What’s more, you’re doubling the size of your factory and need to get it working to capacity.

This is when your boss, Ted McCarty, makes a decision that ultimately ensures the original ’Burst will become a holy grail. Equally important, it creates yet another legendary Gibson solidbody.

The SG’s Origins

As Gibson’s president from 1950 to 1966, McCarty was ultimately responsible for the most important electric guitar designs in the company’s history.

The SG’s development was part of a wider restructuring of the electric guitar line through the late 1950s and early ’60s. In hindsight, the decision to radically morph the Les Paul Standard into what we now know as the SG may look like madness. At the time, however, and in the context of what was happening in the market, it was the obvious move.

Gibson’s legacy of expertly crafted archtop instruments was enjoying new electric life via the hollow-body ES-175 and revolutionary ES-335 thinline semi-hollow of 1958. Meanwhile, the trend for more modern-minded, feedback-busting solidbody electrics for younger rock and roll players received a shot in the arm that year with the Flying V and Explorer. Both guitars were well ahead of their time, however, and sold poorly as a result.

Less radical, but just as important, in 1958 came Gibson’s first double-cutaway solidbody, the Les Paul Junior, which would prove pivotal to the SG’s genesis. For 1961, McCarty took the single-cutaway Les Paul Standard’s 60mm thick body and slimmed it considerably, did away with the carved maple top and left a simple slab mahogany body already popularized by the Junior and Melody Maker.

The shape was resculpted to a more aggressive, modernist outline, offering twin cutaways and unrestricted access to the very last of its 22 frets.

With the chunk of wood gone between the 16th and 21st/22nd frets on the bass side, the neck would also prove more unstable and very easy to bend in and out of tune, resulting in the SG’s most notable and – depending on your style – most loved or loathed idiosyncrasy. Indeed, the neck was slimmer than on the 1960 Les Paul model.

Retained from the previous models were most of the hardware and electronics complement. The first models shipped with the distinctly odd, sideways-action Gibson Deluxe Vibrato, and the overall effect on tone was a brighter, harder-edged sound, with less apparent low-end response.

It was certainly different, and it proved – as if more proof were necessary – that McCarty was moving forward fearlessly.

Losing Les

Les Paul, by all accounts, wasn’t enamored of his new signature guitar. As Tony Bacon explains in his book 50 Years of the Gibson Les Paul, and as Walter Carter notes in The Gibson Electric Guitar Book, the superstar’s contract with Gibson was up for renewal in 1962 or 1963, depending on who’s telling the story.

Due to Les’s waning popularity in the charts, impending divorce from Mary Ford and general dissatisfaction with the new design, his contract wasn’t renewed. He wasn’t officially associated with the company again until 1968, when Gibson reintroduced the original Les Paul shape, having realized that a handful of world-changing players were lusting after those old ’Bursts, as played at the time by blues guitarists like Eric Clapton, Michael Bloomfield and Peter Green.

The new guitar, meanwhile, became the SG – for Solid Guitar – and so it would remain.

Over the years, the SG has been subjected to numerous revisions, changes and tweaks. Like Fender’s celebrated Stratocaster and Telecaster and, indeed, Gibson’s own Les Paul model, the SG has survived mid-’60s stylistic tinkering, a 1970s corporate meltdown and the metal-driven excesses of the 1980s.

What prevails in the hearts of most guitar enthusiasts are those classic specs from the ’61-’63 period: the cherry-finished Standard, Juniors and Specials, and the white three-pickup Custom that will forever be associated with Jimi Hendrix.

A Happy Mistake

60 years later, who could have guessed that evolving the super-plush single-cut Les Paul Standard into a stripped-down, twin-horn rocker would net the most desirable electric guitar in history for Gibson, right alongside its rebellious, outlandish sibling?

Exciting, visceral and thoroughly modern, players who saw it couldn’t help but be seduced by its sharp lines and unbridled playing potential. In the hands of guitarists like Angus Young, Pete Townshend, Tony Iommi, Frank Zappa, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Robby Krieger, the SG has come to hold a unique place, both tonally and visually, in rock and roll history.

Long live the Solid Guitar. May it never grow up.

***The following originally appeared in the June 2011 issue of Guitar Player***

Certain guitar solos are infused with magic. They may or may or may not be technically challenging, flashy, or otherwise virtuoso, but they have that special something that sets them apart from what came before, and they typically alert guitarists everywhere that their world has forever changed. 

What’s more, those magic solos tend to inspire legions of guitarists to attempt to unlock their technical and tonal mysteries, and permeate the six-string community’s collective unconscious, re-emerging later as direct and indirect influences on individual players’ styles. Somewhat paradoxically, however, there is no consensus on which solos have achieved this iconic status.

When we began working on this story, we came up with a lengthy list of solos to include. Our first task was to set up some guidelines. We decided to limit the list to electric rock solos, along with blues and jazz-rock fusion solos that influenced rock. We also set a limit of one solo per artist.

At that point, there were still many more than 40 solos on the list, so we had to make some hard choices. To start, guitarists who were hugely influential overall, but couldn’t be tied to an ultra-influential solo – such as Tony Iommi and George Harrison – were cut. 

We then had to narrow down our selections to just one for each artist, which was difficult for someone like Eric Clapton, whose entries at that point included “Crossroads,” his cover of Freddie King’s “Hideaway” on the Blues Breakers album, and his historic wah workout on “White Room.” Once the smoke cleared, however, we had reached consensus. 

The solos are organized chronologically – including those that fall within the same year – because we thought it would be instructive to see how they relate to each other historically. 

We hope that you like we came up with and perhaps even discover an overlooked gem or two for yourself...

1. Elmore James “Dust My Broom” (1951)

Jimi Hendrix originally called himself Jimmy James and Maurice James in homage to Elmore, and every bluesman since the ‘50s – particularly slide players – owes something to the King of the Slide Guitar. 

Played in an open-D tuning (D, A, D, F#, A, D, low to high), probably on a Kay flattop or Harmony Sovereign with a D’Armond pickup, the slide hook on this tune, and the solo based on it, reappear countless times throughout blues and rock music.

2. Les Paul “How High the Moon” (1951)

The super-syncopated, slap-back soaked runs, chukka-chukka doublestops with bluesy bends, plucky cascading figures, and idiosyncratic ornamentations in Paul’s two solos helped propel this standard up the charts, and further established Paul as the most creative electric guitar player of his generation. 

It was recorded with his “old Epiphone” – a.k.a. “the Clunker” and “the Breadwinner” – with custom-wound hot pickups and other major modifications.

3. Scotty Moore “That’s Alright, Mama” (1954)

Armed with his Gibson ES-295 through a ‘52 Fender Deluxe, Scotty Moore, bassist Bill Black, and their bud Elvis, had no idea what a firestorm they were about to create with this early single. 

Moore’s simple, to the- point style covered the drummer-less bases quite easily with a fat tone and swinging musicality, giving this rather hillbilly ensemble some dangerous sonic heft.

His break on “That’s Alright, Mama” inspired everyone from George Harrison to Keith Richards to Jimmy Page, as well as Danny Gatton, who never missed an opportunity to throw a Moore homage in the middle of one of his famed rockabilly rave ups. 

Moore’s barking double-stops and approximation of a tic-tac bass line on “Mama” are as hooky as it gets, making this solo one of the most important ever.

4. Eddie Cochran “Sittin’ in the Balcony” (1957)

Slinging a 1955 Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins Hollow Body 'G'-branded guitar with a Gibson P-90 in the neck slot, Cochran, with his iconic presence and echo-drenched tones, hugely impacted early rockers – such as Lennon and McCartney, who bonded over Cochran’s “Twenty Flight Rock” upon meeting in 1957 – and innumerable players thereafter, particularly Brian Setzer. 

The twangy solo on Cochran’s first hit, “Sittin’ In the Balcony,” crackles with the influence of his heroes Chet Atkins, Joe Maphis, and Johnny Smith.

5. Chuck Berry “Johnny B. Goode” (1958)

While some people might not consider this song’s intro a “solo,” it might be the most important rock guitar part ever recorded. 

The doublestops essentially usher in the post-Elvis rock era, and the tone and balls of this iconic part would echo in the playing of George Harrison, Keith Richards, Eddie Van Halen, and Angus Young... and that's just one tenth of one percent of the players who have copped these licks. 

Listen to it again. You’ll see.

6. Hank Marvin “Apache” (1960)

A primary influence on nearly every British guitarist of a certain age, Marvin created a dreamy, echo-y sound on this #1 U.K. hit that was achieved by playing his Stratocaster – the first in England – through a Meazzi Echomatic tape delay and a Vox AC30 tube amp. 

Marvin mostly used the bridge pickup, but picked near the neck, and palmed the vibrato arm to impart his trademark twang.

7. Freddie King “Hideaway” (1960)

Freddie (a.k.a. Freddy) King cobbled “Hideaway” out of parts lifted from tunes by Hound Dog Taylor, Jimmy McCracklin, Robert Lockwood Jr., and even Henry Mancini. 

Between the breaks where he recycled bits of “The Walk” and “Peter Gunn,” King played stinging solos that he plucked on a P-90 equipped Les Paul using a plastic thumbpick and metal fingerpick. 

Eric Clapton did his own version of the tune on John Mayall’s 1966 album, Blues Breakers, and the success of “Hideaway” made it a launch pad for a number of other King instrumentals that would further his notoriety as one of the top blues guitarists of the ‘60s and ‘70s.

8. James Burton “Hello Mary Lou” (1961)

Having turned pro as a teenager on the Louisiana Hayride, Burton was a seasoned vet by the time he became the lead player in Ricky Nelson’s band, which was featured regularly on the TV show The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. 

Burton was a great rock and roll player, as evidenced by his Chuck Berry-style solo on “Believe What I Say,” but he also inspired legions of pickers with his explosively twangy lead break on “Hello Mary Lou.” 

Burton’s playing on Merle Haggard’s early ‘60s hits like “Mama Tried” and “Swingin’ Doors,” inspired the late, great Roy Nichols, who said, “I learned a lot from Burton, and I copied some of his licks, but I couldn’t copy him to a ‘T’.”

9. Jeff Beck “Over Under Sideways Down” (1966)

Along with the Rolling Stones, no band inspired more hard-edged guitar-wielding maniacs than the Yardbirds. Beck’s playing on their classic garage rock anthem is, like much of his playing at this time, inspired by the groovy sounds of the sitar. 

Equal parts spacey modal madness and meth-infused pentatonic fury, it still ranks as some of Beck’s most inspired playing, and that says a lot. 

And not only was Beck’s otherworldly playing inspirational to a generation of guitarists, but his punky stage demeanor and nasty sonic streak (a ‘54 Fender Esquire into a Tone Bender fuzz and AC30), served notice to everyone that a new sheriff was in town, and he was kicking ass.

10. Albert King “Born Under a Bad Sign” (1967)

If Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix lift your licks lock, stock, and barrel, your influence has been spread very far and very wide. In fact, one can make the case that Albert King was the most influential King, just by virtue of the not-so-subtle tributes by his admirers. 

King Albert’s authoritative bends and economical phrasing are required study for anyone who wants to play blues-rock guitar. On this cut, the Velvet Bulldozer lives up to his nickname, making his Gibson Flying V moan, scream, and move mountains with sweeping bends and a stinging tone that delivers all of the nuances in his playing. 

It also proves that, even though SRV and Clapton could “do” Albert, they were never really even close. 

11. Eric Clapton “Crossroads” (1968)

This one is a giant among giants. Little did Slowhand know, after he walked off the Winterland stage in San Francisco, he had created a template setting the standard for expressive, lyrical, howling blues-rock guitar. 

Armed with a ‘64 Gibson ES-335 and a couple of non-master volume 100-watt Marshall stacks, Clapton’s first break is a textbook example of how to build a solo’s intensity, while the second manages to kick it up one more notch for maximum climax. 

Not a duff note in the bunch, impeccably phrased, and with a vibrato that’s as classy as they come, Clapton could have never played another note and he’d still be one of the most influential players ever. 

12. Jimi Hendrix “All Along the Watchtower” (1968)

One can only guess what sort of “light bulb” moment Jimi experienced when he first heard this tune from Bob Dylan’s 1967 album John Wesley Harding. Maybe it was the biblical references in the lyrics, or the great melody – or perhaps just the wide-open space for improvising afforded by the four-chord progression. 

Whatever it was, the version that appeared on Hendrix’ Electric Ladyland album gave rise to one of Jimi’s most memorable solo outings. Playing soulfully and inventively using a wah and fuzz, Hendrix reinvented “All Along the Watchtower” to such a degree that it’s sometimes easy to forget who actually wrote the tune!

13. Peter Green “Black Magic Woman” (1968)

B.B. King once said of Green, “He has the sweetest tone I ever heard; he was the only one who gave me the cold sweats.” After establishing himself as a masterful blues stylist in John Mayall’s band, Green quickly evolved both as a player and a songwriter with Fleetwood Mac. 

On his D minor tour-de-force “Black Magic Woman,” Green pulls off an incredibly captivating melody, and his beautiful phrasing and soulful bending on a Les Paul with “magnetically out of phase” pickups was pure gold. 

Carlos Santana made the song a huge hit on Abraxas, and Green was also influential on Irish blues rocker Gary Moore, who would own – and eventually sell – Green’s famous Gibson. 

14. Robert Fripp “21st Century Schizoid Man” (1969)

Fripp’s serpentine solo on this alarmingly virtuosic track combines a supersaturated sustained tone with atypical intervallic movement, non-bluesy bends and trills, and note choices and phrasing that had more in common with Coltrane than Clapton. 

Playing a three-pickup ‘59 Les Paul Custom through a Marshall stack and probably either a Burns Buzzaround or a Colorsound Tone Bender, he recorded the seminal progressive rock solo.

15. Jimmy Page “Heartbreaker” (1969)

Selecting the most influential Page solo led to a heated debate. 

But the squawking tone of a ‘58 Les Paul into a Marshall SLP 1969 Super Lead, maniacal cluster picking, wicked hammer-ons and pull-offs, and behind-the-nut G-string bending in the first solo on “Heartbreaker” – not to mention the smoking second solo – explain why everyone from Brian May to Steve Vai to Steve Morse have hailed it as a definitive guitar solo.

16. B.B. King “The Thrill is Gone” (1969)

With a tone sweeter and thicker than molasses, B.B. King graced this song with one of his most emotive blues solos of all time. King knew what the tune called for in context of the highly produced album Completely Well (his first with strings), and it wasn’t about showboating. 

Far from it, judging by the way he grooves so succulently behind the beat. Besides being a big hit for B.B., “The Thrill is Gone” showed guitarists the power of playing slow and cool. 

In an era when Johnny Winter was introducing blues-rock shredding, B.B. King’s huge vibrato and deep soul defined what “playing from the heart” was all about. 

17. Leslie West “Mississippi Queen” (1970)

Leslie West’s massive and massively influential tone on Climbing! – which included “Mississippi Queen” – was created by playing through a Sunn Coliseum P.A. head and four 4x12 speaker cabinets. 

“The head had four microphone inputs and a master volume control, huge transformers and gigantic KT88 tubes, and the cabinets were loaded with Eminence speakers, which never hurt your ears, even with the treble all the way up,” West told GP in 2010. 

He was playing Gibson Les Paul Juniors at the time, and used a single-cutaway 1956 Jr. with a single P-90, strung with La Bella Electric Guitar strings (with a .010 banjo string for the high E and the other strings moved down one to create a light-gauge set) on the track. 

The song reached #21 on the Billboard charts, assuring that West’s signature sound was heard across the country and around the world.

18. Duane Allman “Statesboro Blues” (1971)

By 1970 Duane Allman and Dickey Betts had forged one of the most iconic guitar sounds of all time with their harmonized melodies on songs like “Revival” and “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.” 

But as far as slide players went, few at the time got more acclaim than Duane himself, after the 1971 release of The Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore East. Duane’s slick phrasing and fat, singing tone on the opening track of the double live album was inspired by hearing Taj Mahal’s rendition of the song with Jesse Ed Davis on slide. 

Sonny Landreth, who remembers seeing the Allman Brothers at the time, recalls: “That huge tone that Duane got when he played slide on a Les Paul through a Marshall was a real game changer. I don’t remember anyone else who had a sound like that back then.”

19. John McLaughlin “Meeting of the Spirits” (1971)

Although he had already done revolutionary work with Tony Williams’ Lifetime, Miles Davis, and as a solo artist, McLaughlin’s combination of molten Gibson-through-cranked-Marshall distortion, impossibly fast and complex yet ultra-precise picking, and unique phrasing on The Inner Mounting Flame shattered all existing concepts of “electric guitarist” and lit the fuse of fusion.

20. Ritchie Blackmore “Highway Star” (1972)

Actually a harmonized pair of solos, the tasty bends, rapid-fire triplets, and whammy manipulations on this Strat-into-a-Marshall-amp (via a reel-to-reel tape recorder preamp) solo make it one of Blackmore’s most memorable.

The Deep Purple guitarist’s influence on legions of rock and metal shedders from Morse to Malmsteen to Mustaine is undisputable.

21. Billy Gibbons “La Grange” (1973) 

Gibbons made his mark on this classic shuffle with two solos. 

The first, done on a ‘55 Strat, enters screaming with that classic rear pickup Fender bite, before Gibbons flips to the front pickup for a swinging double-stop workout and some liquid pentatonic runs delivered with his impeccable sense of time and swing. 

But it’s the track’s second solo that the guitarist is most famous for, and the one that every hard rock player would study, due to Gibbons’ insane pinch harmonics. With his “Pearly Gates” ‘59 Les Paul, the Reverend squawks, grunts, and chokes out so many pinch harmonics that it would be laughable if it wasn’t so damm bad ass. 

22. Brian May “Bohemian Rhapsody” (1975) 

Brian May’s touch, tone, and orchestral instincts have proven impossible to imitate, but that hasn’t stopped people from trying. 

His majestic lines on this classic are quintessential May, with precise picking, impeccable phrasing, and a bold, loud sound. 

The solo’s placement in the mix was influential, informing how bands such as Boston and Styx featured their solos. You’ve got to assume Dr. May’s harmonized lines at the end of the song got Tom Scholz’s attention as well.

23. Larry Carlton “Kid Charlemagne” (1976)

Carlton was already a session legend known for his smooth-as-silk lines that were reminiscent of Wes, Pass, and Trane when he cut this Steely track. 

But when Mr. 335 combined a rock dude’s tone with a jazzer’s harmonic sensibilities, he created the standard by which every jazz rocker would be judged. 

Ask Steve Lukather, Robben Ford, or Mike Stern what impact this solo had on them. 

Alright then.

24. Carlos Santana “Europa (Earth’s Cry, Heaven’s Smile)” (1976)

Santana masterfully caresses the tune’s main melody with his trademark singing sustain and thick tone, never quite giving up the goods until the outro solo where he lets it all hang out in an outpouring of soulful yet wicked playing. 

He displays a fluid, tactile control at all times, and his tone is more open-sounding and less compressed than in recent years. 

And when he kicks the wah on, look out – he ratchets up the intensity tenfold, just when you think it can’t go any higher. Simply put, “Europa” is a study in pace, melodicism, and space – as well as good, old fashion burning!

25. Al Di Meola “Race with Devil on Spanish Highway” (1977)

Sure, there were people who could play fast before Di Meola, but nobody had made it such a central part of their deal before Big Al came along. 

Di Meola’s picking ability coupled with his sick, self-described “mutola” technique raised the bar for audacious shred and players interested in pushing the limits of picking. 

Far from being a pattern-minded monotone shredder, Di Meola’s Latin influences and his compositional sense have always made his displays of virtuosity supremely musical. 

And for all of the shred haters, Di Meola proved that the emotional impact of many notes is just as valid as a few well-placed ones. 

26. Eddie Van Halen “Eruption” (1978)

What can you say about this cadenza from hell? Cut in 1978, this has to be one of the most influential pieces of guitar playing ever. 

EVH took a Strat with a humbucker, an MXR Phase 90, and a plexi Marshall, and then played some supercharged Clapton licks that boggled just about every 6-stringer’s mind in the world. 

It was Van Halen’s two-handed tapping that truly grabbed everyone’s attention, however, and made this the most recognizable solo of the next two decades. “Eruption” made an impact on millions of rock dudes and seemingly every kid who set foot inside a Guitar Center.

27. Allan Holdsworth “In the Dead of Night” (1978)

As Bill Bruford put it, this solo was, “94 seconds of liquid passion married to a blinding technical facility that was to go down in the annals of rock guitar history. 

"All the hallmarks of his brilliant playing were there in this solo: poise, pace, melody, the Slonimsky interval jumps, the whammy bar, and all over a killer groove.”

28. Mark Knopfler “Sultans of Swing” (1978) 

When Mark Knopfler released this fingerpicked two-pickup masterpiece, he showed guitarists that you don’t need distortion or a plectrum to rock. 

With a Strat on the bridge and middle pickups, a Fender Twin Reverb and a Roland JC-120, Knopfler played two deft, bouncy solos that referenced Chet Atkins with snappy popped notes, crying bends, and clever arpeggios. 

Along the way he influenced just about every clean tone for the next 20 years. When people talk about an “out of phase” Strat tone, they’re talking about this tune.

29. Michael Schenker “Rock Bottom” (1979)

The 1970s was a great time for live records, with classics from Frampton, Lizzy, and Ted Nugent, but one of the sweetest solos to grace a double LP came from UFO’s Michael Schenker. 

The extended break on this tune has everything great about Schenker: melody, dynamics, tone for days, and burning. 

This lead would fascinate rockers all over the world, including George Lynch, Vinnie Moore, Akira Takahashi, and Kirk Hammett.

30. David Gilmour “Comfortably Numb” (1979)

Few solos can match the vibe of Gilmour’s work on this iconic piece. 

Playing a ‘79 black Stratocaster with a ‘62 neck and DiMarzios through Hiwatts and Yamaha RA-200 rotating speaker cabinets, Gilmour transformed what are essentially blues licks into a signature statement that affected the molecules in myriad musical minds. 

This is arguably his crowning achievement as a soloist.

31. Angus Young “You Shook Me All Night Long” (1980)

It serves to reason that a song that is all about getting it on should have a solo that is sexy, right? 

Damn straight. 

Young’s turn on this global hit finds him harnessing his kinetic blues tendencies into a steamy, attitude-laden solo that is actually kind of funky. 

His tasteful major pentatonic flavorings as well as his gorgeous tone – thanks to a wound up old Marshall and a Gibson SG – are the icing on the cake of his impeccable groove, intonation, and phrasing.

32. Randy Rhoads “Crazy Train” (1980)

After Van Halen, it wasn’t easy for an L.A. rocker to make a mark, but Randall Rhoads did so in a big way on his debut with Ozzy. 

Rhoads took what he had gleaned from Mick Ronson, Gary Moore, and Bach, and synthesized it into this metal tour de force. 

He wasn’t the first guy to blend classical music and rock, but he was absolutely the gateway drug for players like Zakk Wylde and Tom Morello.

33. Stevie Ray Vaughan “Pride and Joy” (1983)

The second cut on SRV’s debut album, Texas Flood, “Pride and Joy” blasted onto the airwaves courtesy of a great melody, catchy lyrics, and a gamechanging solo in which Vaughan threw down a barrage of killer licks with a gargantuan tone from his Fender/Dumble rig. 

SRV’s deft songwriting and his Albert King/Hendrix-influenced style succeeded in making what was fundamentally a classic “tay-hass” shuffle into a huge AOR hit that every classic rocker is expected to cover in perpetuity. 

Bottom line is, after SRV came along, anyone who thought they could play blues with fire and passion got a schoolin’ the size of Texas.

34. Yngwie Malmsteen “Black Star” (1984)

Mike Varney’s rep as a finder of great guitarists was already solid when he wrote about a kid from Sweden with a funny name in 1983. 

Many players’ first exposure to Malmsteen was on this shred fest. With his blinding speed, dazzling classical arpeggios, gorgeous Strat-into-Marshall tone, and larger than life vibrato, he didn’t raise the bar for rock technique – he obliterated it. 

Yngwie changed the game forever with this one, just ask any rocker who has swept an arpeggio since then.

35. George Lynch “The Hunter” (1985)

Dokken's George Lynch has inspired countless rock and metal players for nearly 30 years with his perfect blend of structured melodicism and off-the-rails fury – all in the space of a 16-bar solo. 

This solo is a perfect example, as he eases into it with memorable, understated melodic motifs that are helped along with some thick-ass tone and sick vibrato. 

Halfway through, however, Lynch begins to turn up the jets. Alternate picking, sweep picking, and legato playing become one within a single winding phrase, giving him a sound and style that are difficult to ape. 

However, Lynch did show the way for shred-obsessed guitarists on how to structure a meaningful statement in the middle of a tune and leave an everlasting mark. In fact, his solos are the only thing that don’t sound dated about Dokken.

36. Kirk Hammett “Master of Puppets” (1986)

Kirk Hammett’s influences include his teacher Joe Satriani, Michael Schenker, and Thin Lizzy. And nowhere are those influences more prominent than on this tune. 

Hammett’s whammy bar work and speed picking would inspire countless kids to notch their mids, cram their theory, and play blazing solos over chugging grooves.

37. Joe Satriani “Always with Me, Always with You” (1987)

Satriani is obviously known as a master technician, but it’s his melodic side that has left the biggest imprint on guitardom. 

This sweet ballad showcases Satch’s singing tone, skillful ornamentation, and ability to blend the tasty with the jaw dropping. 

The reach of this solo is apparent in hundreds of instrumental guitar records, country ballads, movie soundtracks, and car commercials.

38. Kurt Cobain “Come As You Are” (1991)

Although he took about as many solos and Johnny Ramone, the late Nirvana guitar anti-hero played a memorable one in this song from 1991. 

Presumably using a Boss DS-1 for dirt and an Electro-Harmonix Small Clone chorus for the warbly modulation, Cobain simply quoted the vocal melody in a snotty, vibey way, and the kids went crazy. 

Suddenly, young players – many with a sanctimonious disdain for ‘80s-style wanking – were taking a break from strumming through songs and trying their hands at playing single-note lines.

39. Zakk Wylde “No More Tears” (1991)

Logic dictates that Zakk Wylde was doomed to failure when he got the gig with Ozzy. 

A blond kid with a Les Paul? Really? 

But then people got a taste of his huge tone, squealing harmonics, and rapid-fire pentatonics and a new star was born. 

On this tune Zakk channeled Rhoads, Billy Gibbons, and Frank Marino into a solo that was emblematic of the new generation of metalheads.

40. Dimebag Darrell “The Great Southern Trendkill” (1996)

The post-Van Halen, post-Randy Rhoads world was in dire need of a champion when Darrell Abbott came on the scene. 

He took the styles of those guys, mixed in some Ace Frehley, some Lynyrd Skynyrd, and a heapin’ helpin’ of moonshine and created the ass-kicking solo here. 

Dime made it cool to love Holdsworth, EVH, and Billy Gibbons all in the same song.

AC/DC was the brainchild of Malcolm Young (1953-2017) and his younger brother by two years, Angus. The last of seven brothers, both were born in Scotland, though the Young clan emigrated to Australia in 1963.

An acoustic guitar usually accompanied the family on weekend camping trips, and all the brothers learned to at least strum some chords. Malcolm took up guitar a few years before Angus, and both lads played in local teen bands.

Routine day jobs fueled their dreams of making it as rockers. "I was a printer," confided Angus, "and I just got out as quickly as I could.”

The brothers’ parents were upset when their youngest boys announced that they were quitting work to play in a band. However, 1975's High Voltage and T.N.T. albums were proof of AC/DC’s awesome potential.

One of the greatest electric guitar duos in hard rock history, it was the launch of a musical legacy that continues to inform guitar players decades down the line.

The following extracts are taken from an interview that appeared in the February 1984 edition of Guitar Player following a conversation with Angus Young in 1983 when AC/DC were on their gargantuan Flick Of The Switch world tour…

Do you play all the solos on AC/DC records?

Yeah, my brother's too lazy. It interferes with his drinking.

What's the difference between your brother's and your roles in the band?

I'm just like a color over the top. He's the solid thing; he pumps it along. His right hand is always going. In that field I don't think anyone can do what he does. He's very clean; he's very hard. It's an attack. Anyone that sees him or knows about guitars can tell.

Does the fact that you're the most recognizable member of the band ever bother Malcolm?

No. He was the one that shoved me in the first place. He got me into it: "I want you to do all of this." In the early days we used to fool around on some of our first albums. He would do little bits of guitar. We would double up, swap, do a solo here, a solo there. Malcolm's more experienced at it then me.

Playing solos or rhythm?

Anything. He knows what he's doing with it. He's got his own style and his own sound.

Could you switch roles?

I could copy it. I don't think I could fill it, not like he does.

Could he play your solos?

Ah yeah, easy [laughs]. I look at it this way: That's the easiest parts, the solos. There's no great thing in being a soloist. I think the hardest thing is to play together with a lot of people, and do it right. I mean, when four guys hit the one note all at once – very few people can do that.

Does being brothers influence the way you and Malcolm play? Others, such as the Van Halens and Schenkers, have said that they can sense what their brothers are going to do.

I don't know about that. I just think as brothers you can sort of shout each other down. You can go, "Hey, cut that out!" So you've just got a good rapport.

Malcolm does inspire me. He has very high standards in his way of playing and everything. He's very musical minded, but he can go to the extremes, overindulgence.

Like if we are in a studio and I have to do these things like solos, he'll say, "I want this to rock like thunder," and you've got to make it rock. He just says something like that and you know exactly what he means.

Will he ask you to redo solos?

Yeah, if he thinks they're not happening – if he thinks they're not rock enough or don't suit the song. It's mainly the songs that we worry about. I won't sit there and spend 12 hours on a guitar solo. I couldn't. That's pointless. I like to go in and just go, bang away at it.

Explore the AC/DC catalog here.

On this day, in 1975, AC/DC released their debut album, High Voltage. This seminal long-player differs from the 1976 international release of the same name which comprises tracks taken from the original version and its follow up, T.N.T. (AC/DC's debut and sophomore albums were only available in Australia.)

Though AC/DC were yet to scale the heights of international rock stardom their debut is well worth a visit for any fan. Tracks like “Show Business,” ”Little Lover,” and “She’s Got Balls” (the latter two were included on 1976’s international High Voltage release) were warning shots from a musical force that would soon unleash its full cannonade.

Ultimately, Oz wasn’t big enough to contain AC/DC.

This amazing clip filmed in 1975 just months after the debut High Voltage release shows the band kicking ass as they perform the album's closer, "Show Business."

Already, Angus Young has found his feet as he literally puts his own stamp on the stage while duckwalking around strapped with a Gibson SG (and a satchel, of course.)

Though Malcolm Young is renowned as one of the best rhythm guitarists in music history, it’s nice to see him performing lead duties here. He was also a fantastic lead player who shared much in common with his brother stylistically.

“If Malcolm sits down to play a solo,” said Angus, “he can do it better than me.”

Eagle eyed viewers may notice Malcolm Young’s Gretsch Jet Fire Bird is still sporting its original red finish. This famously modified electric guitar was later stripped and had all pickups but the rear/bridge Filter’Tron removed.

Browse the AC/DC catalog here.

Few guitarist/electric guitar duos are more legendary than AC/DC's Malcolm Young and his trusty 1963 Gretsch Jet Firebird.

With two holes in its body – one in the center, a result of the installation and subsequent removal of a humbucker between the Firebird’s two Gretsch FilterTron pickups, and one below the neck, from the removal of the guitar's original neck pickup – the rough 'n' ready, single-pickup axe was emblematic of Young's tough, no-frills approach to rhythm guitar.

It's almost impossible to imagine the late AC/DC rhythm maestro recording without the guitar affectionally known as "the Beast," but exceptions to the rule – somewhat to Young's chagrin in this particular case – did occur in the AC/DC discography.

When asked by Guitar World in a recently-resurfaced 2003 interview if he exclusively used the Beast in AC/DC's recordings, Young had this to say:

"Yes. I think the only time I didn’t was when we recorded 'High Voltage.' My guitar had been broken, and we had to get the song down that night, so I just grabbed whatever was lying around the studio. I believe it was a Gibson L-5. 

"To this day," he added. "I still hear that track and go, 'Ugh.' [laughs] But other than that it’s the Gretsch on everything."

Of course, Malcolm's brother Angus is just as synonymous with his guitar of choice, a cherry-red Gibson SG.

When asked in the same Guitar World interview if he had ever used anything else on an AC/DC recording, Angus said, "Actually, come to think of it there is one track – 'Live Wire' – that I did with another guitar because I had broken mine as well. I did an overdub with a Les Paul, I think."

Angus Young playing a Les Paul on record, you ask? Not so fast. 

"Once my SG was fixed," Young clarified, "I just went out and recut it!"

The dawn of the ’70s saw hard rock emerge as the predominant form of rock, a loud and brash style that excelled in arenas and stadiums, to which touring acts had graduated. 

Next to Led Zeppelin, two of the biggest groups of the time were Deep Purple and Grand Funk Railroad. After exploring pop and prog in the late ’60s, Deep Purple found their groove with their Mark II lineup in 1970, releasing In Rock, the album that broke them into the mainstream. Meanwhile, Grand Funk Railroad became massively successful with their updated power-trio format. 

Despite critical denunciations and little radio airplay, the band sold millions of albums and in 1971 sold out Shea Stadium in just 72 hours, something that had taken the Beatles several weeks to do in 1965.  

Hard rock remained robust throughout the decade, branching off into glam rock with groups like Queen and the New York Dolls and growing proggy in the hands of acts such as Journey and Styx. 

Others, including Boston, Foreigner, and REO Speedwagon, forged a slick and radio-friendly style of songcraft with anthemic choruses and dramatic arrangements that played well in large arenas, earning it the “corporate rock” tag.   

As the decade grew to a close, two new guitar heroes emerged: Eddie Van Halen and Angus Young. As the guitarist for Australia’s AC/DC, Young was in many ways a throwback to an earlier era, with his Gibson SG, use of bluesy pentatonic licks, and appropriation of Chuck Berry’s duck walk. 

Van Halen was in every way his opposite, a blazingly fast and innovative shredder unlike any other, who played guitars he’d heavily modified to meet his playing demands. Both would give hard rock the kick it needed to remain vital into the 1980s.

Brian May

His backline of up to 15 Vox AC30s was referred to as the Wall of Death for its sheer volume. That alone might qualify Brian May for inclusion on any list of hard-rock guitarists, but there is much more to his style. 

As Queen’s guitarist for 50 years and, along with the late Freddie Mercury, one of its main songwriters, May expanded hard rock’s stylistic palette, combining rock and roll with the theatricality of Led Zeppelin, the glammy camp of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust era, and the musical diversity of the Beatles. 

Along the way, he’s made his ringing, harmonized lead work one of the most distinctive and recognizable guitar tones in all of rock. 

His signature sound was nearly fully formed when Queen arrived in record shops in 1973 as a quasi–heavy metal/progressive-rock act. Their self-titled 1973 debut played to those strengths, but 1974’s Queen II introduced elements of glam and found the band developing the multilayered overdubs and vocal harmonies that would become their trademark.

“Led Zeppelin and the Who are probably in Queen II somewhere, because they were among our favorite groups,” May said at the time. “But what we are trying to do differently from either of those groups [is] this sort of layered sound. The Who had the open-chord guitar sound, but our sound is more based on the overdriven guitar sound. I also wanted to build up textures behind the main melody lines.”

Indeed, May’s fretwork was the group’s distinctive second voice to Mercury’s own. While he’s used a number of guitars over the years, including Fender Telecasters and Gibson Les Pauls, his main axe has been his homemade Red Special, sporting three Burns Tri-Sonic pickups, each of which can be put out of phase and used singly or in combination with the others, providing a vast range of tones.

As for May’s use of AC30s and a treble booster, he gives credit to his hero Rory Gallagher, whom he met in the late ’60s following a gig by Gallagher’s band Taste at the London Marquee.

“I said, ‘How do you get the sound? What is it?’” May recalled in 2015. “And he said, ‘Oh, it’s very simple. I have this amp – an AC30 amp – and I have this little [Dallas] Rangemaster Treble Booster.’ So I went straight out and got the AC30 and the Treble Booster, and it gave me what I wanted. It made the guitar speak.” 

But they were only part of the formula. May’s distinctive lead tone comes from plugging his treble booster into his custom Deacy amp, built by Queen bassist John Deacon from a discarded transistor-radio amplifier circuit and a bookshelf speaker. Warm, smooth, and sustaining, the resulting tone allowed May’s Red Special to sound like a violin or even a human voice.

The amp would prove especially useful starting with 1974’s Sheer Heart Attack, where Queen settled into the hard-rock/pop amalgam that became their signature for much of that decade, allowing May’s multi-tracked harmonized guitar lines to shine on countless Queen tracks, from “Killer Queen” and “Tie Your Mother Down” to “Stone Cold Crazy” and “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

So remarkable was the sound that, for a while in the 1970s, Queen’s albums carried the disclaimer “No Synthesizers!” in their sleeve notes, lest listeners mistake May’s remarkable layered guitar work for keyboards.

Top Track: “Keep Yourself Alive”

Paul Kossoff

With the British blues-rock band Free, as well as his later solo project, Back Street Crawler, Paul Kossoff proved himself to be a dynamic and expressive guitarist with a blazing style that called on two of his biggest influences – Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. 

His tough, sinewy phrasing with a Les Paul or a Strat through Marshall 100-watt amps is captured on the two-CD set from 2006, Free: Live at the BBC. He died tragically in 1976 on a flight from L.A. to New York.   

Top Track: “Songs of Yesterday”

Ronnie Montrose

He began as a journeyman guitarist, playing with Van Morrison, Herbie Hancock, and Edgar Winter, among others. But it was with his own group, Montrose, fronted by an unknown Sammy Hagar, that he established his legend as the precursor to the virtuoso likes of Eddie Van Halen. 

To many fans, Montrose was America’s answer to Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Black Sabbath, and Ronnie had the chops to go up against any of their guitarists.   

Top Track: “Rock Candy”

Buck Dharma

Blending rhythm and melody into a distinctive lead style, Dharma (born Donald Roeser) applied his memorable licks and riffs to Blue Öyster Cult’s songs, many of which he penned, including the hits “Burnin’ for You,” “Godzilla,” and “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper.” 

Despite being lead guitarist for one of the era’s most successful hard-rock acts, his playing never got the widespread acclaim it deserved, probably because he played no more than the songs required.   

Top Track: “Burnin’ for You”

Ace Frehley

Most guitar fans wouldn’t consider Ace Frehley to be among the most technically advanced players in the hard-rock universe, and Ace would probably agree.

“I don’t know shit from Shinola,” he once said. “I think that’s one of the reasons that I’m original – I never took lessons or had any formal training.” And make no mistake, Ace is indeed an original.

To paraphrase a line commonly uttered about the Velvet Underground, a case could be made that practically every kid who heard and saw the Spaceman play in the 1970s went out and grabbed a guitar for themselves.

Which is to say that while Ace Frehley doesn’t tap, sweep, or shred, he has nevertheless served as one of rock guitar’s most influential and pivotal figures almost from the day in 1972 that he walked into a New York City rehearsal space wearing one red and one orange sneaker and nabbed the lead-guitar slot in Kiss.

And while his bandmates Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley did most of the visual and sonic scenery chewing throughout the ’70s, it was Frehley’s lead style – characterized by long pentatonic runs, wobbly vibratos, and slurred triplets – that inspired generations of future guitar heroes, including Pantera’s Dimebag Darrell, Skid Row’s Dave “Snake” Sabo, and Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready, to pick up their guitar and play.

Of course, Frehley – armed with his arsenal of two- and three-pickup Les Pauls – knew how to make an onstage spectacle of himself as well, whether it was planting smoke bombs in the guitar’s pickup cavity, shooting rockets off the headstock, or hanging his axe on a hook and having it fly up into the lighting tresses.

Since the 1980s, Ace has been in and out of Kiss, and he’s launched his own band, Frehley’s Comet, as well as a successful solo career. With nearly half a century invested in the music business, his influence and impact are firmly set in stone. 

“It’s a combination of my songwriting, my voice, my attitude, my persona,” he’s said. “It’s the package. I know great guitar players that don’t have any image or personality. You need it all.”  

Top Track: “Shock Me”

Joe Perry

There’s a reason that, for decades now, Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler has introduced the man to his left onstage as “Mr. Joe fucking Perry.” It’s because the Massachusetts-bred Perry plays guitar, to put it one way, like a mutha. 

Whether keeping it tight and funky on “Walk This Way,” groovy and heavy on “Sweet Emotion,” fast and frantic on “Toys in the Attic,” or bluesy and deep-in-the-pocket on “Same Old Song and Dance,” he tackles every riff, lick, and lead with unmatched cool, class, and charisma. As he’s said, “It’s all just attitude.”  

What’s more, Perry is an avowed gear hound. He’s brandished a mouth-watering array of guitars over the years, from classics like ’59 Les Paul Standards and vintage Strats and Teles to unique examples that include his custom-built Tele-Rat, a Guild X-100 Bladerunner, a Chet Atkins Classical Electric (for the solo on “Janie’s Got a Gun”), and his own signature Gibsons, among others.   

But perhaps the most distinctive thing about Perry’s guitar approach is how intuitive and innate it feels. His funkiness never comes off as imitative or labored (check out his hard-grooving Fender Bass VI work on “Back in the Saddle”), and his blues riffs and phrases, in comparison to many of his peers, feel less weighted down by any strict adherence to tradition. 

What’s more, he’s also a stone-cold killer on slide, whether handling a Lucite Dan Armstrong for “Draw the Line” or a Chandler lap steel for “Rag Doll.” As for his rock credentials, there’s a reason Aerosmith are often called America’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band. And while they’re also the biggest-ever-selling hard-rock band in the U.S., as far as Perry’s concerned, that’s just coincidence. 

“People spend their careers trying to figure out what makes a hit single,” he has said. “But I learned a long time ago that you can’t anticipate what people want, because it’s always going to change. Play what you want to play.” 

Top Track: “Walk This Way”

Neal Schon

When Journey formed in the early ’70s, it was a mind-blowing experience to witness this spectacular young guitarist – who as a teenager had turned down a job offer from Eric Clapton and left his gig with the Santana band – step out on his own and play with such fire, passion, and intensity.

As Journey moved away from their early fusiony sound and began transforming into the pop-rock megaband we know and love, Schon’s playing remained incredibly soulful and bluesy.

He’s always crafted his solos with great compositional skill that moved the music and kept the listeners wanting more. Schon wasn’t labeled a “shredder” per se (which can be a good or bad thing, depending on one’s perspective), but he’s had a certain willful restraint in his playing that few pop-rockers have been able to display so naturally. 

He’s always sounded perfectly in sync with the songs, and was never one to blow solos for the sake of, well, blowing. Just listen to Schon’s lead work on “I’ll Be Alright Without You” or “Patiently,” or when he goes all-out on “In Self Defense,” and you’ll hear that soaring, voice-like quality in his playing.   

Top Track: “World Gone Wild”

Tom Scholz

Boston are often maligned as “corporate rock,” an ironic categorization for a band whose debut album was conceived largely by one guy working alone in his wood-paneled basement after getting off work as a product design engineer for Polaroid. 

That guy, guitarist and songwriter Tom Scholz, not only managed to come up with Boston’s self-titled, multi-Platinum-selling 1976 debut album – he also revolutionized rock-guitar tone using little more than a goldtop 1968 Les Paul with a “neck like a log” that he recorded at extremely low volume due to his less-than-adequate studio environs.  

Scholz has identified that tone – characterized by a sweetly distorted and heavily sustaining guitar sound – as the combination of his Les Paul running into an old 100-watt Marshall head and a prototype power soak that he built “because of the need to bring down the gain, but without losing the saturation of the sound.” 

It wasn’t just the sound of Scholz’s guitar that was unique, however – it was also the notes he played on it. The solos he constructed for Boston (and co-guitarist Barry Goudreau must be recognized here as well) are towering marvels that dip, soar, and mount to explosive climaxes. 

Spiked with unusual harmony lines, bends, and note choices, and just the right amount of flash, they can be listened to as mini compositions in and of themselves. Despite the corporate rock tag, Scholz’s influence on critic-approved artists is now widely recognized. (Consider Kurt Cobain, who put more than a little of “More Than a Feeling” into Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”)

Scholz also changed guitar tone with his development of the Rockman, the pocket-sized headphone amp simulator used by, among others, Def Leppard on their bajillion-selling 1987 album, Hysteria.

After more than 40 years, Scholz’ tone and touch remain as unique and awe-inspiring as ever. “That sound grew out of what I did naturally,” he has explained. “It’s that simple. Left to my own devices, with no outside interference, the sound of Boston is what I come up with.”

Top Track: “Hitch a Ride”

Angus Young

Angus Young and AC/DC have been accused of making the same album over and over again for the past 45 years. But if you achieve high-voltage rock-and-roll perfection on more or less the first try, why would you change a thing? 

The Aussie guitarist is certainly one of the most explosive and captivating players in rock and roll, with guitar and sartorial styles all his own. 

Mixing hopped-up Chuck Berry rhythms with blues boogie, pop songcraft, and a hint of heavy-metal thunder, Angus and his late brother, rhythm guitarist Malcolm, constructed the riffs that power some of rock’s most monumental and iconic songs, including “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap,” “Highway to Hell,” “Back in Black,” and “You Shook Me All Night Long.” 

Regarding these riffs, Angus once said, “We always look for something that’s a little bit special. And a lot of it has to do with rhythm. We tend to go for, if we can, a bit more blues, a more rhythmic thing. Our riffs transport you. We don’t know where, though.” 

His solos and melodies are just as immediate, hook-laden, and “transporting,” mixing bluesy pentatonics with repeating motifs, open-string pull-off licks (hello, “Thunderstruck”), subtle hybrid-picked figures, and teeth-rattling double-stops, among other signature touches.

What’s more, he’s often performed them sweaty and shirtless while convulsing on his back, duck walking across the stage, or being paraded through the audience atop his singer’s shoulders.

And let’s not forget that sound. Is there a more revered or sought-after tone in all of hard rock than the bright yet thick, spongy yet gritty, distorted yet somehow insanely clean sound of his Gibson SG through a 100-watt-Marshall?

It’s as impressive and distinctive today, on AC/DC’s brand-new Power Up album, as it was on 1975’s High Voltage. And maybe there’s a reason for that. “If you’re playing it right,” Angus once said, “it’s going to sound right somehow.” Perfection, indeed.

Top Track: “Let There Be Rock”

Eddie Van Halen

In almost any other case, it would be outrageous to say that rock and roll would sound entirely different were it not for one artist. But when the artist in question is Eddie Van Halen, who passed away in October 2020 at age 65 after a long battle with cancer, it’s the stone-cold truth.

It took just 30 seconds of brain-scrambling, two-handed tapping in 1978’s “Eruption” for Eddie to completely change guitar’s vocabulary. But that was just one act in his rewiring of the electric guitar’s DNA. Eddie also blurred the line between rhythm and lead playing and made every song a thrill-a-second rollercoaster ride with his screeching pick slides, dive bombs, superhuman shredding, syncopated grooving, and fiercely aggro-metal riffing.

He may not have been the first player to use any of the above techniques, but no guitarist before him had combined them to such thrilling ends. In Ed’s hands, six strings not only sounded like an orchestra – they also sounded impossibly alive. Beyond his playing style and technique, Eddie changed rock tone.

His coveted “brown sound” – created by running his homemade, humbucker-equipped Frankenstein guitar into a Marshall 100-watt with the voltage dampened by a Variac – quickly became the gold standard for tone. Every ’80s shredder attempted to replicate it, but no one came close.  

And as much as Ed transformed the sound of guitar, he also changed its look. With a body and neck purchased for roughly $130, a PAF humbucker, a rudimentary tremolo, and some gaffer tape and spray paint, he helped birth the Fender/Gibson-style hybrid now known as the superstrat – a hot-rodded, built-for-speed, often wildly finished shred machine. The Frankenstein, as Ed’s guitar became known, was only the beginning. 

He continued to make gear advances later on with Kramer, Music Man, Peavey, and, finally, his own EVH brand. 

In the end, it would be impossible to sum up Eddie Van Halen’s contribution to rock – contribution to music, even – in a few hundred words, or even a book, although his own thoughts begin to get at the heart of his approach: “You have 12 notes, and the 13th one is the octave,” Eddie said in 2016. “Do whatever you want with them. It’s really that simple. There are no mistakes.”  

Top Track: “Eruption”

AC/DC have been quite busy of late promoting Power Up, their first new album since 2014, and the first they've released since the death of their co-founder and rhythm guitarist, Malcolm Young, in 2017.

Recently, the band's SG-wielding icon of a lead guitarist, Angus Young, sat down for a chat with Vulture. During the discussion – which revolved around the rock titans' extensive discography – Young was asked what he thought was AC/DC's "most regrettable" tune.

Young's answer was "Love Song," a track from the original, Australia-only version of the band's debut album, High Voltage. Released in 1975, it was excluded from the subsequent, internationally released version of High Voltage, and only saw the light of day again in the 2009 box set, Backtracks. 

“That was very different for us,” Young said of the song. “I didn’t know if we were trying to parody love songs of the time, because Bon [Scott] wrote the lyrics. I don’t even remember what the words are. 

“I remember that song because the guy who worked for us at our record label told us that’s what was on the local radio at the time – very soft music. He thought we should release that song, because it’ll probably get some airplay. I remember thinking, ‘Who in their right mind would want this to go out?’ ”

Young did point out, however, that "Love Song" had at least a few benefits for the band.

“We were very fortunate, though, because all of the radio stations who had seen us live knew this was not who we were. So these stations started to flip the record over and play the other song, which was a cover of a blues standard called 'Baby, Please Don’t Go.' We actually scored a hit from the B‑side! That was the one saving grace of the song.”

Power Up – the band's sixteenth internationally released studio album – topped the charts in well over a dozen countries upon its release last month. It's available now for download, and on all streaming services. 

AC/DC are currently prepping for the release of Power Up, their first album since 2014, and their first since the death of the band's co-founder and rhythm guitarist, Malcolm Young, in 2017.

In anticipation of the new album, Angus Young sat down for an extensive interview with Guitar World, where he discussed the new album, his relationship with Malcolm and how his brother's legendary rhythm abilities often obscured his equally impressive lead skills.

“I remember a [Guitar World] cover me and my brother did together going way back [November 1995],” Angus told Guitar World.

“That was nice, because there was always a tendency for people to only look at solo guitarists, while Malcolm was an out-and-out rhythm player. A lot of people forget that there's some great rhythm players out there. And the two of us were doing it together.

“But what a lot of people never knew was that Malcolm could do a solo probably even better than me. He’d come up with some great licks. Whenever I heard his things, I’d always say, ‘How's he doing that?’”

In another recent interview, Young revealed his all-time favorite Gibson SG, saying "It's a vintage one. The one that I've always had and [that's] been on every album I've ever done is a guitar that now, because it's been on so many AC/DC songs, I just save it for the studio now." 

You can order a copy of the Holiday 2020 issue of Guitar World, featuring Young's extensive interview, at magazinesdirect.com.

AC/DC have been busy of late prepping for the release of Power Up, their first album since 2014, and their first since the death of the band's co-founder and rhythm guitarist, Malcolm Young, in 2017.

And while that new AC/DC album was indeed the occasion that brought Angus Young and reinstated frontman Brian Johnson onto Dean Delray's Let There Be Talk podcast, Young was also asked an intriguing gear question during the interview: if he had to pick just one of his beloved Gibson SGs as a favorite, which would it be?

"It's a vintage one," Young said. "The one that I've always had and [that's] been on every album I've ever done is a guitar that now, because it's been on so many AC/DC songs, I just save it for the studio now. I keep it away because over the years when I used it live it got so many bumps and cracks and I don't want it damaged any more. I want to preserve it and it's there for when I'm doing studio stuff. 

"When I've got that guitar, it's so reliable. I just have to plug it in. I can get all my guitars and line them up, I can go through them all and every one you'll go, 'That's a great sound, that's a good sound" but that one, that's the one. It's just got its own thing to it."

Granular details on the guitar, however, are surprisingly scant. Even Young himself isn't sure when it was built, telling Guitar World "I think it was a '69 or '70, although I had someone else tell me it might even be a '71 or '72. So I don't really know for sure."

Though some have also stated that the guitar is a 1968 model, there's greater consensus around the theory that the vintage SG in question was the first affixed with Young's now-trademark lightning bolt inlays.

Debate aside, you can enjoy AC/DC's hard-rockin' comeback single, "Shot in the Dark," above.

In early 2000, right around the time AC/DC unleashed their Stiff Upper Lip album, Angus Young grabbed a Gibson SG (or two) and sat down for an intimate on-camera interview.

During the resulting video, which you can check out above, Young discusses how he and his brother Malcolm got started on guitar, why he favors SGs over Les Pauls ("If you're a little guy like me, [a Les Paul] can give you hip displacement"] and how he developed "little chords" to compensate for the "big stretch" chords he was unable to play because of his small hands.

Best of all, Young breaks out his best Chuck Berry riffs, followed by riffs inspired by Freddie King, Jimi Hendrix and John Lee Hooker. He also discusses - and demonstrates - his own approach to bending strings.

"I suppose people of an average, medium height, when they bend, they just bend the string. With me, you have to sort of lean into it. A lot of people will say they see a lot of movement when I'm on stage. But it's actually me trying to get around the fretboard [laughs]."

At the 7:02 mark, Young shows how he gets "effects" without using pedals, including "rude noises," and siren and rifle sounds. He then launches into "Stiff Upper Lip" around the 9:14 mark.