AC/DC
Highway to Hell guitar tone settings.
Highway to Hell · 1979 · Hard Rock
Explore Highway to Hell by AC/DC: an example rig, amp settings and playing tips. Adapt the reference to your own supported gear with Amper.
Artwork unavailableOpen-chord rhythm
Medium-gain crunch that preserves chord movement.
In your hands
Let the chord attacks breathe and mute between the riff's phrases.
Evidence and sources
Angus Young's 1984 interview describes his SG and Marshall preferences. This is general artist context, not documentation of the controls used on this recording. Amper's pickup, effect choices and normalized 0–10 targets are suggested recreations unless specifically attributed above. Numeric settings are not documented artist settings. Listening validation is pending.
An authored example rig, not your matched settings or a documented artist preset.
guitar · Gibson
SG Standard
3-way toggleWhy this setting?
Editorial starting point, not a measured reproduction. Compare at equal listening volume and adjust by ear.
Neck volumeWhy this setting?
Set pickup output here. Both volumes stay available so the middle selector position is not accidentally muted.
Normalized knob travel 0-10. Neck output.
Bridge volumeWhy this setting?
Set pickup output here. Both volumes stay available so the middle selector position is not accidentally muted.
Normalized knob travel 0-10. Bridge output.
Neck toneWhy this setting?
Editorial starting point, not a measured reproduction. Compare at equal listening volume and adjust by ear.
Normalized knob travel 0-10. Neck treble roll-off.
Bridge toneWhy this setting?
Editorial starting point, not a measured reproduction. Compare at equal listening volume and adjust by ear.
Normalized knob travel 0-10. Bridge treble roll-off.
amp · Marshall
DSL40CR
Classic GainWhy this setting?
Editorial starting point, not a measured reproduction. Compare at equal listening volume and adjust by ear.
Normalized knob travel 0-10. Classic channel preamp drive.
Classic VolumeWhy this setting?
Start with output at minimum, then raise toward this low starting position to suit your room; knob position is not loudness.
Normalized knob travel 0-10. Classic channel output.
Clean/Crunch buttonWhy this setting?
Editorial starting point, not a measured reproduction. Compare at equal listening volume and adjust by ear.
Also selects Classic channel unless an external two-way footswitch is connected.
TrebleWhy this setting?
Editorial starting point, not a measured reproduction. Compare at equal listening volume and adjust by ear.
Normalized knob travel 0-10. High EQ.
MiddleWhy this setting?
Editorial starting point, not a measured reproduction. Compare at equal listening volume and adjust by ear.
Normalized knob travel 0-10. Mid EQ.
BassWhy this setting?
Editorial starting point, not a measured reproduction. Compare at equal listening volume and adjust by ear.
Normalized knob travel 0-10. Low EQ.
Tone ShiftWhy this setting?
Editorial starting point, not a measured reproduction. Compare at equal listening volume and adjust by ear.
PresenceWhy this setting?
Editorial starting point, not a measured reproduction. Compare at equal listening volume and adjust by ear.
Normalized knob travel 0-10. Power-stage high-frequency response.
ResonanceWhy this setting?
Editorial starting point, not a measured reproduction. Compare at equal listening volume and adjust by ear.
Normalized knob travel 0-10. Power-stage low-frequency response.
Classic ReverbWhy this setting?
Editorial starting point, not a measured reproduction. Compare at equal listening volume and adjust by ear.
Normalized knob travel 0-10. Classic channel reverb.
Master SelectWhy this setting?
Editorial starting point, not a measured reproduction. Compare at equal listening volume and adjust by ear.
Master 1Why this setting?
Start with output at minimum, then raise toward this low starting position to suit your room; knob position is not loudness.
Normalized knob travel 0-10. Output when Master 1 selected.
LoopWhy this setting?
Editorial starting point, not a measured reproduction. Compare at equal listening volume and adjust by ear.
OutputWhy this setting?
Editorial starting point, not a measured reproduction. Compare at equal listening volume and adjust by ear.
With no external channel footswitch connected, select the indicated Classic or Ultra mode using its front-panel button. After selecting the mode, select Master 1 and switch Loop off; recalled states may differ. Start both output levels low.
Know the limits
- Editorial recreation; these settings have not been listening-tested on your setup.
- Pickup output, speakers, room, and studio layering remain differences; the numeric mapping is not an acoustic calibration.
- This plan uses full humbuckers; a single-coil reference remains a pickup-type compromise.
These are Amper recreation settings, not the artist’s exact knob positions. The example rig translates this named part’s stored gain, EQ, pickup and effect targets into verified hardware controls. Angus Young's 1984 interview describes his SG and Marshall preferences. This is general artist context, not documentation of the controls used on this recording. Amper's pickup, effect choices and normalized 0–10 targets are suggested recreations unless specifically attributed above. Numeric settings are not documented artist settings. Listening validation is pending.