How To Sound Like Angus At Home

[crossroadsnyc]

Hi, I'm having trouble getting good sound out of my CODE 50. Saw your post #19 in the "longhand for now" thread, but could you be more specific as to your settings for AC/DC?
A couple of AC/DC songs are my favorites to (try to) play and this amp is starting to frustrate me. I've never had a tube amp, so that's not it, but right now my tired old Crate s/s amp sounds better!
Thanks for any help.

I'm afraid I can't at the moment, as I'm in the process of moving, and my amps / guitars are currently in another state, and I'll be w/out them for at least another three weeks (i'm actually going through gear separation anxiety). One suggestion I can give you, however, is to make sure you dial back the noise gate settings, as the standard settings built into the amp can really choke the tone. If I were to judge the amp based on the way it sounds out of the box, I'd have returned it the following day … you really need to dig in there to bring the best out of it, and once you do, it's like an entirely different amp.

 

[dreyn77]

Oh yes, finding AC/DC sounds.
A worthy past time.

I found some great versions but I got real close when I used the 1959RR non mod section and the 5150 speaker.

Then I went and saw them live and Angus topped my sound! But he always has.
He does use some modern pickups which are the stock Gibson product and aren't the Angus issue special order product. Just search YouTube for those sounds.
But it's better if you find those early Gibson pickups. They have a special sting to their sound which Angus loves. It's what he's made famous, but he doesn't need them. Hence the P90's in that vid series crossroadsNYC has posted.

His sound is what inspires him, so if the sound isn't happening when he picks up the backup guitar, he chucks it mid song and goes back to what's workin that night.
But if he's got a new sound that he's impressed buy, he'll drive the sound he's liking, into new areas, so the songs get radically different atmosphere.
But he definitely does have favourite sounds.
He doesn't stand still at all!

 

[dreyn77]

I was using the MXR dist + in the signal path and Gibson 1970's pickups.

 

[Gunner64]

Jcm800 volume up pre down about half...tube screamer off...gibson humbucker gets me there easy..i agree with the too much distortion comment. Too much distortion smears the notes, and kills the ac/ dc tone..in which you can hear every note..thats the key in my opinion, back off the distortion..its cleaner than it seems.

 

[stillrockin]

Angus never used a lot of gain : just 5-6 maxi
i read that in a very good website

http://solodallas.com/high-wattage-acdcs-marshall-amps-through-the-years

 

[frankr442]

Thanks, I'll keep trying for that AC/DC tone. It's not that I'm lazy, but I'm starting to think I may have a problem with the distortion pedal circuitry in my CODE. Even dialed down, I get a garbled, buzzy sound, especially as a note fades. Not giving up yet.

 

[johnac968]

Hey frankr442 I have been working on an Angus tone and here's what I have came up with so far...try it, if you like it,that's great, if you see where it can be improved let me know... PreFxistortion/Dist/Drive:3.3-Tone:6.1-Level:7.2 Amp:JCM800/Gate 6.0 Mod:N/A Delay:N/A Reverb:Stadium/Decay:4.2-Pre:4.1-Tone:4.1-Level:3.9 Power:Classic Marshall 100/Pres:3.8 Res:6.5 Cab:1960V Tone settings on mine are,and you may want to adjust them to your preference...Gain:5.0 Bass:4.2 Mid:3.3 Treble:7.2 Volume:5 Hope this helps some...

 

[johnac968]

Angus never used a lot of gain : just 5-6 maxi
i read that in a very good website

http://solodallas.com/high-wattage-acdcs-marshall-amps-through-the-years

Cool that was very interesting!!!

 

[crossroadsnyc]

Thanks, I'll keep trying for that AC/DC tone. It's not that I'm lazy, but I'm starting to think I may have a problem with the distortion pedal circuitry in my CODE. Even dialed down, I get a garbled, buzzy sound, especially as a note fades. Not giving up yet.

My first thought about the problem on notes fading is the noise gate … trust me, if you dial that back it's going to open things up considerably (i think the default setting is around 6, right? try dialing that in half to 3 for starters, and then adjust to taste if need be). I'd also dump the idea of using pre-fx like distortion, as the tone you are going for is much cleaner than you're going to get w/a distortion / overdrive / etc. When I was dialing in a good Angus tone (at the time, i was aiming for a back in black era type tone), I was using the JCM800 model w/the gain dialed way back (like, way back), and then I made further adjustments w/the volume on my guitar - dialed back a notch for rhythm, and then up full for leads. As for EQ, I'd just use your ears to dial in what sounds best in your environment. What you want to do is basically set up the amp so that you have a really good lead tone, and then dial the volume back on your guitar a notch for rhythm.

 

[johnac968]

My first thought about the problem on notes fading is the noise gate … trust me, if you dial that back it's going to open things up considerably (i think the default setting is around 6, right? try dialing that in half to 3 for starters, and then adjust to taste if need be). I'd also dump the idea of using pre-fx like distortion, as the tone you are going for is much cleaner than you're going to get w/a distortion / overdrive / etc. When I was dialing in a good Angus tone (at the time, i was aiming for a back in black era type tone), I was using the JCM800 model w/the gain dialed way back (like, way back), and then I made further adjustments w/the volume on my guitar - dialed back a notch for rhythm, and then up full for leads. As for EQ, I'd just use your ears to dial in what sounds best in your environment. What you want to do is basically set up the amp so that you have a really good lead tone, and then dial the volume back on your guitar a notch for rhythm.

Cool I'm gonna try this on the Angus tone I have been working on with my Code 50

 

[stillrockin]

have you some good tones with the Code? without any tubes

 

[frankr442]

Thanks crossroadsync and johnac968. I'll try both your suggestions this weekend.
I'm a caveman without a home computer, so I'll let you know how I make out when I get back to work Tuesday.

 

[crossroadsnyc]

have you some good tones with the Code? without any tubes

They're arguably the best tones at lower volume that I've ever had. The other argument would be in favor of my Wampler Pinnacle into a clean amp, but that pedal alone was damn near the cost of this entire amp (not to mention the amps you need to plug into themselves). If you're playing primarily at home / lower volumes (i.e. television level), then I think it's the best investment in gear you're going to make short of spending thousands on something like a Kemper / Axe-Fx. I wasn't kidding … if I was certain I'd never play live again, I'd be more than satisfied dumping all of my tube amps and just having fun w/this. It's an incredibly fun / useful amp, and has totally changed my opinion on affordable amp modeling.

 

[johnac968]

have you some good tones with the Code? without any tubes

The Code is good for what it costs but IMO nothing like a tube amp...It's good for me as I'm just a guy jammin at home mostly at low volume and it's got some cool features ...

 

[johnac968]

They're arguably the best tones at lower volume that I've ever had. The other argument would be in favor of my Wampler Pinnacle into a clean amp, but that pedal alone was damn near the cost of this entire amp (not to mention the amps you need to plug into themselves). If you're playing primarily at home / lower volumes (i.e. television level), then I think it's the best investment in gear you're going to make short of spending thousands on something like a Kemper / Axe-Fx. I wasn't kidding … if I was certain I'd never play live again, I'd be more than satisfied dumping all of my tube amps and just having fun w/this. It's an incredibly fun / useful amp, and has totally changed my opinion on affordable amp modeling.

It's good for me to hear that from a professional guitarist because I really had some doubts about my decision to buy one right after I got it.People talking them down and what not and I'm still really figuring out how to dial in certain tones.It is really good at low volume but when I do get the house to myself I have to let the big dawg eat if you know what I mean and I have to say it kicks pretty good...I do think it could be better with a way to share patches...

 

[crossroadsnyc]

It's good for me to hear that from a professional guitarist because I really had some doubts about my decision to buy one right after I got it.People talking them down and what not and I'm still really figuring out how to dial in certain tones.It is really good at low volume but when I do get the house to myself I have to let the big dawg eat if you know what I mean and I have to say it kicks pretty good...I do think it could be better with a way to share patches...

What totally closed the deal for me was being able to find a good modern era Clapton tone (strat into tweed Fender) at lower volumes. That's always been a tough one to dial in at lower volume for me, but using the American Crunch model, I was able to dial in something frighteningly close in short time. I really have no idea how someone couldn't have fun w/this thing. In fairness, however, the only criticism I have is that I think they (marshall) could stand to tweak the DSL model w/further updates (doesn't sound right to me).

 

[Plectrum]

Thanks, I'll keep trying for that AC/DC tone. It's not that I'm lazy, but I'm starting to think I may have a problem with the distortion pedal circuitry in my CODE. Even dialed down, I get a garbled, buzzy sound, especially as a note fades. Not giving up yet.

Sounds like you've got the noise gate too high. You won't be using much gain for AC/DC tones so set it to zero.

 

[Blueslicks]

 

[30watt]

I get Angus' tone by putting a HB guitar into a 5275, using the boost channel, and opening the master up ALL the way. Same with an Artist 4203. Dial the gain on the channel back until it is JUST achieving some noticeable saturation.

Tried it with my old 4104, but people complained. From 2 miles away........

Wide open, or close to wide-open, MV is part of the secret, I think.

 

[qtws]

LPC bridge pickup, into JCM1H on lo-power, speaker out into the fx return of a carlsbro sidewinder (that'll be 2 EL34s, then) and run that into a 1936 w/2 x V30. JCM1h controls at noon, and you have instant "let there be rock" tone. Not entirely neighbour friendly, but, she-it! it was good. Roll off volume for Mal's tone. Oh, and a 10 x 12 foot room