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Angus Young
Angus Young
Born-March 31st,1955 Glasgow,Scotland
Guitarist,songwriter
Angus Young, co-founder of the Australian hard rock band AC/DC, known for his wild stage energy and schoolboy-uniform stage outfits. He was ranked 96th on Rolling Stones list of the 100 greatest guitarists if all time.
Angus Young, one of nine children of William and Margaret Young, was brought up in Cranhill, Glasgow with his older brothers Malcolm, George and Alex who all became musicians, and five sisters.
Angus started playing guitar when he was five years old, a local child had one and Angus would play it during visits, he got his own guitar by taking a banjo and restringing it like a guitar. Young did not get into guitar-playing seriously until after the young family moved from Scotland to Australia in 1963.
He bought a Gibson SG, after seeing it in a friends catalogue, until then he had been playing on an old Hofner guitar from his brother Malcolm. Angus`s brother George of (The Easybeats) gave both Angus and Malcolm guitar lessons when he would come home for breaks during touring.
Prior to forming AC/DC, Young played in a local group called "Kantuckee". The bands lineup included, Bob MacGlynn(vocals), Angus Young(guitar), Jon Stevens(bass) and Trevor James(drums). This was the first band to record demo takes for Steve Wrights classic "Evie" at the request of George Young.
The band split and was later called Tantrum, with the following lineup; Mark Sneddon(guitar/vocals), Angus Young(guitar), Jon Stevens(bass) and Trevor James(drums). Angus and Malcolm Young formed AC/DC in 1973. The first lineup included Angus Young(lead guitar), Malcolm Young(rhythm guitar), Colin Burgess(drums), Larry Van Knedt(bass) and Dave Evans(vocals).
The bands first single was "Can I Sit Next To You" which was later re-recorded with Ben Scott on vocals and renamed "Can I Sit Next To You Girl". They got the name AC/DC after seeing the letters on the back of a sewing machine owned by their sister. After playing with the band for a while Young developed his trademark schoolboy image.
Before settling on the schoolboy costume Angus had tried other costumes such as Spiderman, Zorro, Superman and a Gorilla. The schoolboy costume became a signature trademark of Young. To match this image the press and public were told that Young was born in 1959,not 1955. The original uniform was reputedly from his secondary school, Ashfield Boys High School in Sydney.
One rumour is that he did not have time to change his clothes between school and band practice so simply wore the uniform. While such an event may have occurred years earlier, by 1973 Angus had long left school. His sister suggested he wore the uniform after Malcolm asked all the band to come up with their own gimmick which was ironic as Angus very much disliked being at school. This was the era of Glam Rock, when costumes were common for pop and rock acts.
RECENT EVENTS
Although Young prefers to keep his private life out of the media, it is known that he does now live in Australia and also has a home in Aalten, Netherlands(because he has a home in the Netherlands,he is also on the quote 500,the list of Hollands 500 most richest people). It is also known that he married his wife in 1980 shortly before Ben Scott died.
On August 24th,2006, Young received Kerrang magazines legend award from the editor. Paul Brannigan called AC/DC one of the most important and influencial rock bands in history.
GUITARS
Angus Young has used Gibson SG guitars in various forms (his original, and the basis for his current signature model was a 1968 SG) throughout his career. He is rarely seen with another guitar, however, he also owns Telecasters, Gibson Firebirds and ES335`s. When AC/DC played a jam of "Rock Me Baby" with the Rolling Stones in 2003, he played a Gibson ES335 borrowed from Keith Richards, perhaps one of the only times he was without an SG on stage.
Young's legendary 1968 SG has T Top pickups. Another 1964 SG that he used on the recording of Ballbreaker has Patent # pickups. All of these are high output Alnico pickups with matched coils. Angus has used Ernie Ball strings for over forty years, gauge 009-042.
ANGUS YOUNG SIGNATURE SG
Angus Young and the Gibson Guitar Corporation have collaborated to make the Angus Young Signature SG, which is special in several ways.The model features a pickup designed by Young himself (the Angus Young Signature Humbucker) in the bridge position, and a 1957 Classic Humbucker in the neck. The headstock features Youngs famous "Devil Schoolboy" engraved picture, and the tremolo bar features Angus` name instead of the Gibson logo.
The guitar has a rosewood fretboard, Trapezoid fret inlays, a signature black pickgaurd, 22 frets, a worn cherry finish, and nickel hardware. The volume and tone knobs are bigger than those of a regular SG but it still features the standard three way selector switch. He does not use his Signature Series SG on stage.
AMPLIFIERS.
Youngs amps have been Plexi Marshalls, JTM45`s, JTM50`s, JMP50`s,and Superleads, his main amp is a JTM45, which he uses both live and in the studio. When Young plays live he runs this through an isolation speaker box that sits under the stage and feeds directly into the PA system. In the studio.Angus has often used a 100 watt Plexi for riffs and a smaller Plexi (JMP50, JTM50 or JTM45) for solo`s.
Speaker cabinets he has used have been Marshall 4x12`s (model 1982,1960, mostly B models) with Celestion G12H 30 watt (on old recordings) Vintage 30`s on newer recordings and G12M 25 watt on solo`s, overdubs on newer recordings. Malcolm has used Mesa Boogie cabs before as seen on AC/DC`s live 1992 album "Live" Angus is said, by Marshall, to use the 1987x50 watt head. |
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