It’s funny… I was just a kid when AC/DC were truly at their heyday during the late ’70s, but that didn’t stop their particularly provocative, infectious brand of rock ‘n roll from being one of the major players in the soundtrack of my childhood – heck, you just couldn’t get away from “Highway To Hell” or “Back in Black” in those days… they were on the radio everywhere you went!
Of course, if you’re anything like me, when you get on the subject of guitars and AC/DC the first thing that comes to mind is Angus Young strutting across the stage in a school boy’s outfit and throwing that infamous Gibson SG around.
So I was a bit surprised when I discovered that rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young – Angus’ big brother, and arguably the “brains” behind the band – actually played a heavily modified 1963 Gretsch Jet Firebird for most of his career… for some reason I just don’t associate Gretsch with a heavy rock sound.
But as the story goes, this was no ordinary Gretsch. Malcolm stripped his Jet Firebird down to just a single bridge pickup but soon discovered that the two empty cavities that were left behind led to serious feedback – so what did he do? He stuffed the holes with socks!
Throughout his career Malcolm would play at various times with or without the socks (sometimes he just covered the cavities with plastic,) and the guitar ultimately ended up with its original Firebird Red finish completely removed, and with the Gretsch Trapeze Tailpiece replaced with a Badass bridge unit.
Now Gretsch has attempted to recapture the sound and feel Malcolm’s customized Jet with their cool new Malcolm Young Signature guitar – which goes by the official (read: unpronounceable) moniker of G6131SMY. Like its predecessor, the instrument sports just a single Gretsch Filtertron pickup (its available in a two-pickup model also,) single volume & tone controls, a semi-hollow mahogany body, and of course a six-sadlle wrap-around Badass bridge.
The Gretsch Malcolm Young Signature Features–
- Laminate Maple Arched Top
- Mahogany Back & Sides
- Mahogany Neck
- 24.6“ Scale Length
- Ebony Fingerboard With 22 frets
- ”High-Sensitive“ FilterTron Bridge Pickup
- Single Volume & Tone Controls
- 3-Way Tone Switch
- Badass Bridge
- Chrome Plated Hardware
- Adjustable Truss Rod
- Fretboard, Headstock, And Body Binding
- Deluxe Hard Case
Having pondered Malcolm Young’s use of a Gretsch on AC/DC’s classic recordings, this morning I threw Back in Black into my iPod and gave it a listen on my way to work. Sure enough, while Angus may take front and center with his biting lead work, Malcolm’s rhythm tone is warm, dirty and sweet – a perfect compliment to the attack of his younger brother’s SG, and pure Gretsch tone all the way…
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September 1st, 2006 at 2:32 pm
Funny, but I always reckoned that three of the best rock guitar sounds were all recorded from Gretsch guitars – Neil Young’s circa AFTER THE GOLDRUSH (during that period when his Les Paul went missing), Pete Townshend’s on WHO’S NEXT, and Malcolm Young’s on HIGHWAY TO HELL. That said, I always doubted their roadworthiness: wacky bridges, bigsby trems etc. Malcolm must have too, hence the no-nonsense retrofit of the Badass bridge.
September 1st, 2006 at 2:59 pm
Hehe, yeah, I think the badass bridge was probably a stroke of genius, though I’d have to disagree in general on the Bigsby – the original tremolo on my ‘59 Guild is solid as a rock, even after seeing a helluva’ lot of hard time on stage, in the back of my car, and in & out of its ratty old case ; )
April 10th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Malcolm did Back in Black on the White falcon he had for a brief period in the 80’s, hence the excellent rhythmic sound of the Back in Black album.
February 16th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Malcolm did the back in black TOUR! with a white falcon, (I was there} he also uses them on the black ice tour (YUP!! Hampden, glasgow} but he records with his gretsch, I know this cos I`ve met his guitar tech and the first thing I asked the man was `how do you keep that old pile of junk in tune?` he replied `now I know that you know what you`re talking about` we spent the next hour having a chat about Malcolms gear.