AC/DC covers... with a strat?

[Dpoirier]

Hey everyone, my cover band has been bugging me to do an AC/DC song for a long time, and we settled for Back in black. But I use a strat-type guitar (HSS Tom Anderson) and my trusty old Axe-fx II XL.

In the absence of a Les Paul, I don't know how to get that guitar tone. I'm not even sure what amp model to explore (I'll start with the various Marshalls I suppose).

Any tips from anyone out there? Obviously the bridge humbucker, but amp/cab-wise? Thanks in advance

 

[mr_fender]

Use the factory preset Hells Glockenspiels.

 

[Dpoirier]

Use the factory preset Hells Glockenspiels.

Oh jeepers, I hadn't even thought about that (though admittedly, I've never been happy with any factory presets except a rare few). I'll give it a try. Thanks

 

[TG3K]

Oh jeepers, I hadn't even thought about that (though admittedly, I've never been happy with any factory presets except a rare few). I'll give it a try. Thanks

Even if the preset itself doesn't work for you, you can still likely get some good ideas to use as a starting point. One of the beauties of the Fractal ecosystem is that with enough experimentation, you can get just about any tone you need, with whatever guitar you have available. I'd think AC/DC tones with an HSS Strat would be pretty straightforward.

Plus, in a live situation, the audience won't know or care that you're using a different guitar than what was on the original recording. One of the bands in my area plays 'Listen to the Music' by the Doobie Brothers, and the guitarist uses a Les Paul and a fully-distorted tube amp. I personally think it sounds like shit, but the song still fills the dance floor.

 

[Dave Merrill]

Hey everyone, my cover band has been bugging me to do an AC/DC song for a long time, and we settled for Back in black. But I use a strat-type guitar (HSS Tom Anderson) and my trusty old Axe-fx II XL.

In the absence of a Les Paul, I don't know how to get that guitar tone. I'm not even sure what amp model to explore (I'll start with the various Marshalls I suppose).

Any tips from anyone out there? Obviously the bridge humbucker, but amp/cab-wise? Thanks in advance

Bridge pickup is a humbucker, so you're most of the way there straight off.
Only things left are what kind of humbucker, what kind of guitar, how it's set up, and your playing

Seriously though, isn't that basically a not too dirty Marshall of some sort, played really f ing loud?

Anyway @TG3K is right, rock it and you'll be fine, they'll love it.
Got an appropriate singer?
That's a lot of what the audience may actually notice.

 

[Sixstring]

You need an SG straight into a low gain Marshall turned up to the moon plan and simple!

 

[Frodebro]

JTM or Plexi with not a ton of gain is where you should start.