Angus Young's guitar strings: the AC/DC SG rig, sourced
Documented string gauges, brands, and tunings Angus Young uses with AC/DC on his Gibson SG. Ernie Ball Super Slinky (.009–.042). With citations.
AC/DC · reviewed by the Change Your Strings editorial team ·
Angus Young uses Ernie Ball Super Slinky (.009–.042) on his Gibson SG with AC/DC, confirmed across multiple interviews and through his guitar tech Trace Foster's 2016 Premier Guitar Rig Rundown. He's been on .009s for decades, light gauge for the bend-heavy soloing the band's catalog lives on. Bought his first Gibson SG around age 16 (~1971) from a Sydney music shop; the SG has been his primary instrument for the entire AC/DC catalog. Pickups have been swapped to wax-potted custom-wound Seymour Duncan humbuckers.
At a glance
Role
Active
Affiliations
- AC/DC (founding guitarist)
- Gibson (SG association)
Notable credits
- AC/DC, High Voltage (1976)
- Highway to Hell (1979)
- Back in Black (1980)
- For Those About to Rock (1981)
- Razors Edge (1990)
- Black Ice (2008)
- Power Up (2020)
Official media
Who Angus Young is
Angus Young is the founding lead guitarist of AC/DC, Australian hard-rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Angus and his older brother Malcolm Young. The band's catalog from High Voltage (1976) through Power Up (2020) is one of the most commercially successful in rock history; Back in Black (1980) alone sits at over 50 million copies sold globally. Angus has been the band's lead guitarist and primary on-stage focal point, schoolboy uniform, duck-walk, SG, for the entire run.
What he plays
Ernie Ball Super Slinky (.009–.042) on a Gibson SG. The .009 gauge has been his standard for decades, confirmed by his guitar tech Trace Foster in the 2016 Premier Guitar Rig Rundown. His Sydney-shop original SG (~1971) gave way to a rotation of similar SGs across AC/DC's touring history; current stage instruments include a 1968 SG that's been re-pickuped with custom-wound, wax-potted Seymour Duncan humbuckers.
The pick is a Fender heavy, he picks aggressively across .009-gauge strings, which is the kind of right-hand attack most rhythm players need .010s or .011s to manage without going pitch-sharp under the attack.
Why this fits the rig
A Gibson SG is a 24.75-inch-scale guitar, shorter scale than a Strat or Tele, which translates to slightly looser string feel at any given gauge. Combined with the .009 set, that gives Angus the bend-light feel he uses on the lead lines AC/DC's catalog is built on. The custom Seymour Duncans handle the high-gain crunch (Marshall JTM45/JTM50 era amps and Wizard amplification more recently) without losing the SG's natural midrange focus.
For rhythm players chasing AC/DC tone: the gauge isn't the secret. .010s on a Les Paul through a JTM45 also gets you 90% of the way there. The other 10% is Angus's right hand, which isn't on the gear list.
If you want this rig
Super Slinky (.009–.042)
Why this one: Angus Young's documented .009 set per his tech Trace Foster (Premier Guitar Rig Rundown 2016). The same Super Slinky set as Jimmy Page, both built around the same vintage rock vocabulary. On a 24.75-inch SG, .009 sits at bend-light tension.