Guitars
Gibson SG Angus Young Production Sample #1 2007
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Angus Young has consistently elevated the Gibson SG to the top of the most legendary guitars in music history. He made the famous double cutaway guitar a visual and sonic signature that immediately associates him with the horned instrument, like Keith Richards and the Telecaster or Slash and the Les Paul in their time. The devil Australian schoolboy was able to develop instruments that made rock history, unleashing the crowds when a signature model was announced by the Gibson Custom Shop. This SG is not just a rare example of a highly coveted model: it is a unique piece since it is the Production Sample #1 2007, in other words the very first one received by Angus himself for testing and validation, and to our knowledge the only one in existence.
At Matt's Guitar Shop, we managed to get our hands on several Gibson Artist Proof guitars. These are instruments made by the Custom Shop in order to get the green light from the artists before the manufacturing of a series begins. These Artist Proof guitars are already very hard to find, as they rarely leave the musician's inner circle, but Production Sample guitars are even rarer. They are usually made at the request of the artist himself when he is looking for a specific instrument for a tour or for a recording, without necessarily intending to make it a signature production model.
This SG is a Production Sample built for Angus Young of AC/DC, an exact replica of his famous Jaydee. Just like his old guitar, this #1 has a through neck, nylon bridges, Schaller tuners and an outline for the bridge pickup. The neck-through makes it a very different instrument from what will eventually become Angus Young's second signature SG at Gibson in 2009. The latter looks very similar to this Production Sample but is very different structurally. Since the signature model was released in 2009 and this Production Sample dates back to 2007, it is not forbidden to think that this guitar is the one that convinced Angus Young to accept the second signature deal with Gibson. Note that this guitar sounds louder, with more clarity and sustain than the production models, even though it is equipped with the same Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates pickups. On top of that, the relic work is simply amazing. This is one of the most credible executions of this very complex exercise. A unique guitar that reveals all the talent of Gibson luthiers and all the essence of Angus Young, that the lightning bolts on the fingerboard are ready to ignite!
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Angus Young
(1955)
Band: AC/DC
Main guitar: Gibson SG 1968
Compulsory listening: The Jack
With the exception of the Rolling Stones, few great bands have had the longevity of AC/DC. Since 1973, the bad boys from Sydney have been playing the same binary, bluesy and energetic rock, like an over amplified version of John Lee Hooker. The band even made it through Bon Scott’s death, replacing their charismatic singer with Brian Johnson in 1980. Even Malcolm Young, founder and rhythm guitarist of the quintet, had to leave the band in 2014 for health reasons.
Throughout the band’s career, only one member has always been present: Angus Young, Malcolm’s brother, who was only seventeen when the band started out. In the meantime, the schoolboy has played the world’s biggest stage without ever betraying AC/DC: no solo album, no guest featuring for other artists. If you enjoy Angus’ playing, you can only hear it on the band’s twenty albums. Angus’ style is inseparable from the sound of AC/DC, and it perfectly blends together B.B. King’s blues bends, Chuck Berry’s double stops and Paul Kossoff’s vocal vibrato.
As every musician who has worked with him will testify, Angus has a strong, almost obsessional work ethic. He doesn’t party with his bandmates, only drinks tea and gets back to his hotel room as soon as he can to smoke cigarettes and practice. His choice of instrument also shows a very strong stubborn mind, since he has never played anything else than a SG. Ever since the band’s beginnings, the two-cutaway Gibson model has always been Angus’ weapon, under a few different forms: cherry red, black, with or without a vibrola, with or without lightning inlays. After half a century spent playing the same notes in the same band on the same guitars, Angus’ integrity remains unmatched.
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