Hells Bells
A slow, heavy Marshall crunch with each chord left to ring.
What is the Hells Bells guitar tone?
The Hells Bells guitar tone is a slow, heavy Marshall crunch with each chord left to ring, heard on AC/DC's 1980s hard rock recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and AC/DC reportedly tracked it with Angus Young's Gibson SG and Malcolm Young's 1963 Gretsch Jet Firebird, the rig Guitar.com lists for Back in Black, with Angus sent by his Schaffer-Vega wireless into 100-watt Marshall Super Leads and a rare Marshall JTM50, and Malcolm through a 1971 Marshall Super Bass; engineer Tony Platt says the album's Marshall heads and cabinets, 50 and 100 watts, went together differently on each song and were turned up only until the cabinets bit, so which combination is on this song is not documented; the bell that opens the song is a one-ton bronze bell cast by John Taylor Bellfounders in Loughborough, which Platt recorded after the Bahamas sessions with 15 or 16 microphones from a mobile studio parked inside the foundry, then slowed to half speed in the mix so it sounds an octave lower, like a two-ton bell; an earlier attempt on a church bell of the same size was abandoned because the pigeons in the belfry flew off every time it was struck; it opens Back in Black, recorded with Mutt Lange at Compass Point Studios in Nassau in the spring of 1980, and came out as the album's second single on 31 October 1980. This is a mid-forward sound rather than a scooped one, and it usually sits closer to the edge of breakup than to full saturation.
You do not need that exact gear to land in the same place. What carries this sound is the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup choice and the order of the effects, and all four can be rebuilt on equipment that costs a fraction of the original. The numbers change from amp to amp, because a high-gain head and a small practice amp reach the same voicing from different knob positions. That translation is what Tonelify works out for the rig you actually own.
Hells Bells amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 6, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 6, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup.
- Gain 6
- Bass 5
- Middle 6
- Treble 6
- Presence 6
- Reverb 2
- Signal chain
- Schaffer-Vega wireless (Angus) → Marshall crunch, no pedals
- The control that matters most
- Space between the chords. The riff is slow and every chord rings out after the bell, so set a Marshall-style crunch with just enough gain to sustain, keep the mids up and let each chord decay before the next. Platt turned the amps up only until the cabinets bit, so more volume with moderate gain gets closer than a high-gain channel.
These positions are free and they are a starting point. A Katana, a Spark and a valve head reach this voicing from different knob positions, so Tonelify rewrites every value above for the amp and guitar you own. Your first match is free with an account, and needs no card.
Adapt these to my amp- Pickup
- Bridge pickup
These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. If you tell Tonelify which amp you own, it rewrites every value above for the controls that amp actually has.
What gear did AC/DC use on Hells Bells?
Angus Young's Gibson SG and Malcolm Young's 1963 Gretsch Jet Firebird, the rig Guitar.com lists for Back in Black, with Angus sent by his Schaffer-Vega wireless into 100-watt Marshall Super Leads and a rare Marshall JTM50, and Malcolm through a 1971 Marshall Super Bass; engineer Tony Platt says the album's Marshall heads and cabinets, 50 and 100 watts, went together differently on each song and were turned up only until the cabinets bit, so which combination is on this song is not documented; the bell that opens the song is a one-ton bronze bell cast by John Taylor Bellfounders in Loughborough, which Platt recorded after the Bahamas sessions with 15 or 16 microphones from a mobile studio parked inside the foundry, then slowed to half speed in the mix so it sounds an octave lower, like a two-ton bell; an earlier attempt on a church bell of the same size was abandoned because the pigeons in the belfry flew off every time it was struck; it opens Back in Black, recorded with Mutt Lange at Compass Point Studios in Nassau in the spring of 1980, and came out as the album's second single on 31 October 1980.
Sources: Sound On Sound: Classic Tracks, AC/DC's Back in Black, Wikipedia: Hells Bells (song), Guitar.com: the gear Angus and Malcolm Young used on Back in Black
Tonelify reads that chain and translates it to the amp and guitar you already own, returning gain, bass, mids, treble and presence values along with a pickup position.
How do you get the Hells Bells tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Hells Bells
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Hells Bells tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Hells Bells?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 6, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 6, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup. These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. Tonelify rewrites the same values for the specific amp and guitar you own, because a high-gain head and a small solid-state combo reach the same slow, heavy Marshall crunch with each chord left to ring from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Hells Bells tone?
Space between the chords. The riff is slow and every chord rings out after the bell, so set a Marshall-style crunch with just enough gain to sustain, keep the mids up and let each chord decay before the next. Platt turned the amps up only until the cabinets bit, so more volume with moderate gain gets closer than a high-gain channel.
Can you get the Hells Bells tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with Angus Young's Gibson SG and Malcolm Young's 1963 Gretsch Jet Firebird, the rig Guitar.com lists for Back in Black, with Angus sent by his Schaffer-Vega wireless into 100-watt Marshall Super Leads and a rare Marshall JTM50, and Malcolm through a 1971 Marshall Super Bass; engineer Tony Platt says the album's Marshall heads and cabinets, 50 and 100 watts, went together differently on each song and were turned up only until the cabinets bit, so which combination is on this song is not documented; the bell that opens the song is a one-ton bronze bell cast by John Taylor Bellfounders in Loughborough, which Platt recorded after the Bahamas sessions with 15 or 16 microphones from a mobile studio parked inside the foundry, then slowed to half speed in the mix so it sounds an octave lower, like a two-ton bell; an earlier attempt on a church bell of the same size was abandoned because the pigeons in the belfry flew off every time it was struck; it opens Back in Black, recorded with Mutt Lange at Compass Point Studios in Nassau in the spring of 1980, and came out as the album's second single on 31 October 1980, but the parts that define the sound are the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup position and the effects order. Those translate to other equipment, which is what the adaptation step does.
Is Hells Bells a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a riff part with a distorted character, from AC/DC's 1980s hard rock catalogue.
Does Tonelify cost anything to try?
Your first match for your own gear is free with an account, and needs no card. After that it takes a plan, charged when you subscribe: Stage is $6.99 a month for 20 matches, Headliner is $10.99 a month for unlimited matching within a fair use limit of 150 new matches a day, and yearly billing works out cheaper on both. Reading this page and the rest of the library costs nothing and needs no account.
