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AC/DC - It's a Long Way to The Top - Guitar Tab

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AC/DC - It's a Long Way to The Top - Guitar Tab

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AC/DC - It's a Long Way to The Top guitar tab video
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High Voltage album cover
High Voltage
1976 5:02
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AC/DC Hard Rock 1976 A major
Capo Advisor 0 A major · Original key

It's a Long Way to The Top

"It's a Long Way to the Top" is the opening track on AC/DC's 1975 Australian album T.N.T., written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young, and Bon Scott. The song blends hard rock guitar with bagpipes, creating a distinctive call-and-response interplay between the two instruments at its midpoint. For electric guitar players, it offers a solid introduction to AC/DC's rhythm-driven style, with the added challenge of navigating around an unconventional melodic counterpart rarely heard in rock recordings.

  • The original studio recording is in B-flat major, but AC/DC performed it live in A major, a useful transposition to know.
  • Written by all three: Angus Young, Malcolm Young, and Bon Scott, making it one of their early full-band collaborations.
  • At just over five minutes long, the track gives guitarists extended time to settle into AC/DC's signature driving rhythm feel.
Gibson SG Standard
Guitar

Gibson SG Standard

Angus Young's 1968 Gibson SG Standard is the foundation of AC/DC's signature tone, its lightweight mahogany body and full upper-fret access enabling his aggressive, fluid lead work. Stock Gibson humbuckers push Marshall Plexi amps into natural tube saturation, giving him the perfect balance of dynamics and crunch without relying on effects.

Marshall Plexi (1959 Super Lead)
Amp

Marshall Plexi (1959 Super Lead)

The Marshall 1959 Super Lead cranked to full volume is where Angus Young's power comes from, with no master volume control forcing the power tubes to compress and break up naturally. This thick, harmonically rich overdrive defines AC/DC's raw, unprocessed rock tone straight from guitar to amp.

Marshall JTM45
Amp

Marshall JTM45

Angus Young uses the Marshall JTM45 as his primary amp for achieving natural tube saturation at high volumes, where the amp's power tubes generate organic overdrive without any pedal assistance. This minimalist, direct approach captures AC/DC's core sound: pure, uncolored guitar and amp interaction.

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