2018 Gibson SG Standard Angus Young Sound

[myrzx3]

I'm looking to get the sound of Angus around the 80's back in black album. I've looked through the forums and the internet abroad with some helpful tips leaning towards Riff Raffs. Some say both bridge and neck RR's, and others say RR in the bridge with the mule in the neck. I also looked into the solodallas t-tops, but in my opinion he's just way out of line with his prices. Any experience or help with my choice of ANY of the Bareknuckle pickups would be appreciated. Also, SEE THE VOTE ABOVE...but please still comment below on the reason for your decision.
The pickups will be going in my 2018 Gibson SG standard ebony that currently uses the Gibson 61 pickups. The 61 pickups don't sound anywhere near the sound i'm looking for. For my amp i'm using a Kemper Profiler (through a Laney FRFR) with Top Jimmy AC/DC profiles (Top Jimmy is a well known professional profiler that builds awesome sounding profiles).
I also own a Epiphone Slash Rosso Corsa with the Slash Seymour Duncan Signatures, which gets really close to the sound i want. I've had a few people listen to my playing and they agree that the Seymour Duncan Slash signatures sound damn close to AC/DC. We all had no doubt that they sure sound way closer to AC/DC as compared to the Gibson 61 pickups in my SG. Besides our finding, I have read that others found the same result with the slash sigs sounding close to Angus. I prefer playing my SG and want to set it up to sound as good or better than the slash.
  Next question is that my 2018 SG standard has a PCB board. Should I keep the PCB board or rewire with 500k pots and capacitors?

Any help is appreciated, thank in advance!

[Dave Sloven]

I would tend to go for the RR/Mule combo just because I don't remember Angus Young using the neck pickup very much and you might find the Mule more versatile for other stuff that you like.

As far as the PCB goes I think I would stick with it until you have installed the pickups.  I think you can get the quick connects separately and add them to the ends of the BKP wires.  I took the PCB out of my 2011 SG Standard but I found that it was always too bright with 500K pots and '50s style wiring, with all of the pickups I tried (Nailbomb, Cold Sweat, Miracle Man).  In the end I took the wired Gibson harness out of my 2007 SG Special and installed it in the Standard, moving the brighter harness into the Special (which has Warpigs, which can handle a brightness boost).  So I'd try the PCB first and see if it gives you the sound you are looking for. If not then it gives you a baseline from which to look for a replacement.

[darthphineas]

this Rig Rundown speaks volumes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5C7GKGxICg


granted, his tech says that Angus is using some custom shop Duncan pickups. although he does get the specs wrong.  once this video hit, Duncan's phone lines melted and they took the old "hidden menu" Angus Young set] and started to openly sell it as the High Voltage set.  but.. that is not what he was using 40 years ago.  in fact, the AY/HV set was also a part of a collaboration to get both of his main SGs to sound identical... which also took into account tweaks to the bridge hardware and updates to his wiring harness.

on paper, the specs between the Duncan AY/HV set and the BKP RR set  are close enough to split hairs.

with all that in mind, watch the rest of that Rig Rundown to get a load of what's going on with his amps, his rack, and even his wireless, that have at least as much to do with it as his pickups.


as for the PCB... I'd personally dump it, but it's dealer's choice.

[darrenw5094]

Don't really remember Angus using the neck to often. Surely the Riff Raff is the straight forward way to go.

[myrzx3]

I realized that Angus and Malcolm for the most part only used the bridge, but like what @Dave Sloven mentioned I may want a little versatility. I could either keep the 61 in the neck or go with another Riff Raff, or the Mule? I also like Daves idea of keeping the PCB board for now. Unless anyone has a good explanation of why I should switch it out.

[Dave Sloven]

The Riff Raff / Mule combo is a very popular one, because often people don't like the brighter neck for their application.

Remember also that the neck in an SG tends to be a bit brighter than normal anyway, due to its position.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W38IH_ujZUE

[myrzx3]

Well I pulled the trigger. Riff Raffs in the Bridge and Mules in the neck it is!  I have a carbon fiber pickguard on my SG, So I went with Carbon Fiber tattoo pickup covers. I'll check back later when I get these PUPS in and give some feedback.
Thanks for all your suggestions