NGD Gretsch G5222
- Thread starter TCE63
- Start date
Zzzzz
Ambassador
Nice! Congrats!
Congrats! 
OP
TCE63
Ambassador of the Northern Lights
Mine is being called Malcolm......
marshalltsl
Well-Known Member
Congrats! Very nice.
Astral Traveler
Ambassador of Both Time and Space
That looks killer! Congratulations and Happy New Guitar Day!
Clockworkmike
Ambassador of STACKS in WV SHACKS
Nice guitar! Now, crank it into a Marshall at full blast and belt out some AC/DC Powerage riffs!
jtcnj
Ambassador of the Crossroad
Pinched off he internet:
Malcolm Young’s Guitars and Gear
Malcolm (Mal) Mitchell Young was born on January 6, 1953, in Glasgow, Scotland. He was best known as a co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and songwriter of the Australian hard rock band, AC/DC.
Mal‘s rig was relatively simple, and he mostly relied on one single guitar: The Beast – a 1963 Gretsch Jet Firebird. This guitar was originally red and with two Filter’Trons. Over the years, he modified it numerous times, went through thousands of gigs, and finally in 2017 – Gretsch built a signature model based on that guitar.
Thanks to Tom M.M. for compiling the info.
Malcolm Young’s Electric Guitars
Like every guitarist, Mal owned a huge number of guitars. Due to that fact, it is nearly impossible to track down and identify all of them. The list below is focused on the guitars that were either Mal’s favorites, and the ones that are memorable to the fans.
1963 Gretsch Jet Firebird (“The Beast”)
Malcolm got this 1963 Gretsch G6131 Jet Firebird from Harry Vanda, and his older brother, George Young, both of whom were members of the band The Easybeats. At that time, the guitar was already moded with a third pickup, a Gibson Humbucker, sitting in between two stock Filter’Tron pickups (US-Patent-Number 2892371). This, of course, means that the body needed to be carved out in order to fit the new pickup.
Sometime around 1976/77 (see video clip of It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock n roll below), Malcolm decided to remove this third pickup, and the neck pickup, leaving only a single Filter’Tron in the bride position. At that point, the holes were covered up with a piece of a white pickguard.
After removing the pickups, he also removed the Burns Tailpiece (originally called Burns Vibrato) and replaced the white pickguard with two smaller black pieces (these were removed sometime in 1978). Instead of the Burns, he now installed a Schaller Bad Ass Bridge. In order to cover up the hole left behind the original bridge piece, he added a custom made black tailpiece.
In addition to this, the original red paint job was stripped of around 1977, leaving the bare wood exposed.
Malcolm’s Gretsch without the red finish. Note the holes left behind by the two removed pickups, and the custom tailpiece. Photo source: YouTube AC/DC – Jailbreak (from Live At Donington).
During the Ballbreaker Tour 1995, the black tailpiece was removed and the hole was with a white material for a short time. Sometime after the tour, he re-installed the Burns Tailpiece (probably around 2000).
Malcolm used also a second 1963 Gretsch Jet Firebird as a back-up guitar during tours (same mods like on his Number 01).
Malcolm Young’s Guitars and Gear
Malcolm (Mal) Mitchell Young was born on January 6, 1953, in Glasgow, Scotland. He was best known as a co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and songwriter of the Australian hard rock band, AC/DC.
Mal‘s rig was relatively simple, and he mostly relied on one single guitar: The Beast – a 1963 Gretsch Jet Firebird. This guitar was originally red and with two Filter’Trons. Over the years, he modified it numerous times, went through thousands of gigs, and finally in 2017 – Gretsch built a signature model based on that guitar.
Thanks to Tom M.M. for compiling the info.
Malcolm Young’s Electric Guitars
Like every guitarist, Mal owned a huge number of guitars. Due to that fact, it is nearly impossible to track down and identify all of them. The list below is focused on the guitars that were either Mal’s favorites, and the ones that are memorable to the fans.
1963 Gretsch Jet Firebird (“The Beast”)
Malcolm got this 1963 Gretsch G6131 Jet Firebird from Harry Vanda, and his older brother, George Young, both of whom were members of the band The Easybeats. At that time, the guitar was already moded with a third pickup, a Gibson Humbucker, sitting in between two stock Filter’Tron pickups (US-Patent-Number 2892371). This, of course, means that the body needed to be carved out in order to fit the new pickup.
Sometime around 1976/77 (see video clip of It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock n roll below), Malcolm decided to remove this third pickup, and the neck pickup, leaving only a single Filter’Tron in the bride position. At that point, the holes were covered up with a piece of a white pickguard.
After removing the pickups, he also removed the Burns Tailpiece (originally called Burns Vibrato) and replaced the white pickguard with two smaller black pieces (these were removed sometime in 1978). Instead of the Burns, he now installed a Schaller Bad Ass Bridge. In order to cover up the hole left behind the original bridge piece, he added a custom made black tailpiece.
In addition to this, the original red paint job was stripped of around 1977, leaving the bare wood exposed.
Malcolm’s Gretsch without the red finish. Note the holes left behind by the two removed pickups, and the custom tailpiece. Photo source: YouTube AC/DC – Jailbreak (from Live At Donington).
During the Ballbreaker Tour 1995, the black tailpiece was removed and the hole was with a white material for a short time. Sometime after the tour, he re-installed the Burns Tailpiece (probably around 2000).
Malcolm used also a second 1963 Gretsch Jet Firebird as a back-up guitar during tours (same mods like on his Number 01).
Clockworkmike
Ambassador of STACKS in WV SHACKS
One of the most simple, yet incredibly cool famous guitars ever seen. Its no secret nowadays, that this guitar single handedly IS the sound of AC/DC. Angus always will be the face and icon of the band with his SG and Schoolboy uniform, but it was Malcolm in his tshirt and jeans with the Beast that delivered the legendary soundPinched off he internet:
Malcolm Young’s Guitars and Gear
Malcolm (Mal) Mitchell Young was born on January 6, 1953, in Glasgow, Scotland. He was best known as a co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and songwriter of the Australian hard rock band, AC/DC.
Mal‘s rig was relatively simple, and he mostly relied on one single guitar: The Beast – a 1963 Gretsch Jet Firebird. This guitar was originally red and with two Filter’Trons. Over the years, he modified it numerous times, went through thousands of gigs, and finally in 2017 – Gretsch built a signature model based on that guitar.
Thanks to Tom M.M. for compiling the info.
Malcolm Young’s Electric Guitars
Like every guitarist, Mal owned a huge number of guitars. Due to that fact, it is nearly impossible to track down and identify all of them. The list below is focused on the guitars that were either Mal’s favorites, and the ones that are memorable to the fans.
1963 Gretsch Jet Firebird (“The Beast”)
Malcolm got this 1963 Gretsch G6131 Jet Firebird from Harry Vanda, and his older brother, George Young, both of whom were members of the band The Easybeats. At that time, the guitar was already moded with a third pickup, a Gibson Humbucker, sitting in between two stock Filter’Tron pickups (US-Patent-Number 2892371). This, of course, means that the body needed to be carved out in order to fit the new pickup.
Sometime around 1976/77 (see video clip of It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock n roll below), Malcolm decided to remove this third pickup, and the neck pickup, leaving only a single Filter’Tron in the bride position. At that point, the holes were covered up with a piece of a white pickguard.
After removing the pickups, he also removed the Burns Tailpiece (originally called Burns Vibrato) and replaced the white pickguard with two smaller black pieces (these were removed sometime in 1978). Instead of the Burns, he now installed a Schaller Bad Ass Bridge. In order to cover up the hole left behind the original bridge piece, he added a custom made black tailpiece.
In addition to this, the original red paint job was stripped of around 1977, leaving the bare wood exposed.
Malcolm’s Gretsch without the red finish. Note the holes left behind by the two removed pickups, and the custom tailpiece. Photo source: YouTube AC/DC – Jailbreak (from Live At Donington).
During the Ballbreaker Tour 1995, the black tailpiece was removed and the hole was with a white material for a short time. Sometime after the tour, he re-installed the Burns Tailpiece (probably around 2000).
Malcolm used also a second 1963 Gretsch Jet Firebird as a back-up guitar during tours (same mods like on his Number 01).
LiveeviL2000
Ambassador of Pentagonal Pentatonics
Happy New Guitar Day.
You know you are going to play every AC/DC rhythm you can tonight.
You know you are going to play every AC/DC rhythm you can tonight.
jtcnj
Ambassador of the Crossroad
OP
TCE63
Ambassador of the Northern Lights
I love my Gretsch, fantastic guitar, just plug in to my plexi and you can play AC/DC all night long
