# Angus Young Pedalboard 1980: Full Gear & Pedal List

> The 1980 Angus Young board ran one pedal: Schaffer-Vega Diversity System. Signal-chain order, settings and cited sources.

- Canonical page: https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/angus-young/back-in-black-1980/
- Machine-readable index of the archive: https://pedalboardarchive.com/llms.txt
- Evidence and reconstruction conventions: https://pedalboardarchive.com/methodology/

## At a glance

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Artist | Angus Young |
| Board | Hells Bells overdub and solo path |
| Date | 1980-01-01 — 1980 (year precision) |
| Context | Back in Black recording sessions |
| Scope | Core signal path |
| Signal path | 1 unit · Guitar to amplifier |
| Routing | Serial path |
| Unit evidence | Documented |
| Order evidence | Source-described |
| Status | Track-specific documented preamp path |
| Audited | 2026-08-02 |
| Sources | 3 |

Angus Young recorded parts of AC/DC's Back in Black in 1980 with no distortion pedal. His Schaffer-Vega wireless system was the effect, adding boost and compression on selected overdubs and the Hells Bells solo.

## Signal chain

**Order evidence — Source-described.** A source states the sequence.

`Guitar → Schaffer-Vega Diversity System → amplifier`

| # | Unit | Role | Zone | Unit evidence | Position evidence | Catalog page |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Schaffer-Vega Diversity System | The only signal-processing unit in Young’s Back in Black-era path, feeding an otherwise pedal-free amplifier rig. | — | Documented | Documented | https://pedalboardarchive.com/pedals/schaffer-vega-diversity-system/ |

## Reconstruction note

This is deliberately not labelled as the entire Back in Black guitar path. Guitar World's track analysis identifies the primary Hells Bells rhythm as SG-to-Marshall and the Schaffer-Vega on the center overdub and solo. Engineer Tony Platt independently confirms that Angus used the wireless system for album solos and that its filtering changed the midrange. It was a wireless system rather than a stompbox, but its boost and companding materially changed those tracks.

## Questions

### What pedals did Angus Young use in 1980?

This dated entry lists one unit: Schaffer-Vega Diversity System. This is the recorded inventory, not a claim that every connection or model identification is confirmed; see the evidence and routing notes.

### What order were Angus Young's pedals in?

A cited source states the order: Guitar → Schaffer-Vega Diversity System → amplifier.

### Is this Angus Young's full guitar rig?

No. This dated entry covers one unit in the effects path, not every piece of gear Angus Young owned or used. Floor pedals, rack units and routing devices are included only where recorded; omitted equipment and uncertain connections are explained in the notes. It is not a complete or current rig inventory.

### When and where was this pedalboard used?

1980. Back in Black recording sessions. This is the core signal path documented for that period, not a career-wide gear list.

### How does the archive know what was on this pedalboard?

3 cited sources, listed above with the date each was read, including Guitar.com, Guitar World, Premier Guitar. Among them a written article and an interview. The units are recorded as documented equipment, and the page was last audited on 2026-08-02.

## Sources

3 cited sources across 3 independent groups. Two sources sharing an independent group report the same observation and count once.

1. [The gear used on Back in Black](https://guitar.com/features/artist-rigs/the-gear-used-by-angus-young-malcolm-young-on-ac-dcs-back-in-black/) — Guitar.com (Specialist source · article), accessed 2026-08-02, independent group `guitar-com-angus-back-in-black`
2. [The secrets behind Angus Young's Hells Bells guitar tone](https://www.guitarworld.com/gear/the-secrets-behind-angus-youngs-guitar-tone-on-acdcs-hells-bells) — Guitar World (Specialist source · article), published 2019-02-06, accessed 2026-08-02, independent group `guitar-world-angus-hells-bells-research`
3. [The Making of Back in Black: A Conversation with Tony Platt](https://www.premierguitar.com/the-making-of-back-in-black-a-conversation-with-tony-platt) — Premier Guitar (Primary source · interview), published 2010-10-20, accessed 2026-08-02, independent group `premier-guitar-tony-platt-back-in-black-2010`

## Related pages

- Every documented board by Angus Young: [Angus Young board history](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/angus-young/)
- Previous board in archive order: [Andy Summers — Walking on the Moon studio core path](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/andy-summers/walking-on-the-moon-studio-path/)
- Next board in archive order: [Ariel Posen — Suitcase touring pedalboard](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/ariel-posen/suitcase-touring-board-2026/)