We might all have guitar heroes shaping our musical taste, but not everyone gets to meet their heroes and play their beloved six strings. While recently chatting with Guitar World, Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger disclosed how he got to play Angus Young’s Gibson SG and discovered the AC/DC guitarist’s secret to playing his parts exceptionally.
Chad recently discussed his role models and favorite guitarists and listed numerous names, from James Hetfield to Dimebag Darrell. However, he had a personal story to tell when it came to mentioning Angus Young. The frontman recalled how he had been to an AC/DC concert while off-tour, got backstage, and played Young’s guitar.
“My guitar tech for years has been a guy called Takumi Suetsugu,” mentioned Chad as he appreciated the guitar tech and disclosed how Takumi helped him to get AC/DC’s backstage. “And he’s looked after the biggest of the biggest, from Prince to Bon Jovi to Angus Young. You name it, at the largest stadium tours, Takumi’s always there working for somebody.”
He continued, “And I went to an AC/DC show when we were off-tour, and Takumi was with the boys. He took me backstage, and before I even met them, he asked if I wanted to play Angus’s SG. He put it on me, and I started strumming it. The action was so light, and it had the lightest gauge of strings I’d ever felt… it was like butter. I didn’t have to strum anything.”
Young’s guitar could be played with such ease that Chad didn’t have to put in extra energy. The frontman recalled, “That’s why those hammer-ons for ‘Thunderstruck’ are so easy for him; you don’t need a right hand at all! I could not believe how effortless it was to play. Then I immediately asked Takumi to take a picture before Angus showed up to take his guitar back.”
As a fellow rockstar, Chad got the chance to play one of his musical role models, Angus Young’s iconic instrument, even before meeting him. It might be safe to say Kroeger loved mentioning Angus’ talents, but his music with Nickelback might also be worth discussing. Check out the fun story of Chad explaining how he had come up with the Nickelback legend, ‘Photograph,’ and admitting they might not be the best songwriters.
