Sonic Youth · Dirty · song 1
100% tuning.
100% (Sonic Youth, 1992) is in F♯2 F♯2 F♯3 F♯3 E3 B3, about 7 cents sharp (A ≈ 442), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
7 ¢ sharp
Measured on this song itself: Tune moves every string +7 ¢.
Sonic Youth · Dirty · 1992
About 100%
The opening track and first single of Dirty (1992), a short, loud Thurston Moore song produced by Butch Vig. Both guitars are in F♯ F♯ F♯ F♯ E B, the tuning of Bad Moon Rising and Kool Thing; Guitar Player printed it in December 1992. Thurston plays slide over it and has said the tuning hardly matters for his part, while the other guitar holds the riff on the F♯ strings.
TuneLit measured the Dirty CD about 7 ¢ sharp (A ≈ 441.9), and 100% agrees with it, so Tune sets the F♯ tuning 7 ¢ up.
TuneLit's semitone check leans towards a lowest string a half step above F♯ on this song, but no source or tab names anything other than the F♯ tuning, and a riff that rarely hits its open low string is the usual reason for that answer. Keep the F♯ tuning and trust your ears on the opening bars. The most-viewed Songsterr tab of 100% is written in standard tuning; its fingerings do not carry over, so learn it from a tab in the real tuning.
Tip: Check the low F♯ against the record's opening chord; if it sounds right, every other string follows from the unisons.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to F♯2 F♯2 F♯3 F♯3 E3 B3, every string +7 ¢, the notes 100% was recorded in.
- From the album's E2 G2 D3 G3 E3 D4: String 6 up a whole step (E → F♯), String 5 down a half step (G → F♯), String 4 up 4 half steps (D → F♯), String 3 down a half step (G → F♯), String 1 down 3 half steps (D → B); the other strings stay.
- String 2 sits 7 half steps below its standard B3. On a normal set (.013) it keeps only about 45 % of its usual tension and feels loose. For the usual feel use about a .019 string, or a baritone guitar.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. 100% sits 7 cents sharp on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much flat against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play 100% along with the record: its lowest open note and your String 6 should ring together without a wobble.
Or the other way round
Move the record into your tuning
Rather keep your guitar as it is? Let Play along move 100% instead. Add your own copy, for example from your CD (it never leaves your device); the link already says the song is in F♯2 F♯2 F♯3 F♯3 E3 B3 +7 ¢. Choose F♯2 F♯2 F♯3 F♯3 E3 B3 at A 440 and 100% moves down 7 cents, at its own speed. Slow it down or loop a few bars to learn it, and save the result as a WAV file.
Questions
What tuning is 100% in?
F♯2 F♯2 F♯3 F♯3 E3 B3 +7 ¢: F♯ F♯ F♯ F♯ E B, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.