ZZ Top · Afterburner · song 4
Rough Boy tuning.
Rough Boy (ZZ Top, 1985) is in E Standard, about 6 cents sharp (A ≈ 442), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
6 ¢ sharp
The album's value, measured on the CD: Tune moves every string +6 ¢.
ZZ Top · Afterburner · 1985
About Rough Boy
Rough Boy is the ballad of Afterburner (1985), a slow, synth-washed song with one of Billy Gibbons's most melodic solos. The guitar parts are in E Standard on every tab.
TuneLit measured Afterburner about 6 ¢ sharp (A ≈ 441.5) on a German CD, but Rough Boy itself only about 1 ¢ sharp. The gap of 5 ¢ is under the 8 ¢ that earns a song its own value, so the Tune button uses the album's 6 ¢ up. The single version on the 2019 Goin' 50 box reads about 3 ¢ sharp, in between.
For a ballad this exposed, those few cents can matter: the solo is made of long, held notes over sustained keyboards, exactly where a small offset becomes audible. If the solo sounds a touch sharp against the record with the button's setting, simply tune to A 440, which matches this song's own reading. TuneLit's check from the audio agrees that the lowest string is E, so the only choice to make is the fine reference.
Tip: If the solo sounds slightly sharp at the button's +6 ¢, tune to plain A 440, which matches this song's own reading.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, every string +6 ¢, the notes Rough Boy was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Rough Boy sits 6 cents sharp on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much flat against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Rough Boy 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 Rough Boy instead. Add your own copy, for example from your CD (it never leaves your device); the link already says the song is in E Standard +6 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Rough Boy moves down 6 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 Rough Boy in?
E Standard +6 ¢: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.