ZZ Top · Degüello · song 3
I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide tuning.
I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide (ZZ Top, 1979) is in E Standard, about 6 cents flat (A ≈ 438), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
6 ¢ flat
The album's value, measured on the CD: Tune moves every string −6 ¢.
ZZ Top · Degüello · 1979
About I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide
I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide, from Degüello (1979), is a slow, heavy groove the band wrote about the Gulf Coast guitarist Joey Long. Billy Gibbons recalled two unusual instruments on it: a mandolin-like instrument from Parral, Mexico, lent by Long, for the close-miked rhythm, and a custom half-size guitar with a very short scale for the lead, tuned to G, which is standard tuning raised a minor third (G C F B♭ D G). The rhythm guitars are in E Standard.
TuneLit measured the German Degüello CD about 6 ¢ flat (A ≈ 438.6) and this song about 3 ¢ flat, so it shares the album value: E Standard 6 ¢ down. The Goin' 50 box puts the song about 12 ¢ higher than this CD, in line with two compilations that suggest the CD runs a little slow; with a remaster or a stream, start from about +5 ¢ (A ≈ 441.3).
Do not tune a full-size guitar up a minor third: the strings would be under far too much tension. A capo at the 3rd fret of a guitar in E Standard gives exactly the lead guitar's open notes.
Tip: For the lead lines, put a capo at the 3rd fret of a guitar in E Standard instead of tuning up.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, every string −6 ¢, the notes I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide sits 6 cents flat on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much sharp against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide 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 I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide 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 I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide moves up 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 I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide in?
E Standard −6 ¢: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.