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ZZ Top - Tuning for "Jesus just left Chicago" ?


PlinytheWelder

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I was watching ZZ Top on MTV Storytellers and the Rev played that song and I thought that I'd give it a go.... To make a long story short, the moves he used don't seem to work in standard tuning.... Damn... Anyway, I looked up this tab :

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/z/zz_top/jesus_just_left_chicago_ver2_tab.htm and it calls for E G D G B E , which is new to me ....

 

Am I on the right track? The economy of motion that Mr. Gibbons used to play that song fascinates me.... I love to learn new cheats on guitar if that's what it is....

 

????

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Hell, I play it in open A (E A E A C# E), so what do i know ....?

 

(Yr quoted tuning is open G, which is intervallically the same but a whole-step lower ... so it works the same fingering-wise.)

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Hell, I play it in open A (E A E A C# E), so what do i know ....?


(Yr quoted tuning is open G, which is intervallically the same but a whole-step lower ... so it works the same fingering-wise.)

 

 

Hey Chas, wouldn't open G be D-G-D-G-B-D? He's stating the Rev used E-G-D-G-B-E. Certainly a unique tuning.

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According to the book, "The Best of ZZ Top," by Dave Rubin, guitars 1 and 3 are tuned E-G-D-G-B-E. Guitar 2, basically doing power-chord eighth notes throughout, is in standard tuning.

 

Theres only one guitar player in zz top.:idea:

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Hell, I play it in open A (E A E A C# E), so what do i know ....?


(Yr quoted tuning is open G, which is intervallically the same but a whole-step lower ... so it works the same fingering-wise.)

 

 

I have been wanting to try this tuning forever and reading this thread got me to finally try it last night. Being I'm a huge ZZ fan (I'm in/from Texas, how can you not be?) and watching the same storytellers last week, I was curious about the tunings he used and the Reverend's slide technique.

 

I play with a really heavy, fuzzy Orange induced high gain. Man, what a cool tuning and I did down tuned (with my low string in D) and tuned accordingly. Man, very southern sounding, I was throwing down COC sounding stuff. Way cool! Working on a song in that tuning now -- the band is going to hate me, we will have three tunings maybe now! Good way to be able to play a ton of different guitars at a gig.

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Actually, if you listen to any live bootlegs of ZZ Top, you'll clearly hear a second guitar on a few songs (Gimme All Your Lovin is a good example). You'll also hear a synth on Legs.

 

I highly suspect that Elwood is playing along with the band offstage, although it could be a tape.

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