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MY BLACK ASS - Shellac
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Tabbed by: Max Eastman
E-mail: [email protected]
Tuning: Drop D
This is always an extremely fun song to play on guitar. Pretty easy to play too,
although it doesn't sound too good on
acoustic, so sorry if you wanted to make an acoustic Shellac CD for Starbucks. The
biggest question with Steve Albini bands (and other bands with a similar guitar tone
like The
Jesus Lizard) is how you get the guitar tone. Well, I decided to include the amp
settings I use when playing the song, just as a special gift to you. How nice. It sounds just
like Stevie Albini too. You can get the notched metal picks if you want, but I think it
still sounds fine with traditional picks.
Gain: 8.5
Level: 1
Bass: 1.5
Mid: 2
Treble: 8.5
If your guitar has a treble knob on it, I recommend setting it to 5.
e|-----------------------------------------------------------|
B|-----------------------------------------------------------|
G|-----------------------------------------------------------|
D|-0-2--0-2--0-2--0-2--0-2-3-2-0-2--0-2--0-2--0-2--0-2-3-2-0-|
A|-0-2--0-2--0-2--0-2--0-2-3-2-0-2--0-2--0-2--0-2--0-2-3-2-0-|
D|-0-2--0-2--0-2--0-2--0-2-3-2-0-2--0-2--0-2--0-2--0-2-3-2-0-|
This is the main heavy riff that goes throughout the song. The rhythm is pretty easy to get.
During the intro before the drums kick in, you might want to hit the G-string a couple
of times.
e|------------------------------|
B|------------------------------|
G|------------------------------|
D|-0-2--0-2--0-2--0-2--0-2--0-2-|
A|-0-2--0-2--0-2--0-2--0-2--0-2-|
D|-0-2--0-2--0-2--0-2--0-2--0-2-|
This is played during the intro in between the above riff and the riff below.
It isn't played in between the two riffs for the rest of the song.
e|-12-12-12-12--12-12--12--12-12--12-12-12-12--12-12--12--12-12--12-12-12-12--12-12--12--12-12-|
B|-11-11-11-11--11-11--11--11-11--13-13-13-13--13-13--13--13-13--11-11-11-11--11-11--11--11-11-|
G|-10-10-10-10--10-10--10--10-10--14-14-14-14--14-14--14--14-14--10-10-10-10--10-10--10--10-10-|
D|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
This is the extremely trebly riff that is played for a lot of the song. Steve's guitar
tone is essential for this,
unless you want it to sound like shit. Don't play the last part during the intro, but
all other parts feature it.
e|-12-12--12-12--12-12-|
B|-11-11--11-11--11-11-|
G|-10-10--10-10--10-10-|
D|---------------------|
A|---------------------|
D|---------------------|
This is played in between the above riff and the following riff.
e|-12-12-12-12-12-12--12-12--12-12-|
B|-11-11-11-11-11-11--11-11--11-11-|
G|-10-10-10-10-10-10--10-10--10-10-|
D|---------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------|
This follows the trebly riff most of the time.
e|-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-|
B|-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-|
G|-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-|
D|-------------------------|
A|-------------------------|
D|-------------------------|
This is played repeatedly for the last forty seconds or so of the song, but
right after Steve shouts "My black ass!", play the first riff one last time.
e|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
C|-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|
This is the bass line from the intro tabbed for guitar. Tune the low E-string to C for this.
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| / slide up
| \ slide down
| h hammer-on
| p pull-off
| ~ vibrato
| + harmonic
| x Mute note
| b Bend
| pb Pre-bend
| br Bend release
| pbr Pre-bend release
| brb Bend release bend
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