David Bowie plays a Supro Dual Tone while on tour in 2003. A few years ago, the gang at Reverb put together a cool list called...
David Bowie plays a Supro Dual Tone while on tour in 2003.
A few years ago, the gang at Reverb put together a cool list called "It’s All Relative: Five Great Out-of-Tune Recordings." That story, which you can check out here, pinpointed five recordings that feature instruments not tuned to concert pitch—A/440Hz—and/or not simply tuned down a half step in the style of Jimi Hendrix, SRV, etc.
Today, however, we're offering up a selection of tunes featuring instruments that aren't quite in tune with each other. Or, to put it another way, your band has 16 strings (two six-string guitars and a four-string bass), but at least one of those strings is in its own world and isn't playing nicely with the other 15.
Remember, we're not knocking these tunes—we love all of them. In fact, the out-of-tune guitars and basses add a touch of charm to the recordings, some of which are hands-down classics.
If you have out-of-tune choices of your own, feel free to add them to the comments section below. We're not opposed to making this into a "top 10"—or a "top 37," for that matter. Enjoy!
P.S.: This idea for list was actually inspired by the flat bass on Bob Marley's "Stir It Up," but Guitar World's resident music expert and master transcriber Jimmy Brown—whose opinion I respect very much—assures me that the flatness of the low A note is "just within the acceptable range." I'll—begrudgingly!—take his word for it, but I consider it an "honorable mention."
The Kinks, "Nothin' in the World Can Stop Me Worryin' 'Bout That Girl"
This moody tune from 1965—which also appears on the excellent soundtrack to Wes Anderson's excellent 1998 film, Rushmore—is just fine until the bass enters the scene