Lightning Bolt - Dead cowboy
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Tuning: E A D G B E
Lightning Bolt - Dead Cowboy
Tuning: FAEA
A guy called “Robert Bateman” did put up a tab for “Dead Cowboy” in 2005 but it’s just wrong:
(https://nccastaff.bournemouth.ac.uk/jmacey/RobTheBloke/www/tabs/dead_cowboy.html).
It’s a well known fact that Brian Gibson usually tunes his bass to cello standard (CGDAE) and uses a
banjo string as his fifth string but I just don’t see how you can play “Dead Cowboy” using that tuning
(at least if you’re trying to play it in the same key as the studio version). To add to the confusion,
Brian often just picks a key seemingly at random during live shows and plays the song in that key. So
for instance, if you watch their performance at TAICOCLUB'14 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NZGbD236fw),
he’s clearly not playing it in the same key as the studio version.
As well as that, Brian uses two pitch shifting pedals; one shifts the pitch up one octave while the other
shifts the pitch down two octaves (ie. one octave below standard when combined). He does this so he doesn’t
have to move his hands all over the neck. If you don’t have two pitch shifting pedals, you can always just
play the low parts one octave lower down the neck but you’ll need incredibly fast hands.
You can figure out the rhythm from listening to the song.
[Intro]
H P H P H P H P H P H P H P H P
A|---------------------------------| A|---------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------| x8 E|---------------------------------|
A|--8--8--11--8--11--8--11--8--11--| A|--8--8--11--8--11--8--11--8--11--| x8
F|---------------------------------| F|---------------------------------|
(pitch shift up an octave)
H P H P H P H P
A|------------------------------------| A|---------------|
E|------------------------------------| x8 E|---------------|
A|--10--10--13--10--13--8--11--8--11--| A|--11--8--8--8--|
F|------------------------------------| F|---------------|
H P H P H P H P H P H P H P H P
A|---------------------------------| A|---------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------| x8 E|---------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------| A|---------------------------------| x8
F|--9--9--12--9--12--9--12--9--12--| F|--7--7--10--7--10--7--10--7--10--|
(couple of wibbles using whammy)
[Verse 1]
H H P H H P
A|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|
E|---------------------9--12--9--|---------------------9--12--9--| x32
A|--12--9--9----9--12------------|--12--9--9----9--12------------|
F|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|
(pitch shifted up an octave)
(He repeats this a few times and then starts throwing in the octave jumps, this is where you’ll need two
pitch shifting pedals or very very fast hands):
“What the world needs…”
H H P H H P
A|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|
E|---------------------9--12--9--|---------------------9--12--9--|
A|--12--9--9----9--12------------|--12--9--9----9--12------------| x32
F|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|
| down | | |
| one | | |
| oct. | |----------------up an octave------------------|
[Chorus] (I guess?)
A|------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------| x16
A|--12--9--9----12--9--9----12--9--9----12--9--9--|
F|------------------------------------------------|
(down an octave)
H H P H H P
A|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|
E|---------------------8--11--8--|---------------------8--11--8--| x2
A|--11--8--8----8--11------------|--11--8--8----8--11------------|
F|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|
| down | | | | down | | |
| one | | | | one | | |
| oct. | |-up an octave-| | oct. | |-up an octave-|
H H P H H P
A|------------------------------------|------------------------------------|
E|------------------------15--18--15--|------------------------15--18--15--| x2
A|--18--15--15----15--18--------------|--18--15--15----15--18--------------|
F|------------------------------------|------------------------------------|
| down | | | | down | | |
| one | | | | one | | |
| oct. | |--up an octave--| | oct. | |---up an octave--|
H H P H H P
A|----------------------------|----------------------------|
E|-------------------6--9--6--|-------------------6--9--6--|
A|--9--6--6----6--9-----------|--9--6--6----6--9-----------| x2
F|----------------------------|----------------------------|
| down | | | | down | | |
| one | | | | one | | |
| oct. | |up an octave| | oct. | |up an octave|
H H P H H P
A|------------------------------------|------------------------------------|
E|------------------------13--16--13--|------------------------13--16--13--|
A|--16--13--13----13--16--------------|--16--13--13----13--16--------------| x2
F|------------------------------------|------------------------------------|
| down | | | | down | | |
| one | | | | one | | |
| oct. | |--up an octave--| | oct. | |---up an octave--|
[1st Solo]
A|--17--14--17--14--17--14--17--14--| A|--16--13--16--13--16--13--16--13--|
E|----------------------------------| x2 E|----------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------| A|----------------------------------| x2
F|----------------------------------| F|----------------------------------|
(up one octave)
A|--15--12--15--12--15--12--15--12--|--14--11--14--11--14--11--14--11--|
E|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|
F|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|
A|--13--10--13--10--12--19--12--9--|--11--8--11--8--10--7--10--7--|
E|---------------------------------|------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------|------------------------------|
F|---------------------------------|------------------------------|
[Verse 2]
H H P H H P
A|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|
E|---------------------9--12--9--|---------------------9--12--9--| x32
A|--12--9--9----9--12------------|--12--9--9----9--12------------|
F|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|
(pitch shifted up an octave)
(He repeats this a few times and then starts throwing in the octave jumps, this is where you’ll need two
pitch shifting pedals or very very fast hands):
“What the world needs…”
H H P H H P
A|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|
E|---------------------9--12--9--|---------------------9--12--9--|
A|--12--9--9----9--12------------|--12--9--9----9--12------------| x32
F|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|
| down | | |
| one | | |
| oct. | |----------------up an octave------------------|
[Chorus] (I guess?)
A|------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------| x16
A|--12--9--9----12--9--9----12--9--9----12--9--9--|
F|------------------------------------------------|
(down an octave)
H H P H H P
A|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|
E|---------------------8--11--8--|---------------------8--11--8--| x2
A|--11--8--8----8--11------------|--11--8--8----8--11------------|
F|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|
| down | | | | down | | |
| one | | | | one | | |
| oct. | |-up an octave-| | oct. | |-up an octave-|
H H P H H P
A|------------------------------------|------------------------------------|
E|------------------------15--18--15--|------------------------15--18--15--| x2
A|--18--15--15----15--18--------------|--18--15--15----15--18--------------|
F|------------------------------------|------------------------------------|
| down | | | | down | | |
| one | | | | one | | |
| oct. | |--up an octave--| | oct. | |---up an octave--|
H H P H H P
A|----------------------------|----------------------------|
E|-------------------6--9--6--|-------------------6--9--6--|
A|--9--6--6----6--9-----------|--9--6--6----6--9-----------| x2
F|----------------------------|----------------------------|
| down | | | | down | | |
| one | | | | one | | |
| oct. | |up an octave| | oct. | |up an octave|
H H P H H P
A|------------------------------------|------------------------------------|
E|------------------------13--16--13--|------------------------13--16--13--|
A|--16--13--13----13--16--------------|--16--13--13----13--16--------------| x2
F|------------------------------------|------------------------------------|
| down | | | | down | | |
| one | | | | one | | |
| oct. | |--up an octave--| | oct. | |---up an octave--|
[2nd Solo]
A|--17--13--17--13--17--13--17--13--| A|--15--12--15--12--15--12--15--12--|
E|----------------------------------| x2 E|----------------------------------| x2
A|----------------------------------| A|----------------------------------|
F|----------------------------------| F|----------------------------------|
(up one octave + lots of delay)
A|----------------------------------| A|----------------------------------|
E|--17--13--17--13--17--13--17--13--| x2 E|--13--10--13--10--13--10--13--10--| x2
A|----------------------------------| A|----------------------------------|
F|----------------------------------| F|----------------------------------|
A|--17--13--15--13--17--13--15--13--| A|--15--12--13--12--15--12--13--12--|
E|----------------------------------| x2 E|----------------------------------| x2
A|----------------------------------| A|----------------------------------|
F|----------------------------------| F|----------------------------------|
A|--------------------------------| A|--17----17----17----17----18----17----15----17-|
E|-17--13--15--13--17--13--15--13-| x2 E|-----13----13----13----13----13----13----13----|
A|--------------------------------| A|-----------------------------------------------|
F|--------------------------------| F|-----------------------------------------------|
(then he repeats this again but an octave higher? Possibly using his fifth string?)
A|----------8---8------------8---8----| A|-------18--17--15--------18--17--15--|
E|------------------------------------| x2 E|-------------------------------------| x2
A|------------8---8------------8---8--| A|-------------------------------------|
F|--0-0-0-------------0-0-0-----------| F|-0-0-0-------------0-0-0-------------|
| no | | up | | no | | up | | || up |
|pitch| | one | |pitch| | one | | || one |
|shift| | oct.| |shift| | oct.| |----no pitch shift----|| oct. |
A|--------13--15-------13--15--| A|-----------12------------12--|
E|-----------------------------| x2 E|--------13------------13-----|
A|-----------------------------| A|-----------------------------| x2
F|--0-0-0--------0-0-0---------| F|-0-0-0---------0-0-0---------|
| | | up | | |
| | | one | | |
| -no pitch shift-| | oct.| |-----no pitch shift-------|
A|--------13--12--10--------13--12--10--|--------13--12--10--------15--12--|
E|--------------------------------------|----------------------------------| x4
A|--------------------------------------|----------------------------------|
F|--0-0-0-------------0-0-0-------------|--0-0-0-------------0-0-0---------|
| || up | |no | | up | |no | |up |
| || one | |pitch| | one | |pitch| |one |
|----no pitch shift----|| oct. | |shift| | oct. | |shift| |oct.|
(Couple of variations of the above and then:)
A|--------3--------5-------6------8-------10-------12-------13--|-------15/--|
E|--------------------------------------------------------------|------------| x4
A|--------------------------------------------------------------|------------|
F|--0-0-0---0-0-0---0-0-0---0-0-0---0-0-0----0-0-0----0-0-0-----|--0-0-0-----|
(you get the idea, the open F has no pitch shift and then all the other notes are an octave higher)
A|------10-10-12-12-10-10-13-13-12-12-10-10-------|-----------------------------------|
E|-13-13------------------------------------13-13-|-11-11-11-11-10-10-10-10-11-11-6-8-|
A|------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------| x4
F|------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
(up an octave)
A|-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-| A|--13-13-13-13--12--10--|
E|-------------------------------------------------| x2 E|-----------------------|
A|-------------------------------------------------| A|-----------------------|
F|-------------------------------------------------| F|-----------------------|
A|-8-8-8-8-12-12-12-12-10-10-10-10--| A|-------------------|
E|----------------------------------| x16 E|-------------------| x16
A|----------------------------------| A|-------------------|
F|----------------------------------| F|--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--|
(repeat at different octaves) (no pitch shift)
A|--------6-------8-------10------12------6-------8-------5--------12--|
E|---------------------------------------------------------------------| x4
A|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
F|--0-0-0---0-0-0---0-0-0---0-0-0---0-0-0----0-0-0---0-0-0---0-0-0-----|
(same again: open F has no pitch shift and then all the other notes are an octave higher)
(Couple variations of the above).
[Outro
A|-------------------|
E|-------------------|
A|-------------------| x16
F|--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--|
(no pitch shift)
********************
H = hammer on
P = pull off
/ = slide down
********************