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#----------------------------------PLEASE NOTE----------------------------------#
# This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the #
# song. You may only use this file for private study, scholarship, or research. #
#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------#
Here's yet another addition to my collection of hard-as-hell Van Halen tabs.
But this one is probably the easiest of the bunch. The interesting thing
about this song is that the main riff is played on a special six-string
bass/guitar. The bass/guitar is an instrument that Ernie Ball/Music Man
makes (as far as I know, they're the only ones who make em') that is
supposedly "the guitar for bassists, and the bass for guitarists". It's
BASS-ically (ha, ha) a guitar with open strings that are tuned an octave
down from normal guitars. The strings are the same (E-A-D-G-B-E), but
they're an octave lower. It's a pretty cool idea, I wish I had 1200 bucks
to spend on one. Anyway, apparently Van Halen's producer (whose name
escapes me at the moment) brought this thing into the studio one day and
Eddie decided to plug it into his 5150 stack and liked the sound it got so
they decided to use it for the ominous verse and chorus riffs to "Spanked".
For live performances, Eddie uses a hybrid double-neck with his signature
guitar on top, and this bass/guitar on the bottom. I'm not entirely sure
how they arrange the parts between him and Michael Anthony when they play
live, but here's the album version of "Spanked" from For Unlawful Carnal
Knowledge:
Some notes on my tab: b = bend a little bit :)
bf = bend full
br = bend and release back to pitch
pm = palm mute until the end of the "..."
h = hammer-on
p = pull-off
"Spanked"
by Van Halen
tab by Paul D.
s3bz@music.transy.edu
First, there's this nifty intro utilizing the infamous "E-Bow" (nice little
$70 electronic guitar gadget). The E-Bow part is tabbed in between the
brackets (>> to <<). Then, it is repeated while the bass/guitar does the
intro riff:
w/ E-Bow-->>
||-------------|--------------|------------|--------------|------------|
||-------------|--------------|------------|--------------|------------|
||-------------|--------------|------------|--------------|------------|
||--14--~~~~~~-|-(14)--~~~~~~-|-12--~~~~~~-|-(12)--~~~~~~-|-11--~~~~~~-|
||-------------|--------------|------------|--------------|------------|
||-------------|--------------|------------|--------------|------------|
b << pm.. b
------------||--------------|---------------------|--------------------|
------------||--------------|---------------------|--------------------|
------------||--------------|---------------------|--------------------|
-12--~~~~~~-||--------------|-------2-2-0h2-------|--------------------|
------------||------------5-|-------------2p0-----|--------------------|
------------||-0-----0--7---|-0---------------3-2-|-0-----0-4-5-4/5--3-|
------------------------|-------------|-------------------------|
------------------------|-------------|-------------------------|
--------------0---0-----|-------------|-------------------------|
------2-0-0-2-4-4/5-x-x-|-------------|-------2-2-2-0-5-2---0h2-|
--------------------x-x-|---------5---|-------------------2-----|
0-----------------------|-0-----7---0-|-0-----------------------|
b
-----------|-----------|
-----------|-----------|
-----------|-----------|
-----------|-----------|
---------5-|-------5---|
0-----7----|-0-0-0---0-|
Okay, at this point, the bass/guitar starts playing the following at a
sorta "double-time" pace:
pm.....................
||-----------|---------------------------------|-----------|----------||
||-----------|---------------------------------|-----------|----------||
||-----------|---------------------------------|-----------|----------||
||-----------|---------------------------------|-----------|----------||
||-0---0-2---|-3---3---3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-|-3-3-5---5\|2-2-2-2-2-||
||-----------|---------------------------------|-----------|----------||
While a lead electric guitar does something like this:
remember...play it FAST :)
br
||-----------0-------0-----0-----0-|-----0-----0-0-0----------|
||-0-3-0-3/5---0-3/5---3/5---0-3---|-3/5---0-3---3---0----0h3-|
||---------------------------------|-------------------2------|
||---------------------------------|--------------------------|
||---------------------------------|--------------------------|
||---------------------------------|--------------------------|
----0-------0-----0-----0-0----0----|-0----0-0----0-----||
(3)---0-3/5---5/7---7/8-8-8/10---10-|---10---8-10/12-12\||
------------------------------------|-------------------||
------------------------------------|-------------------||
------------------------------------|-------------------||
------------------------------------|-------------------||
Then, the bass/guitar begins its "verse" part; that really cool, crunchy,
ominous-sounding bassline (while the electric guitar twangs out an Em7):
bf
||------------------|------------------|-------------|--------------||
||------------------|------------------|-------------|--------------||
||*-----------------|------------------|-------------|-------------*||
||*-----------4---5-|---------2--------|---------4-5-|-----------2-*||
||----------2-------|-------2---5--5-5-|-------2-----|---------2----||
||--0-0-2/3---------|-0-2/4------------|-0-2/4-------|-0-0-2/4------||
You can adlib a bit on that bass part wherever you feel it's necessary.
Listen to the CD to get the variations. ;)
Now, comes the "pre-chorus" ("Tell me, who ya gonna call when you need that
affection..."). The basic chords are D A C G, but here's the tab:
(D) (A) (C) (G)
|---------------|-------------|-------------|-----------------|
|---------------|-------------|-------------|-----------------|
|-----------2---|-------------|-------------|-----------------|
|-0-0-4-x-x-----|---------2--\|-------2---5-|-----5-----------|
|---------------|-0---0-4-----|-3---3-------|---------2-3-4-5-|
|---------------|-------------|-------------|-3-----3---------|
(D) (A) (C) (nc)
--------------|-------------|---------------|----------|
--------------|-------------|---------------|----------|
----------2---|-------------|---------------|----------|
0-0-4-x-x-----|---------2--\|-------2-x-x-5-|----------|
--------------|-0---0-4-----|-3---3---------|---0-1-2--|
--------------|-------------|---------------|-3--------|
Then for the chorus ("All you bad, bad boys, call her up on the Spank
Line"), there's this variation on the main verse riff:
bf bf
||---------------|-----------------------|---------------|----------------|
||---------------|-----------------------|---------------|----------------|
||---------------|-----------------------|---------------|----------------|
||-----------4-5-|-----------------------|-----2-5-4---5-|----2-5-4-------|
||---------2-----|---------2----5-5--5-5-|-3-3-----------|3-3-------5-6-6-|
||-0-0-2/4-------|-0-0-2/4---------------|---------------|----------------|
bf bf
---------------|-----------------------|--------------|-------------||
---------------|-----------------------|--------------|-------------||
---------------|-----------------------|--------------|-------------||
-----------4-5-|-----------------------|----2-5-4---5-|-----------2-||
---------2-----|---------2----5-5--7-7-|3-3-----------|---------2---||
-0-0-2/4-------|-0-0-2/4---------------|--------------|-0-0-2/4-----||
After the SECOND chorus, there's a bit with percussive guitar noises and
vocal and guitar echo effects, just adlib that. Do a lot of divebomb stuff
with a ton of delay and reverb. :)
Here's what I could gather from the lyrics:
Verse 1:
Both feet up, watchin' TV
Someplace to feast my eyes.
Well I'm always tripped on commercials
But this one blew my mind.
Pre-chorus 1:
"Tell me who you gonna call
When you need that affection?
You got ta' have it quick.
Well just aim your love line
In her direction."
Whoa_____!
Chorus:
All you bad, bad boys
Call her up on the Spank Line.
All you bad, bad boys
Call her up on the Spank Line.
Verse 2:
Three dollars, first minute
After that, cost ya' four.
She'll be up for negotiations
If you come back for more.
Pre-chorus 2:
"Now, who you gonna call
When you need that special little somethin'?
You can say what you like.
It's all confidential."
Interlude (the part with all the wierd echo effects and stuff);
B-b-bad boy!
Dial 1-900-SPANKED!
All you bad, bad boys
Call her up on the Spank Line.
For the most part, this tab was created with:
===========================================================================
== BUCKET 'O TAB ==
== tablature creation software for Windows ==
== For more information: ==
== email: gse@ocsystems.com ==
== US Mail: The Bucket, 3176-B5 Summit Square Dr., Oakton, VA 22124 ==
===========================================================================
Well, there's "Spanked" without the solo or outro. Here's a hint: the solo
begins with that lead guitar bit from the before the first verse. I'm not
much of a lead guitarist so Eddie Van Halen solos are a bit out of my
league. But I think what I've tabbed here should provide a practical
version of "Spanked".
Questions/comments/(maybe even requests) welcome by email only. ;)
Good luck,
Paul D. s3bz@music.transy.edu
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