I’m legit jealous.
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I think that with both tab and standard notation, after enough practice you don’t have to look at the fretboard. When I am playing off tab my fingers go to the right fret automatically at this point. The ability to read standard notation can be very useful, but it has the the extra barrier of having to learn the note locations both on the stave and fretboard and be able to process that pretty much on the fly, which is why (to me) tab is much more beginner-friendly, with its “you put finger here now” simplicity.
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Exactly!
I went through much of the first part of the B2B course playing tab, but after awhile realized that it’s much more efficient thinking in terms of notes and intervals instead of finger placement. Once I mastered reading, and had learned the fretboard, I found it much better (and more fun) to play everything from musical notation rather than tab.
When I was see a note on the stave, BOOM I play it without thinking. With tab, my brain has to register and compute, then I have to think about which string and which fret. This may only be a second or two, but that’s a long time if you’re playing a fast song or playing 16th notes.
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If you’ve ever played in an orchestra and know about transposing instruments you know what a mess standard notation is 
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Yep!
Former trumpet player here 
Incidentally - Bass guitar is a transposing instrument 
(it’s notated an octave higher than it actually is)
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This is a really interesting topic. As a relatively new player I have only just started to be able to play without frequently looking at my fretting hand. It wasn’t really conscious, I have just played so much that it feels more natural now. My favourite moments are when I am playing while doing something else like watching TV and I realise I am playing without thinking at all. Because I sing and play the bass at the same time my aim is to look at the fretboard as infrequently as possible but sometimes you just gotta do it!
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I know bass is a transposing instrument but an octave is pretty inconsequential compared to having notes that far off the bottom of the staff 
and not nearly as bad as a major second for trumpet or tuba being written in treble clef.
Then you know that in concert pitch it’s not actually notating the note you’re playing, it’s notating the fingering you need to use to get the appropriate note… so it’s pretty much a tab 
because musicians are lazy. I tried to play french horn for a bit but i only had a trumpet book… i gave up. That’s the only instrument I’ve ever quite trying to play trying to play alto sax music on trumpet is just as fun.
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Trumpet is so funny. Bb? Really? So close
Then again there’s B and C# instruments too. A half step transposed. So funny.
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Also yep, so true. If you’re not playing in concert pitch or whole-octave transposed, sheet music is basically a tab 
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I just look at my fingers because I’m shy 
Usually I learn the tabs and think about which key and scale I’m playing. That is easier to remember.
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I wish i’d had a good understanding of that at the time instead of 25 years later but i hated theory and just wanted to play music. I played mostly violin, trombone and bassoon so transposing instruments were a mystery to me a lot of it was a real struggle to learn until i started playing piano.
As far as not looking at my fingers, i play in a dark room… it’s like sight reading music and learning pretty much anything: if you really need to do it, it’s easier/faster.
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