So I have a theory about obtaining more accurate tabs. I think on the tab sites they have to change them subtly because it’s a published document. BUT for YouTube bass tab videos they are performing and teaching so I’m wondering if that falls into a different class of fair use.
I’ve generally found tabs to be more accurate on YT than bass/guitar sites.
I see what you are saying … but NO … YT has nothing to do with Tab accuracy
Accuracy of tabs on YT … is at the sole discretion of the original content creator.
I have seen some seriously crap tabs on YT … just sayin 
Nah … they are just shit tabs …not much more to it.
If it’s any consolation it’s the same with sheet music. There’s some spectacularly bad free scores out there too.
Free is what it is 
Same as with any other source
Ultimate Guitar, Songsterr, etc. all rely on user created tabs and sourced tabs from publishers and other sources. It really is an “artistic-science” that varies vastly depending on the quality of the transcriber themselves.
My personal take on it is to use a thought-experiment example. Lets say a guitarist wants to post up a tab of a song they know really well one of these sources. That guitarist, despite being a good musician, isn’t necessarily a multi-instrumentalist - so their transcriptions will be most accurate for their knowledge of the song with their instrument, but the drums and bass will likely be a bit rougher - serving the song and providing something “good enough” to be used in a band or live context or playback function on whatever platform - but unlikely will be “album perfect”, because they are not necessarily tuned into to the the subtleties of instruments not their own). Its kind of a confirmation bias issue, in a way.
Another thing to consider is the “target audience” of a tab or notation, some may be altered or simplified a bit to make it more beginner friendly.
I guess it really depends what the user is actually wanting to do and how they are using said transcription. I think for anyone wanting to do an “album perfect” rendition of the song is going to just have to do it themselves, I don’t see any other way (or pay for it to have someone else put in the work via patreon or fiverr or similar sources).
I was saying seems like sites like ultimate guitar keep the good tabs for paying members.
See that’s just wack. Not just the tempo changes, but an incorrect time signature compared to the notes it thinks are happening. And also a different number of bars of rests.
This method of generating tabs is simply bad.
I am a paying member of Ultimate Guitar - I’ve found some pretty bad ones that are labeled “official tabs” - I think this likely goes back to the “confirmation bias” I addressed.
Here’s a concrete example. Song is Children of the Sea by Black Sabbath and tab is from Ultimate Guitar Pro (paid version) “official tab”. Listen closely to the beginning, Geezer clearly does a slide at the end of his first bit from a high Db to a low Db (end of 4th bar) - tab does not indicate that at all, and misses it throughout the beginning passage.
Another bit from the same song - about 2:14 into the video I linked above, bar 41. If you listen to the recording Geezer is playing much more than what’s shown here, like a doubled-up double time of the same riff (I’ve never quite got a handle on exactly what he’s doing here and will be ignoring it whenever I get around to doing this cover, as it is above my ability at this time).
Another thing - last 6 notes of measure 39 (and all other instances of this bit) - I don’t play the D on the open string, far more economical to play it on the a string with a whole hand shift.
Sorry - not meaning to harp on this subject, but its kind of frustrating at times. And to be fair, playing it as notated sounds perfectly ok for cover band purposes and for most players I would think. Unless you are performing in a tribute band or a professional, likely not something to dwell too deeply on (advice I need to take myself).
Song used here is one I’ve been practicing and studying for quite some time now, so I’m very aware of the faults in different transcriptions I’ve found and has kind of colored my opinion about these tabs sites in general. As stated elsewhere, tabs found on the internet are a good starting point. The end result and use will vary.
That’s because (in theory) they are generated by professional musicians for the paying members.
In reality, who knows.
Best bet, transcribe yourself
^^^
THIS!!
start with the tabs … use yer ears and common sense ;p
They make it seem that way ,…
give us the $ … you get the ‘good stuff’ … not much math needed to see what’s going on here
Have you commented about their inaccuracies? I’ve done that for a few of their tabs and found them to be generally responsive to it. I mean, I’ve seen bass notation in treble clef and missed phrases and all sorts of things, and they’ve been pretty good about making corrections if you let them know.
In general, for what I’ve looked at, I think their Official tabs are pretty good. Of course there are exceptions. That said, I don’t even look at their “non-official” tabs. I don’t trust them, and I just can’t deal with that late-80’s text-based stream of numbers.
I was not aware of that, thank you for the tip!
I have corrected a few of them
Love your parrots, breathing and otherwise, including the cool avatar in the video! Here’s my one parrot photo (I’m in the middle; 1965; still the same height (football brain injury) while my younger brothers made it up to 6’4")).
I understand what you mean, but you really haven’t heard how badly I can mess up a song I’ve practised loads once that camera is rolling. If I just posted the first take, you’d all be wondering why I bother!
I don’t see it as ‘dishonest’ to upload my best attempt at a song. And I’m not pretending to be perfect. It is quite clear from my videos that I am not.
I will make an outtake video for you 
Haha…thanks man! Yeah, that song was huge when I was a kid too.
Thanks Brik!
Cheers Jerry! I hadn’t heard it in ages either. My wife actually suggested it.
