Why are bass tabs on so many sites utter gash?

[Scoop]

I really need to get a decent tab for Family's classic old stomper "Burlesque", it's for a dep gig and I don't have the time to work the bugger out myself.

Can't find a decent tab for it anywhere. Which is a problem for *SO* many songs. 

If I was the Boss of Everything I'd make it a capital offense to post a tab that was crap, incomplete, or in the wrong sodding key. The words "I think it goes a bit like this..." would result in the immediate emasculation of the poster by the two bricks method, without anaesthetic.

Rant over.

(and breathe...)

[linear]

Could it be, perhaps, because they are being transcribed by bass players?  

[Scoop]

Just now, linear said:

Could it be, perhaps, because they are being transcribed by bass players?  

Good point...

[EssentialTension]

21 minutes ago, Scoop said:

... I don't have the time to work the bugger out myself ...

... it seems neither did anyone else.

[Dad3353]

3 hours ago, Scoop said:

I really need to get a decent tab for Family's classic old stomper "Burlesque"...

This'll get you close...

Burlesque.btab
Family
TablEdited by Poppamies
Tuning : E A D G 	Time Signature: 4/4

  tempo 104      |       |        |       |       |       |        
|--------2-----------------------|--------------------------------|
|--------------------------------|--------2-----------------------|
|0---------------------------0---|4-------------------------------|
|--------------------0---2-------|--------------------0---2-------|

 |       |       |       |        |       |       |       |        
|--------2-----------------------|--------2-----------------------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|0---------------------------0---|4-------------------------------|
|--------------------0---2-------|--------------------0---2---5---|

 |       |       |       |        |       |       |       |        
|--------2-----------------------|--------2-----------------------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|0---------------------------0---|4-------------------------------|
|--------------------0---2-------|----------------------------0---|

 |       |       |       |        |       |       |       |        
|--------2-----------------------|--------0---------------0---1---|
|--------------------------------|----------------3---------------|
|0---------------------------0---|3-------------------------------|
|--------------------0---2-------|--------------------------------|

 |       |       |       |        |       |       |       |        
|--------2-----------------------|--------2-----------------------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|0---------------------------0---|4---------------------------0---|
|--------------------0---2-------|--------------------0---2-------|

 |       |       |       |        |       |       |       |        
|--------2-----------------------|--------------------------------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|0---------------------------0---|0---------------------------0---|
|--------------------0---2-------|--------------------0---2-------|

 |       |       |       |        |       |       |       |        
|--------2-----------------------|------------2-------------------|
|--------------------------------|----2---4-----------------------|
|0---------------------------0---|4-------------------------------|
|--------------------0---2-------|--------------------0---2---3---|

 |       |       |       |        |       |       |       |        
|--------------------------------|----0---5-----------------------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|3-------3---0-------0---1---2---|3-----------0-------0---1---2---|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|

 |       |       |       |        |       |       |       |        
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|--------------------------------|----------------------------3---|
|3---3---3---3---3---3---3---2---|1---1---1---1---1---1---1-------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|

 |       |       |       |        |       |       |       |        
|----------------------------7---|--------2-----------------------|
|4---4---4---4---4---4---4/------|--------------------------------|
|--------------------------------|0---------------------------0---|
|--------------------------------|--------------------0---2-------|

 |       |       |       |        |       |       |       |        
|------------2-------------------|--------2-----------------------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|0---3---4-----------------------|0---------------------------0---|
|--------------------------------|--------------------0---2-------|

 |       |       |       |        |       |       |       |        
|--------2-----------------------|--------2-----------------------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|0-------------------------------|0-------------------------------|
|--------------------0---2---3---|--------------------0---2---3---|

[tom skool]

it's the same for guitar tab, a waste of time usually. I find youtube a much better option and you can instantly hear if its right or not

[tauzero]

My own experience may give some guidance to the reasons for this...

Some time ago, feeling dead idle, I had a look for a tab for Killer by Seal/Adamski. There are a couple on Ultimate Guitar, which are wrong. So I worked it out and then posted a correct version of it for consideration. The self-proclaimed great and good responded that (1) it was so simple that there was no need for a tab (so why are there tabs on there for it) and (2) that there were already tabs on there for it (but they're totally wrong). I resubmitted it once, got the same response, and decided not to bother posting tabs up there ever again. Tossers.

[tauzero]

Oh, and I've just remembered - I think every single tab for "The Seeker" by The Who is wrong, which is quite impressive.

[Woodinblack]

Honestly some times when you listen to a song, you hear the bassline, and you work it out, and play that for ever and ever. Then one day you are listening to the track and realise that the bassline actually doesn't something that you hadnt heard before, so you had been playing it wrong.

Obviously when that happens it is because the original artist came back and redid it on your music player, because the only other way it could happen would be if you were wrong in the first place

 

[T-Bay]

I work on the grounds that if it’s free expect it to be value for money, if it’s decent then it’s a bonus. They are mixed but it usually only takes a couple of minutes to spot the decent ones. I use bigbasstabs and most are ok and a decent number are very good. 

[Count Bassy]

Thing is, if you listen to various versions (by family) of Burleque over the years the bass varies quite a bit, so I wouldn't worry too much about making it sound exactly like the version on Bandstand (or the single).

[krispn]

The singer/guitarist in my pub outfit is terrible for downloading chords and not playing with the recording to check they’re correct. Fast forward to rehearsal room and he’s got the wrong chords etc etc. The nail in the coffin from me was when we were doing All I Want For Christmas a few years ago and I vetted some chord charts and sent him the one which was impressively accurate. Sent it to him 5 weeks before the rehearsal.....the night before he messages me saying he had a different chord chart......about ten minutes later he says he found another chord chart and then later another chord chart. As long as it works with the vocals, our fiddle player sings too and she’s got a great voice, I told him and suggested he play with the recording to double check. At rehearsal he hadn’t a clue and was way off. It was made worse when I asked for his guitar and played the chords with the singer and it was bang on.  

Now I steer clear of songs which require him to do anything complicated! 

[Toddy17]

Most are rubbish,,,which is great,,cos my students try and learn stuff,,go to the tab,,can’t work it out,,and come to me to help sort it,,a, costs them £20 an hour,,b, teaches them to listen for themselves  and learn the fingerboard better,,

Edited November 20, 2017 by Toddy17

[TrevorR]

To answer the OPs question,  the reason  is that the internet is dominated by idiots with no comprehension of the phrase “quality assurance” and enough arrogance to presume that their half a#*ed attempt is right. I like to imagine them as 15year old spotty ‘Erberts!

For example, for many years the ONLY version of the Doobie Brothers’ classic Long Train Running available on chord and lyric sites was as follows... Spotty ‘Erbertness highlighted in bold...

Quote

Long Train Runnin

Down around the corner, half a mile from here

See them groceries running, and you watch them disappear

Without love, where would you be now (( Without love-ove-ove-ove ))

 

You know I saw Miss Lucy down along the tracks

She lost her home and her family and she won't be coming back

Without love, where would you be right now (( Without love-ove-ove-ove ))

 

Well the healing's always central In a southern central freight

You got to keep on pushing mama I know they're running late

Without love, where would you be now na na now (( Without love-ove-ove-ove ))

 

Well the healing's always central In a southern central freight

You got to keep on pushing mama You know they're running late

Without love, where would you be now (( Without love-ove-ove-ove ))

 

Well distance keep on turning and the wheels go round and round

and the steel reels are cooling hard and the mountain ain't going down

Without love, where would you be right now (( Without love-ove-ove--ooh...))

Where would you be now

 

Mmm..ooh you got to get the baby thing

I want to move it down I want to move it down

Baby baby baby babe oh won't you move it down

There's a big train running With the train

I'm moving on I got to keep on moving, keep on moving

I got to keep on moving,

I'm going to keep on moving

Problem was that it got posted on one lyric site. Then all the other lyric sites data-scraped it and put it on their sites. Then people used it as the basis for half a#*sed attempts at posting the chords. That got data-scraped and reposted... until it was ubiquitous on all the chord sites. We’ll forget the fact that most of these phrases make absolutely no sense in the context of the song or in the context of the English language!

QA’d sites like Google Play means that it’s less common than it was but for many years those WERE the words as far as the Internet was concerned. Honestly, I have heard cover bands singing THOSE lyrics.

Chord sites, tab sites... all the same principles apply.

Edited November 20, 2017 by TrevorR

[TrevorR]

2 hours ago, krispn said:

The singer/guitarist in my pub outfit is terrible for downloading chords and not playing with the recording to check they’re correct. Fast forward to rehearsal room and he’s got the wrong chords etc etc. The nail in the coffin from me was when we were doing All I Want For Christmas a few years ago and I vetted some chord charts and sent him the one which was impressively accurate. Sent it to him 5 weeks before the rehearsal.....the night before he messages me saying he had a different chord chart......about ten minutes later he says he found another chord chart and then later another chord chart. As long as it works with the vocals, our fiddle player sings too and she’s got a great voice, I told him and suggested he play with the recording to double check. At rehearsal he hadn’t a clue and was way off. It was made worse when I asked for his guitar and played the chords with the singer and it was bang on.  

Now I steer clear of songs which require him to do anything complicated! 

I feel your pain. I do the music for one of the ensembles with which I’m involved. It can take me maybe two or three hours per song to ensure that the chords are completely right, compile them in OnSong and then distribute them in pdf and OnSong format to all members. And still one of the guitar players prefers to “do his own chords” in a format he likes despite having been sent the correct chord sheets like everyone else. Then he gets frustrated in rehearsals and starts sniping at the rest of the musos that “someone’s playing the chords all wrong!” Yes, and guess who it is. EVERY SINGLE TIME. But still he seems incapable of deciding to use my circulated chord sheets as the basis for his Word Art ridden, phantasmagorical creations. Nope, www dot malwarechordsheets dot ru remains his go to source. 

Edited November 20, 2017 by TrevorR

[Les]

I don't know if it's all of them cos' if I find a tab that's good enough I use it and  leave it at that, but when I find one that's utter bollox I move on and find that the tab maniac has posted the utter bollox one everywhere. bastard.

Though as someone said it's a free resource so maybe I shouldn't have that much of a downer on them.

 

Les

[Rocker]

5 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

This'll get you close...

Burlesque.btab
Family
TablEdited by Poppamies
Tuning : E A D G 	Time Signature: 4/4

  tempo 104      |       |        |       |       |       |        
|--------2-----------------------|--------------------------------|
|--------------------------------|--------2-----------------------|
|0---------------------------0---|4-------------------------------|
|--------------------0---2-------|--------------------0---2-------|

 |       |       |       |        |       |       |       |        
|--------2-----------------------|--------2-----------------------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|0---------------------------0---|4-------------------------------|
|--------------------0---2-------|--------------------0---2---5---|

 |       |       |       |        |       |       |       |        
|--------2-----------------------|--------2-----------------------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|0---------------------------0---|4-------------------------------|
|--------------------0---2-------|----------------------------0---|

 |       |       |       |        |       |       |       |        
|--------2-----------------------|--------0---------------0---1---|
|--------------------------------|----------------3---------------|
|0---------------------------0---|3-------------------------------|
|--------------------0---2-------|--------------------------------|

 |       |       |       |        |       |       |       |        
|--------2-----------------------|--------2-----------------------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|0---------------------------0---|4---------------------------0---|
|--------------------0---2-------|--------------------0---2-------|

 |       |       |       |        |       |       |       |        
|--------2-----------------------|--------------------------------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|0---------------------------0---|0---------------------------0---|
|--------------------0---2-------|--------------------0---2-------|

 |       |       |       |        |       |       |       |        
|--------2-----------------------|------------2-------------------|
|--------------------------------|----2---4-----------------------|
|0---------------------------0---|4-------------------------------|
|--------------------0---2-------|--------------------0---2---3---|

 |       |       |       |        |       |       |       |        
|--------------------------------|----0---5-----------------------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|3-------3---0-------0---1---2---|3-----------0-------0---1---2---|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|

 |       |       |       |        |       |       |       |        
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|--------------------------------|----------------------------3---|
|3---3---3---3---3---3---3---2---|1---1---1---1---1---1---1-------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|

 |       |       |       |        |       |       |       |        
|----------------------------7---|--------2-----------------------|
|4---4---4---4---4---4---4/------|--------------------------------|
|--------------------------------|0---------------------------0---|
|--------------------------------|--------------------0---2-------|

 |       |       |       |        |       |       |       |        
|------------2-------------------|--------2-----------------------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|0---3---4-----------------------|0---------------------------0---|
|--------------------------------|--------------------0---2-------|

 |       |       |       |        |       |       |       |        
|--------2-----------------------|--------2-----------------------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|0-------------------------------|0-------------------------------|
|--------------------0---2---3---|--------------------0---2---3---|

 

This is not a song I know, not sure if I ever heard it on the radio, but reading your tab I see a lot of open strings used.  I usually play the EADG notes up the neck as it is easier for me to damp any unwanted strings.  Maybe this song needs the bass note to ring out but, for the music I play - country, rock & roll, etc. - I need to play the notes that are needed hence damping is required.  The concept of playing open strings is fascinating, I might give it a go and see what happens.  Thanks for alerting me to this possibility....

[Dad3353]

Just now, Rocker said:

 

This is not a song I know...

This may enlighten, then..? Good Stuff, I say; brings back many happy memories (you had to be there..!  )

 

[fleabag]

My fave bass line of all time

Wetton, IIRC

[alyctes]

I guess the other thing is, most bass players don't hear themselves.  I didn't like it much when I first heard myself recorded...

[thebigyin]

I've often looked on various Bass tab sites and thought What? Are you learning the same song lol....some are terrible...i find Youtube better at least you can listen and watch and try pick up a few tips 

[FinnDave]

1 hour ago, oldbass said:

Back in the day you got the tape/record and learned it by ear...in all the bands I played in it worked. Whats happened?

And surely that's easier than ever today, with simple free software that allows you to isolate short sections of any piece of music and loop it unusual you lock in, then move on to the next section. Far better that lifting and dropping the needle back a few groove and wearing the record out!

[gapiro]

It really varies - I often use tab or dots from the web for free because I am often very short of time  (i do a LOT of dep gigs) - so I'll find one, play to the record, if it sounds ok, I'll use it (i'm often using an Ipad for notes). If its awful i'll try another or work out the bass from the record, but it takes me maybe 10 times as long.

It helps knowing the songs - I'm helping a friends band out at the moment due to serious illness - they just said yesterday they wanted to bring in California cation for tonight rehearsal - the rest of the band already knows it, so today I shall be looking at tabs in the 1hour between getting home from work and going to rehearsal - Knowing how the song goes in my head does give me a huge advantage.

[PaulWarning]

there's usually one decent tab of a song somewhere it's just a matter of finding it, the annoying thing is that the ones that are utter bollocks get re posted onto other sites, but it's quicker than trying to figure it out myself, once I've found what looks like a decent one I go through it with the song slowed down, basically they're a good starting point

[krispn]

TrevorR

Yup it's quite annoying but our guitarist is the weakest link in our band so I find myself learning the correct parts if needed so I can then show him. The intro to Stuck in The Middle with you is another classic he keeps fluffing and after 8 months of trying to get Yoo Hoo into our set I gave up as he couldn't get his fat fingers around a 12 bar blues! He had downloaded tabs which were wrong and then, I quote, "....got it stuck in my head now and cant change it"!!

 

I usually find tabs to give me an idea if I can't immediately pick something out and then build upon it or it's handy for when I'm pressed for time. There is something satisfying about figuring out something though. Quite rewarding