As I've grown more accomplished, I've come to notice that some transcriptions make choices in note placement that aren't as simply as they could be.

 

An example would be playing an A on the fifth fret of the E string... instead of simply using an open A where it would make an easier transition.  Obviously, transcriptions originate with someone hearing or picking out the notes, but some bass lines seem to jump all over the place instead of staying closely packed together.

 

When learning a new song, I regularly find myself altering the note choice to simplify things.  Do any of you do the same thing?

Yes, i think a lot of us does.  The same goes for the guitar as well.

At one point, it's also that some player used fingering and position you would not use yourself for the same riff. I've worked on many CDLC where the live video of the artist show position that i wouldn't have choosen myself to play a specific riff.

 

I know i try to make sure that my tab reflect as much as possible how it was originally played but i can't say the same for every other charter around here and even my old work isn't up to that standard either.

As I've grown more accomplished, I've come to notice that some transcriptions make choices in note placement that aren't as simply as they could be.

 

An example would be playing an A on the fifth fret of the E string... instead of simply using an open A where it would make an easier transition.  Obviously, transcriptions originate with someone hearing or picking out the notes, but some bass lines seem to jump all over the place instead of staying closely packed together.

 

When learning a new song, I regularly find myself altering the note choice to simplify things.  Do any of you do the same thing?

Couple of remarks:

- Sometimes I make my own bass tabs, from simplying the guitar tab, this isn't 100% correct, some bassist might hate it, but it's that or no bass

When you do that, the notes might seem jumpy, as they come from guitar chords

- Basically 2 play styles: Vertical (scales) or Horizontal (on one string), the vertical playstyle makes it so you keep your hand in one position, the horizontal makes it so you don't have to string skip, but have pro's and con's

- Vertical playstyle, when in first position lets you use open strings, which don't require an actual finger so that's easier, con it doesnt give you that much control over muting/bending/sliding

- Horizontal playstyle, you can slide into the next note, so they blend into eachother

The best  ones seem to be charted by people who play first and game 2nd as they seem to be more aware of finger positioning 

One thing to consider is that the open string and the fretted one sound different. A lot of times I go for the fretted, for example, A on the E string instead of the open A string. It all depends on the sound you are going for.

I find the open strings sound more "ringy".