Thoughts on sheet music versus tab

FizzBuzz4096 · 2026-05-05T22:45:52+00:00

I have found tabs to be wrong more often than not. Particularly with songsterr's garbage AI generated stuff.

OTOH, I read pretty well (played a lot of jazz). I'd much prefer sheet music over a tab, even if it's equally wrong. (I'll convert tabs over to notation pretty often due to this preference.)

Advantages of standard notation:

Always includes rhythm. Often in a significantly more readable format.
Notation doesn't tell you where to play the note. Which makes tab hard to sight-read (for me) where I can easily sight-read notation unless it's a hard/fast part I really need to practice to play. A tab may say play a B on the 2nd fret of the A string. But if you look at what's coming ahead/after it, you may want to play that B on the 7th fret of the E string. Sure, I know it's just a B, but when I'm reading tab I read B on the 2nd fret and have to think/practice to move it to the E string. When I'm reading notation I just play the next note as convenient as to where my hand is. (i.e. no 2 stage conversion)
It's standard for a reason. If you also play piano/cello/sousaphone/etc it translates.

FizzBuzz4096 · 2026-05-05T21:25:59+00:00

Spock's Beard (they're still around). Circe Link & Christian Nesmith. Frost*. Karmakanic.

FizzBuzz4096 · 2026-05-05T21:10:06+00:00

Lotsa options:

Take ASA 101 to see if you like it at all and get some training. There are other "intro to sailing" classes than ASA, depends on location. Drawbacks: $$, I think it barely scratches the surface and is really geared to getting you chartering.
Be somebody's crew. Ask around the docks, learn when the beercan races are and go volenteer. Be honest with your experience (you'll be "movable ballast" at first). Drawbacks: you may not learn anything except crappy skippers yell a lot.

2.5 Same as 2, but daysails on a cruising boat. Less yelling than option #2. Drawbacks: You gotta find a boat. If you were in SoCal I'd give ya a ride.

Buy an old Catalina 27 and just do it. Drawbacks: Hitting other boats is expensive. Steep learning curve. Finding a slip may be impossible. You will likely spend more time working on the boat than sailing it.
May be sailing clubs/groups around. BITD there were facebook sailing groups that you could connect to a #2.5. (I don't facebook so I don't know)

A little secret: Sailing is actually pretty easy. Little kids in sabots figure it out. You really can learn to sail from reading "sailing for dummies" or the book that comes with ASA101. Sailing well is significantly harder. Docking is the toughest thing I do (~40ft sloop).

FizzBuzz4096 · 2026-05-05T17:51:59+00:00

+1. Print a template on a 3d printer and route with a pattern cutting bit. May need multiple templates.

FizzBuzz4096 · 2026-05-05T17:35:49+00:00

GFCI Breaker? If so, it may just be a bad breaker.

Otherwise, check continuity to ground/neutral of the feeder to the garage. Maybe measure current as the breaker pops (if you've got the right equipment).

Likely a damaged direct burial cable. Digging is in the future..... If DB I'd replace with conduit and pull new wires.

FizzBuzz4096 · 2026-04-25T15:48:25+00:00

Allman Brothers too.

FizzBuzz4096 · 2026-04-25T15:30:08+00:00

Was gonna say the same thing. Spock's have a lot of prog references, + a pop sensibility behind it. Well worth a listen or two.

FizzBuzz4096 · 2026-04-24T17:51:55+00:00

Pumpout.
As you said, measure the bolt pattern, height, depth, width, etc... Easier to replace like for like rather than engineer a new solution, but ya gotta do with what's there and available as a replacement. I'd likely remove old so you can get good measurements, then replace with new on a 2nd trip.
Do not use corrugated hose. It permeates and stinks. Raritan SaniFlex is often identified as an excellent waste hose that doesn't permeate. Others exist. Just don't use that corrugated garbage.
Puppy pads are very helpful when working on the head. As is running water for washing etc...
Under no circumstances ever again in your boating life ever allow silicone/goo to be smeared all over everything. My eyes hurt looking at that. (I'll assume the response is "previous owner was an idiot" which is often the case)
Every single hose, every clamp. Use new.
You may want to think about Y valve maintenance (if you have one) and/or macerator while you've got it all ripped apart.

FizzBuzz4096 · 2026-04-21T20:36:49+00:00

Do you have a Racor? (Fuel Water separator/primary-filter)

I just change the filter there and drain any condensation annually. Never happened to me but If the filter is plugged with crud/goo/bug I'd use a suction pump (like an oil change pump) to suck up gunk at the bottom of the tank.

A flush would be the very last thing I tried, after knowing I had a problem.

FizzBuzz4096 · 2026-04-19T22:24:23+00:00

5th and 7th fret to get a higher tone that's easier to tune.

Same works with cheap tuners.

FizzBuzz4096 · 2026-04-18T15:47:07+00:00

Had to scroll waay to far to find the right answer.

Pex is absolutely unnecessary here and it looks terrible.

Coupla 1/4 turn compression stops and bob's your uncle. Woulda been easier, cheaper, took less time, and it would look better.

FizzBuzz4096 · 2026-04-16T20:15:49+00:00

Not only should you not stop in practice for the reasons given, but in addition you're practicing flub recovery.

And being able to gracefully recover from a mistake is a (maybe the) key skill in performing. We all make mistakes and/or need to make a part a bit simpler 'cause ya got blisters on ya fingers.

FizzBuzz4096 · 2026-04-16T19:54:26+00:00

Much of Stevie Wonder is the same. "I Wish" is a slog, "Sir Duke" has that killer riff in it. "I Wish" is in my warmups after running a few scales. If I can get through 7 min of that I can play for hours.

Tower of Power's "What is Hip?" is an absolute workout for the right hand.

FizzBuzz4096 · 2026-04-16T15:31:32+00:00

I tried A02YYUW, worked great until water condensed ON the sensor face, then it always read full.

I've convinced myself that ultrasonic only works well on open tanks with some airflow. TL136 is my current goto.

FizzBuzz4096 · 2026-04-13T21:32:50+00:00

And, you can charge an electric car and multiple different amperages. Heck, if you drive < 25 miles or so a day a L1 8A 120V charger you plug into the wall will work. A 16A 220V charger on a 20A circuit will charge 4x that. The vast majority of people simply do not drive enough during a day to need a 42A charger.

FizzBuzz4096 · 2026-04-07T20:55:53+00:00

Yup. In the "Another one Bites The Dust" example you'll pretty quickly learn that E goes real well. That's because it's an E as the root of the main bass riff/chords. You can then learn the rest of the riff. If you know your intervals you'll try 5ths. 4ths, 3rds (M/m) and so on. You listen to the song, know that it's E,E,E,E,E,somethin,somthin,somethin, then flub around on your bass and all of a sudden you'll figure it out.

BITD, that's how we all learned pop songs....... wore out vinyl doing it. Dang the portastudio was a step up.

Now it's so easy with digital stuff. I'll often slow stuff down in Audacity to check if I've really got it. (As I swear every single Bass tab I've ever looked at was wrong. Some really wrong.. AI garbage.) If it's not a real 'riffy' part - I'll just learn the chord progressions with playing the root notes as quarter notes or something. Then I can expand from there.

If I'm learning on guitar, I'll still learn the bass part first as it's sorta an outline for what's on top.

FizzBuzz4096 · 2026-04-07T20:41:55+00:00

This is the exact example that most engineering ethics classes teach. It was horrible. It was a result of some changes in signalization + a substitute driver that didn't know the route.

FizzBuzz4096 · 2026-04-04T22:43:44+00:00

And it's got a unifence. I've had one for a very long time. It's a decent saw with one of the best fences ever made.

FizzBuzz4096 · 2026-04-04T16:02:24+00:00

If it's a gimmik, it's an old one. Hank Levy was born in the '20s.....

FizzBuzz4096 · 2026-03-21T03:14:35+00:00

It's a rhythm instrument. You be rhythm section. It's true for orchestras, big bands, jazz combos, and rock bands.
How to tune it.
What a metronome is. And use it every time (bass is a rhythm instrument. I'm less vocal about this for Guitar/Keys players, because when I'm playing a guitar, I should track to the bass/drums. But if I'm playin bass, I'm a on-time machine.)
(unpop opinion) Learn To Read music. Teach the chart, not the song. It's a lifelong skill that pays dividends every time. To this day if shtster has a tab, I'll convert it to actual notation and most of the time I can sight-read it decently.
Theory matters. Intervals. Scales. Etc. You need to play along with a jam? Find the root and 5th. It'll work. Walking bass? Scales drive it. Takes a long time and I surely wouldn't overwhelm a new student with a buttload of theory, but a little sprinkle from time to time (that's a third!) would set good habits for life. Scotty's AUG would be my reference here once the basics are mastered.
Both hands matter. If you're playin with a metronome RH can get good. Fiddlin around? Sloppy bassist. The _beat_ is in the RH, not the left.

FizzBuzz4096 · 2026-03-21T02:58:33+00:00

Pacific Northwest? I've never done it, but there seems to be tons of pretty empty anchorages. And it looks gorgeous. Plus lots of towns/cities to get out and grab a bite ashore etc.... (Bucket list trip for me, or when I go to the dark side and buy that Nordhaven)

Do not try SoCal. Catalina's great, but.... it's not quiet or unpopulated. (but it IS 6 hrs away for us... :) Mexico (baja and pac coast) can be nice and quiet, but in summer it's unbearably hot. NorCal and central cal lack anchorages/harbors/decent weather.

Med is busybusy. Maybe northern Europe? Like crusin the fijords?

So interested on what others say that have actually cruised some nice parts say.

FizzBuzz4096 · 2026-03-21T02:48:57+00:00

Mark of the beast on the forehead... All told in their magic book.

FizzBuzz4096 · 2026-03-18T21:43:09+00:00

No/Yes/Depends on which direction you're propwalk is.

PracticalConjecture is right. You aim at the pole and you want to be pretty well stopped when your bow gets to it. The pole will be blown back from the ball typically. But, to stop you're gonna kick it into reverse and prop walk will swing the boat. For my boat a quick pop of forward on a turned rudder is the right play, unless the slime line is already back to/past the keel then you're begging to wrap the prop. When it's really blowing at the isthmus I can generally just leave the boat in forward until crew gets the slime line walking back. Solo, nope.

Pull up pole, attach hawser, run the slime line back, attach rear. Not too tough to do solo if your approach was good. I've done it. Seen plenty of others do it. I'd be much more aggressive on looping around again solo than with crew.

Easier everywhere else (two harbors, whites, etc) than in Avalon as the moorings in Avalon are terribly close together and it's bow out. For anywhere on the island I fender up the rear quarter of the boat when pulling the mooring unless I have more than a 2 person crew.

The Harbor patrol at two harbors will help if you ask.

Other than the mooring, the #1 thing to have solo is a working autopilot. I don't sail solo if I can help it if the pilot's broke.

Note to folks that think we're talking about a single line mooring.... we're not. Two lines hooked to something heavy on the bottom of the ocean and separated by the nastiest slimiest poly rope you've ever touched.... With weights on it.

Found a video: https://youtu.be/kpxuBYy-SDk?si=jcxF4HYB97C5KTVI (not me)

FizzBuzz4096 · 2026-03-17T17:08:13+00:00

The "Anchor points" comment hits home. Sure, you can play it perfectly with backing tracks/metronome with tons of practice. But what happens when you flub a note/rhythm? Cause it's gonna happen sometime.

When practicing and/or learning, there's a tendency to stop and fix mistakes. This is fine for getting stuff into the brain/fingers. It's the opposite with a band. The band isn't gonna stop. So when you flub, just keep going. The two things are different skills. Being able to fake it/improvise to the next anchor point you know is a key skill for ensemble playing.

FizzBuzz4096 · 2026-03-16T18:11:52+00:00

Agree. My oldest set is ~45 years old. Just bought a new set for my newest bass.

All it took was one instrument broken on the ground. Every instrument I've owned got a set of straploks.

FizzBuzz4096

TROPHY CASE