Guitar 'Pro tabs'? Which one to choose?

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Pure1108Pure1108 Frets: 0

I used to use Powertab Editor to read powertabs to learn solos and popular rock songs, and it was by far the most effective method for me personally.

After finally recovering from a wrist injury (chronic sprain/muscle inflammation) I'm eager to revisit it and begin learning once again. Now, however, there seems to be all sorts of options i.e. Ultimate Guitar PRO, TuxGuitar and GuitarPro seem to be the most popular ones -

I've done a bit of research into each one and they seem very similar pricewise and featurewise - are there any lesser known ones that are worth looking into?

Also some of the above seem to have a library of 'power tabs' available to download into the software if you pay a subscription fee - is there not a free library somewhere? I don't recall paying for power tabs when I was first starting out?

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Comments

  • King85King85 Frets: 631
    edited July 2019
    Tuxguitar is free and does most of what guitarpro can do, don't bother with ug. Start with tux and upgrade to pro if there's something you feel you're missing.

    I've posted a link to a reddit archive of two zips with thousands of tabs in which you can download in a previous comment so that's well worth downloading too.
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  • pmbombpmbomb Frets: 1169
    can't comment on the others but Ultimate Guitar does all I need. I recall I got a lifetime sub for £37, so I'm set. Sorry can't remember where.

    oh yeah, I can, I think it was when I installed Tonebridge on my iPad.
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  • DulcetJonesDulcetJones Frets: 515
    I am also a happy paid up Ultimate Guitar user.  One big advantage is the number of types of tab every song brings up, you can  usually choose between several versions in Guitar Pro format and/or basic lyrics/chords, as well as some Powertabs.    It's like one stop shopping. 

    “Theory is something that is written down after the music has been made so we can explain it to others”– Levi Clay


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  • TenebrousTenebrous Frets: 1332
    Are any of them really that much better than Songsterr's free online stuff? There's not really been anything I've wanted to play that I haven't been able to find free on here: https://www.songsterr.com/a/wsa/dire-straits-sultans-of-swing-tab-s30084t1

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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    My experience is that 95% of internet TABs contain errors. Some aren’t even in the right key!  I know this isn’t the answer for everyone, but you do gain a lot by working it out for yourself. Try watching a live performance on YouTube where you can see the guitarist’s fingers, and slowing down playback if necessary.
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • vonLayzonfonvonLayzonfon Frets: 108
    All of the above. :)

    PowerTab is my favourite for tabbing stuff out myself, once I've discovered everything online is slightly (or massively) wrong, or I'm amalgamating multiple parts for a single guitar.  PowerTab prints the nicest (esp. multiple parts) for an old duffer that likes hard copy.

    TuxGuitar allows me to check that the GuitarPro versions on UG are also not quite what I'm after.

    I'm fortunate enough to have earned free UG pro membership for having submitted a few tabs (which other people no doubt think are slightly wrong).

    I'll often give something a quick look on Songsterr as a jump start because it's quick and easy.

    In the end, working it out for yourself still helps it stick the best, although this will sometimes take longer than I have time for/care to admit.
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