Hi Michael. I once read somewhere that there was a transcription book for your album Thonk and I have quite an obscure question for you. Providing I can find a copy, I was wondering if the string/fret transcriptions in the TAB portions of the book directly correlate to how you play them. For instance, if the standard notation portion says to play Ab and the TAB says 6th fret on the D string (provided the piece is in standard tuning), can I be sure that this is how you played it (as opposed to playing 1st fret on the G string or 11th fret on the A string)? I ask only because occasionally there has been a lick in a TAB book that had all of the right notes, but the TAB didn't make sense in the context of the fingering and it seems that it would be essential to have the proper fingering for the more complex slapping and tapping parts.

The two licks that I'm most interested in are the tapping part in Big Fungus that starts around 1:13 into the song and the slap groove in Bad Hair Day that starts around :39 into the song. I'm not asking you to transcribe them for me or anything, but I've got the tunings for the two parts from your website and I was just wondering if you have any insights into figuring them out until I can find the transcription book.

Thanks,
Ryan

Michael himself did the transcriptions for this book. I had the fortune of seeing his handwritten transcriptions for the Thonk book in progress while talking to him before a show back in 1994. He basically had to invent notation for things that I've never seen transcribed before (like the hipshot tuner and Hyperbass bridge tuning changes). I would say that if you got a copy of the actual book, you can count on the tabs being accurate. Each tune also has fairly detailed notes on tuning and performance tips. It's one of, if not THE best transcription books I've seen.
-Mike

Thanks so much, guys. I did indeed transcribe all the bass parts for the Thonk book (not the guitar parts, though!) and I tabbed them just as I played them to my best recollection. In the case of transcribing pieces in altered tunings, tab really is a helpful tool.