Something that always bugs me is the way most tab is written.
I started on upright bass, and on upright, it's a gift to find notes one can play on open strings. There's a lot of left-hand work involved in playing upright, and I quickly learned that open strings were my friends.
Then (after a 24 year layoff) I discover that in the interval, tab has become a very popular option for those who don't read music. In fact, if I'm working on a rock or blues piece, tab is usually all I can find to get started with.
BUT....it seems like in every tab I've found, the author would do ANYTHING to avoid playing an open string. This is true even when there is no position advantage at all to playing up the neck.
Yeah, yeah, I know there's an argument that many players feel that open strings sound different than fretted notes. OK, fine, whatever, but I don't think that the audience can usually tell any difference. In fact, I personally like the sound of open strings. As a result, I end up mentally transcribing the tab back to positions where I can play open strings.
What I think is going on is that people who write tab want to LOOK busy so they invent ways to play up on the neck when they don't need to. That's not something I'm worried about. I LIKE using open strings when they're available. When it gives me an advantage to play up the neck, that's fine...I'll do it. But it's never my first choice.
You all may think I'm weird, but my wife just says I'm special.