Tabster ASCII Tablature: Simplified
Tabster is a free, open-source application that allows you to easily create, organize, search, edit, view, and print ASCII tablature for guitar, bass, drums and more.
Create

Create your own tabs from scratch or import them from a variety of formats, including:

  • Text
  • HTML
  • Portable Document Format (.pdf)
  • Rich Text Format (.rtf)
  • Word Documents (.docx)
Organize

Easily organize all of your tabs in one place, where you can search and edit them with ease.

Create playlists to better organize your library.

Discover

Seemlessly search for new tabs from popular tablature networks and add them to your library with a single click.

Natively-supported tablature archives include:

Download

Downloads
Tabster 2.0 Installer
Full-featured installation. Supports file associations for tablature files. 		Download
Tabster 2.0 Portable
Portable, perfect for computers with restricted permissions and/or USB drives. 		Download
Source Code
Zipped archive containing entire source code from GitHub. 		Download
System Requirements
Operating System Microsoft Windows 10, 8/8.1, 7, Vista or XP. 32/64 bit.
Processor 800Mhz or better
RAM 512 MB or higher
Disk Space 15MB
Other Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5
Version Released Changes
2.0 -
  • Changed: SQLite used for library/playlists/recent items
  • Changed: XML file format to binary
  • Added: Guitar Tabs Explorer searching
  • Added: Portable mode
  • Added: Proxy settings
  • Added: Application-specific printing format
  • Added: XML importing/exporting
  • Added: HTML importing/exporting
  • Added: RTF importing/exporting
  • Added: PNG exporting
  • Added: PDF importing/exporting
  • Added: HTML file exporting
  • Added: Rating search filter
  • Added: Songsterr support
  • Added: Guitartabs.cc support
  • Added: Search suggestions
  • Added: Ukulele tablature support
  • Added: Plugin system
  • Fixed: Bug on startup displaying message box when no updates are available
  • Changed: Major UI modifications
  • Changed: Major codebase refactoring
1.6 August 28th, 2013
  • Added: Downloads sub-library
  • Added: Auto-scrolling
  • Added: Single-instance functionality
  • Added: Persistent window size/state
  • Added: Preview pane to library and search
  • Changed: Tablature file format
  • Added: Forced caching
  • Removed: auto-detect
  • Removed: Embedded web browser
  • Fixed: Various search bugs
  • Added: Multi-downloader
  • Changed: Minor UI modifications
  • Changed: Major codebase refactoring
1.5.1 June 7th, 2011
  • Fixed: Bug with library search filter remaining when library is scanned
  • Added: Tablature repair to fix missing XML declarations
  • Added: Corrupt file detection
  • Added: Option to open downloaded/imported tabs after saving
  • Added: Option to open source URL of tabs in library
  • Added: Option to search for similar tabs from library
  • Fixed bug when clearing library search
  • Added: Search feature
1.5 June 3rd, 2011
  • Changed: Deleted tabs are now sent to the recycle bin
  • Fixed: Bug with newly created tabs not opening
  • Fixed: Bug with file associations
  • Added: File association for Tabster playlists
  • Changed: Warning dialog when closing unsaved tabs to display titles for every unsaved tab
  • Added: Menu options to show/hide side panel and status bar
  • Changed: Filter is now reset when switching sub-libraries
  • Added: Library cache for faster startup. (optional)
  • Removed: Multiple directory support in favor of central directory
  • Added: Save dialog when saving new tab online
  • Changed:Exporting now supports exporting to either text (.txt) or Tabster (.tabster) file
  • Added: Playlists
  • Changed: Recent files storage from registory to XML
  • Changed: File-naming convention now includes the tablature type to help avoid possible filename collisions
  • Changed: Tablature file format to include view count, rating, and difficulty
  • Added: Middle click to open library items
  • Removed: Error log viewer
  • Fixed: Bug when creating new tab and it staying in temporary folder
  • Fixed: Bug with improper date sorting
  • Added: NSIS-based installer
  • Added: Tabbed interface to tab viewer
  • Changed: Minor UI modifications
  • Changed: Major codebase refactoring
1.1 January 15th, 2011
  • Changed: Minor UI modifications
  • Fixed: Bug with persistent saving when closing a newly created tab
  • Fixed: Bug when re-scanning library while filter is set
  • Fixed: Library not updating properly when tabs modified/deleted
  • Added: Favorites option in information dialog
  • Added: Download utility
  • Added: Error log viewer
  • Added: Sublibraries for imported tabs, guitar tabs, guitar chords, bass tabs, drum tabs, and favorites
1.0.3 January 7th, 2011
  • Fixed: Connection timeout when checking for updates
  • Changed: Minor UI modifications
  • Added: Error logging
1.0 January 6th, 2011
  • Initial release

Frequently Asked Questions

I found a bug, where do I report it?

Use the issue tracker to report any bugs..

How do I install plugins?

Plugins are placed in the 'Plugins' directory, located in your installation directory. Subdirectories are fine, as long as they are nested within the 'Plugins' directory.

Can I run Tabster on Mac/Linux?

Currently, Tabster is not 100% Mono-compliant. This may change in the future however.

How do I create plugins?

Plugins can be created using any .NET language by referencing the appropriate assemblies. See the plugins section for more information.

What sites/archives able to be searched?

Natively, Ultimate Guitar, Guitartabs.cc, and Songsterr are supported with more to likely be added in the future.

Is Tabster open-source?

Yes, Tabster is open-source and licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0

Plugins

Plugins allow you to extend Tabsters functionality. Currently, plugins can offer alternative import and export formats as well as search providers.

Featured Plugins

UltimateGuitar v1.0
Supports ultimate-guitar.com tab searching and downloading. 		Download
Songsterr v1.0
Supports songsterr.com tab searching and downloading. 		Download
Guitartabs.cc v1.0
Supports guitartabs.cc tab searching and downloading. 		Download
HtmlExport v1.0
Supports exporting to HTML files. 		Download
PDFFile v1.0
Supports importing and exporting to/from PDF files. 		Download
PNGExport v1.0
Supports exporting to Portable Network Graphics (.png) files. 		Download
RTFFile v1.0
Supports importing and exporting to/from Rich Text Format (.rtf) files. 		Download
TextFile v1.0
Supports importing and exporting to/from text (.txt) files. 		Download
WordDoc v1.0
Supports importing and exporting to/from Microsoft Word (.docx) files. 		Download
GuitarTabsExplorer v1.0
Supports guitartabsexplorer.com tab searching and downloading. 		Download
UltimateGuitar v1.0
Supports ultimate-guitar.com tab searching and downloading. 		Download
Songsterr v1.0
Supports songsterr.com tab searching and downloading. 		Download
Guitartabs.cc v1.0
Supports guitartabs.cc tab searching and downloading. 		Download
GuitarTabsExplorer v1.0
Supports guitartabsexplorer.com tab searching and downloading. 		Download
UltimateGuitar v1.0
Supports ultimate-guitar.com tab searching and downloading. 		Download
Songsterr v1.0
Supports songsterr.com tab searching and downloading. 		Download
Guitartabs.cc v1.0
Supports guitartabs.cc tab searching and downloading. 		Download
GuitarTabsExplorer v1.0
Supports guitartabsexplorer.com tab searching and downloading. 		Download
HtmlExport v1.0
Supports exporting to HTML files. 		Download
PDFFile v1.0
Supports importing and exporting to/from PDF files. 		Download
PNGExport v1.0
Supports exporting to Portable Network Graphics (.png) files. 		Download
RTFFile v1.0
Supports importing and exporting to/from Rich Text Format (.rtf) files. 		Download
TextFile v1.0
Supports importing and exporting to/from text (.txt) files. 		Download
PDFFile v1.0
Supports importing and exporting to/from PDF files. 		Download
RTFFile v1.0
Supports importing and exporting to/from Rich Text Format (.rtf) files. 		Download
TextFile v1.0
Supports importing and exporting to/from text (.txt) files. 		Download
WordDoc v1.0
Supports importing and exporting to/from Microsoft Word (.docx) files. 		Download

Installation

To install plugins, locate the plugin directory (%APPDATA%/Tabster/Plugins) and extract the appropriate .zip file into the directory. Restart Tabster if it is already running.

Development

For information on how to create plugins for Tabster, please refer to the Plugin Development documentation.

Contribute

Know how to program? Want to add new features to Tabster or have your plugin included in future releases of Tabster? Tabster is open-source, meaning you can easily contribute to the project on GitHub.

Donate

Programming not your forte? If you like, you can still contribute to the project by donating. Tabster is a project I started years ago for my own use out of frustration of having to work with cluttered tablature text files. I eventually released it publically after enough interest was shown in the project and work on it during my free time and have since distributed it freely. Donations are not necessary but are certainly appreciated.