Printable Bass Tab Paper
Blank bass tablature paper with a configurable number of lines, so it works for standard four-string bass, five-string with a low B, six-string, and extended-range guitars up to eight strings.
- Free, no signup
- Exact-scale vector PDF
- Letter, A4, Legal & more
- Commercial use OK
Sets the staff space; every other proportion follows from it.
0 leaves the staves open.
36pt is half an inch — safe on virtually every printer.
Free, no signup. Print at 100% scale (not “fit to page”) so the measurements come out exact.
Live preview — US Letter (8.5 × 11"), portrait · updates as you change any setting.
Setting the string count
Four lines covers standard bass (E A D G). Five adds a low B beneath, which is now standard on a large share of modern basses. Six typically adds a high C on top as well. Set the count to match your instrument — writing five-string parts on four-line paper forces awkward workarounds that make the tab hard to read back.
Reading order
As with guitar tab, the highest-pitched string is the top line and the lowest is the bottom. On a five-string that means the low B is the bottom line, and on a six-string the high C is the top. Numbers are frets, zero is an open string.
Extended-range guitar
Because the string count is adjustable up to eight, this sheet doubles as seven- and eight-string guitar tab paper. Those instruments are poorly served by standard six-line tab paper, and improvising by squeezing extra strings onto a six-line staff is a reliable way to produce something you can't read a week later.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many lines does bass tab have?
One per string: four for a standard bass, five for a five-string with a low B, six for a six-string. Set the count here to match your instrument.
Can I use this for 7 or 8 string guitar?
Yes — set the string count to 7 or 8. The layout takes any count from 4 upward, so extended-range guitars are covered.
Which line is the low B on a 5-string?
The bottom line. Tablature always puts the lowest-pitched string at the bottom and the highest at the top, regardless of how many strings there are.
Does bass tab show rhythm?
No — tablature carries pitch and position but not timing. Write rhythm stems below the staff, or pair it with standard notation using the combined tab and staff paper on this site.
Printing Tips
- Print at 100% scale.Turn off “fit to page” and “shrink oversized pages” — otherwise your printer rescales the sheet and the measurements no longer match.
- Match the paper size. Choose the same size here as the paper in your tray. Printing a Letter PDF on A4 (or the reverse) scales it.
- Lighter lines print better. A light grey or blue guides your work without competing with it — and it uses far less ink.
- Use heavier paper for wet media. 100gsm and up for fountain pens and markers; standard copier paper is fine for pencil.