cigar box guitar playing - tabs or not

I've been asked a number of times where I got the tabs for my playing on Youtube. The answer is I don't use tabs. I find them hard to translate into real playing. I prefer to listen and find it for myself. I have never tried much to learn specific numbers and copy them in the way the masters played them. What's the point, they all do it better than me? Besides it's boring and requires too much discipline. I prefer to experiment, improvise and find my own music, maybe using some well known tracks as a basis but putting my own stamp on it. So basically I just listen to the originals, and try to play it till it sounds something like recognisable. In the process of getting there, you tend to pick up other ideas and learn something about your instrument. I guess that's what the old players did anyway before they got famous. If you think about it, the version we hear on an album and get very familiar with, is just one performance. In reality the player will play it slightly different every time anyway, improvising and changing licks and tempo. It's what keeps things fresh and exciting. So don't try to copy anything too much lick for lick. Get the basics down but then find your own music, your own style and your own way of doing things. Far more satisfying.