[agfsteve]

I have invented an amazing new way to write TAB for frets 10 through 21 that avoids the cumbersome two-character-wide numbering system that makes TAB ugly and hard to read.

I discovered that each number, when spelled out, has a letter that can be used to symbolise its number.

The below TAB, overlaid with the spelled out numbers, shows each symbolic letter in bold, e.g. fret 10 = t, 11 = e, 12 = w, etc.:

                           t
                         t w
                         w e
                         e n
---                s e   n t  ---
---      t t   f   e i   t y  ---
-----t-e-w-h-f-i-s-v-g-n-y-o-----
---  e l e i o f i e h i   n  ---
---  n e l r u t x n t n   e  ---
---    v v t r e t t e e      ---
       e e e t e e e e t
       n   e e n e e n e
           n e   n n   e
             n         n

The system can easily be recalled by remembering the word "Tewhfisvgnyo", or the mnemonic, "Tiny Elves' Withered Hands Fit Inside Small Velvet Gloves, Not Your Orifice".

The minor drawbacks so far are:
1) Might not work in any language other than English (research required)
2) There is no logical symbolic letter for fret 22, although fret 23 could be "r" (first available letter in "Twenty Three"), and fret 24 could be "u" (first available letter in "Twenty Four")
3) The "h" symbolising fret 13 could be confused with the "h" currently symbolising a hammer-on.