As an odd coincidence, I ditched the fake books, almost 2 decades ago. It was kind of by accident. I had been hoarding more and more books, and got to the point of hauling a huge pile of books to every gig. One time, I got a last minute call, and couldn't remember where I had stashed the books, so I rushed out of the house without them.
And it went OK! In addition to the mental model that you describe, I've also learned that most tunes are more forgiving of changes than one might guess by all of the chord symbols notated so precisely.
I've revived my fake books for another use: To practice treble clef sight reading, which I neglected when I was younger. Also, I think learning melodies helps a lot in terms of mentally organizing and navigating the standards.
There are players who are a lot better than me, and are still attached to the books.
And it went OK! In addition to the mental model that you describe, I've also learned that most tunes are more forgiving of changes than one might guess by all of the chord symbols notated so precisely.
I've revived my fake books for another use: To practice treble clef sight reading, which I neglected when I was younger. Also, I think learning melodies helps a lot in terms of mentally organizing and navigating the standards.
There are players who are a lot better than me, and are still attached to the books.