Intonation...%*£@!£%

[Bilbo]

The trouble with getting intonation right, on both fretless and double bass, is that you don't know it's going to be out of tune until AFTER you have played it. My electric has fret markers up the side of the neck but, on the double bass, we are reliant upon finger memory.

What do people do to nail this issue? I seem to be ok in the practice room but, on gigs, with all of the background noise (of various kinds), it all gets a little shaky (sometimes more than others).

Is it just about amp placement/monitoring?

[PaulWarning]

intonation on basses is well overated, or I could just be tone deaf :-)

[Dad3353]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1412156592' post='2566139']
The trouble with getting intonation right, on both fretless and double bass, is that you don't know it's going to be out of tune until AFTER you have played it. My electric has fret markers up the side of the neck but, on the double bass, we are reliant upon finger memory.

What do people do to nail this issue? I seem to be ok in the practice room but, on gigs, with all of the background noise (of various kinds), it all gets a little shaky (sometimes more than others).

Is it just about amp placement/monitoring?
[/quote]

Yes, you need to be able to hear what you're playing. Check often with a harmonic to refresh the ear, I'd say. There are countless examples of db being a bit 'off'; it goes with the instrument. 'Bone players have to keep their ears open, too.

[Beer of the Bass]

The worst scenario for me is playing slow tempo bowed parts with long, legato notes in harmony with the violin player in my group. If one of us comes in with our intonation slightly out, sometimes the other of us has already compensated by the time the first one has. It's like the audible equivalent of that thing where two people are walking towards each other on the pavement and try to avoid each other by stepping to the same side! Good monitoring helps a lot.