Tips for new fretless player?

It isn't necessary once your hand-shape is fully developed - watch some cellists like Jacqueline duPre or Mischa Maisky - as soon as the vibrato is used all the other fingers come off.

Absolutely! The beauty of the fretless bass is you can bias the vibrato on the flat side, pushing quickly up to pitch and allowing a slower fall back before pushing again in an asymmetric (sawtooth) manner - much sweeter than just going sharp as you have to with a fret in the equation.
For some reason vibrato comes naturally to me. Cello training 50 years ago??? Something must have stuck. Being a guitar player first made cello relatively similar in hand spacing

I loved playing cello, but only one semester. I had a viola some time ago but alto clef made me nuts. I also had a violin, but that didn’t take at all. I think I was too musclebound to stuff the thing under my chin and tuck my left elbow and where it was supposed to be. Always super uncomfortable and never give it a chance.

A funny thing happened just moments ago. I have been practicing a lot with my fretless and picked up my P5 bass that I will take to my gig tonight. My hand was so confused. Actually, it wasn’t my hand that was confused but looking at the fingerboard. Suddenly all the frets and and that’s confused me. It reminded me of some thing that I had to learn when I was alternating between B-flat and C trumpets; that I had to cycle through them during my practice sessions so that I could go back-and-forth on the fly without feeling all discombobulated.
 
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I've played fretless for more than 40 years. Also, cello and upright bass, which is now my main instrument. My intonation is still not perfect.

I have a couple of rules about intonation, that are perhaps unorthodox. First, hearing when you're out of tune is part of it, but playing in tune is a matter of developing consistent technique. When I notice that I'm playing something out of tune, I stop and analyze what I'm doing wrong with my technique. There are lots of approaches to technique on electric bass, but a "correct" technique is one that you can apply consistently, so you can notice and correct problems.

Second, all practice is intonation practice, because all practice involves developing and maintaining consistent technique. It doesn't end. There's no "good enough."
 
Well.... I got to play it for a few hours of rehearsal on Monday. Not prefect, but nobody could tell it was fretless. I would tell in spots where it was out of tune, but I also had my Korg CA40 running live for the entire rehearsal and I was never really far off. The only thing is that I have to keep an eye on the neck more regularly than with my fretted basses. With the exception of frets 1-5 I usually stick to a 1FPF hand structure so there is only a little shifting needed here and there. I'm not ready to gig with it as I still have trouble tracking music with my eyes and don't want to get discombobulated and lost, which happened one or two times on Monday.
 
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Well.... I got to play it for a few hours of rehearsal on Monday. Not prefect, but nobody could tell it was fretless. I would tell in spots where it was out of tune, but I also had my Korg CA40 running live for the entire rehearsal and I was never really far off. The only thing is that I have to keep an eye on the neck more regularly than with my fretted basses. With the exception of frets 1-5 I usually stick to a 1FPF hand structure so there is only a little shifting needed here and there. I'm not ready to gig with it as I still have trouble tracking music with my eyes and don't want to get discombobulated and lost, which happened one or two times on Monday.
How has it been going over the last couple of weeks?
 
How has it been going over the last couple of weeks?
I'm not quite confident enough to take it out to a gig, but did another rehearsal with it and didn't even bring a backup. A few mistakes here and there, got lost a few times looking away from the music and a few intonation issues here and there. But overall I'm quite comfortable with it. The sound was especially effective when I kicked in the Boss OC-5 pedal. I added chorus, but for what we were playing the chorus was a bit of overkill.
 
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I agree with most of the comments above.

Start by practicing slowly with a drone.
Try reading standard notation. This forces you to use your ears most of the time.
Left-hand position is important. This will become obvious when you are playing without looking at the fingerboard.
I also like playing in unison with the playback of notation software. For example, seventh-chord arpeggios in each position. Or ascending thirds. Or whatever. I can send you examples if that helps.
Record rehearsals and performances to check the playback for intonation issues. If you have a difficult time playing a passage with good intonation, consider playing it in a different position.
In rehearsals and performances, make sure you can hear yourself.
 
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Go slow and listen
1. Do not watch a tuner while you play. Use the tuner to tune before every practice session. The benefit of a fretless instrument is better harmonies that are not possible with a fretted instrument. Think back to your orchestra days when the conductor had everyone make micro adjustments to hit that perfect harmony.
2. Do not look at the fingerboard while you play.
3. Do not lose contact with the string (left hand) when you shift. Move slowly and listen as you slide into the note. Check against open strings. That can be octaves, major thirds, minor thirds, fourths, fifths, etc. Eventually, you won't even think about.

I also play cello and double bass. This is standard intonation practice.
Have you ever tuned your cello in forths? If so what were the pitches. I'm not really considering doing it if I have to change strings. But using the standard cello strings might not work. Just asking.
 
@vindibona1, congrats on your fretless journey! :thumbsup: i gotta believe that you're pretty comfortable with the instrument at this point, eh?
Yeah. Thanks. I may take it to play out on Friday night, assuming I'm on call for the date (every once in a while I have to sit out). This would be the same group that I did two rehearsals with it.

I haven't changed the strings yet, and it sounds ok, but the G string just sounds a little thin, I'm trying to help it a bit with pickup height. It has those Ibanez CAP pickups with sort of what I call a "rocker" profile, meaning they aren't flat, but rounded to perhaps be more consistent with a fingerboard radius. I will run it through a EQ/DI box with a Boss OC-5 octaver and a MXL chorus pedal to see what works.
 
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