I thin k it should be a Rickenfaker, 4003 shape but with a hollow body. Nice big slash ‘f’ hole like the 360. Try a piezo pickup bridge like the Fishman to give it an alternative sound to what e er magnetic pickup grabs your fancy!
Me too! Having struggled with the close spacing of a mandolin, it’s a big jump down from basses, I bought an Octave Mandola which tunes the same but is a lot more comfortable spacing. I’m on my second a hand made maple backed one by Robin Greenwood who has a workshop near Poole in Dorset. Lovely instrument.
Love the look of them, but like FinnDave, don’t think I could handle 30” scale, and I think they have incredibly skinny necks, perhaps not quite as thin as the Framus Bill Wyman used to play but pretty close!
I wonder the author of the “History” hasn’t published an updated version. They has been quite a bit of innovation in the last 17 years - Jaguar bass, Dimension, Rascal to mention just a few. Time someone wrote a new one.
I wasn’t excited, I thought the price was unbelievably cheap and probably a load of nasty Chinese junk, but interesting to show others what’s out there!
I can recommend the Spector Spectorcore fretless. My 4th fretless and by far the best. My previous were Ibanez Roadster, Fender Precision (US) and Washburn AB35, the last one definitely to be avoided unless you like playing tree trunks. The Spectorcore has the advantage of both magnetis and piezo pickups.