I was thinking of picking up one of the fretted Douglas violin basses from Rondo for a special project but see that their website is only carrying the fretless versions. Also noticed they are no longer showing their rack bags. Anyone else notice or care?
I believe the site only shows what's in stock so maybe they're just out of them for now. Those are fairly popular. I'd be surprised if they're totally discontinued. On a side note I briefly owned the fretless one and it was excellent once I changed the strings.
I was tempted by the fretless, but the combination of short scale and unlined board is a little daunting: I have played fretless extensively, but only Fenders. I am looking to replace an old Epiphone Viola, and the Douglas looks to be a nearly identical copy. The Epi has seen a major price lately, and I have read there isn't much difference