2) hmm.. AFAIK thats the PRS "Dragon" with 50.000 USD
3) Basically i´ve tried two types of fretless guitars.
Acoustic fretless guitars are very cool. some companies like Godin make those. they play very well and sound great. they use a normal wooden fretboard. And electric fretless guitars like the one Ron Thal uses - they are made by "Vigier" and are called "Surfretter" - they have a metal-fretboard because on a wooden one the thinner strings would fail to have a good sustain. they also play very well. but basically you have to get used to playing fretless since you have to have a good feeling for the right notes.
4) i guess for standard guitars that would be 8 strings with the exception of the "Phalanx" from warr-guitars with 14 strings
5) Bigsby built the first electric guitar in 1928. in 1931 he put it on the market, but noone wanted it. in 1948 leo fender built his Telecaster and that was when the electric guitar made its breakthrough.
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