Electric Short-Body Bass Guitar w/rubber strings.?

There is this weird looking bass guitar that a member of the pep band plays. It is no bigger than the neck, and the body is about four inches long by I would say six inches wide. But the strangest part is that it uses rubber bass guitar strings which are twice the size of regular guitar strings. I tried googling a picture of it but to no avail. As a bass player I'm interested in getting a hold of one of these because it would be a good in-home practice unit.