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Meridian basses are completely handmade in Avezzano, Italy, by luthier Davide Cardone.

These are basses that have been designed from scratch following some really artistic lines. Davide studied arts in Italy and you can tell that just by looking at the perfect proportions of his instruments. We also love the fact that these are original designs and not just another copy of famous "boutique" basses, if you know what we mean.

As you can see there's a certain modern design to these basses but the use of quality tonewoods anchors them within the fine tradition of Italian lutherie. We love this perfect blend of form and function.

We love the fact that all Meridian basses include some information about the year that the wood for the body and/or neck was cut. This averages 35 years and of course the wood has been drying ever since so as you can expect this makes for exceptionally stable instruments. Davide is also a firm believer in thin finish. If the finish is too thick or if it is thin but too many layers are applied, he feels that the wood cannot vibrate freely, resulting in a slightly muffled tone.

The combination of light woods that have been drying for years plus just the right amount of layers of thin coat plus light hardware make for basses that feel strong, are vibrant and of course can be played for hours with no fatigue.

The icing on the cake is the neck which is slim and ultra comfortable.

This model is named Aural II and it is a Meridian original design.

The Bahia Walnut body is just 38mm thick. A hard rock maple neck that was cut back in 1986 is safely bolted to the body with 5 bolts. Access up to the 24th fret is surprisingly easy. We love the truss rod access at the body that also shows the brand in a very smart and delicate way. Oh, and we love details such as the carbon fiber nut and zero fret.

For the top we chose a striking piece of Old Italian Walnut and the Ziricote fingerboard with no face inlays (really clean) is just perfect. There's a matching headstock too to make it even more beautiful.

Electronics are top notch too: a set of USA made Bartolini P2 pickups are used and they sound amazing. Perfect blend of power, low end, definition and clarity. These can operate in 3 different modes: Single Coil, Series or Parallel. Using the two 3 way switches for the mode operation together with the Blend control and Passive Tone gives you already a huge amount of different sounds. But wait, there's more...

There's a U.K. made John East preamp that really compliments the sound of these pickups and offers Bass, Treble (Pull for Bright) and Sweepable Mids to take your sound even further if needed. And the good news is that the Tone controls works in Active mode too.

Regarding the hardware, the bridge is a German made ETS unit with 19mm spacing. Tuners are Hipshot Ultralite, helping keep the weight of the bass controlled as well as reducing neck diving. We just love the neck and overall playability. The combination of a narrow nut (43mm) with a wide spacing bridge (19mm) is probably one of the best recipes for comfort in both hands. Some 5 string basses feel a bit intimidating but in this case the slim neck and perfect dimensions make playing the Aural II a breeze.

By the way, scale is the traditional 34" and the low B here is phenomenal. It sounds full, clear and every note sounds the way it should.

To sum up:  an incredibly affordable high end handmade bass that sports really stable tonewoods, top notch hardware and electronics and is a pure work of art to look for as well as an instrument that will give you years of service and pleasure.

By the way, the included gigbag matches some costing 300€ and completes a simply gorgeous instrument.