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Alusonic basses are made in Italy by Andrea "Polly" Pollice. They've been in business since 2010 and they are gaining more adepts day by day and judging by the top players that are using them now.

Alusonic's idea was to create instruments that would be super comfortable to play and with an excellent sound, taking advantage of the traditional Italian design. Of course aluminium is an essential part of these instruments. Depending on the series, the body will be made from this material or wood.

In this case all the hardware (bridge, tuning machines and knobs) is made from aluminium but the main feature here is that the body is also made from aircraft grade aluminium.... Just stunning. That's where the natural "mirror" finish comes from.

In order to come up with the best possible instruments they make their own bridges, pickups and electronics and we are happy to report that we can feel how these excellent parts contribute to the overall sound and performance of the instrument,

This bass in particular is the Django Supreme model and it's finished in Aluminium Mirror as it belongs in the Custom Shop Series. It is super lightweight (just 4kg) so it's an absolutely joy if you play long concerts or sessions.

The neck is made from hardrock maple and has two carbon rods for added stability. For the fingerboard they have used Graphitex and this is a perfect material as it's hard and won't dampen the string's vibrations at all like soft woods do. We love the carbon pickguard on the body: hightech, modern and ultralightweight.

The bridge is made by Alusonic and it is fully adjustable and offers quick string release, perfect for those fast string replacements in a live show. Tuners are Hipshot ultralite.

Both the pickups and the electronics are also made in house and we must say this is a total plus.

Pickup arrangement is fairly standard (Humbucker at the bridge and Single Coil at the neck) but there's more than meets the eye.

The front pickup is made from Alnico V magnets so it's beefy and vintage sounding.

The back pickup is a splittable humbucker made from Neodimium magnets so each pickup has a different character. The good news is that they blend perfectly together and we believe this is in parts thanks to the special location of these units. Pickup placement plays a superlative role when it comes to sound.

Case in point: most bridge pickups tend to sound thin and nasal but this is not the case here at all. Actually when you select the bridge pickup alone in Single Coil mode you get a much fuller sound than you might expect. In humbucker mode it's wired in parallel so you get that big Music Man sound. The neck pickup on it's own is actually closer in sound to a P Bass than a Jazz Bass and we love that. The icing of the cake is that the two blended positions sound super musical too.

The 5 way switch acts like this:

1. Bridge in humbucker mode

2. Both pickups (bridge in humbucker)

3. Neck pickup

4. Neck Pickup + Bridge in Single Coil mode

5. Bridge in Single Coil mode

There's an excellent active noise free 2 band EQ with boost/cut. Bass adds body and warmth and never becomes muddy. The Treble control has a wide range and you can boost it for aggressive sounds or trim it down if you favor a more traditional type of sound. Actually when you turn down the Treble pot it sounds to our ears very very close to a traditional Passive Tone and we love that. In practice this means that you can get that classic Tone roll off but also a slight Bass boost if needed. The bridge pickup sounds impressive that way. Super musical electronics!

Of course the low B is excellent: strong and defined, probably because of the combination of the aluminium body and graphitex fingerboard.

To sum up: a European made bass that is super lightweight and comfortable, sounds great and has a classic design that is incredibly well proportioned. A heck of a bass and with a great value for money. We love it.