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Cort Basses??

BAG

May 5, 2014
7,502
17,070
New Zealand
I haven't seen much at all on TB about Cort basses.

I have owned three Cort guitars as they have always been very good value for money. Do their basses follow a similar pattern of a decent instrument for a good price or are they something to steer clear of?
 
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IMO, Cort basses are very good instruments, and represent a excellent value for their price range(s). I have a lowly C4 and it is one of the nicest playing basses I have.

Tasty is right... the necks/spacing is a bit small/narrow compared to most, but I find it does not detract from the playability (YMMV).
 
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Cort often been treated uniquely... Those above posts more or less prove it...

Many TBers made purchase of Cort basses and sold them later on despite of liking them. It happened to me also.

I sold my first Cort bass, the first 6 stringer that I've ever had, just within a month or two after acquiring it due to GAS from another brand 6 stringer. There was nothing wrong with the Action VI-A despite it was the cheapest brand new 6 stringer bass ever (roughly I bought it for less than USD190 from a local authorized retailer). It was nicely built and the sound from its PowerSound soapbar pickups and active 2 band preamp was decent. The plan was to keep it and upgrade the electronics with EMGs, but alas, I sold it anyway when an old man, who was in search for an upgrade to 6 string bass for his son, agreed to pay the same amount of money as when I bought it. This model is actually not so easy to find locally.

and the difference is... for me, GAS of Cort basses never truly fade away...

thus last month when I unintentionally saw an Artisan A6 on display, tested it, then instantly I fell in love with its looks and lighter body (compared to that first one and the other brand 6 stringer), its nicely set of low string action, its surprising sustain, and its still far from expensive of that Ibby Premiums although it cost me 3 times of the first one. This one is definitely a keeper for me.
 
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Cort basses deliver high end specifications at affordable prices. The secret behind that is their controversial process of manufacturing. However, these days their instruments are being churned out by the same factory in Indonesia as Ibanez, Fender, Lakland and Gibson. I myself own an Artisan A4 and can tell you with personal experience that for that price, the specs are hard to beat. However, my Cort (a lemon) happened to malfunction (electronically) after a week from purchase - there is minimal to no sound when you choose to NOT bypass the active circuitry. I will also say that i believe that was the fault of the dealer i purchased it from. All that aside, they are serious serious value for your money and have a particularly tasteful sound for fingerstyle funk.
 
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I’ve had people laugh at this bass and call it a toy
With its name “Junior” and plastic tuning knobs
But after I installed an American Fender bridge and strung the strings through the body. Then installed an active EMG 40P soap bar and de-fretted the finger board.
This 6 pound short scale bass has a punch.

image.jpg




image.jpg
 
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I bought a Cort when my GMS (Guitar Modification Syndrome) was at it's height. I was into the final stage, GBS (Guitar Building Syndrome), and I wanted something similar, but different. An Ivory Cort P with a white pickguard had come into the shop, and I wanted a working copy of my Fernandes 'Billy Sheehan' copy. And so it goes. Schaller tuners, a HipShot 'D' tuner, Allparts neck, maple/ebony fretboard/abalone markers, DiMarzio Will Power neck & bridge pickups, series/parallel switching on the P pickup, BadAss 2 bridge, an ashtray bridge cover, and there you have it. 'The Blonde' is born.
DSC06977.JPG
 
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I've got a couple of their short scales, but have also seen and tried a lot of their line up.
They strike me as good, solid work horses, but not particularly exciting in stock form.
For the most part they're nicely made and good value for the money.
 
Cort basses deliver high end specifications at affordable prices. The secret behind that is their controversial process of manufacturing.

What was controversial in their manufacturing?

I bought a Cort when my GMS (Guitar Modification Syndrome) was at it's height. I was into the final stage, GBS (Guitar Building Syndrome), and I wanted something similar, but different. An Ivory Cort P with a white pickguard had come into the shop, and I wanted a working copy of my Fernandes 'Billy Sheehan' copy. And so it goes. Schaller tuners, A HipShot 'D' tuner, Allparts neck, maple/ebony fretboard/abalone markers, DiMarzio Will Power neck & bridge pickups, series/parallel switching on the P pickup, BadAss 2 bridge, an ashtray bridge cover, and there you have it. 'The Blonde' is born.View attachment 575408

That's a really good looking build. Well done!
 
I recently saw a whole bunch of Cort basses at The London Bass Guitar show. One that particularly caught my eye was an Artisan 5 string of some kind. It had a nice, if somewhat generic body shape in what could have been spalted maple, and a bolt on Wenge neck. Bartolini pickups, 3 band pre and Hipshot (I think) hardware. It was on sale at the 'show price' of £425.

I was thinking about buying it because it seemed that it might make a good inexpensive backup bass, but I talked myself out of it. Foolishly, I didn't even try it. Since getting home I tried to find it online, but can't seem to find one with that spec...the closest seems to be one of the Anniversary models, but they all seem to be neck-through basses and the online price varies up to 3 times the price of the one at the show.

The only other thing I do recall is that the string spacing seemed to be tight, but like the OP, I would like to hear other opinions...and if anyone knows which model of Artisan I saw I would appreciate it, because I'm still intrigued.
 
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I recently saw a whole bunch of Cort basses at The London Bass Guitar show. One that particularly caught my eye was an Artisan 5 string of some kind. It had a nice, if somewhat generic body shape in what could have been spalted maple, and a bolt on Wenge neck. Bartolini pickups, 3 band pre and Hipshot (I think) hardware. It was on sale at the 'show price' of £425.

I was thinking about buying it because it seemed that it might make a good inexpensive backup bass, but I talked myself out of it. Foolishly, I didn't even try it. Since getting home I tried to find it online, but can't seem to find one with that spec...the closest seems to be one of the Anniversary models, but they all seem to be neck-through basses and the online price varies up to 3 times the price of the one at the show.

The only other thing I do recall is that the string spacing seemed to be tight, but like the OP, I would like to hear other opinions...and if anyone knows which model of Artisan I saw I would appreciate it, because I'm still intrigued.

it was this

Invalid Link Removed

Swamp Ash body
Wenge and Rosewood neck
Rosewood Board
Bart Mk1 pups
hipshot hardware.
 
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What was controversial in their manufacturing?

Something to do with infringement of labor laws or something. I think if you do some research you'll find that in one of their previous manufacturing locations, a majority of the factory workers were unpaid for ridiculous amounts of time. To make myself clear, the only controversial aspect that was found was in the HR department, it had nothing to do with the quality of the instrument and/or design specifications.
 
I’ve had people laugh at this bass and call it a toy
With its name “Junior” and plastic tuning knobs
But after I installed an American Fender bridge and strung the strings through the body. Then installed an active EMG 40P soap bar and de-fretted the finger board.
This 6 pound short scale bass has a punch.

View attachment 575392



View attachment 575393
I just don't understand why anyone would belittle another's possessions. That's just mean spirited.
 
I just don't understand why anyone would belittle another's possessions. That's just mean spirited.

I don’t have the time to tell you about my experiences with our locale Fender dealer but he belittled me to the point where Fender puts a bad taste in my mouth. He put down a number of my basses and yield at me with “What do you think youre a Luthier now”