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Cortez Bass

mello_bedwetter

mello_bedwetter

Aug 11, 2007
1,343
4
MO, south of St. Louis
#1
Has anyone ever heard of a Cortez bass? I seen a used one in a music store yesterday. It resembled a Fender. It had one pick up like that of the jazz. I don't think there was another pick up, although there may have been hidden under the bridge cover. I didn't look that close. Anyone have one? I'm not really interested in getting this bass, just curious if anyone knows anything about them. Pictures if you have any. Thanks.
 
#3
The only info I can add is my first bass was a Cortez P bass. I think I paid 100 dollars for it (used) this was in 1980 or 81...

They do pop up from time to time and seem to hold up well, but the P I had also had the small enclosed tuners and a lipstick pup. It sounded okay and I still kind of wish I still owned the bass...

I cannot substantiate the value and am always a little skeptical about a sellers stated value of such a piece. I think I remember a Cortez Jazz bass selling for around 400 not too long ago on ebay...Can anyone with knowledge of the value of the bass in question lend any insight?
 
#4
I also have a cortez bass I bought in the mid 80s. It plays well but I think the neck might be tweaked. Anyone know anything about these basses? Some talented bass players (of which I am not one) have told me it seems like a good ax
 
#7
I had old Cortez and it was a plywood piece of crap. I got it for 100 bucks off of eBay and ended up junking the thing.

Nothing about the bass was good, IMHO. Sorry hardware, plywood body, crappy pickups, bad neck, etc.

It wasn't worth 50 bucks, let alone 100.
 
#8
Old thread I guess, but:

I have a Cortez Bass that I've had since 1989. The body is three piece Alder or Swamp Ash with a natural finish. It used to have a maple neck that played really well until I attempted to pull the fingerboard to make a truss-rod repair. The repair was not to correct a defect -- some idiot snapped the adjustment head off, leaving the truss rod unusable and buzzy. This was before I knew what I was doing and ended up wrecking the neck. Lately I've had a need for a bass guitar (I'm primarily a six-string guy) so I'm looking into replacement necks. I'll probably also replace the pickguard with a piece of walnut. The pickups on mine look exactly like a P-Bass with a phase tap. As I recall, they are very clear sounding pickups. A previous owner installed a Badass Bridge on the instrument.

If you run across one of these -- not the plywood thing that Planet Boulder is referring to -- check it out. This is a really nice guitar and I've had other Cortez guitars that are very playable, sound great, and are well worth owning.
 
#9
My first bass was a white cortez jazz bass copy. you are correct that there is a bridge pickup under the bridge cover. I paid $179 for mine new in 1980, I just saw one on the net (early 70's model) for $139. they weren't and aren't anything special, very similar in quality to today's squire jazz bass copies for relatively comparable price...
here's the link I found:

Invalid Link Removed
 
#11
spufman said:
Back in the 70s, Cortez was poo-poo. Maybe they improved but I remember laughing at them as I marvelled at their nearly unplayable action. If they became Cort, then that was a good thing as Corts can be excellent.
Click to expand...

Funny how this old thread gets a new reply every so often.
My 70's Cortez Jazz bass is far from "poo-poo". Plays great, sounds great and has a nice well worn feel to it. Whenever I play out somewhere with it I always get at least one comment about it.

IMG_4907_zpsa899f25d.jpg
 
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#12
My first bass was a black and red sunburst Cortez. This was around 1965, so my memory of it is a little foggy at best. It was short scale, and I think it had a single pickup. It was shaped similar to a Fender, but it was not a copy of any specific model. I recall clearly that it had a big chrome pick guard that would reflect a beam of stage light out into the audience. I used it to spotlight the best-looking girls (lame I know, but I was just a kid). I also recall that the neck was painted black all over, except for the fret board. The only other time I saw a bass similar to mine was at a James Brown concert. They were using two bass players on a few songs, and one of the basses was a Cortez exactly like mine except it was a long scale. It caught my attention because of the beam of light it was firing across the audience. Mine was traded to my brother for his '62 Fender Jazz, which I still have. My brother later sold the Cortez, and I lost track of it. I have since looked to no avail for a replacement, only because it was my first bass. As others have said, it was a cheesy instrument, although, mine was easy to play. I played a Danelectro shorthorn around the same time, and I would put them in about the same class. I have also read that the Cortez brand was the forerunner of Cort.
 
#13
My first bass. I got it around 1982-83. Paid $100 for it used. Whoever had it before me made some mods to it. The finish is scatched up. It's beat up. The strap pin on the top horn came out so I had to replace that. It's got a lot of fret wear. It plays great, it sounds great. Sound wise I like the low-end. I still play it almost every day.
CortezBass.jpg
 
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#14
Several years ago i found a Cortez Jazz style bass with a natural finish which looked like a relic gone nuts! But, when i played that thing it blew me away. Sound, feel, everything was right but it sure looked like hell. That was the end of the story because you know what they say, "he who hesitates".
 
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#15
The old Cortez look cool, but I just can't go with that big honkin' truss rod cover on a Fender style headstock ! The one in # 13 above definitely looks like ply-burst, though.
 
#16
This thread was put up on one of the bass pages on facebook as a reference recently (Dec 2020).
I know it hasn't been added to for a while but I just wanted to knock the whole idea that Cortez was the forerunner to Cort on the head.

I can implicitly state that it was not.

Cort , or its company name Cor-Tek Corporation began in the 60's in South Korea as a Piano importer, at that time called Soo Doh Piano, and in about 1973 (as "Yoo-Ah company") it evolved into a guitar manufacturer. Mostly making parts and OEM guitars for other brands. Then in 1982 it started selling guitars and basses with the Cort brand on the headstock.

Cortez guitars and basses on the other hand were made by Matsumoku in Japan. You will see some identical basses with both the Cortez and the Westone brand label on them. And some similar-ish styles with Ibanez, Skylark, Vantage, Washburn, and of course the Matsumoku flagship brand, Aria.

To reiterate, Cortez and Cort were never connected in any way that I've ever been able to find.
 
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#17
geezn said:
Old thread I guess, but:

I have a Cortez Bass that I've had since 1989. The body is three piece Alder or Swamp Ash with a natural finish. It used to have a maple neck that played really well until I attempted to pull the fingerboard to make a truss-rod repair. The repair was not to correct a defect -- some idiot snapped the adjustment head off, leaving the truss rod unusable and buzzy. This was before I knew what I was doing and ended up wrecking the neck. Lately I've had a need for a bass guitar (I'm primarily a six-string guy) so I'm looking into replacement necks. I'll probably also replace the pickguard with a piece of walnut. The pickups on mine look exactly like a P-Bass with a phase tap. As I recall, they are very clear sounding pickups. A previous owner installed a Badass Bridge on the instrument.

If you run across one of these -- not the plywood thing that Planet Boulder is referring to -- check it out. This is a really nice guitar and I've had other Cortez guitars that are very playable, sound great, and are well worth owning.
Click to expand...
Any info on those one? Don't know much but been thinking of buying it. Thank you!
66B49B4A-F2A2-4FCB-90E3-2DDF3391595E.jpeg
 

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