• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

NBD Cort GB Short Scale

#24
IMG_6021.jpeg

1/2 hb6 with lollypop keys
 
  • Like
Reactions: Yahboy, comatosedragon, ghostdog93 and 3 others
#34
I just received these Ebony wood knobs for my Pink GB today. Really nice knobs I found on Amazon. Not too bad of a price at $7.50 each with metal inserts and indicator dots. They seem light also. I buffed them a little bit with some 0000 steel wool and rubbed in a coat of Howard's Feed'n'Wax to shine them up. Just thought I would share my find for those that are changing the hardware to black or like black knobs. :cool:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FFG5ND12?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

wU2ImE1.jpg
 
As an Amazon Associate, TalkBass may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via links on this site.
  • Like
Reactions: fommof, mikecd1, gln1955 and 1 other person
#35
mikecd1 said:
Got my Cort GB short scale bass just before the big blizzard hit this last weekend and had some time with it to enjoy and get acquainted. Had gone to GC recently to try out a blue SBMM Stingray with black pick guard, but it was on the heavier side and didn't have any extra mojo so I passed. That was apparently the week before the price increase and had been reading about this Cort and decided to take a chance and picked one up on Reverb from a seller in Cali named Deathcloud with free shipping. They were great, shipped fast and kept me well informed. I'm assuming it was drop shipped as it arrived in just a few days from some other company in Mississippi. After waiting to open the box (double-boxed with minimal air-bubble wrap inside an acoustic guitar wide box) I unboxed it and upon exam was very impressed with the build quality. Absolutely no sharp frets was a nice start and after tuning up the rather stiff tuners plugged her in and was stunned at the power of the "Powersound Humbucker". Great feel and finish on the roasted neck and unfinished maple fretboard. It has three modes - series, parallel, split. I found the split coil mode the most useful for myself and it was pretty close to the same Cort demo sound on their page IMO. The Markbass preamp added some useful sounds (center detent and boost / cut) although both the series and parallel modes have so much power it was easier for me to shape in the split coil mode adding a little everything. Markbass preamp was nice and added or subtracted a small amount. The bass weighed in at 7.3 lbs and after swapping out the tuners for some ultralites I had the weight came down to 6.8 lbs! One of the reasons I got this is that I had a stroke last year and in addition to the blood pressure meds I'm now taking I can't take any NSAID inflammatory drugs so my arthritis is very painful and my back hurts all the time (prior neck surgery) but I'm doing better and this bass will help. Its not got the sounds of my main Jazz bass (8.5 lbs) but I've found a useful way to use this and get some nice, thick tones with strong fundamental notes ringing out and its easier on the hands. With the ultralites the neck dive is gone and its light and fun to play. I would venture that this might work well with a good pedal board for the high output pickup, but am enjoying it through my practice amp with the short scale and light weight for now. Might use at a march gig coming up. I find myself using the preamp at a very low output to help tame the high output and match my amp input. This is a lot more output than my J or P and my 5 string has a Bartolini NTMB with trim control so the high output is the only negative for me, but I'm able to work with it. It arrived with a finish crack intransit, but its not spoiling my enjoyment at all and doesn't go through the wood / hard to see. The bass only needed a slight truss adjustment and the wheel was kind of hard to turn even with all string tension off when I put a set of chromes on her, but it plays great and the action and intonation were real close out of the box. A nice offering from Cort tho I'd have preferred a more traditional color.
View attachment 7419270
Click to expand...
Cort stuff is pretty good value for the money. I had a 5 string with the MM style humbucker that sounded punchy and played really well until it didn't. The truss rod was very stiff and eventually it stripped. This was years ago before I knew it was fixable. I replaced the neck with a really good Allparts one that slotted right in without any drama. I have a friend who makes unusual furniture so I gave him the old neck which was incorporated into a stool he built. A bit like the old grandfather's axe story, that neck is now on a custom built body and the pickup is in a cupboard. The Nordstrands that replaced it are great and the bass lives on. At one point it had a Bartolini preamp in it but that's now gone and it remains a passive bass that I love to play.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mikecd1 and TK4261
#37
gln1955 said:
OK, I just can't resist these any longer. I just ordered a yeller one.
Click to expand...
I finally got my yellow one on Saturday. I ordered from XYZ Music through Reverb and it took a week before they shipped. Then, when it was out for delivery we had some bad weather here, so the FedEx truck never made it and another day's delay.

Anyway, this is overall a pretty nice bass for the money. It weighs in at just 7 pounds and with the small body is very comfortable. There is a bit of neck dive, so definitely going with some Hipshot ultralights. The roasted neck is very nicely fished, comfortable and looks great with the yellow body in person. Fretwork is fine and no neck sprout despite it being dry as a bone here now. The setup is playable but needs a bit less relief, which I will tend to shortly, when I get new strings.

The pickup is nice, but not as high output as I expected from mikecd1's review. When set flat (center detente) my Sterling SS Stingray and my previously owned G&L Fallout are much hotter. It's on par with my Acinonyx. No problem, just different. I may try raising the pickup a bit and see how that sounds. The preamp and coil options give a lot of tonal options. My only complaint is that the volume pot is noisy and has a poor taper. It's basically an on-off switch. I'll probably replace it at some point.

If I can get my favorite GHS Pressurewound strings on it in time, I'll take it to the gig Friday night and really give it a workout.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mikecd1, crazycloud and TK4261
#38
gln1955 said:
I finally got my yellow one on Saturday. I ordered from XYZ Music through Reverb and it took a week before they shipped. Then, when it was out for delivery we had some bad weather here, so the FedEx truck never made it and another day's delay.

Anyway, this is overall a pretty nice bass for the money. It weighs in at just 7 pounds and with the small body is very comfortable. There is a bit of neck dive, so definitely going with some Hipshot ultralights. The roasted neck is very nicely fished, comfortable and looks great with the yellow body in person. Fretwork is fine and no neck sprout despite it being dry as a bone here now. The setup is playable but needs a bit less relief, which I will tend to shortly, when I get new strings.

The pickup is nice, but not as high output as I expected from mikecd1's review. When set flat (center detente) my Sterling SS Stingray and my previously owned G&L Fallout are much hotter. It's on par with my Acinonyx. No problem, just different. I may try raising the pickup a bit and see how that sounds. The preamp and coil options give a lot of tonal options. My only complaint is that the volume pot is noisy and has a poor taper. It's basically an on-off switch. I'll probably replace it at some point.

If I can get my favorite GHS Pressurewound strings on it in time, I'll take it to the gig Friday night and really give it a workout.
Click to expand...
It looks like the 500k volume control is wired after the input on these and pickup loads into the preamp after the 3 position switch. My volume pot is def not scratchy but my perception is still that this is hotter than the Sterling SS that I owned previously and the one I tried just before getting this, but I'm just really enjoying the sounds by plugging into my mxr preamp first and the chromes I put on sound better every time I play. Please let us know if you replace the volume pot and if so whether you put the stock 500k in there, a 25k, 50k or something else. Still curious about that and possibly an active passive volume pot to try it out passive perhaps in future. The build quality on these appears very consistent. Enjoy your new bass! Hope to hear others first impressions. Maybe we need a club.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TK4261
#39
Update: Playing at home yesterday, I started to notice a small amount of distortion. Suspecting a bad battery, I popped a new one in and it made a big difference. The volume pot now works as it should and the overall output is higher with no distortion.

Played it at last night's gig and lovin' this bass now. I did not get my preferred strings in time, so I threw on a set of well used Chromes I had. Sounded great!
 
  • Like
Reactions: fommof, neil|lien, TK4261 and 1 other person
#40
I'd love to pick one of these up. If anyone knows of any dealers that hve them in stock, please post a link. I can only find them on preorder, and when I went to order one earlier this week was told it'll ship in June (the page said March0. I want what I want and I want it now :) !!!!!!

Thanks for the great review!
 
  • Like
Reactions: mikecd1 and TK4261

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back