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B4 OPM - Open Pore Mahogany means that it doesn't have glossy finish.
Hey people. New to the forum. First post in fact. Have just purchased a Cort Artisan A4 and am due to take delivery within the next 24 hours. Can't wait to get my hands on her. Will post pics when she arrives.
Yup, very impressed with the dynamic range of the active circuitry. Thinking about trying some flatwounds, there's so much top end available that I figure the loss of snappiness in flats could easily be compensated for by this circuit, and the flats could give it some extra warmth making more vintage tones possible too. Just a thought.
Yep. I think they call it 'open pore' it's a kind of oiled natural wood finish. Feels and looks great.
So is that Korean or Indonesian made? Cause by looking at the bridge, I'm guessing yours is Korean version of A4. But I've never known than the Korean version has satin or open poor finish. Korean made Artisan A series that I've ever seen or played only have glossy finish. Only those which are made in Indonesian that I know to have satin or open poor finish.
Yep it's Korean made. Certainly not a finish I've seen advertised anywhere on the web. I do know the stockist had had it for a while. So I got it for a great price (by NZ standards). The only issue I've found with it is with the pseudo the Active/Passive options. Active is fine, excellent. But flip that switch down and the EQ pots become completely absent from the circuit altogether. Must be a loose connection of bad soldering somewhere, so possible it came out of the factory as a second, not sure. Anyway, I love it. Love the neck, the look, the feel and the active circuitry is excellent. But I will be taking her on a short trip to my favourite luthier for a look under the hood at the passive eq.
You mean that when you flip the pseudo active/passive switch down, you don't get any sound at all or it's just the EQ pots that aren't functioning?
Yes, that mini switch isn't a real active/passive switch. It's just a switch to turn ON/OFF the EQ.
On my A6 (before I swapped the pre-amp to Bartolini HR5.2AR/918), when the switch was ON, the EQ knobs would function, and when it toggled the other way, the EQ knobs wouldn't affect anything.
Yes, that mini switch isn't a real active/passive switch. It's just a switch to turn ON/OFF the EQ.
On my A6 (before I swapped the pre-amp to Bartolini HR5.2AR/918), when the switch was ON, the EQ knobs would function, and when it toggled the other way, the EQ knobs wouldn't affect anything.
Hi guys,
I believe I have already posted my Action DLX on the first part of this thread. I bought that bass on 2010 and last year after 2 months of not using it there is no output / sound coming from the bass when I plugged it on my practice amp. I've tried replacing the 9v battery with a new one but still no output. To make the long story short, I tried experimenting on this particular bass. I always wanted to try my hand on a fretless so I read here on how to convert a fretted neck into a fretless. After converting to fretless, the next thing that I have experimented on is the pick-up / active electronics. I bypassed the bass cut / boost / EQ so that now only the Volume and Pickup Pan / Selector are working. It is now passive but the only problem is that it has super low output.
Picture before converting to fretless ( please don't mind the Corvette $$ beside ^_^ )
Pic of the neck after I finished removing the frets.
Pic after applying black paint.
Pic before putting new set of strings
And lastly (again just don't mind the Corvette $$ beside it).
I believe I have already posted my Action DLX on the first part of this thread. I bought that bass on 2010 and last year after 2 months of not using it there is no output / sound coming from the bass when I plugged it on my practice amp. I've tried replacing the 9v battery with a new one but still no output. To make the long story short, I tried experimenting on this particular bass. I always wanted to try my hand on a fretless so I read here on how to convert a fretted neck into a fretless. After converting to fretless, the next thing that I have experimented on is the pick-up / active electronics. I bypassed the bass cut / boost / EQ so that now only the Volume and Pickup Pan / Selector are working. It is now passive but the only problem is that it has super low output.
Picture before converting to fretless ( please don't mind the Corvette $$ beside ^_^ )
Pic of the neck after I finished removing the frets.
Pic after applying black paint.
Pic before putting new set of strings
And lastly (again just don't mind the Corvette $$ beside it).
My first bass was a Cort Action BK 4 string which I played for 2 years. It made some rattle at the frets, the hardware seemed to rattle too and wasn't really satisfied with the overall sound. Later on I purchased a Cort Artisan B4 Swamp Ash model, which sounds a lot better.
After a year of intense practicing with the new bass I picked up the old cheap one again and hey it sounded really great without the rattle and fret buzz. Guess what, it wasn't the bass that sucked, it was me!
After that I came to appreciate the build quality of that cheap bass ($190 new). It is pretty solid, the neck is really comfortable and I had no tuning or any other quality issue with it. The fret ends are not filed so elegantly, but its nothing a guitar tech couldnt fix (and it doesnt bother me at all). The B4 sounds noticably better though, but hey, its almost 3x the price. But don't get me wrong, it does not sound bad at all. I use the Action as a practice bass and would be a perfect backup for the B4 since they have almost identical shape.
The Artisan B4 is a really really well made instrument. The pictures dont do it justice, it is a really sexy looking bass if you like the natural finishes. The wenge neck is great! The tuners and bridge are much much better compared to the Action series. I'm sure the $1000+ basses would sound better but for the price (I paid $420 new), it's the best value out there. Note that in the A4 (~$670) you are mainly buying the premium looks and the neck through design, as the electronics and build quality is pretty much the same
After a year of intense practicing with the new bass I picked up the old cheap one again and hey it sounded really great without the rattle and fret buzz. Guess what, it wasn't the bass that sucked, it was me!
After that I came to appreciate the build quality of that cheap bass ($190 new). It is pretty solid, the neck is really comfortable and I had no tuning or any other quality issue with it. The fret ends are not filed so elegantly, but its nothing a guitar tech couldnt fix (and it doesnt bother me at all). The B4 sounds noticably better though, but hey, its almost 3x the price. But don't get me wrong, it does not sound bad at all. I use the Action as a practice bass and would be a perfect backup for the B4 since they have almost identical shape.
The Artisan B4 is a really really well made instrument. The pictures dont do it justice, it is a really sexy looking bass if you like the natural finishes. The wenge neck is great! The tuners and bridge are much much better compared to the Action series. I'm sure the $1000+ basses would sound better but for the price (I paid $420 new), it's the best value out there. Note that in the A4 (~$670) you are mainly buying the premium looks and the neck through design, as the electronics and build quality is pretty much the same
I was looking for a new or used 55-02D to replace my much missed 2002 CherryBurst/Maple 55-02D w/Barts that I sold here on TB. Been missing that bass ever since. So I went searching for 55-02D but with the LH3 electronics, just for a change. Though very nice, I just got tired of the Barts in my 55-02D so had stopped playing that bass for awhile. That's why I sold it, just wasn't playing it anymore, started missing it soon after. 
I bought a new Brubaker Brute MJX-5 in hopes of regaining that Skyline tone/feel. It was close but after awhile I traded a local kid the Brute for his Tribute M-2000, was wanting a active 4 string, modern bass to go with all my 5 stringers. Still have the M-2000, just installed a HipsShot D-tuner on it last week. I'm so used to all my 5ers. But it sucks batteries dead pretty fast, so I don't use it often to gig.
So anyway during my hunt I found the new 55-02's were sitting up over 1 grand, didn't want to pay that much. A couple used models were less but the best priced one I saw had two very big dings on the body. Then, I came across the Cort GB5-Custom on youtube and liked what I was hearing. I think it can offer me close to the tone of a 55-02, if not it still sounds darn nice on the vids.
The Spalt maple body, headstock and blocks and binding on the neck really made it stand out to me. I'm curious to try out the Duncan elecs too. So I found a new one on the 'Bay and made my Best Offer, they accepted and it ships to me this Monday, hope it arrives by my St Patty's day gig this coming Thursday. If not, at least before next Saturday's private party.
Looking forward to running it thru my Peavey mM1000+BF Big Twin-T rig. Although I have been liking my passive 5er basses thru this rig more than my active basses. But I see I can bypass the EQ on the GB5 for a more "passive tone". Yes, I learned reading the massive Cort Club threads that it's not a true passive/active switch. I can live with that. Looking forward to this bass arriving next week. Glad to read that so many here are impressed with the build quality of their Cort basses. They build the Skylines at same place, correct? And I loves me some Skylines but I feel I will be quite happy with my new Cort. Waiting impatiently.
I bought a new Brubaker Brute MJX-5 in hopes of regaining that Skyline tone/feel. It was close but after awhile I traded a local kid the Brute for his Tribute M-2000, was wanting a active 4 string, modern bass to go with all my 5 stringers. Still have the M-2000, just installed a HipsShot D-tuner on it last week. I'm so used to all my 5ers. But it sucks batteries dead pretty fast, so I don't use it often to gig.
So anyway during my hunt I found the new 55-02's were sitting up over 1 grand, didn't want to pay that much. A couple used models were less but the best priced one I saw had two very big dings on the body. Then, I came across the Cort GB5-Custom on youtube and liked what I was hearing. I think it can offer me close to the tone of a 55-02, if not it still sounds darn nice on the vids.
The Spalt maple body, headstock and blocks and binding on the neck really made it stand out to me. I'm curious to try out the Duncan elecs too. So I found a new one on the 'Bay and made my Best Offer, they accepted and it ships to me this Monday, hope it arrives by my St Patty's day gig this coming Thursday. If not, at least before next Saturday's private party.
Looking forward to running it thru my Peavey mM1000+BF Big Twin-T rig. Although I have been liking my passive 5er basses thru this rig more than my active basses. But I see I can bypass the EQ on the GB5 for a more "passive tone". Yes, I learned reading the massive Cort Club threads that it's not a true passive/active switch. I can live with that. Looking forward to this bass arriving next week. Glad to read that so many here are impressed with the build quality of their Cort basses. They build the Skylines at same place, correct? And I loves me some Skylines but I feel I will be quite happy with my new Cort. Waiting impatiently.
Looks like my GB5-Custom will be arriving this Friday afterall, YAY. UPS site kept showing Est Del 3/22 with no updates available since Monday when it shipped. Just came home from my St Patty's Day gig tonite. Checked my emails and shows to have arrived in Houston this evening. UPS updated Est Del 3/18, YAY AGAIN.
Trying to learn more of this bass, I went to the Cort site, this was in the descript: ELECTRONICS: Duncan designed BEQ-3 EQ, 1 volume, 1 blend, 3band, mid frequency toggle. Now I thought as I posted above in my last reply that I understood the toggle is merely a EQ bypass switch and not a full on passive/active switch.
And I just noticed in a pic that it has stacked knobs for I'm guessing the mid frequency? I wasn't expecting a stacked knob, no pics showed the side view of the knobs on this bass til one I just saw tonite. Cool, I like that configuration. Esp 1 Vol not 2 and much prefer a blend knob for on the fly pup selecting and not two volume knobs. Plenty of pretty good Utube vids out there, so I have a very good idea of its' tones.
But just wondering here, if anyone can say for sure what the knob/switch configuration is on the Cort GB5-Custom? I'll have it in hand to find out Friday but would like to know what to expect from the toggle switch. I think I will be able to hear what the stacked knobs will do once I fiddle with them. If the GB5 is setup well enough out of the box or if I just have to tweak it abit, gona try it at a private house party gig this Saturday.
Thanks for any helpful info offered and a belated Slainte'.
Trying to learn more of this bass, I went to the Cort site, this was in the descript: ELECTRONICS: Duncan designed BEQ-3 EQ, 1 volume, 1 blend, 3band, mid frequency toggle. Now I thought as I posted above in my last reply that I understood the toggle is merely a EQ bypass switch and not a full on passive/active switch.
And I just noticed in a pic that it has stacked knobs for I'm guessing the mid frequency? I wasn't expecting a stacked knob, no pics showed the side view of the knobs on this bass til one I just saw tonite. Cool, I like that configuration. Esp 1 Vol not 2 and much prefer a blend knob for on the fly pup selecting and not two volume knobs. Plenty of pretty good Utube vids out there, so I have a very good idea of its' tones.
But just wondering here, if anyone can say for sure what the knob/switch configuration is on the Cort GB5-Custom? I'll have it in hand to find out Friday but would like to know what to expect from the toggle switch. I think I will be able to hear what the stacked knobs will do once I fiddle with them. If the GB5 is setup well enough out of the box or if I just have to tweak it abit, gona try it at a private house party gig this Saturday.
Thanks for any helpful info offered and a belated Slainte'.
I had played GB5-Custom once in local music store. AFAIR, those stacked knobs were treble and bass. The mid was one of non-stacked knobs.Looks like my GB5-Custom will be arriving this Friday afterall, YAY. UPS site kept showing Est Del 3/22 with no updates available since Monday when it shipped. Just came home from my St Patty's Day gig tonite. Checked my emails and shows to have arrived in Houston this evening. UPS updated Est Del 3/18, YAY AGAIN.
Trying to learn more of this bass, I went to the Cort site, this was in the descript: ELECTRONICS: Duncan designed BEQ-3 EQ, 1 volume, 1 blend, 3band, mid frequency toggle. Now I thought as I posted above in my last reply that I understood the toggle is merely a EQ bypass switch and not a full on passive/active switch.
And I just noticed in a pic that it has stacked knobs for I'm guessing the mid frequency? I wasn't expecting a stacked knob, no pics showed the side view of the knobs on this bass til one I just saw tonite. Cool, I like that configuration. Esp 1 Vol not 2 and much prefer a blend knob for on the fly pup selecting and not two volume knobs. Plenty of pretty good Utube vids out there, so I have a very good idea of its' tones.
But just wondering here, if anyone can say for sure what the knob/switch configuration is on the Cort GB5-Custom? I'll have it in hand to find out Friday but would like to know what to expect from the toggle switch. I think I will be able to hear what the stacked knobs will do once I fiddle with them. If the GB5 is setup well enough out of the box or if I just have to tweak it abit, gona try it at a private house party gig this Saturday.
Thanks for any helpful info offered and a belated Slainte'.
The one that I played hadn't been well setup yet. The string action was still too high for my taste.
Yeah thanks, got that kinda figured out once the bass arrived today. The knobs seem from front Vol, blend, stacked Tre/Bass. The last knob on back of bass seems to effect the mids and the toggle switch seems to align with that knobs tone. The toggle doesn't seem to respond as EQ bypass to me but maybe I'm wrong. I've only played with it awhile today. Seems setup quite nicely to me, with some fret noise. I find that if I roll that mids knob back and set toggle back the fret-ringing-noise lessens quite a bit. I may actually raise the action some on this one for my liking.
Finally, leave it to UPS. They must have placed something else heavier on my box or had it face down. You can see where there is an indent in the interior box where the stacked knob made an imprint. Unfortunately, it also made an imprint on the GB5's body, just under the stacked knobs. Looks more like just clearcoat damage but gona have it checked out. First seller told me I had to file a claim with UPS, I was a little put off by that. Then in a few minutes he called me back and said, UPS will prolly give me the run around. He offered me to return the bass for full refund or discount me on the price so I can have it repaired if I choose to. I asked for another bass of same, he doesn't have another of the same. So I told him I'd have it checked out next week and decide if its' worth having it repaired or returned. A pic here:
Finally, leave it to UPS. They must have placed something else heavier on my box or had it face down. You can see where there is an indent in the interior box where the stacked knob made an imprint. Unfortunately, it also made an imprint on the GB5's body, just under the stacked knobs. Looks more like just clearcoat damage but gona have it checked out. First seller told me I had to file a claim with UPS, I was a little put off by that. Then in a few minutes he called me back and said, UPS will prolly give me the run around. He offered me to return the bass for full refund or discount me on the price so I can have it repaired if I choose to. I asked for another bass of same, he doesn't have another of the same. So I told him I'd have it checked out next week and decide if its' worth having it repaired or returned. A pic here:
