If you look at a Curbow make sure it has the Bartolini pups in it. The other brand they stuck in some of them are very lacking.
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I pulled the trigger on a Cort SB10. I didn’t really know what to think about the Curbow with the Luthite body. Wasn’t sure if it had the Bartolini pickup. Never could get the store to email me back. Plus, I kinda wanted to get away from basses withe active electronics. SB seems to be simple with a MM style passive pickup. They seem to be fairly rare as I have not ever seen but a few of them. I just hope all turns out well. Should have it Monday, I hope.
the sleek wood-body Cort Curbow Retro is a winner, they go for low dough too
I think you will be much happier with the SB10. I haven't played one. But just from specs alone it seems to be a better bass Cort makes some good instruments, and they make a lot of the basses people play, people just dont realize it. Both of my Ibanez basses were made in the Cort Indonesia factory. Cort makes a lot of basses for a lot of companies.
I had read where Ibanez, Squier and the G&L Tribute among others are made by Cort. I was just really unsure about the Luthite body on the Curbow. I don’t think you could find many bodies for the Curbow if the Luthite body went south for some reason.
I am just chomping at the bits to get it. I will post some pics and give a review of it after a little string time.
I dont think you would have to worry about the luthite body going south. That stuff is like a space age composite. It's strong and very light. But I do question it's tonal qualities or lack thereof. And then there is the ebanol fretboard, another composite that acoustically, in my opinion, is kind of flat. But what do I know? A friend of mine has a carbon fiber acoustic guitar that sounds awesome.
Either way I think you made the better choice with going with one of their wood basses. Cort gets a bad rap from a lot of people, some who don't realize that their favorite bass made by someone else is branded in name only and actually made by Cort.
Wire Meets Wood on Reverb. I've purchased 4 Cort basses from them. Great service and you can make an offer on most items.
Loving my 35" scale 19mm spaced Cort GB75JH.
More now that I upgraded the pickups.
Neck SD Basslines (housed in a closed cover)
And the Aguilar DCB-M 5 for the Bridge.
Replaced the Omega Bridge saddles with the really good HipShot Kickass saddles.
Stock preamp is meh, way too bright an hyped.
Will either go passive (sounds great when bypassed) with a passive bass cut circuit like a G&L.
OR
A 4 band Audere, Noll, Or possibly EMG i really want sweepable mids AND bypass with passive tone.
More now that I upgraded the pickups.
Neck SD Basslines (housed in a closed cover)
And the Aguilar DCB-M 5 for the Bridge.
Replaced the Omega Bridge saddles with the really good HipShot Kickass saddles.
Stock preamp is meh, way too bright an hyped.
Will either go passive (sounds great when bypassed) with a passive bass cut circuit like a G&L.
OR
A 4 band Audere, Noll, Or possibly EMG i really want sweepable mids AND bypass with passive tone.
Nice bass, very nice upgrades.Loving my 35" scale 19mm spaced Cort GB75JH.
More now that I upgraded the pickups.
Neck SD Basslines (housed in a closed cover)
And the Aguilar DCB-M 5 for the Bridge.
Replaced the Omega Bridge saddles with the really good HipShot Kickass saddles.
Stock preamp is meh, way too bright an hyped.
Will either go passive (sounds great when bypassed) with a passive bass cut circuit like a G&L.
OR
A 4 band Audere, Noll, Or possibly EMG i really want sweepable mids AND bypass with passive tone.
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Thanks to @TonyP- silly enough to let it go and daughter deciding on a short scale instead
Thanks Tony it's a nice piece of ash.
How does one get to be a member of the Cort Club?
I received my Cort SB10 today. I think this one is gonna be a keeper. The humbucker pickup has some serious grunt to it. I had read somewhere where the pickup on these basses was very bright sounding. Judging by the serial number, this bass was produced in 2000.
One interesting tidbit I found on this bass was a music store sticker on the back of the headstock that is in Mons Belgium.
I can tell this bass has been played a lot but doesn't seem to have been abused. Definitely not a closet queen. I think it is in very good condition for it's age. It has a few scratches but nothing serious. Gives it character.
I received my Cort SB10 today. I think this one is gonna be a keeper. The humbucker pickup has some serious grunt to it. I had read somewhere where the pickup on these basses was very bright sounding. Judging by the serial number, this bass was produced in 2000.
One interesting tidbit I found on this bass was a music store sticker on the back of the headstock that is in Mons Belgium.
I can tell this bass has been played a lot but doesn't seem to have been abused. Definitely not a closet queen. I think it is in very good condition for it's age. It has a few scratches but nothing serious. Gives it character.
Got my new Cort Action DLX V Plus couple weeks ago with USD 200, got this special deal after the purchase on Yamaha PSR SX900.
This is my third Cort bass after Arona and B5 plus (both sold). There are notible big different in tone than others two , she present Dark Jazz bass tone with thick Low MID (both pickups engage)!!!
Honestly i dint have any expect on it built quality at first on it cheap price, but, i am wrong. Solid neck, tight neck pocket , great fret job, noiseless pickups/preamp and cheap hardware but work fine.
The Pau Ferro like Deep-Brown Jotoba fretboard on it look much better than same Jotoba wood on Action PJ and HH(new model). She has similar neck profile like B5 but flatter than Arona.
There 2 issue i found on this bass.
Fat/Boomy B string and weak sounding passive mode(no cure).
Since she has dark jazz bass tone, the B string is lacking in clarity and definition compare to EADG. After i try several brand of string , and i found the Ernieball Cobalt Flat 2810 are best match (i am Flatwound guys). The Low B become meaty and tighter instead boomy. The D and G string also get bigger tone than others string set .
The Dark tone is not for everyone, but if you are a Bartolini Deep tone soapar pickups lover and looking for "Deep tone Bart " cheap bass , i am sure Action DLX plus fit your bill.
This is my third Cort bass after Arona and B5 plus (both sold). There are notible big different in tone than others two , she present Dark Jazz bass tone with thick Low MID (both pickups engage)!!!
Honestly i dint have any expect on it built quality at first on it cheap price, but, i am wrong. Solid neck, tight neck pocket , great fret job, noiseless pickups/preamp and cheap hardware but work fine.
The Pau Ferro like Deep-Brown Jotoba fretboard on it look much better than same Jotoba wood on Action PJ and HH(new model). She has similar neck profile like B5 but flatter than Arona.
There 2 issue i found on this bass.
Fat/Boomy B string and weak sounding passive mode(no cure).
Since she has dark jazz bass tone, the B string is lacking in clarity and definition compare to EADG. After i try several brand of string , and i found the Ernieball Cobalt Flat 2810 are best match (i am Flatwound guys). The Low B become meaty and tighter instead boomy. The D and G string also get bigger tone than others string set .
The Dark tone is not for everyone, but if you are a Bartolini Deep tone soapar pickups lover and looking for "Deep tone Bart " cheap bass , i am sure Action DLX plus fit your bill.
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The Stock preamp just wasn't cutting it.Loving my 35" scale 19mm spaced Cort GB75JH.
More now that I upgraded the pickups.
Neck SD Basslines (housed in a closed cover)
And the Aguilar DCB-M 5 for the Bridge.
Replaced the Omega Bridge saddles with the really good HipShot Kickass saddles.
Stock preamp is meh, way too bright an hyped.
Will either go passive (sounds great when bypassed) with a passive bass cut circuit like a G&L.
OR
A 4 band Audere, Noll, Or possibly EMG i really want sweepable mids AND bypass with passive tone.
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Overall the Mids were suppressed unless the pickups were soloed.
The AC taper blend sucked all the tone out of it when in the middle area (attenuated high-end) and diminished output.
The sweep imparted a large volume increase just before either pickup soloed.
The 2 band EQ:
The center detents were anything but flat, mid-scooped with hyped sounding brittle highs and flabby ill-defined lows, the only way to get good mids was to pull it back to nearly 0 on both bands!? Therefore, although it had detents it was a boost only circuit
I converted it to full passive (Hybrid standard Jazz wiring + G&L bass cut pot/caps)
2 x 500k Bourns LIN taper volume, 500k Bourns LOG taper treble cut, 1Meg CTS Reverse LOG taper Bass cut.Switchcraft output jack.
Cleaner, more open top end fatter bottom, which I can tighten with the bass cut circuit.
The pickups blend really well sonically, and the tonal palate is WIDE.
Sweet! cost total of 0$ had all the parts I needed already!
Sorry no pics I closed it up and have been playing since.
(And my soldering is functional but ugly + all recycled stuff from parts bin
)
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I've never played on budget basses, but few week ago a decided to learn 5 string bass, but I had only 200$, went to the music store and tried few basses there, I was impressed with Cort Action Plus V , it is an amazing guitar of a great quality with the versatile sound. Now I'm a big Cort fan and looking forward to by another, more expensive Cort bass 
Couple days ago I recorded a new solo tune with the loop station using this great bass
Couple days ago I recorded a new solo tune with the loop station using this great bass
Anymore reviews on the Cort GB55jj?? I'm looking at getting a simple backup instrument and trying to decide. I like the 35" scale aspect and being passive too. Looking at seafoam green but also wouldn't have a problem with either the white or the natural ash body. If I want to add some flavor I have a Sadowsky preamp I could run it through. Thanks y'all.
Cool. I was looking at some of the Reverb listings and I saw a couple that said this was 35” scale. Thanks for the heads up.
