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The CORT Club (Part 2)

#561
ElBecko59 said:
Anyone own a Cort A4 Neck Thru like this , Your thoughts .. it has the Bartolini MK1 pickups , I was looking at this but never actually played one .... View attachment 3925969
Click to expand...
Never owned the A4, but I owned the A6 a few years back and played the A5 quite often in a rented studio. The Artisan A series is a true underrated basses. They have good build quality and decent sounding geared towards the mid range (the ones with Bartolini MK1 pups). If you prefer more hifi sounding, they are a few special build Artisan A series with USA Bartolini MK-CBC pups branded under the Custom series.

The A5 recent build (with Hipshot Trans tone bridge) is one of my favorite 5ers, cause I'm basically a 5 string player and this particular model has 18 mm string spacing at bridge, which is quite rare amongst the 5ers in Cort catalog.
 
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#563
Good morning all. I have a couple Cort to show off and see if I can't get a club number.

First a Cort Curbow 5. I bought this for a back-up bass to my MM Stingray5 I was gigging with a lot. I have never gigged this bass. I recently picked up the proper case for it off Reverb...lucky buy!

Second is a rare Cort Billy Cox Freedom bass in white I snagged from eBay. Another lucky find. This bass is a beast! Bright clear tones all day, infinite sounds with the three pup configuration. I really love this one.

Cheers!
Cort Curbow.jpg
Cort Curbow HS.jpg
Cort BC Freedom.jpg
Cort BC Freedom 1.jpg
Cort BC Freedom HS.jpg
 
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#567
Yahboy said:
This is my previous B5 plus.
Different body wood, different Onboard Preamp and different Control Knobs.


View attachment 3941924
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I remembered you posting a comment regarding yamaha and cort comparison, sorry for the OT, but do you still use yamaha basses?

Nice stand by the way, it compensates to the shape of the bass, mine is just straight and difficult for the bass to sit properly.
 
#568
jmwreck said:
I remembered you posting a comment regarding yamaha and cort comparison, sorry for the OT, but do you still use yamaha basses?

Nice stand by the way, it compensates to the shape of the bass, mine is just straight and difficult for the bass to sit properly.
Click to expand...

I dint own single Yummy bass once i sold the RBX374 on 2009.
That stand are fairly cheap and i prefer use it because great for Bass Portrait Shot.

Oh..... i have this one in past too......

YAP_1878.JPG


She has better tone than B5 plus even only 2 band EQ , but the bassball like neck profile, uncomfortable body arm rest and unstable neck make me sell it after few months.
 
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#569
Yahboy said:
I dint own single Yummy bass once i sold the RBX374 on 2009.
That stand are fairly cheap and i prefer use it because great for Bass Portrait Shot.

Oh..... i have this one in past too......

View attachment 3941929

She has better tone than B5 plus even only 2 band EQ , but the bassball like neck profile, uncomfortable body arm rest and unstable neck make me sell it after few months.
Click to expand...

Does your swamp ash Cort comes with these? :laugh::roflmao:
20200812_205232-01.jpeg
20200812_205321-01.jpeg

I've contacted the seller, probably not their fault, not the courier's fault as well, no damage on the packaging.
 
#570
jmwreck said:
Does your swamp ash Cort comes with these? :laugh::roflmao:View attachment 3941944 View attachment 3941945
I've contacted the seller, probably not their fault, not the courier's fault as well, no damage on the packaging.
Click to expand...

Since the scratch just as small as the screw head size, I suggest ask seller make a little cash refund or get a free set of Dunlop Superbright string (this B5 sound nice with it ), then get a Minwax Mahogany colour touchup pen and high grade sand paper, sand gently and paint it , Problem Solve.
 
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#571
Yahboy said:
Since the scratch just as small as the screw head size, I suggest ask seller make a little cash refund or get a free set of Dunlop Superbright string (this B5 sound nice with it ), then get a Minwax Mahogany colour touchup pen and high grade sand paper, sand gently and paint it , Problem Solve.
Click to expand...
Yahboy said:
Since the scratch just as small as the screw head size, I suggest ask seller make a little cash refund or get a free set of Dunlop Superbright string (this B5 sound nice with it ), then get a Minwax Mahogany colour touchup pen and high grade sand paper, sand gently and paint it , Problem Solve.
Click to expand...

I fixed the dent with the superglue method.

The body is really soft, played it last night and nails dug some marks on the body, but playability and sound were excellent.
 
#572
jmwreck said:
I fixed the dent with the superglue method.

The body is really soft, played it last night and nails dug some marks on the body, but playability and sound were excellent.
Click to expand...

Both Cort B5 plus mahogany and Ibanez SR50x mahogany are pretty soft(both make by Cortex ), the natural swamp ash body B5 plus and SR60x more harder .

The Arona swamp ash body with brown mahogany satin feel coat also has hard surface but not polyurethane finish like protection.
 
#573
I just got my first Cort, it's the new B5, 2019 AS RM. I like everything, except the output level. It's soooo low, even when I switch it to active.

Anyway I can fix this? Are there hotter bartolinis that I can throw there?
I think it's the pickups that suck not the pre-amp.

:help:
 
#575
KeithPas said:
Check the preamp and see if there is a way to adjust the gain and output
Click to expand...

I was hoping for that, but no, I couldn't find any.
Besides, I prefer passive tone (one of the reasons i got it, it's got passive switch) so, no matter what you tweak on pre-amp, passive tone is still gonna be low, bc pick ups are not that hot.

What even are these pick ups? Can't find any info, not in cort pick up catalogue.
Are they single coil?
 
#576
nikolozj said:
I was hoping for that, but no, I couldn't find any.
Besides, I prefer passive tone (one of the reasons i got it, it's got passive switch) so, no matter what you tweak on pre-amp, passive tone is still gonna be low, bc pick ups are not that hot.

What even are these pick ups? Can't find any info, not in cort pick up catalogue.
Are they single coil?
Click to expand...
Have you adjusted the pickup height?
 
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#577
Yes I did change height and it improved a little, still low for me. Maybe I'm used to very high output, split coil P sound, that I've been playing for years. But there's gotta be bartolinis out there that are hotter and that will fit this bass...
 
#578
nikolozj said:
I was hoping for that, but no, I couldn't find any.
Besides, I prefer passive tone (one of the reasons i got it, it's got passive switch) so, no matter what you tweak on pre-amp, passive tone is still gonna be low, bc pick ups are not that hot.

What even are these pick ups? Can't find any info, not in cort pick up catalogue.
Are they single coil?
Click to expand...

I had an Action 5 bass with the proprietary CORT pickups and the difference in volume from active to passive was dramatic. I swapped those pickups with some Bartolini mk5 pickups and the tone improved to my ear but not the volume disparity
 
#579
nikolozj said:
Yes I did change height and it improved a little, still low for me. Maybe I'm used to very high output, split coil P sound, that I've been playing for years. But there's gotta be bartolinis out there that are hotter and that will fit this bass...
Click to expand...
Bartolini has quite a few in-house USA factory MK size pickup models which are aimed as the direct upgrades for the MK1 pickups. You could opt for P2 size pickups as well, which are only a tad barely noticeable smaller than the MK size pickups.

Inside of the MK1 is a reverse P split coil. Most who upgraded their MK1 would choose Bartolini MK?CBC model (for a 5 string bass it would be MK5CBC), which is a dual coil pickup. Other options are MK5P (P split coil), MK5J (in-line J split coil), MK5S (in-line single coil), MK5C (Bart's original dual coil which aren't as hifi as the CBC model), MK5-2J (a pair of in-line J split coils).

I do own a pair of MK5CBC and a pair of MK6CBC which were used on my 5 string and 6 string basses as replacements for the factory equipped MK1 pickups. I've never noticed whether the USA made ones have higher gains than the outsourced ones. But, they do sound thicker.
 
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#580
nikolozj said:
I just got my first Cort, it's the new B5, 2019 AS RM. I like everything, except the output level. It's soooo low, even when I switch it to active.

Anyway I can fix this? Are there hotter bartolinis that I can throw there?
I think it's the pickups that suck not the pre-amp.

:help:
Click to expand...

My previous Cort B5 Ash (markbass preamp )has similar low output and volume drop in passive mode. Even Action DLX V still has same low output passive mode. The A5 SCMS I play at GC also has similar problem too. No problem on SRFF805.

I do recommend Ibanez SR500/505 or Yamaha Trbx 504/505 to anyone who can't accept above issue on Cort B5/B4/C5/C4.
 
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