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The CORT Club (Part 2)

#581
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...
I own 3 Cort basses (including the model you have) and with the active preamp engaged, there is a significant difference in output depending on where you have the mids set. In passive mode, you're right. The output is considerably quieter. These are still incredible basses. I set the volume knob at 100% and adjust output volume at the amp.
 
#582
Hello, I bought a bass guitar Cort A5 Custom Z OPN.
I bought it new, in an online store, the price pleasantly surprised me, about $ 380. The new CORT models we have currently cost about $800-900
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In General, I like everything, a few things are a little unclear:
1. Compared to my second bass guitar (ibanez SR30TH4II), the Cort is quieter. Is this Normal or is it an issue? 2. Do I understand correctly that in this model are Bartolini MK5 ? (are these the ones made in the US and better than the MK1?).
3. on many photos in the network it is written that the lower three knobs are responsible for the equalizer, but for some reason I have the lower and upper frequencies mixed up in places. (The treble knob is located under the volume knob)
4. What is the point of a toggle switch that disables the equalizer? To use an external preamp (for example, as a pedal) or for what?
5. My bass guitar has three knobs arranged in a row, but there are also guitars where there are two knobs in a row, I wonder what is the difference?
 
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#583
Boris3443 said:
Hello, I bought a bass guitar Cort A5 Custom Z OPN.
I bought it new, in an online store, the price pleasantly surprised me, about $ 380. The new CORT models we have currently cost about $800-900
View attachment 4035111 View attachment 4035108 View attachment 4035110 View attachment 4035109 View attachment 4035107
In General, I like everything, a few things are a little unclear:
1. Compared to my second bass guitar (ibanez SR30TH4II), the Cort is quieter. Is this Normal or is it an issue? 2. Do I understand correctly that in this model are Bartolini MK5 ? (are these the ones made in the US and better than the MK1?).
3. on many photos in the network it is written that the lower three knobs are responsible for the equalizer, but for some reason I have the lower and upper frequencies mixed up in places. (The treble knob is located under the volume knob)
4. What is the point of a toggle switch that disables the equalizer? To use an external preamp (for example, as a pedal) or for what?
5. My bass guitar has three knobs arranged in a row, but there are also guitars where there are two knobs in a row, I wonder what is the difference?
Click to expand...

PICKUPS: Bartolini MK5CBC-B & MK5CBC-T

ELECTRONICS: Bartolini MK-1 EQ / 1v, 1blend, 3band, EQ on-off switch He explains the knobs or just search
Cort A5-Custom Z
 
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#586
Boris3443 said:
Hello, I bought a bass guitar Cort A5 Custom Z OPN.
I bought it new, in an online store, the price pleasantly surprised me, about $ 380. The new CORT models we have currently cost about $800-900
View attachment 4035111 View attachment 4035108 View attachment 4035110 View attachment 4035109 View attachment 4035107
In General, I like everything, a few things are a little unclear:
1. Compared to my second bass guitar (ibanez SR30TH4II), the Cort is quieter. Is this Normal or is it an issue? 2. Do I understand correctly that in this model are Bartolini MK5 ? (are these the ones made in the US and better than the MK1?).
3. on many photos in the network it is written that the lower three knobs are responsible for the equalizer, but for some reason I have the lower and upper frequencies mixed up in places. (The treble knob is located under the volume knob)
4. What is the point of a toggle switch that disables the equalizer? To use an external preamp (for example, as a pedal) or for what?
5. My bass guitar has three knobs arranged in a row, but there are also guitars where there are two knobs in a row, I wonder what is the difference?
Click to expand...
Congrats on getting a piece of gem!
  1. Quite obvious different preamp has different gain. Your Ibanez has one of Ibanez own preamps whilst your Cort has the Bart MK1 pre. Even amongst Ibanez own preamps which came with several Ibanez basses that I own, the gain are different. Not to mention the pickup height settings could also affect the volume. So, what you can do is to set the pickups on the Custom Z higher.
  2. Yes, those are US made Bartolini MK5CBC pickups. They are generally considered as the upgrades for the MK1s. Personally, I've never seen them as better. They just have different sounds. I do own a pair of MK6CBC and a pair of MK5CBC which I bought to replace the 6 string and 5 string MK1s that came on my Cort and Ibanez basses. They sound different because of the different coil constructions inside. The MK1 internals are reverse P split coils whilst the CBCs are dual full blade coils. Each pair would best fit different area of applications. For instance, I "upgraded" the MK1s on my Ibanez Portamento SRF705 with the MK5 pairs, used them and tried to like the sound in the last couple of years or so, but they just didn't fit the bass applications. The sounded too thick for the fretless application and even became too muddy. I switched the pickups back to the MK1s about a month ago and I'm happy with the result.
  3. The EQ knobs arrangement you've seen on the net is relatively new. Cort has just switch the bass and treble positions in a more recent years. My 2015 A6 EQ knobs were arranged just like your A5 Custom Z.
  4. To have a different sound pallet which you can get in just a matter of flicking the switch. For instance, you can use the bass with EQ bypassed most of times and hit the switch when you need to step forward to do your solo lines with the knobs arranged to boost your sounds. Or, to achieve just what you've described.
  5. Just different electronic setups. Two knobs in a row (besides the master vol and balance or 2 vol knobs on the other row) can be the 2 passive tone pots for each pickup, 2 band EQ, or it could also means 3 band EQ with a stacked pot for the bass and treble EQs, or other possible variations.
 
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#587
Aidil said:
Congrats on getting a piece of gem!
  1. Quite obvious different preamp has different gain. Your Ibanez has one of Ibanez own preamps whilst your Cort has the Bart MK1 pre. Even amongst Ibanez own preamps which came with several Ibanez basses that I own, the gain are different. Not to mention the pickup height settings could also affect the volume. So, what you can do is to set the pickups on the Custom Z higher.
  2. Yes, those are US made Bartolini MK5CBC pickups. They are generally considered as the upgrades for the MK1s. Personally, I've never seen them as better. They just have different sounds. I do own a pair of MK6CBC and a pair of MK5CBC which I bought to replace the 6 string and 5 string MK1s that came on my Cort and Ibanez basses. They sound different because of the different coil constructions inside. The MK1 internals are reverse P split coils whilst the CBCs are dual full blade coils. Each pair would best fit different area of applications. For instance, I "upgraded" the MK1s on my Ibanez Portamento SRF705 with the MK5 pairs, used them and tried to like the sound in the last couple of years or so, but they just didn't fit the bass applications. The sounded too thick for the fretless application and even became too muddy. I switched the pickups back to the MK1s about a month ago and I'm happy with the result.
  3. The EQ knobs arrangement you've seen on the net is relatively new. Cort has just switch the bass and treble positions in a more recent years. My 2015 A6 EQ knobs were arranged just like your A5 Custom Z.
  4. To have a different sound pallet which you can get in just a matter of flicking the switch. For instance, you can use the bass with EQ bypassed most of times and hit the switch when you need to step forward to do your solo lines with the knobs arranged to boost your sounds. Or, to achieve just what you've described.
  5. Just different electronic setups. Two knobs in a row (besides the master vol and balance or 2 vol knobs on the other row) can be the 2 passive tone pots for each pickup, 2 band EQ, or it could also means 3 band EQ with a stacked pot for the bass and treble EQs, or other possible variations.
Click to expand...
Wow! Thank you very much for your detailed response and advice. I really appreciate it. Now everything fell into place! :)
Do you think this is a good purchase?
The preamps in my two guitars are very different: in ibanez, the EQ change is very smooth, on Cort it is more "aggressive" and the effect of the change is felt more (but this does not mean that one guitar is better than the other, they are just different).
I thought that my Ibanez and this Cort would sound similar and differ only in the number of strings, but I was pleasantly surprised that they sound different - and this is great.
 
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#588
Boris3443 said:
Wow! Thank you very much for your detailed response and advice. I really appreciate it. Now everything fell into place! :)
Do you think this is a good purchase?
The preamps in my two guitars are very different: in ibanez, the EQ change is very smooth, on Cort it is more "aggressive" and the effect of the change is felt more (but this does not mean that one guitar is better than the other, they are just different).
I thought that my Ibanez and this Cort would sound similar and differ only in the number of strings, but I was pleasantly surprised that they sound different - and this is great.
Click to expand...
Definitely a good purchase.

Still, if it were me, I'd maximize it even more, i.e. upgrading the MK1 preamp to USA Bartolini HR-5.2AP/918 pre which (has internal gain pot thus in your case you could have the bass volume level similar to your Ibby and) uses push-pull vol pot for active/passive mode switching instead of a mini switch. This setup would still allow me to use a mini switch but for the purpose of switching the internal coils of the MK5CBCs, thus the pickups would be thick sounding when all internal coils are on or more focus sounding like j-bass when using only each outer coil of both pickups.

Another option is choosing Bart HR-5.4AP/918 pre which also utilizes push-pull pot for active/passive switching and it comes with a mini switch for selecting the 3 preset mid frequencies.

All of the above mods are reversible.
 
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#589
Aidil said:
Definitely a good purchase.

Still, if it were me, I'd maximize it even more, i.e. upgrading the MK1 preamp to USA Bartolini HR-5.2AP/918 pre which (has internal gain pot thus in your case you could have the bass volume level similar to your Ibby and) uses push-pull vol pot for active/passive mode switching instead of a mini switch. This setup would still allow me to use a mini switch but for the purpose of switching the internal coils of the MK5CBCs, thus the pickups would be thick sounding when all internal coils are on or more focus sounding like j-bass when using only each outer coil of both pickups.

Another option is choosing Bart HR-5.4AP/918 pre which also utilizes push-pull pot for active/passive switching and it comes with a mini switch for selecting the 3 preset mid frequencies.

All of the above mods are reversible.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your advice. There are no such preamps in our country. But if I order from another country , it will be more than half the cost of my guitar :) (I think I can do without it for now, but I will keep in mind that there is a possibility of improving electronics).
In addition to this, my processor has a set of the most popular guitar preamps (which are in the form of a pedal), I think if I make a FLAT EQ on my guitar, I can use these preamps for a while.

At the moment I want to take the guitar to the master so that he can fully set it up
In any case, I appreciate your advice. :hyper:
 
#590
Hello Corters! I just nabbed a slightly dinged black Cort Arona 5 as a backup bass, but I'm getting much more than just a beater bass. It has great tone and I love the size and design! I thought it would be heavier :)
I'm thinking on installing a 3-way toggle switch for the MM pickup - do you know if there's a schematic for these basses and if it's possible on the Desonic pickup?
 
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#591
Robertillo said:
Hello Corters! I just nabbed a slightly dinged black Cort Arona 5 as a backup bass, but I'm getting much more than just a beater bass. It has great tone and I love the size and design! I thought it would be heavier :)
I'm thinking on installing a 3-way toggle switch for the MM pickup - do you know if there's a schematic for these basses and if it's possible on the Desonic pickup?
Click to expand...
Lots of diagrams regarding your pickups here , Obviously you will have to look through and maybe this will help ?https://www.delano.de/downloads/installation_guide.pdf
 
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#592
Robertillo said:
Hello Corters! I just nabbed a slightly dinged black Cort Arona 5 as a backup bass, but I'm getting much more than just a beater bass. It has great tone and I love the size and design! I thought it would be heavier :)
I'm thinking on installing a 3-way toggle switch for the MM pickup - do you know if there's a schematic for these basses and if it's possible on the Desonic pickup?
Click to expand...
Here on TB we like pictures of your nicked up bass please ? (upload file function)
 
#597
Good morning! I just discovered this thread. I currently own 2 Cort basses. I have one for sale, price negotiable...
Cort Curbow 5

And I have this one that I am holding onto for the time being... Its a Cort Billy Cox Freedom Bass. This is a beautifully built instrument. 3 pickups and a active bypass switch(?)...not sure on that... This bass is in mint condition, I only wish I had the proper case for it, it deserves it for sure.

Anyway, I'd love a club number if they're still being issued...

Cheers!
IMG_20200712_112353307.jpg
IMG_20200712_112400668.jpg
IMG_20200712_112411980.jpg
 
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#599
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...

Share a tips . Try equal roll back all Onboard preamp EQ too meet equal output level as passive mode. Then bump the Amp Level and tweak amp EQ to taste , DONE.

Hope Help.
 

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