The CORT Club (Part 2)

[Yahboy]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I have B4 plus ASRM. I like the specs and build, just disappointed with the sounds, Not enough bottom end. Playing in live setting, the sound get buried in the mix.

any tips how to set the eq? to make it sound better in the mix and more bottom end?

Why most Artisan A/B/C bass has bottom lack tone ? The main reason are both pickups place too close to bridge side. Just like early day 90s Ibanez SR500/700 with MK 1 system.

After several years, those MIK SR500/700 move both pickups closer to neck side and no more bottom lack issue happens even stock MK1 pup/electronic has less impressive tone.

On my previous B5 plus Ash with stock electronic, i only use the neck pickups, but still sound lacking something in band mix.

The only Artisan Bass with warmer low end are C4/C5 plus ovhm. She has same electronic like my B5 plus Ash, same pickups placement, but she sound just warmth and fuller low end.

Artisan A series has lot of great stuff and high quality build on it, but i am not bond with the tone.

I also play the A5 plus SCMS , she sound much lack low end than standard scale B5 plus. The B string sound like you dial back the Bass knob on your bass amp.

I been own B5 plus, Action DLX V , GB74JJ and Arona IV. GB74JJ has nice modern J vibe , but the Desonic on Arona IV has great tone ! Action DLX V has dry tone without lacking low end.

Who play chord or tapping , i can sure has no complaint with Artisan A/B/C tone.

BUT !!! B4FL are another story..... she sound sweet because those pickup placement.

 

[Yahboy]

New B4 element fretless.

Cort B4 Element FL | Artisan Series Electric Bass

 

[BassmanM]

Why most Artisan A/B/C bass has bottom lack tone ? The main reason are both pickups place too close to bridge side. Just like early day 90s Ibanez SR500/700 with MK 1 system.

After several years, those MIK SR500/700 move both pickups closer to neck side and no more bottom lack issue happens even stock MK1 pup/electronic has less impressive tone.

On my previous B5 plus Ash with stock electronic, i only use the neck pickups, but still sound lacking something in band mix.

The only Artisan Bass with warmer low end are C4/C5 plus ovhm. She has same electronic like my B5 plus Ash, same pickups placement, but she sound just warmth and fuller low end.

Artisan A series has lot of great stuff and high quality build on it, but i am not bond with the tone.

I also play the A5 plus SCMS , she sound much lack low end than standard scale B5 plus. The B string sound like you dial back the Bass knob on your bass amp.

I been own B5 plus, Action DLX V , GB74JJ and Arona IV. GB74JJ has nice modern J vibe , but the Desonic on Arona IV has great tone ! Action DLX V has dry tone without lacking low end.

Who play chord or tapping , i can sure has no complaint with Artisan A/B/C tone.

BUT !!! B4FL are another story..... she sound sweet because those pickup placement.

Are you sure you used the EQ properly and to full effect? I had an A6 in the past and absolutely no issue with lacking low end. It was actually pretty heavy sounding with a thunderous B-string.

 

[Loepie]

Are you sure you used the EQ properly and to full effect? I had an A6 in the past and absolutely no issue with lacking low end. It was actually pretty heavy sounding with a thunderous B-string.

Same here with an A5 I had. Problem may be the Bart's. My A5 had Nordstrand big singles. Sounded much better than the Bart's. Never been a big fan of them. Same on the Ibanez basses, with Nordy's they sound just much better.

 

[neil|lien]

Are you sure you used the EQ properly and to full effect? I had an A6 in the past and absolutely no issue with lacking low end. It was actually pretty heavy sounding with a thunderous B-string.

Yeah same here: i have a B4FL so no B string but sounds really great with loads of low end. And i have no complaints either about my B5 Element or my C5 Plus ZBMH TBB. Great low end & B string. Full disclosure: i haven't played them in band setting yet as i dont currently have a band.

Also: blaming the lack of low end on pick-up placement and then saying the C5 has same electronics & pick-up placement but sounds awesome? How does that work?

 

[Yahboy]

Are you sure you used the EQ properly and to full effect? I had an A6 in the past and absolutely no issue with lacking low end. It was actually pretty heavy sounding with a thunderous B-string.

Been A/B test A4 to my Arona IV while i still own it. Even Desonic are not true Delano, but this J/MM set just sound huge and solid along with nice dynamic compare to Bart MK4 on A4. MK1 preamp are great piece of Shxt.

MK4CBC has not huge tone like my P2 Deep Tone pup on SR705. Sound thinner compare to Original.

Thunderous on A6 B string , only B string ? I prefer clarity B string rather than thunderous.

 

[Yahboy]

blaming the lack of low end on pick-up placement and then saying the C5 has same electronics & pick-up placement but sounds awesome? How does that work?

Body wood . Highly recommend A/B test both discontinued B5 plus Ash and current C5 ohvm yourself.

 

[neil|lien]

Body wood . Highly recommend A/B test both discontinued B5 plus Ash and current C5 ohvm yourself.

Yeah so why blame PU placement & Bartolini MK1???

 

[EdO.]

Are you sure you used the EQ properly and to full effect? I had an A6 in the past and absolutely no issue with lacking low end. It was actually pretty heavy sounding with a thunderous B-string.

Everyone has a right to have an opinion but it's just that, one opinion. Same with my 2005 vintage A5 Artisan (Mk1 Barts). Actually have to dial back the low end to get better definition. As I've gotten kudos on the tone from other musicians and it sounds good to me both in my IEM's and in live recordings I'm left to assume it likely sounds good to the audience too. That's good enough for me. Everyone has an opinion...

 

[Yahboy]

Yeah so why blame PU placement & Bartolini MK1???

C5 warmth tone only when compare to B5 plus, she still lacking low end compare to ibby SR500/700.

I dint blame pickups placement, I just figure it out. No doubt, MK 1 pup and mk I preamp are clearly the weak point. Mark bass preamp make MK 1 sound a bit rounder, but still lacking low end. Yeah, pickups placement and MK 1 , oh, natural bright sounding body wood, mismatch combination.

But anyway, keep enjoy your Cort A or B series, I just share my personal opinion on my previous Cort bass journey.

 

[llmk]

Hey guys,

I just received my new Cort B4 Element. She is a beaut! I don't have much to say about it right now as I received her less than an hour ago, I will need some time with her to give a proper opinion but, I can already say that she is at the same time very similar to my other 2 B4s and quite different.
She, like every other Cort I ever bought, came with a few minor blemishes, nothing bad though.
She is the same weight as my other 2 B4s: 3.6kg, which is great!
I bought her on Kytary for a hair over 400€ brand new. that's about 150€ cheaper than Thomann right now. And it's not an old stock either, she is from August this year.

A couple of pics fresh out of the box:

 

[neil|lien]

Hey guys,

I just received my new Cort B4 Element. She is a beaut! I don't have much to say about it right now as I received her less than an hour ago, I will need some time with her to give a proper opinion but, I can already say that she is at the same time very similar to my other 2 B4s and quite different.
She, like every other Cort I ever bought, came with a few minor blemishes, nothing bad though.
She is the same weight as my other 2 B4s: 3.6kg, which is great!
I bought her on Kytary for a hair over 400€ brand new. that's about 150€ cheaper than Thomann right now. And it's not an old stock either, she is from August this year.

A couple of pics fresh out of the box:View attachment 5251103 View attachment 5251104

Sweet grain on yours!
My black B5 was a bit disappointing aesthetically... it sounds awesome with Labella flats though..

 

[ono69]

anyone know how much is the string space and nut width on the new a5 plus

 

[mjnyc]

Playing bass for 3 years. Started with a Mustang P/J as I was worried that a standard scale might be too difficult. Turned out not to be the case, and while on vacation 2 years ago I bought a used Cort B4 plus which I really liked. Then I somehow got the idea that a "real" bassist should have a P-bass, so I sold my Mustang which I wasn't using and got a new Player P-bass. Two issues:

I reluctantly admit that I like the tone and playability of the Cort better than the P-bass (both have flatwounds). I play mostly rock and feel like the P-bass with flats doesn't cut through as much as I would like. Haven't yet settled on the settings for the Cort; mostly have EQ flat and the pickup mix variable.

More interesting to me is that the clank that I get when fretting the P-bass is much much louder than that of the Cort. Not a setup issue and I don't think it's a string issue. When I unplug the instrument and listen right at where I'm fretting, the difference is striking. I first thought maybe it's the fret material or shape, but now I think it's related to the neck/fretboard wood. On the Internet I found some information that emphasized how maple is brighter and Wenge (which apparently is similar to Panga Panga) is warmer.

Curious about any thoughts on the above. Any P-bass Cort comparisons? Thanks as always.

Addendum: One problem I've noticed from the beginning is that the D string has been much quieter than the other 3. The pickups are Bartolini MK-1. I emailed Bartolini and they replied that this is not uncommon, that the MK-1 is manufactured by Cort, not by Bartolini, and that I could replace the pickups with MK4CBC pickups that are made in USA. Would cost around $360 I believe, so pondering this.

michael

Michael

 

[llmk]

Playing bass for 3 years. Started with a Mustang P/J as I was worried that a standard scale might be too difficult. Turned out not to be the case, and while on vacation 2 years ago I bought a used Cort B4 plus which I really liked. Then I somehow got the idea that a "real" bassist should have a P-bass, so I sold my Mustang which I wasn't using and got a new Player P-bass. Two issues:

I reluctantly admit that I like the tone and playability of the Cort better than the P-bass (both have flatwounds). I play mostly rock and feel like the P-bass with flats doesn't cut through as much as I would like. Haven't yet settled on the settings for the Cort; mostly have EQ flat and the pickup mix variable.

More interesting to me is that the clank that I get when fretting the P-bass is much much louder than that of the Cort. Not a setup issue and I don't think it's a string issue. When I unplug the instrument and listen right at where I'm fretting, the difference is striking. I first thought maybe it's the fret material or shape, but now I think it's related to the neck/fretboard wood. On the Internet I found some information that emphasized how maple is brighter and Wenge (which apparently is similar to Panga Panga) is warmer.

Curious about any thoughts on the above. Any P-bass Cort comparisons? Thanks as always.

Addendum: One problem I've noticed from the beginning is that the D string has been much quieter than the other 3. The pickups are Bartolini MK-1. I emailed Bartolini and they replied that this is not uncommon, that the MK-1 is manufactured by Cort, not by Bartolini, and that I could replace the pickups with MK4CBC pickups that are made in USA. Would cost around $360 I believe, so pondering this.

michael

Michael

Hey Michael, welcome to the club!

I have 3 B4 and a P-style bass (Harley Benton), And I also play mostly flatwounds on my basses. I use Fender 9050L on my B4 RM and my B4 Element right now and I use Chromes on my B4FL but I will almost certainly switch back to 9050L on it too as I much prefer the Fenders to the chromes. These are my favorite strings but I didn't like them on my P-style for the same reason as you, I found it way too clanky and lacking presence. I must say that the P-style is moded with a EMG geezer Buttler set and a Fender hi-mass bridge so it is not a problem coming from the cheapness of hardware/electronics of the Harley Benton.

I do think that the tonewoods could be the/a reason, I also feel that the wenge/rosewood and panga panga/walnut mixes have much less snap than a maple neck. I now use Fender rounds on my P and like it much more.

I do not have the problem of balance between strings on any of my B4, so I can't really help you on this one. Have you tried another set of strings to make sure that they are not the problem? Also, does the problem persist in both "active" and "passive" modes?

If the pickups are the problem you can either stick with Bartolini and upgrade to USA Barts or look for used MK-1's that are known to work right (they are usually pretty cheap). The options are somewhat limited if you want to stray away from the Barts as they have quite peculiar dimensions. Apart from the MK4CBC I haven't found any pickup that would readily fit the cutouts on the Cort. Basically, if you go for anything other than Barts, you will have to either fill or route part of the cutouts.
But, if you are of an adventurous nature and like them, you can switch to J-style pickups. I did it on my B4 RM as I wasn't satisfied with the sound when I switched to flats and I am now very happy with it after switching to EMG J's. Here is the thread where I discussed it with some very helpful talkbass-ers:
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/ho...y-fitting-these-pickups-in-this-body.1621247/

Cheers!

 

[mjnyc]

Hey Michael, welcome to the club!

I have 3 B4 and a P-style bass (Harley Benton), And I also play mostly flatwounds on my basses....

Thanks for all the info. I initially thought Cort was a sort of unknown brand. I found that most people look clueless when I mention Cort, but some are clearly familiar with it. Glad there are so many Cort owners here.

I've tried a number of flatwounds (D'Addario), one tapewound, some roundwounds on both basses, and more recently an EB Slinky on the P-bass. I really don't like the finger noise on the roundwounds, so I'll stick to flats. The EB Slinky's are reputed to have more of a roundwound sound with flat smoothness, which I think is correct, though there is a sort of strange stickiness when you slide.

I begin to feel like my P-bass would be ideal for more mellow settings like jazz, blues, or ballads.

As for the D-string problem, I've switched out strings, no change, and it's there both in active and passive modes. Trying to find a used MK-1 sounds like a nice economical choice. Not adventurous enough to go for something that doesn't fit.

Thanks again!

Michael

 

[Snert]

On the Internet I found some information that emphasized how maple is brighter and Wenge (which apparently is similar to Panga Panga) is warmer.

Therefore, that must be true. I don't buy into the tonewood myth at all (for solidbodies).

 

[mjnyc]

Therefore, that must be true. I don't buy into the tonewood myth at all (for solidbodies).

Ok...

 

[mjnyc]

Therefore, that must be true. I don't buy into the tonewood myth at all (for solidbodies).

Interestingly, when I tap the back of the neck around midpoint, with my fingernail, the sound is completely different between these two basses. The Cort is more muffled and shorter than the P-bass which is louder and brighter. So I think this could account for the louder clank when fretting, even if the actual sound of notes as they are played might not be affected.

 

[Snert]

It's an electric instrument, so the only sound that matters is what comes out of the jack.

Ok...

For years I was told by people who listen with their eyes that my XL2 sounded 'plastic'.