The electronics are Bartolini mk-1 active soap bar pickups, with typical 5-knob configuration, an active bypass switch and with a separate battery compartment. The fit and finish of hardware and milling were superb. The neck is maple, satin finished, slim and comfortable, and the rosewood two octave fingerboard has fret markers only on the top edge, giving this bass a clean understated modern look with classic lines. Body style is post modern Fender Jazz, but compact and thin, with good balance and low weight.
The clear finish and star burst tobacco shading were smooth and well executed, again flawless. The body is carved in a stylized version of a carved arched top jazz guitar, but in a way that has some real depth and contour. This 5-string bass has many features found on more upscale instruments, and sports some of the styling too.
CORT BASS FRETLESS DRIVERS
The battery has a separate compartment from the control cavity, and no screw drivers are needed to change out the dead battery at show time. Tone shaping on board is varied enough to allow for changing up at the guitar. The tone is typical to EMG’s and has that mid range clarity they are known for. The Pickups are EMGHZ soap bars and active. Well balanced both sitting and strapped on standing, and not heavy. It’s sleek, clean and contemporary with a nod to Rickenbacker basses of years past. Not arched like a carved jazz guitar top, but a gentle arch across the entire body, giving the bass a thinner edge thickness and contour. This one is all black with white binding around the front of the arched top. Both of these basses reflect this trend in appearance, performance and mainly value for your dollar.įirst up: the T54, a 4-string model with a modern styling and some nice features. This includes acoustic instruments too! The playing field has been leveled another notch.
You would be surprised how FEW hours of hand work is in any high end, cherished well known production instrument, dare I say shocked….well under 10 hours in most cases. Labor is the expensive part of making an instrument. Manufacturing has come a long way with the advent of CNC milling, quality control, standardization of specification and the like, to bring down prices and lift quality. These instruments, with a little extra TLC in the set up department, will prove to be good basses and an excellent buy for the price. We all remember those heavy, poorly balanced, muddy sounding and no frills designs from overseas companies that flooded the music stores vying for your hard earned summer money. It has been many a year since I even glanced at a bass in this category and a lot has changed for the better. For an entry level intermediate basses, I was truly impressed with the features, fit and finish, and the sound. These basses are not the Cort basses of years past you may remember when you went shopping for one of your early basses. This review will cover two Cort basses, the T54, and the Curbow 52.