ezbass Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 I've been playing my Yamaha Pacifica quite a bit of late and I've been enjoying playing the 6 string razor quite a bit more than I have for quite some time. Anyway as I'm currently GASless bass wise, that harsh mistress crept back in via the door marked treble and I found myself hankering for some P90 action (my favourite pick up). So after dismissing the concept of fitting P90s to the Yammy (too much cutting up and expense compared to a new purchase) I borrowed my mate's PRS SE Soapbar which confirmed my P90 desire. I was hoping he'd sell me his guitar as he's not playing so much these days, but to no avail. So, given that I do like a Telecaster, I decided on acquiring a Squier Vintage Modified Custom ll (catchy name there) and duly started to watch one on Ebay. However, just a couple of days before the end of the Tele auction I spied another guitar with P90s, a Cort M520 (these great names just keep on coming). Looking like the offspring of a PRS and a Gibson, sporting the requisite P90s and sounding very nice on YouTube demos (even the wife said "That sounds nice, what is it?") I put in a last minute bid on Wednesday evening and it arrived today (absolute top Ebay seller). After raising the action a bit, intonation adjustment and balancing the pickups it sounds and plays great. Mahogany body and neck, generic hardware except the Tone Pros bridge and stop bar and retro fitted Warwick straplocks; the body is a little smaller than I'm used to but I'll get over that soon enough. So enough prattling on here it is...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waldflote8 Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Looks like a really nice guitar. Mate has one of the single soapbar PRS SEs, with a replacement SD pickup and it is lovely to play/ great sound. I like a neck pickup too so my choice would be for the twin pup model,... they seem like excellent value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykesbass Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 Great guitar maker, and yes, big P90 fan here as well - that's a very wise buy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted June 2, 2013 Author Share Posted June 2, 2013 [quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1370188463' post='2097341'] Great guitar maker, and yes, big P90 fan here as well - that's a very wise buy! [/quote] [quote name='waldflote8' timestamp='1370031086' post='2095890'] Looks like a really nice guitar. Mate has one of the single soapbar PRS SEs, with a replacement SD pickup and it is lovely to play/ great sound. I like a neck pickup too so my choice would be for the twin pup model,... they seem like excellent value. [/quote] Thanks chaps; I'm still getting used to reduced dimensions, but on a strap it's marvellous. It does remind me of the old Robben Ford Fender signature to look at. Getting this means I've tried rewiring my old point to point, single ended, 15 watt, class A amp that wasn't working. It makes a noise now but there's still something not quite right, more work required. Until I've sorted it it'll be going through my Phil Jones Cub via an effects box (pretty good sounding but I'd like to hear through a proper guitar amp). I was initially thinking of a single pickup guitar but I really like the sound of the P90s mixed together. I imagine there might be some Seymour Duncan or Bareknuckle action in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 [quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1370191016' post='2097381']I imagine there might be some Seymour Duncan or Bareknuckle action in the future. [/quote] I have 2 P90-powered guitars, one with Seymour Duncans, the other with Bareknuckles (Mississippi Queens). You won't regret either choice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted June 2, 2013 Author Share Posted June 2, 2013 [quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1370192317' post='2097407'] I have 2 P90-powered guitars, one with Seymour Duncans, the other with Bareknuckles (Mississippi Queens). You won't regret either choice! [/quote]When the time comes I may have to ask you for a brief review of each to help with the choice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waldflote8 Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 I picked up a Hamer XT archtop when I got the P90 GAS, good sound but the neck is quite chunky for my tastes. What is your amplifier ? (the 15W class A) There's a lot of useful information on the ax84 site, tips on fault finding etc. if you use the search function. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 [quote name='waldflote8' timestamp='1370264328' post='2098231'] What is your amplifier ? (the 15W class A) There's a lot of useful information on the ax84 site, tips on fault finding etc. if you use the search function. [/quote]Cornell designed Stinger, I built it myself some years ago from kit form, but some of the solders had gone a bit 'nasty' which is why I think it eventually failed. I redid all the joints but I think that I need to redo the 'channel selector' (for want of a better description) wiring, either that or the pre amp valve has developed a fault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dincz Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Nice. So nice in fact that I went out and bought one on impulse today. On sale new locally for the equivalent of £165. Seems like a great piece of kit for the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 Score! Good price too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dincz Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 [quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1370286323' post='2098681'] Score! Good price too. [/quote] Not sure how prices compare generally but Cort stuff does seem to be a lot cheaper here than in the UK. How much do new ones go for there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 £299 new in th UK on eBay, much cheaper in Italy though at £235, go figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike257 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Looks lovely! Not helping my cravings for a P90-equipped axe one bit though. Great find at that price! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted June 4, 2013 Author Share Posted June 4, 2013 [quote name='mike257' timestamp='1370305627' post='2099026'] Looks lovely! Not helping my cravings for a P90-equipped axe one bit though. Great find at that price! [/quote]I can also recommend the Squier Tele Custom ll; a very nice P90 equipped guitar for not much money, if I hadn't seen this I'd have one of those now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted June 4, 2013 Author Share Posted June 4, 2013 [quote name='waldflote8' timestamp='1370264328' post='2098231'] What is your amplifier ? (the 15W class A) There's a lot of useful information on the ax84 site, tips on fault finding etc. if you use the search function. [/quote]Checked and resoldered the channel switch and pre amp valve connections and, hey presto, all sorted! The channel selector switch is still not quite right (has to be fiddled with to select channel 2) but switch cleaner should sort that, although to be fair I don't particularly like the 'cooking' selection (Cornell's description, not mine) as it bypasses the tone controls, so I won't really use it much, if at all. The Cort now sounds much better than it already did Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike257 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 [quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1370353506' post='2099565'] I can also recommend the Squier Tele Custom ll; a very nice P90 equipped guitar for not much money, if I hadn't seen this I'd have one of those now. [/quote] Just missed an absurdly silly cheap one of them on Gumtree locally, had my eye on them for a while. Would match my '72 Deluxe nicely too! Plan B is turning my battered old Epi LP Special II into a Les Paul Jr - that's been in the pipeline for ages and I've picked up a few of the bits I need, I just don't really have the time for a project at the mo so it's going nowhere fast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waldflote8 Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 [quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1370360886' post='2099710'] Checked and resoldered the channel switch and pre amp valve connections and, hey presto, all sorted! The channel selector switch is still not quite right (has to be fiddled with to select channel 2) but switch cleaner should sort that, although to be fair I don't particularly like the 'cooking' selection (Cornell's description, not mine) as it bypasses the tone controls, so I won't really use it much, if at all. The Cort now sounds much better than it already did [/quote] good news !! I've built a few amps now and you certainly learn a lot more when they don't work first time, or develop some problem I have an old Cort flying V,.. haven't been able to find out very much about it at all, seems like 70s going by the hardware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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