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New Cort basses 2022


Brian18242
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Must 'fess that I had my head turned by a Cort bass very recently. I'd always been slightly put off by their budget pups, but this A5 Ultra Ash model launched last year sports Fishman Fluence pups, which is getting a lot of Spector owners excited given its recent appearance on higher end Spector bass ranges. Hipshot Ultra Lites help deliver a sub 9lb weight; its tasty laminated neck through design, body thru stringing, and some choice woods all come with a price to match of > £1k, and you sense that Cort have decided to park their tanks firmly on several of their contract manufacturing clients' lawns! 

 

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[Pics from BD website]

 

Edited by Al Krow
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5 hours ago, Brian18242 said:

I will be surprised if it comes in over the £1k mark. I have put on hold my next bass until more details are released😄

 

Bridge and pickups are £350 alone (well, to buy separately). I assume a decent preamp too so let's call it £400 before you've got tuners (probably hipshot ultra lights) there's another £100. Looks like roasted maple, with fancy top too. I'm sticking to the £1k, if it's less it won't be by too much. Then again, Cort do have a way of undercutting others.

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2 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Must 'fess that I had my head turned by a Cort bass very recently. I'd always been slightly put off by their budget pups, but this A5 Ultra Ash model launched last year sports Fishman Fluence pups, which is getting a lot of Spector owners excited given its recent appearance on higher end Spector bass ranges. Hipshot Ultra Lites help deliver a sub 9lb weight; its tasty neck through design and some choice woods all come with a price to match of > £1k, and you sense that Cort have decided to park their tanks firmly on several of their contract manufacturing clients' lawns! 

 

image.png.ebf4fa7f7885f0c4a48c0cebce743f0f.png


image.png.e10f6e869a06ae977a2df36c9e292b5c.png

 

 

I tried the 4 string (A4 Ultra) version of that a few months ago because i was interested in the Fishmans. Didn't like the pickups at all - they seemed to have a load of built in compression in them and robbed the dynamics too much for my preference. But the bass itself was lovely with probably my favourite neck ever on it. And so comfortable to play as well. I bought the next model down (A4 Plus) with Barts in it which seemed more lively when you dig in a bit.

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14 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Must 'fess that I had my head turned by a Cort bass very recently. I'd always been slightly put off by their budget pups, but this A5 Ultra Ash model launched last year sports Fishman Fluence pups, which is getting a lot of Spector owners excited given its recent appearance on higher end Spector bass ranges. Hipshot Ultra Lites help deliver a sub 9lb weight; its tasty neck through design and some choice woods all come with a price to match of > £1k, and you sense that Cort have decided to park their tanks firmly on several of their contract manufacturing clients' lawns! 

 

image.png.ebf4fa7f7885f0c4a48c0cebce743f0f.png


image.png.e10f6e869a06ae977a2df36c9e292b5c.png

 

I had one of these for a home trial last year, but it was very weak sounding.  Very nicely built, though!  I'm sure the Fishman p'ups are good and I'm sure it was just my copy - but it was the only one I could find in UK stock.  Dood reviewed it for Gi and seemed to think it was alright.

Edited by falling_in2_infinity
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9 hours ago, Brian18242 said:

It will be very interesting to see what price these basses come in at based on the quality of the hardware alone! Sadly for me the 5 string won't be an option as it looks like another 19mm string spacing😭 

I feel your pain!  The main reason I play 5 and 6 strings is for the tighter spacing.

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11 hours ago, Mudpup said:

 

I tried the 4 string (A4 Ultra) version of that a few months ago because i was interested in the Fishmans. Didn't like the pickups at all - they seemed to have a load of built in compression in them and robbed the dynamics too much for my preference. But the bass itself was lovely with probably my favourite neck ever on it. And so comfortable to play as well. I bought the next model down (A4 Plus) with Barts in it which seemed more lively when you dig in a bit.

Glad it wasn't just me.  My copy really sounded quite poor, but it was a gorgeous looking bass, very well built.  I was very tempted to swap the pickups out, but in the end it went back and hopefully into someone else's loving embrace.

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11 hours ago, Mudpup said:

 

I tried the 4 string (A4 Ultra) version of that a few months ago because i was interested in the Fishmans. Didn't like the pickups at all - they seemed to have a load of built in compression in them and robbed the dynamics too much for my preference. But the bass itself was lovely with probably my favourite neck ever on it. And so comfortable to play as well. I bought the next model down (A4 Plus) with Barts in it which seemed more lively when you dig in a bit.

 

11 minutes ago, falling_in2_infinity said:

I had one of these for a home trial last year, but it was very weak sounding.  Very nicely built, though!  I'm sure the Fishman p'ups are good and I'm sure it was just my copy - but it was the only one I could find in UK stock.  Dood reviewed it for Gi and seemed to think it was alright.

 

Well that's two thumbs down for Ultras from fellow BC'ers. Shame, but very useful to know. 

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1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

 

 

Well that's two thumbs down for Ultras from fellow BC'ers. Shame, but very useful to know. 

I seem to recall some similar comments on the USA bass site Spector groups a while back. The pickups sounded great in the video demos hence my interest but it just shows how different the experience can be in the real world. I tried a Schecter with them in as well and thought they sounded better in that bass but not good enough to spring £1k on

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My GB95 is from 2011. It's got Seymour Duncan pickups and is quite lively, not sure the preamp is the best (SD designed, rather than SD) but it's quite similar to the proper SD preamp I had in my Tobias. I'm 90% going to get a coil tap for the humbucker to open up even more possibilities. It only cost me £450 and was mint, that was probably even a bit more than the going rate - but it's really not far off a Lakland 55-02. I'd wager the body/neck are made by the same machines/people.

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7 hours ago, Mudpup said:

I seem to recall some similar comments on the USA bass site Spector groups a while back. The pickups sounded great in the video demos hence my interest but it just shows how different the experience can be in the real world. I tried a Schecter with them in as well and thought they sounded better in that bass but not good enough to spring £1k on

I'd wondered about the Schecter, so it's good to hear some feedback on that. 🙂

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3 hours ago, falling_in2_infinity said:

I'd wondered about the Schecter, so it's good to hear some feedback on that. 🙂

It was a nice bass but didn't feel particularly special to play. It was just ok and a bit soul less really. I found the neck a bit skinny for my liking. The Cort is in a different league in terms of feel. The neck is perfect for me - oddly it's the same width as the Schecter but it's kind of flattened off at the back a bit which you really feel. The body is really ergonomic - it's all curves and I love the open pore finish. I'm smitten.....

Edited by Mudpup
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46 minutes ago, Mudpup said:

It was a nice bass but didn't feel particularly special to play. It was just ok and a bit soul less really. I found the neck a bit skinny for my liking. The Cort is in a different league in terms of feel. The neck is perfect for me - oddly it's the same width as the Schecter but it's kind of flattened off at the back a bit which you really feel. The body is really ergonomic - it's all curves and I love the open pore finish. I'm smitten.....

 

You've got me thinking! The Cort A5 Plus is £350 less than the A5 Ultra Ash model; if the Bart Mk1 pups aren't to my liking then that would be a very decent budget to get some choice replacement pups put in. Still laminated neck through, lightweight, 3 band EQ, body through stringing, flamed maple top...hmmm, what's not to like? 

 

Edited by Al Krow
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I am not wild on the Fishman Fluence pickups in Spector basses. They just don't sound as good as EMG's in those basses. That could be said of all the alternative pickup/preamp options but the Fishmans probably only come second to Aguilar as my least favourite electronics for a Spector. 

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