Mismatched top, would this bother you? Cort space 4

[41Hz]

Hi,

 

Just received a Cort space 4 and the poplar top is badly mismatched. It should be sliced from the same bit of wood so the top and bottom half are a mirror image. You can see the bottom half is darker with hardly any markings.

 

Would this bother you? All the pics I’ve seen online show the two halves fairly well matched.

 

Thing is I sent the first one back because it was mismatched and had a few other minor issues but this one is even worse. Is it reasonable to expect them to roughly match? Would this bother you?

 

[Mokl]

Does it play and sound good? How much does it owe you? 

 

I kind of like it, but your priorities and preferences may not match mine... So if it bothers you then you should probably think about sending it back.... 

[itu]

That top shouts a routed (slap) pop spacing between the neck and the neck pickup. If you add a ramp between pickups, everything's fine. 

[Dad3353]

Cut a suitable pick-guard (scratch plate...) to shape; black, maybe. It'll hide any mis-match. Problem solved. 

[bassbiscuits]

Depends what the other issues are.

The wood grain in the top wouldn’t bother me at all, but if you’ve had two basses each with problems I’d be more concerned about deciding whether those are acceptable. 

[Geek99]

Put some tort on it 👍

seriously … im Not aesthetically-minded generally but  it would have to be a sonically-amazing example of that model for me to overlook it.  

[Grahambythesea]

Yes!! Send it straight back.

[Jack]

That would bother me. 

[41Hz]

49 minutes ago, Mokl said:

Does it play and sound good? How much does it owe you? 

 

I kind of like it, but your priorities and preferences may not match mine... So if it bothers you then you should probably think about sending it back.... 

Fretwork is really good, can get super low action, better than the first one, but I’m not sure it sounds as good as the first one, the bass seems a bit weaker, even with the active bass knob cranked. Arghhh wish I’d kept the first one. It was £599

[Dad3353]

Was this sold as 'book-matched' in the description, or just 'figured'..? 

[41Hz]

2 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

Was this sold as 'book-matched' in the description, or just 'figured'..? 

Don’t think it said either, but every picture/video I have seen of them they are pretty well matched.

 

Interestingly on the inspection card on both basses there are initials in the assembly, setup, electrics boxes but the “finish” box is empty.

[Lozz196]

It would bother me, irrespective of how well it played and good it sounded, I’d have to send it back.

[41Hz]

50 minutes ago, bassbiscuits said:

Depends what the other issues are.

The wood grain in the top wouldn’t bother me at all, but if you’ve had two basses each with problems I’d be more concerned about deciding whether those are acceptable. 

First one…

+ Sounded Fantastic, had a lovely feeling neck

- Neck initially like a banana, had to really crank the truss rod and it took all weekend to get it straight, was a bit worried about the amount of tension, but seemed ok in the end.

- Top a bit mismatched

- Pickup blend pot crackly

 

Second one…

+ Great fretwork, can get <1.5mm action

- Not sure it sounds as good, bass a bit weaker than 1st one.

- Neck feels a bit rough in patches, needs sanding I think.

- Top even more mismatched

 

I should have kept the first one 🤦‍♂️

Edited 6 hours ago by 41Hz

[41Hz]

1 hour ago, itu said:

That top shouts a routed (slap) pop spacing between the neck and the neck pickup. If you add a ramp between pickups, everything's fine. 

Like to dig in on occasion so not a fan of ramps

[Beedster]

Frankly I’d get a different bass, pretty clear the QC on this model is poor 

[SimonK]

Oh yes - that's horrible - I've had a rant about this before as it's pretty much ruined my enjoyment of the PRS I saved for years to get!

 

 

[41Hz]

4 minutes ago, Beedster said:

Frankly I’d get a different bass, pretty clear the QC on this model is poor 

I guess it’s always a bit of a lottery buying online on a mass produced bass.

[Mudpup]

Looking at a Google image search of that bass now. They all look book matched to me. I think yours has been matched from 2 different books! Send it back.....looks a bit pants and it will always annoy you. 

[41Hz]

1 minute ago, SimonK said:

Oh yes - that's horrible - I've had a rant about this before as it's pretty much ruined my enjoyment of the PRS I saved for years to get!

 

 

I believe Cort build for PRS in the Cort factory!

[41Hz]

Here is the first one I sent back! Probably not quite as bad, but can’t believe I’ve been unlucky 2x in a row. 
 

Maybe I should wait a few months for Cort to sack the person responsible for book matching before I get a replacement.
 

 

Edited 6 hours ago by 41Hz

[Mudpup]

Yep, probably best to wait for another production run. Or head to a shop 

[SimonK]

1 hour ago, 41Hz said:

I believe Cort build for PRS in the Cort factory!

 

...I smell a book matching conspiracy - I wonder if he has a family member who works for Gibson?!

[StickyDBRmf]

Two basses. Major issues. (scratchy pot on #1). 

Try another brand.

[simisker]

1 hour ago, 41Hz said:

I believe Cort build for PRS in the Cort factory!

 

To a very different budget, I'd imagine!

 

I've got a Cort Persona 'Lavender Phase', which has a poplar burl top - and they sure as hell bookmatched it.

 

While I wouldn't be expecting 5A mirroring from Cort, both the examples the OP received are unacceptable in my opinion. It's not like it's a rare/exotic/endangered wood [which is why Poplar burl is the facing du jour for budget/mid instruments].

Edited 4 hours ago by simisker

[White Cloud]

Personally I couldn't live with that.