Birdsong Guitars Cortobass

My Cortobass was complete June, 2009. It is made out of cherry and mesquite. The workmanship is outstanding. The neck is maple with a rosewood fretboard. The neck is fast and the zero fret makes even the first fret easily playable. It is passive, but powerful. I had to turn down the controls on my amp. As with any passive, the treble is sweet and mellow, but lacking in pop. This works well for me as I play a lot of latin jazz. It has two Lace pickups. Fit and finish on this bass are gorgeous. Balance is outstanding and playability is better than either my Modulus or Carvin. It comes in a hard case.

I have tried playing through our entire songbook and it performed very well in all genres. I don't slap. I play fingerstyle only, no pick. I use either a Markbass combo or a Fender Bassman amp. The bass is dead silent. The sound is warm and round. It is woody, as it should be considering the construction. The varitone circuit is wild. Each detent makes a huge difference in sound, from midrange honk to booty-thwacking bottom. I can't compare stage or studio, but I have a feeling it will be excellent in both arenas. As of right now, there is nothing I don't like about the bass.

The set-up was perfect. No buzz, no problems. PU height was good and the sound across the four strings was extremely even. Fit and finish are outstanding.

This bass is a rock. It is made to professional specs, with the idea that it will be gigged hard. It has a five-year warranty. That should say it all. Although I don't have the time or experience with it, my judgement would be that I would very safe on a gig without a backup.

The warranty is five-years, but I get the feeling it is for life. These are custom built basses and one is dealing directly with the luthier. Scott, the owner, makes me feel like whatever or whenever, he will be there to take care of the instrument. Their customer service is beyond peer.

I have been playing for almost 20 years. I have a Carvin five string and a 2001 Modulus Flea. I went with the Cortobass after seeing an ad. in Bass Player. I have a bad back and shoulder. I liked the idea of lighter weight (8 pounds), better balance, and short scale. It is very comfortable and fast. If it were stolen, I would be heartbroken. I would want to replace it immediately. I love the wood. It is so beautiful to look at and sounds so rich and mellow. It is like fine caramel.

This Cortobass was built in 2008 #149. As with all Birdsongs it has a 31" scale and mine has a solid mahogany body, maple neck and rosewood fretboard. The pickups are a single Lace at the neck and dual Lace pick-ups at the bridge. It is finished natural and looks great. The controls are vol., vol., and tone. The electronics are passive. I like the simple layout and the variation of tones is great. I'm sure some would mark it down because it lacks active circuitry, sweepable mids, and all those other controls I never use but I won't.

The bass sounds great! I have been playing for about 40 years and am pretty old school when it comes to vibe. The sound is very deep and rich and has that passive tone that I really dig. Anymore I play mostly at my regular church gig. We do a lot of different styles and can go from a southern rock vibe to a modern ballad groove in one song. I have no trouble getting the sound I need. The bass is very quiet with my solid state amps with just a little noise on my Mesa with a tube pre. It doesn't seem to have noise on other amps even with tube pres so my guess is that it is the Mesa. The sound is so big and deep that at times I actually have to dial back the bass eq.

In these three categories the bass is absolutely superlative. You will not find a better built bass at any price. I have owned several high end basses such as Roscoe, Warwick, Ken Smith, Dingwall, F Bass, Elrick (another great bass) but none have been better made than this little Birdsong.

The bass is built to be played and to last a long time. I've owned it for about a month and have played it at several gigs and in my home studio. The only negative I have is that I didn't like the strap buttons so I changed them. No biggie but it will cause me to give it a 9.

Scott is really great to work with. I asked a ton of questions and he answered them all and then answered questions I didn't ask. When I told him I needed knobs with position indicators he made them and shipped them to me. Wow, that's real service.

This is a great bass. It fits me so well and I fully intend to have Scott build me another. If it were stolen I would hunt them down and ... oh well you get the idea.

This is Cortobass number 52, a 31" scale length fretted bass handmade in Texas. Electronics are passive. I bought it in September 2006 & have waited a year before writing this review so that I can be as critical as possible, after gigging and recording with it during that time. I asked Scott and Jamie (the luthiers) to give me a guitar with maximum sustain, & they built this one with a very solid mahogany body. The neck is beautifully narrow - prizing it out of the hands of guitarists can be a problem; even the promise of free beer only sometimes works. The bass came packed in a very solid hard case. Controls are one for the neck pickup (a lace single coil) & one for the bridge pickup (a double coiled affair). A switchable tone control ("varitone") completes the controls. hardware is gold, with a tortoise-shell control plate. I fancied painting the control plate edges in gold to match the hardware, so Scott & Jamie sent me the plate in the post (along with some spares to practice on); I then painted the edges & posted it back to them to put onto the bass. Some basses have more control knobs on them, but I'll give this a "10" rating as it has all the features that I need. The cost included carriage from the USA to the UK and import duty tax etc.

Th sound is very impressive. Many guitarists / bass players who have had a play with this have said it's the best they've played. I have to agree. The bass was originally fitted with Birdsong's own roundwounds. I took them off & tried GHS Brite Flats (actually, they're groundwounds) and finally tried a set of DR Black Beauties. The DR strings sounded absolutely amazing on this bass. Highly recommended, but with the proviso that I found the black coating came off after a few months of playing. I've now restrung it with the original Birdsong strings as thes offer the best contrast with my fretless (another Birdsong). The frets are quite low profile when compared with some bases; this means that accurate fretting is important. However, the benefit with these frets is that slides are very smooth. At a recent gig a bass player who had been in the audience came up to me and asked me if I had been playing a fretless. The varitone takes some getting used to. Generally, I keep it to one setting (slightly bassy). I have found that volume changes noticably as I change settings. This could be annoying, but I've learned to use it to my advantage when gigging, as it can be used as a handy rapid volume switch. Depending on the venue I either play through a Markbass 250W head + one or two GK 12" cabs, or a Markbass "Micromark" 40W practice combo - in both cases always feeding into the mixing desk.

Action was "medium/low". The truss rod needed some adjusting, but to be fair that could be because of the change in environment between nice dry Texas and soggy South Wales.
Finish is excellent. A luthier who recently looked at this bass made the comment that the people who made this had access to some pretty good woodworking tools - and knew how to use them.

For the last 14 months I've probably averaged about 1.5 - 2 hours per day practicing, gigging and recording.
Some of the gold plating on the top of the neck pickup base plate has worn away, but I quite like that - it makes the bass look loved. I guess some people might be upset that their instrument doesn't look pristine, even after it's been played as much as mine has.

I'd like to give these guys an "11" for customer support. They are friendly, supportive and really know their instruments. They also appear to be madly enthusiastic about music - which helps. Customer support started with my first tentative enquiry (they wanted to know what sort of sound I wanted from the bass so that they could fit the bass to my needs), went on through the building process & has continued since. I know that if I have any query regarding this bass I will get a thorough response within a day or two.

I have been playing bass guitar for 2 years (my first was a used Fender, my next was this Birdsong). I also play flute & celtic harp & have played sax & mandola in the past.
The solid mahogany body does it's job beautifully, but this does mean that the bass weighs almost 8lbs. (Light compared with most 34" basses, but a tad heavy for little old me.) If you specifically want a light weight bass, do let Scott and Jamie know and they can build it out of a light weight wood and maybe sculpt the body a bit to reduce the weight further. Currently, this one is with a local luthier who's sculpting the body to lighten it for me. Scott and Jamie have offered to assist him as much as they are able. (Typical Birdsong customer support there.)

I received my Cortobass this past June of 2007. The body is bookmatched walnut with a hand rubbed oil/poly blend finish. The bolt on neck is maple with a rosewood fingerboard. The bass has a Lace Sensor Gold pickup in the neck position and a Birdsong Punchbucker at the bridge, both are passive. The controls are a volume for each pickup plus a varitone rotary switch. The knobs are made of ebony, a nice touch. The bridge is a Hipshot string through. The nut is made of ebony. The tuning pegs are Hipshot Ultralites. The 31' neck is very thin. The bass came with a nice hardshell case.

I have back troubles so I started considering a short or medium scale instrument. As all bass players know short and medium scale instruments don't have the best reputation for sound. I find the Birdsong to be an exception to the rule. It is under eight pounds but balances perfectly. The neck is super fast. The intonation is fine. I wasn't sure if I would like the varitone switch but I have found that by using it in conjunction with the two volume controls and different right hand techniques the bass can yield a wide variety of sounds. It can be dark and "thuddy" or very bright. My band plays a mix of old school electric and acoustic blues with some rock so having a number of sounds to work with is great. I have had sound men comment on how quiet it is. I have not done much recording with it except with Garage Band. The low E string doesn't have quite the same low end that a 34' scale instrument has but it still sounds great. I'm willing to make the trade off for the sake of my back and hands. The discrepancy in low end seems to disappear around the G# or A on the low E stirng. I play through an Eden Traverler with a 2x12 cab and I haven't had any complaints from anyone regarding lack of low end.

The craftsmanship and set up were superb. I like relatively low action so for me it was immediately playable. I didn't have to adjust anything.

This has been my main bass all summer including entire runs at two county fairs. I have'nt had any problems. I do have to tighten the Gripper-T strap buttons every once in awhile. My thumb has worn away part of this finish where I anchor it. This is common for me on other oil finish instruments I own. I have not had to do any adjusting after five months. I do have a fairly light touch though. I never do any gig without a backup but I have never had to use one for this bass. Due to the light weight and small size the bass does "seem" fragile but it is solidly built.

Scott and his wife Jamie are an absolute pleasure to deal with. This guy is truly excited and happy to build you and a bass. Jamie actually called me to tell me when my bass was finished and what day it was being shipped out! The warranty of five years covers malfunctions due to faulty materials or workmanship. I haven't had to use the warranty.

I"ve been playing for about 30 years. I own some nice instruments including a Dingwall Afterburner 5 string and a custom Novax Fan Fret. I also have two Warmoths, a custom Novax fretless and a G&L L1000. I play all my basses but the Birdsong has become my main one since I got it. I would like to get another model. I love how light and easy to play it is. Chords are a cinch and sound clear and bright due to the short scale.
There are two things I would change about it. One is the ebony nut. Sometimes my bandleader likes to hold out the last note of a song a long time. The Cortobass sometimes doesn't sustain long enough for this. Granted sometimes it is a long time. I think if the nut were bone or teflon it might solve this. I'm sure I could haven't gotten this if I had asked for it. The other thing I'm not sure about are the Hip Shot tuners. I'm not sure how to describe this but they don't have any taper to them. I tune the bass a bit more often than other basses I have. I don't mean to imply that the bass goes noticably out of tune while performing or that this is due to a design flaw. My opinion is that due the tuner's lack of a "taper" they don't cinch the string on the peg tight enough and therefore slip a bit. I don't do a lot of slapping and popping but when I do I notice that the neck pickup hinders the pop. This is because there is no space between the end of the neck and the pickup. So if you slap and pop a lot I would recommend the one pickup model. If you are tired of having back and hand pain you should consider the Birdsong. Don't be put off by the short scale.

2007 "Cortobasic" model. Hand built, 4 string, 24 fret, 31" short scale. Light as a feather (less than 7 pounds). In fact sometimes I can't help but chuckle when I pick it up after playing a few of my other basses because it's so light. Seems to be one of the few short scale 24 fret basses on the market. Has a long upper horn so it balances perfectly when standing or sitting (no need to hold the neck up with your fretting hand). Single passive EMG Select humbucker bridge pickup. Has only a volume control. Body is solid African Mahogany with an oil finish. Neck is maple with a rosewood fretboard. Tuners are hipshot ultralights on a 2x2 headstock. Neck has a unique profile kindof like a rounded-out V. It's extremely easy to play due to the short scale and relatively narrow string spacing (about 17mm). My hands are on the small side so that makes an even bigger difference for me. Has a classic style hipshot bridge. Ships with nickel roundwound strings. Comes with a universal case (i believe it's a guitar case, the bass is small enough to fit in one). This is intentionally a "no-frills" model of Cortobass, thus no 10 for features...

Love the sound, warm but clear on the low end, smooth midrange and highs. The tone has a different character than my other basses which is a good thing if you don't want to sound like everyone else! Birdsong has sound samples on their website, probably a good idea to check those out to really get an idea. Has a fully copper shielded, star grounded control cavity which results in little to no audible interference.. I can hold the bass up to a fluorescent lamp and hardly notice. No tone control on the bass, but you can use your hands to coax different tones by playing near the bridge or near the thumbrest near the neck. (Though it has enough space in the control cavity, I may add a varitone similar to what Birdsong uses on their other equipped basses.)

The bass came professionally set up. I actually raised the action very slightly because i tend to dig in kindof hard, so I wanted a little less buzzing. Everything is fitted together perfectly, the neck is fitted into its pocket tighter than the stones on the great pyramid (can't slip a piece of paper between the two). This is the nicest bass I've owned quality-wise, there really are no flaws or "weak spots" to speak of here.

The hardware, neck, and body are all quality parts. The body has an oil finish- no hard "plastic" coating- so it will show wear over time as you rub it against things- Birdsong isn't into "laminating" their instruments and want them to look "well loved" over time. I have to agree with them that it "feels" better holding something that feels like wood vs. something that feels like plastic. I would have no problem depending on this bass through anything I would ever use it for.

Birdsong has always answered my email questions promptly and thoroughly. They also state that they will always find time to talk to their customers which is a great thing, especially when you realize they are a small group of 4 or 5 people... Makes me wonder when they have time to actually build basses :) They also seem like genuinely nice people, which never hurts. The warranty is 5 years, but frankly I can't see myself ever needing it.

If this bass were stolen or lost, I would sob uncontrollably as I asked, in a voice barely intelligible through my tears, for Birdsong to build me another one ;) It's a beautiful, ridiculously light weight bass that sounds great and unique, and it's actually comfortable to play. What more could I want? I feel like I need to become a much better player to be worthy of it. I seriously doubt this will be the last Birdsong bass I will own.

I bought 2 of these over the last 3 years. Both are 4 string 31" scale basses. One has the lace pickup in front and the EMG at the bridge position, the other just the EMG at the bridge. Both are strung through the body with passive electronics. Both have the varitone control, that seems to be a feature I don't want to be without.

Not sure that would constitute tons of features but it's got all the feature I care to own.

I like a lot of low end which is probably why I like the varitone, it allows me to roll off a lot of highs and leave a nice smooth sounding low end.

They care about what their sending out down there, anything that doesn't satisfy the customer will be taken care of. I can honestly say that I don't think they are happy till you are.

The necks seem really stable and the quality in general is great.

As I said, I don't think they are happy till you are. These are extreamely nice people who are building a high quality product. They also seem to value your input during the build which is nice.

I've been playing off and on for the last 30 years. I started on a Gibson Les Paul recording bass and moved on the MM stingrays.

I love the Cortobass. They are really comfortable to play and sound great. I played out quite a bit when I was younger. I really wish these had been availble then.

Another thing I like is the idea that I'm buying from a company I feel good about giving my business.

I like these basses so much that I may order another and I have no reason to own three of these... but I may anyway.

This is a gorgeous solid mahogany short-scale bass, hand-built by Birdsong Guitars in Wimberley, Texas. The neck is maple with a thick rosewood 24-fretboard, tuners are Hipshot Ultralights, neck pickup is Lace and the bridge pickup is an EMG Select humbucker model SEHB. It came with a plush-lined wood case in May 2006, and I immediately fell embarrassinly in love with it. After almost a year that love has become deep and abiding, and look forward to our growing old together.

I love the sound that comes out of this bass. I've run it through little amps, big amps, old tube amps, new digital amps, and auditorium PA systems. The sound is invariably full, deep, and rich. There is no noise, probably due to the star-grounding and shielding, and you can easily change the tone with the Vol-Vol-6-position Varitone controls. I've only been playing a couple of years, but have lifelong bass player friends who are equally blown away by how good this instrument sounds--they practically drool when they see and hear it. I play pretty much any kind of blues, finger-style, and can't imagine anything else sounding better.

Playing the Cortobass is like driving in a dream--wherever you want to go, you get there effortlessly. Whatever is in your mind and fingers is what will come out of this bass. It was perfect out of the box and plays like silk, I can play for hours with minimal fatigue. This is really a miracle for me, because I'm short, with short arms and small hands, and need a short-scale bass to play at all comfortably. I started with a Samick CR-13, and wanted to move up to something better. I found quickly that there just aren't that many short-scales out there. I tried out everything I could find, and all of them had one or more serious drawbacks--they did neck-dives, wouldn't hold a tune, played only one tone, etc. They all cost more than what I already had and just didn't seem worth the money. When I found the Birdsong website I knew I had found kindred spirits: They described every problem I had run into and said they had worked all of them out--and they have!

I'm an amateur and a relative newbie, but have never had been disappointed in this guitar. Everything is clean, tight, smooth, and reliable. It easily holds its tuning as long as you want to play. The finish is hand-rubbed oil, and the wood just gleams. I opted for Dunlop strap locks when it was built, and have never had any problems. I've had this almost a year, and the neck is still exactly where it should be, so I don't know yet how often it will need adjusting.

The folks at Birdsong are the best. They treated me like gold from my first inquiry, through ordering, design, building, delivery, and since. They say their customers are part of the Birdsong family, and that's exactly how it feels. I haven't needed any repairs, but there's a 5-year warranty--try to find that anywhere else!

This is what I emailed Scott and Jamie when the bass first arrived: It arrived last night, and it's hard to find the right words for how beautiful it is. It brings tears to my eyes; I feel like a new mother. As wonderful as it looked in the earlier pictures, it is much more so in person--the finish gleams, the wood glows, and the color shimmers like burnt sugar going to caramel. And as good as it looks, it feels and sounds even better. It sits exactly right, the fingerboard spacing is perfect, everything about it is smooth as silk. And the sound is amazing. I can hardly believe how good it makes a newbie like me sound; the music just pours out of it. Even on a little rumble amp the sound is so deep and rich you'd think it was on a much bigger system. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

As I've said above, my love and respect for this bass and for Birdsong have only grown. These are special instruments built by special people.

My Cortobass, #0027, was made in Wimberly, TX in January, 2006. It's a fretted four-string maple neck with a traditional headstock bolted to a uniquely shaped one-piece Alder body with a hand rubbed oil finish and two passive Lace pickups,H bridge and Sensor neck. There are 2 volume controls and a varitone switch instead of a tone knob. The bridge is a brass Hipshot string-through. The tuners are Hipshot Ultralights. The neck is a 31" scale that has a symmetrical round shape and a rosewood 24-fret fretboard. A hard case was included.

I love the sound, but I'm pretty basic. I play it with a praise band on Sunday mornings in worship. I'm into light weight equipment that suits my taste and I've finally found it. This bass weighs 6 1/2 lb! My cab is a Shroeder Mini 12 Light (22 lb) and the head is a G-B Neo-Pak 3.5 (8 1/2 lb). There is absolutely no noise unless you make some, which I would describe as warm with the Gold flatwounds I'm using now. The varitone has 6 distinct settings, but I can't tell a lot of difference in the sounds. Who cares? The Boss pedal I have makes 80 sounds. I use # 1 and the tuner. I've never had it in a studio so I don't know how it would be there.

Amazing! I've never adjusted anything.
the action is low and the fit and finish is what I expect of a hand made bass, and more. I've had several basses that were very well made but none compares to the Cortobass. The body fits my body, the neck is just right for my small hands, and the bass is weighted to keep the neck up better than any bass I've owned.

I've had the bass for just over a year and have had only one minor issue. I replaced the original "T" strap pins with Shaller strap locks soon after my strap came off the back pin while I was playing. The strap pins are the only flaw I've found. I don't like the placement of the front strap pin on the back of the body, especially after adding the strap locks, but that's just personal taste. Scott is very up front about the finish. It's his own oil recipe that enhances sound. He says the finish will wear over time. Mine has shown no signs of wear and I play it almost every day. I don't think twice about playing without a backup.

Scott and Jaime were wonderful to work with through the whole order and build process. Their basses come with a 5-year materials and workmanship warranty but I don't expect to use it. I have called or emailed just to check in and keep in touch. A real, live human being answers the phone or personally and promptly answers my email. Customer support couldn't get any better.

I've been plunking for about 12 years. As soon as I played this bass I decided to sell my other one. I looked long and hard for a short scale high quality bass and this is it. If something happed to this bass I'd immediately order their new model, the Sadhana - it's essentially the same bass with a gorgeous, curvy body! I love the light weight, heavy sound, and especially the angle of the neck when the bass is resting on the strap. My only nit-pick is the strap pins and placement of the front pin. I chose this bass because I felt Scott's passion and believed what he said about it. The Cortobass is all he said it is and then some.

6C-057 custom made in Wimberley Texas by Birdsong Hand Built Guitar Company.

Uniquely shaped neck design 24 Fret 31" shortscale made from maple with a rosewood fretboard. The heart of this instrument in my opinion, is the neck.

Standard 4 string E, A, D, G arrangement.

Body made of stunningly beautiful rock solid Birdseye Maple symmetrically positioned wings laid around center Rosewood Stringer.
The volume knobs, Pick Guard and truss rod cover are all Rosewood to match with the center stringer. The nut is Ironwood. The overall visual is simply stunning.

Neck position Lace, bridge position EMG, passive with Varitone.

Unique blend of oils and poly compounds used for a refreshingly clean and beautiful natural finish. A month and a half of hard playing and the bass still smells like it just came out of the wood shop. A very wonderful smell in case you never been in a wood shop.

Standard Corto shape with a custom dressed lower heel for absolutely clear access to the 24th fret.

Bridge and Tuners are chromed Hipshot with the Gripper T strap buttons.

I had a custom design "woodburned" onto the headstock centered between the four tuners, just above the truss rod cover and the classic Birdsong feather logo, of an Aztec Sun...beautifully done. Plus I had a memorial plaque added on the back side just above the string holes. A highly sentimental tribute to my dad.

Thanks to the folks at Birdsong for making this bass happen.

I absolutely love the sounds that this bass makes, Im still finding new sounds every time I plug it in.

I play classic rock, progressive rock, blues, country and some techno.

I use a Beringher 300 watt head through a 4x10 cabinet, with a Korg bass effects pedal board.

The bass is dead quiet when I want it that way.

Very rich and full, I sometimes find the mids to be overpowering but it is easy enough to manage that on the head. The lows are almost pulverizing. I think I can move walls with this thing.

This bass is so ergonomic and versatile that it should be master of both Studio and Stage (I haven't yet gone into the studio but It sure feels like it will fare very well in the controlled studio setting).

This bass is like a sonic tornado for me. I almost have to hold it
back like a pit bull because it is so powerful. I could easily dominate the band but I am learning how to keep it reigned in (discipline my boy, discipline).

The bass was well set up at the factory and played clean and in tune right out of the box. My style has always involved string bending for vibrato expression and the reduced string tension of the short scale neck really allows for some serious free style bending. As a result I found that the G string occasionally slipped off the edge of the fret, so I adjusted the G string inwards towards the D string about 1.5 millimeters and this resulted in the need to bump the D string in about .75 millimeters. The end result was pure and sensational for me. Also, The Neck pickup was just a fraction high as the G string would just barely hit it when floored on the 24th fret so I dropped that down maybe a millimeter and that took care of that. As a result the bass is truly set up just for my taste and has remained perfect. Every instrument I have ever purchased new required a trip to the luthiar but this corto bass let me tweak her ever so slightly and has simply stayed rock solid.

The finish is superb.

I am a perfectionist and have gone over this bass with a magnifying glass. Considering the nature of its construction, being truly hand built, and the gorgeous ergonomic and straight forward design of this bass, I feel that it has achieved a rating of about 99.7 percent manufacturing perfection. There is nothing about the construction of this bass, from the wood -to the hardware -to the electronics, that is in any way faulty as far as I can tell. I did notice that one of the neck seating screws appears to be off seat by a barely perceptible fraction when compared to the perfect seating of the other screws but I can find no reason for concern here. The neck is practically grown onto the body, the fit is so tight.

Its still a baby bass to me. I've only had it for about a month and a half but in that time I have played six pro gigs and spent about 40 hours on bass off stage and from what I can tell so far, this bass will be around many many years after I am gone. It is small, compact, well balanced, with a body made from very solid birdseye maple. It is a finely crafted yet very sturdy hand built instrument.

I would easily gig without a backup but since I have yet to purchase a spare set if strings for the Corto I drag one along just in case I pop a string.

If you have studied Birdsong Guitars you know about the people that own and operate the business. Its all true, they are wonderful people to interact with and you can trust these folks to do you right. This is a small and unique company to work with and well worth experiencing. Every bassist should have one of these Birdsong basses in their collection.

Nothing to repair yet, I fully expect that the Birdsong folks will live up to their reputation should the need ever arise, but I dont believe the need to fix anything will likely come up. This bass is pure hand built and top quality.

5 year warrenty.

Been playing since about the age of 12 so thats 30 years....jeepers :P
I own a custom Hamer B12M (12 string medium scale), and a Rickenbacker 4001CS Chris Squire Limited Edition Signature Series, Plus a Hofner 500/1 Viola bass, a Fender 62 Jaguar and a couple of one off copies for the cats to play on.

Nope, cant think of anything.......

Yes, I would replace this bass if I needed to.

I love everything about this bass. My favourite feature is the neck.

I plan on eventually purchasing a CortoFusion fretless.

Finally: Playing this bass free's up something in me that no other bass has ever done, I feel like I have finally achieved access to my full potential. This bass plays me....the neck is like silken heaven, it plays me...there just is no other way to describe it.

I just wanted to amend my review below by noting that a hardshell case WAS included only it wasn't a TKL. I purchased my bass when it was still the Corto Classic, so perhaps this is the standard case offered for that model. It's nice but not a TKL. Check with Scott. Anyways it's a super swell bass.