Cort B5FL Artisan

Same info as all the others, except mine appears to be made of a 1-piece mahogany body with a 1-piece wenge neck, and was sold second hand to me as such. Mine is a dark mahogany sunburst with a very dark wenge neck. It came with no accessories, but again, it was second hand. The hardware and equipment onboard are top-notch for the price category, and I've never had any kind of failure or complaint.

Well, the internet is a good source of good information, and a better source of BAD information, and the reviews for this incredible bass is no exception. If you treat the instrument with respect, and use FLAT WOUND STRINGS (as God intended), you will have NO issues with this bass. I rarely even have to tune it! I have never found it to be noisy, have NO idea how you could even force it to buzz (other than WRONG strings), and LOVE the deep, dark tones of this fretless. It's not a Fender, or a jazz-Fuzion bass...It's a dark fretless and works perfectly for its intended purpose.

My action was perfect when I got it, but it wasn't new so it may have been adjusted. The bass had NO flaws or misalignments and honestly looks, plays and feels like a MUCH more expensive instrument.

I've had mine for...Forever now. Rarely needs tuned, doesn't eat through the finish, or strings, etc, and has held up much better than I could have hoped for. I've added strap-locks, but otherwise haven't (and wouldn't) change a thing. I've never needed to adjust the truss, and have never used a backup. Ever.

Never dealt with them except to call and ask what the hell it was when I first bought it - no markings on it of any kind. I described the brass "dot" in the head and gave the serial number and he called me a few days later to tell me it was an unnamed "dot" series, a precursor to the "Artisan" series, and was technically a B5FL.

Been playing for 20+ years, have several other basses, guitars, tons of synths, percussion and world instruments. Play weekly at my church and have been recording on my own PC-based MIDI studio for 15 years. 4-track tape before that for at least another 10.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this bass and would NEVER replace it with anything but another one just like it.

I am the author of the review mentioning the fingerboard problems of the B5FL.Well, it was quite interesting and extremely amusing to read the new B5FL reviews at harmony central as there is some serious (!) opposition against my views...I repeat: MY VIEWS!!!!!The things mentioned in the text reflect my personal opininon about this bass which are a result of my special experience, my professional needs, my technique, my work situation etc. etc. and should not be seen as universal FACTS!!! Still I would like to add a few thoughts to my review.
After two years with the B5FL it's the only bass that is left from my old equipment,which means the guitars and basses I used to own by the time I wrote the first review. The reason is quite simple: I sold all my other equipment and bought some new stuff, but nobody wants to have a Cort B5FL!!!!!Because everybody knows how BAD they are!!!So if you should have problems finding a B5,please contact me,the stores of my home town are filled with used B5FL's. The price for a second hand is around 200$!!!
I am very thankful for the advice to use flatwound strings. But the problem is:this is a matter of taste.The author of the review says,the bass sounds better with flatwounds,but I don't like the sound and feel of flatwound strings.On the other hand: Of course it makes a difference if the fingerboard wood of a fretless bass is rosewood, ebony,purpleheart or whatever.If "Happy slap Jack(?)" didn't play a fretless with ebony fingerboard yet he should check out one. He surely will see the difference,probably even play HARDER and more BRUTAL!And by the way: I don't have a cat!
Neither the two years with the B5 nor the two reviews changed my mind about the instrument.I still think this is amateur-level-equipment.I use the bass for home practise nowadays,as I was not able to sell it at a reasonable price.Still it has a buzzing fingerboard,still I don't like the overall sound.If you're looking forward to buy a fretless and don't like flatwound strings like me,save your money and
buy a proper bass,this one is simply not good,not even for the price!

2000 (uk) cort b5fl 5 string fretless
fretless wenge two octave neck. (side dot markers- no lines)
2 active bartolini pickups
fortress bridge (a pain in the....)
cheap but usable tuners.
NO accessories whatso-ever (but did get gig bag thrown in from shop)
Body shape- very comfortable- finish ok, but does wear through after some serious action.

I use this bass for live dance music (drum and bass/ hip-hop etc)
Its sound is actually very good, i play it through a trace elliot and a peavey, and through the peavey it sound really cutting in the high end, and super bassy in the low.
Can be very noisy (open up the back panel and you will see an absolute birds nest of wires (some of which are joined together- with terrible results) Also absolutely no sheilding (except a poxy piece of foil on the cover.... NO sheilding paint at all!!
In the studio, the sound is excellent when you mic your amp, not too cool d.i'd though.

The factory set-up was average. The action was super low, maybe a little too low. Also it came with an annoying electrical fault- no suprise when you open the back panel) which caused the bass to cut out intermittently- usually just as your about to start your gig! This fault continues to the present day- even after tons of searching for the dodgy join- the only way i solved it was by turing the pre-amp circuit upside-down(!!!?). Cort's comment on this was just one e-mail saying "take your instrument back to the shop from which you purchased it." Yeah right- it only took them 4 months to ship me the bass in the first place, and i need it every day so this simply was not an option for a simple loose connection.

This bass is reasonably strong enough to handle some major abuse- when its cut out on me- i've launched it across the stage a number of occasions and its never been damaged by this. The finish does wear of quite alot when you play this bass A LOT- but i think it adds to the personality of your instrument (for example, one quick look at the damage and you can easily tell that i rest my thumb on the neck pick-up and the edge of the fingerboard- and also that i like a good slap! but as i say, that makes it MY bass.
I do use it without a back-up bass, but a few times i've wished i hadn't! I only keep two screws on the back cover for quick access, what does that tell you???
Truss rod was too tight from factory, and i've adjusted it a number of time in the last 4 years.
The fingerboard does wear down (dont know what that other reviewer is on about- unless he uses flat wounds of course) but it doesn't wear down as badly as i would think. Remember if you want to play fretless with them sharp roundwounds, then on ANY bass you will have to rub the neck down quite regularly. I used roundwounds for two years before giving it a good rubdown with the finest grade of wet and dry, and then fitted flat wounds. (I think this is actually quite good going.) Since then the neck has stayed Exactly how it was- and plus the bass sounds a WHOLE lot better.
Overall though, despite these problems, i do still love to play this bass, and it never fails to receive praise from audience members. Hence giving it a score of 5 and not something far worse.

Warranty is supposedly for life- but unless you want to send it away for possibly months.......

I do like this bass alot, would i buy it all over again though? Probably not- i would save up a couple of hundred more notes, and get something of REAL quality.
For the money- this bass does look and sound very good- but that bit more cash gets you a whole lot more bass!!!
The basses best quality is how good the neck plays- very fast and easy to play.

Same as the other guy on this page: 2002 5 string fretless. 24 fret wengewood neck, rosewood fingerboard. Nice orange sunburst color. 2 active Bartolinis, 5 band EQ. Cort hardware, tuners, bridge, etc...has a unique body shape which is great! No case included at the time of purchase, but it actually fits in an old BC RICH coffin guitar case that I had laying around. I'll give a 9 only because it didn't come with a case. Could have at least thrown in a crusty gigbag eh? But what the hell, it's a great bass.

This bass sounds fantastic! I play through a Gallien Krueger 800RB & a Carvin 4x10 cab. But I've played it through several different rigs & sounds great everytime. I play everything from death metal to jazz with this bass! I've used it for both recording and live performances and it never lets me down.

This thing was top notch right from the start. I didn't have to adjust anything when I got it, I've had it for almost 2 years now and I still haven't had to make any adjustments. The finish is great, hardware has never given me any problems. I think the other fellow is one of those dudes that's more interested in taking his gear apart & ruining it rather than just playing his instrument. Good grief!!!!

I beat the living shit out of this bass. I couldn't disagree more with the other guys review. Sanding the neck down!?! You gotta be fucking kidding me!! I play in a brutal death metal band, I play this bass fucking HARD! I guarantee the other guy doesn't play his bass even half as hard as I do. I use it without a backup all the time. Like I said it's never had to be adjusted once. I don't know what the hell the other guy is talking about with the neck, maybe his cat pissed on it or something. This bass never goes out of tune. I practice in a friend's basement,most times it's below freezing temp. down there, I play for hours & this bass holds up just fine!

Never had to deal with Cort, I've heard that they suck real bad as far as customer service goes, but like I said I've never had to deal with them. Don't think I ever will.

I've been playing both guitar & bass for a long time. I'm also a collector. I don't waste my money on garbage. I think the other guy that put a review on this page needs to sit down & actually practice playing his instrument instead of worrying about how old the wood it's made out of is and that it's not as good as his "custom made bass" *Newsflash, upgrading your hardware doesn't make you a better player,spending $3,000 on a "custom made bass" doesn't make you a better player, practicing your instrument does! This bass is better than most I've played that are 3 x's the $$$. They're a bit hard to find now days, but if you come across one I highly recommend getting it. If mine were ever lost or destroyed I would search the globe for another one! You're just not going to find a better bass for the $$$.

2002 model,made in Korea.Fretless with double octave neck,five strings.Controls are vol.,blend,3-band eq.It has two Bartolini MK1 passive humbuckers and a Bartolini MK1 preamp/eq.The body is made of three pieces of ash,neck is made of venge,fingerboard is rosewood.My B5 has a high gloss orange sunburst finish.The body style is quite unique.It has a very small,extremely light and comfortable body.The bridge is a so called fortress bridge (read more about that in my A6 rewiew on this site!).Tuners are cheap no-name tuners,which work well but could be a little more precise.I didn't change them yet.The bass has a 34'' scale and a very comfortable neck which is neither too thin nor too thick,something inbetween,very nice!Accessoiries included in the package were an extremely cheap cable that I wouldn't even use for backup and three allen wrenches (of course lowest quality!)

I have to play every style.I use fretless basses when I want to have a warmer and thicker sound (walking lines,slow and lazy patterns).I use a Marshall B65 combo at work and a Acoustic Model 120 through a 2x10'' vintage speaker at home (I know it sounds paradoxical,but I have to play at very low volume levels at work!).The Acoustic is an ideal fretless amp with all the warm mids and singing overtone enhancement that I want.I don't use any effects.The bass is noisy if the electrical environment is not good.If you have a ground line in your electric system,the instrument is absolutely quiet,even if the high setting is turned up all the way.The sound of the bass is very distinctive.Don't expect the warm and poppig tones of a frettless Jazz Bass.At some eq. settings it sounds exactly like a double bass.It is very clear and nice at the upper register,but again,in comparison to a Fender it lacks that singing overtones.The variety of sounds seems to be very large at the first look.But unfortunately I couldn't find so many sounds that are really good.It's a matter of taste.I don't like it so much.I didn't use it for recordings and I don't use it on stage anymore either.If you want to know why,keep on reading.I like the double bass sounds and the growling low end of the bass.It can produce some very nice tones at the upper register,but,as I said,generally I don't like the sound of this instrument.There is always "something missing",if you know what I mean.

The out-of-the-box set-up was terrible.The truss rod was tightened so much that it is a miracle it didn't break through.The fact that the neck was still one piece when I took it out of the box shows how good the quality of the woods is.After I adjusted the truss rod I realized that the action was much too low either.I had to rise the bridge saddles (this procedure is a headache with that piece of sh... "fortress bridge"!!!).The pickup adjustment was fine.I couldn't find any flaws except the truss rod and string action adjustment.The finish is perfect and looks very beautiful.The woods are very good.All screws were fixed.No problems at the electric circuit,too.I give it a six because of the catastrophical truss rod adjustment (a amateur would probably have thoughtthat the bass has a defect).

Well,this bass has withstood me only three months on stage (seven days a week,four hours a night),then the fingerboard started to buzz.I had to take it home and fix it with sandpaper.I finished the fingerboard by hand.For a little while it sounded good,but after a few weeks the buzzing was back.I think I didn't take off enough wood.I will bring it to a luthier and finish it again with a machine.The hardware is solid,but the bridge...!The strap buttons are solid,you don't have to worry about dropping the bass as long as you don't try a salto.Because of the fingerboard I can't say that it's dependable.But the neck is solid,no question.I never had to readjust the truss rod in the past seven months.The original battery is a cheap product and seems not to be reliable.It should be changed immediately.The battery compartement is a Fishman design.You don't need any tools to open it.Battery changes are very quick done.I wouldn't use this bass on stage as long as it has that terrible buzz.There are a few ways to solve that problem:
-use flatwound strings (if you can find them!)
-finish the fingerboard with epoxy like Jaco (should be done by a luthier or you may destroy the fingerboard!)
-buy tons of sandpaper and finish the fingerboard every 2-3 Months with a machine (should be done by a skilled person,otherwise..look point 2!) and be ready to replace the fingerboard after 1-2 years.
-don't play this bass!

The Cort customer support seems to be very shy,they never repeat your mails!The bass has a lifetime warranty,but I don't think that it covers the fingerboard problem,the only major problem of this bass!As I said I repair and adjust it myself.If I need professional help or machines I go to a luthier.

I'm playing bass since 1987.Besides the B5FL I own a Cort Artisan A6 (read my review on this site!),a Fender Jazz Bass (but there's not much left of it than the body,the neck and the Fender logo,I simply changed EVERYTHING!!) and two handcrafted four-strings,one of them fretless with a purpleheart fingerboard (great wood,highly recommendable!).I wish I had PLAYED this bass before I ordered it because it really has some major problems.I just thought,if the A6 is so good,you can't go wrong with the B5,but I was wrong!If it were stolen I would definitely not buy this bass again.I love the looks,the lightweight body,the deep tone,the woods and the electric circuit of this bass.I hate the constantly buzzing fingerboard and the bridge.My favorite feature is the colour (I know it sounds stupid,but there really is nothing else I could say!).I bought this bass because I wanted a fretless 5-string without that stupid "fretlines" under 600 Dollars and the only alternative to the B5FL was a Cort Curbow 5FL and I really hate synthetic basses.This bass is great to look at,good to play when you fix the fingerboard and very comfortable if you're playing for long periods.If I compare it to my handcrafted fretless I have to say that the last mentioned is much better.BUT:that's a different story.Of course a handcrafted bass made to your specifications with your choice of woods,electronics and hardware costs a lot of money!Take a three piece select maple neck,fix it to a one piece Jazz Bass replica body made of 50 year old mahogany and add a fingerboard of first grade purpleheart,American Fender pu's and Schaller hardware and you will see that the making of a dream guitar can turn you into a poor man!I wish the B5FL had a better fingerboard (maybe purpleheart or even ebony,I would be ready to pay the higher price))and a proper bridge.This bass is good for fretless beginners and pros who are able to fix their instruments or whose best friend is a luthier who can fix the fingerboard in tight intervals.It is comfortable and nice and sometimes (depending on style of music) it even sounds very good.The position dots are at the right places but because of the fifth string it can be hard to find the right spot (especially if you played 12 years 4-string fretless like me).