Cort Billy Cox Freedom Bass

Man, oh man. This Freedom bass is a dream. The neck's thin, the bridge is nice and flashy, the black pots make a slick look and same goes for the tortise shell pickguard, the nut's steel, passive/active switch, & with reversed pbass and then a jazz bass pickups I have nothing to complain about.

I had my friend's uncle, who sold it to me (and had to make the little slots in the nut a little deeper in doing so), string it up with these AMAZING Black Nylon Tape Wound Rotosound strings and they feel & play great. The note just dies after a few seconds with these babies and it sounds awesome. Great for classic rock, jazz, funk, even metal works for it too. Playing it through an ampeg BA-115 probably has a lot to do with it though. When it comes to the pots, the only tiny dislike is I've had it for nearly half a year and there's still dirt in them.

The neck is amazing- suuuuppppperrrr sleek. Again my friend's uncle put pieces of wood beneath the pickups so that I'd get maximum volume from it- I guess you'd say. Everything else is just amazingly put together.

I have straplocks on all my basses and I think this one is probably my second to most if not the most durable of all of my basses. I would use it on a gig without a backup because if the 9volt in it fails then just flip the switch and then immediatley go passive! The finish hasn't worn of and I doubt it will unless I start playing for 10 hours a day for a year or two. Everything will last- I'm positive of this.

Oh man my friends uncle was awesome in giving me this great deal!

Just an all around amazing bass. Incredible sounds and incredible playability.

The Billy Cox is a three pick-up bass. 1 P-bass pickup in the neck position (very close to the neck) and 2 J-bass pickups in their regular positions.
This makes the bass very flexible.

It has a sunburst finish, a turtle-shell pickguard, rosewood fingerboard with block inlays (which I always like).
It is active, but the pre-amp it came with is almost useless, so I replaced it with a J-retro.

The basic body shape is that of a precision/jazz-hybrid with some alterations.
For more details see the previous review.

The sound of this bass is very good. I immediately fell in love with the P-bass pickup.
The overall sound is so good that the Cort is now replacing my MusicMan. I really like the sound of the Cort much more.

Because of the three pickups this bass can be used for virtually any music style, range from funk to jazz, to rock, to punk (I try to play all).

The only flaw is the electronics. The bass comes with a preamp, but this hardly changes anything, because the volume and tone-controls are passive.
That's way I installed a J-retro preamp (which was almost as expensive as the bass itself).
Don't get me wrong, if I thought the bass sounded crap I would never have paid the extra money for the J-retro.
Now I can really blow everyone away, have as much thud, oomph and growls (and more) as I ever dreamt of.

On it's own I'd say it's sound would rank an 8.
With the J-retro it earns an 11.
So I average it to a 9.

The action of is very good. Didn't have to chaneg anything, even when I changed the strings for flatwounds (I love Thomastiks. Fender flatwounds are the worst strings I ever tried).

A nice low action, a wide neck, so you have enough room to slap, and the neck is not too thick, so it does not feel as if you are playing bassball (and I like to be able to use my left-hand thumb as well).

It will certainly withstand live playing. Just don't expect it to survive a fall of 20 meters.

It doesn't feel as solid as the more expensive Fender's (but then again, I could buy 5 or more Corts for the price).

I think it will last very long, as long as you take care of it.

Never dealt with them, so I don't know.

I have been playing bass for at least 15 years now, but I am mostly a guitarist and pianist (although, in my band I am the bassist).
My other bassguitars are an accoustic and a fretless one.

I don't think anyone will steal it, because it looks so cheap. Luckily for my it was cheap, but sounds expensive

I think for the money this bass is extremely good. As I said, it replaced my MusicMan (which I have sold) and it was less then 1/5th of its price.

This review is for a Cort 4 string fretted bass. It is going on two years old. I waited until now, so I could put it thru the paces. I don't think there are any other Freedom bass reviews on HC. It has a light ash solid body, hard maple, full access 24 fret neck. Mightymite custom pickups/active EQ, and absolutely beautiful 3 tone sunburst body. A reversed "P" bass and "J" bass hybrid with active to passive control, stacked volume and tone knobs. It has a high gloss, but not too thick, finish. It is a jazz type bass, with bolt on neck, and individual bridge for eack string. The tuners are probably Mightymite and work fine. Stays in tune for weeks. The neck is perfect for small to medium size hands. Thin, with jumbo frets on Rosewood board. The bass came with my choice of strings, and a gigbag.

This thing suits my music style, which is classic rock, rock and roll, surf, soul, country, and blues. I use a variety of vintage Fender Blackface and Silverface Bassman amps and speaker cabs. My favorite is a '66 BF 50 watt, with 2-12" Utahs in the oversize Fender cab, and a SF 50 with 2-15" JBL D-140's. They have that thump that makes your heart beat with the rhythm. I normally use all 3 pickups in various combinations for different sounds. It works well on stage and in the studio. Our band leader has a new state of the art studio. That is where we rehearse, if no one is renting it. I like everything about this bass.

The first thing I do, is take my guitars to my favorite tech (Jim, at another music store) and have them set up. The action was fair but no where near perfect. I like it low, with no buzz. He gave it the once over, set intonation, neck, etc. It passed with flying colors. The few problems he adjusted were some loose screws, cleaned the pots, they were a little scratchy, and did an awesome action job. Everything else was up to spec. He had very positive comments on it, and they don't even sell Cort guitars. While I was there, I asked a couple of well seasoned bass players to give it a try. They couldn't believe it sounded and played so good for such a "cheap" Korean import. I have looked this thing over with a magnifying glass and cannot find a single flaw in the finish. Its purty.

I waited almost 2 years to do this review, so it is not 5 hours out of the box. The bass definately withstands practice and live playing. The hardware and finish are still like new. Strap buttons are solid. It has only had the original set up and it still plays like melted butter. I only take a 9 volt battery and a set of strings for backup.

I have never needed any factory support, but the place where I bought this bass (Xanadu Music) takes good care of their customers. John, the owner, is a great guy, and really treats you like a friend, besides giving great service and good prices. I always try to buy from him, if at all possible. They are a true Mom and Pop store, with some cool brands like Orange, B.C. Rich, HiWatt, Kustom, Heritage, etc.

I have been playing off and on for about 36 years. I have 6 guitars, electric and acoustic, and a small fleet of tube and s.s. amps, and a POD. I shopped for several months before buying this bass and honestly tried out about 100 basses, some costing up to $3,000. I use to gig every week many years ago, and about 3 years ago, got the itch to join a band. They had plenty of guitar players and not so many bass players, so I went for the bass. I don't know if this is an exceptional bass or not, but it sure does play good and sounds exactly like I want. Right now, my band has 3 guitar players, including me, but I backup the bass player, in case he has to miss, which happens some because he works some nights. I am very pleased with this instrument. The first time I picked it up, I couldn't let go. It is not the most beautiful bass out there, but for the money, it rivals the best of the best brands. I only wish it had a maple fretboard sometimes, but it does have the big block inlays, so it is easy to see, in dimly lite rooms. I would not buy another, if it were stolen-I wouldn't need one in prison, after I killed the thief with my bare hands. Our regular bass player got a new 5 string Yamaha, but he still likes my Cort the best, so far. He may like his better, once he gets use to it. Finally, if you are looking for a 4 string jazz type bass, consider a Cort. I had never heard of the brand before this, but I may look into their guitars next. Oh yeah, the Mightymite pups are totally adequate for me but you might like the Bart's. I'm keeping it just like it is, with no mods.