Cort C5Z Artisan

Made in Korea
Five String Cort Artisan C5Z
Featuring a mahogany body with an open pore, vintage burst, zebrawood top, 34" scale wenge neck with rosewood fretboard, 24 large frets, 2 Mighty Mite DXH-1 pickups, 2 band active EQ, 1 volume control with a push/pull for active or passive, 1 blend, 2 tone (bass and treb) and 1 2-way toggle for mid boost.

I play Contemporary Christian music in a small church band (have done my fair share of loud, wild, in-your-face, rock band in the local bars throughout my years also). And this bass is very versatile, does all, and more, than I need it to do. A very wide range of sounds it available at the touch of a finger thanks to the great sounding Mighty Mites' and the active EQ (I use the mid boost switch quite a bit). The electronics are very, very quiet too. Now, I love the sound of a Jazz Bass, and can nearly replicate the growl and punch from a good Jazz (though not quite perfectly - thus I had to give it a 9 in this category). Great modern sounding bass with a very solid/tight sounding B string, no loss of volume, for a 34" scale (not the clarity and presence of that of a Lakland, but it's only a 1/3 of the price of a Lakland too . . . so, that's to be expected). Stock strings were a bit weak, especially the "B" string, so I quickly switched those out for a set of DR Black Beauties (med .45-.125). Now not only does it sound great, but they look absolutely stunning with the all black hardware and the zebrawood finish!

I play with a very straight forward, solid style (i.e.; not to flashy). Never got into slapping or trying to stick out like a "lead bassist." I also love the sound of playing with a pick, but have not mastered that with the 5 string, yet (this is my first 5 stringer). But, I can get very near that sound by tweaking the EQ, p/u blend, and the mid-boost switched on. Now for you slappers out there, I had a friend of mine play it this past weekend, and he's all about pop & slap. He loved the feel of it and was very impressed by the sound and punch he was able to get from it . . . just took some more tweaking of the blend and EQ, and it was there! Also, I've got the action set up nice and low (no fret buzz for me), for slapping the neck would have required a small adjustment to raise the action, very minor. Any way, I LOVE the way this bass sounds!

Action (nice, low and easy) and p/u's set up very nicely by Grand Central Music prior to shipping. Intonation dead on. All screws tight. The neck feels great . . . smooth and fast (love the dark wenge wood too). A quality bass guitar all around!

Seems to be a high-quality, sturdy, and reliable instrument. I don't forsee any problems developing.

No dealings with customer support other then the music store where I ordered it from (they are great by the way).

It comes with a lifetime Cort warranty.

I've been a bass player for roughly 30 years. I've only owned about 5 different basses over that time. My other current bass is a MIM Jazz Bass with upgraded pickups and electronics.

As for the Cort, I read as much as I could (online reviews, articles, etc...) prior to buying this bass, untried and sight-unseen, via Ebay. Everything I learned about this bass told me, urged me, to go ahead and buy it (for under $400 I felt it was worth the risk).

Boy am I glad that I did! I absolutely love playing this bass! I've gotten a lot of comments from fellow bass players, and laymen alike, on how great it sounds, how nice the "B" string sounds, and just how gorgeous it is with the dark wood tones, zebrawood finish and the DR Black Beauties. No one can believe I spent less then $400 on this bass. They all guess in the $1200 - $1500 range.

If I had just one wish for this bass it would be for a 35" scale neck, just to come a little bit closer to the clarity of the Lakland "B" string (I tried out a used 55-01 from a buddy for a few weeks, but just couldn't justify spending double the cost of the Cort, which was equal, or better than the 55-01 in all but the B string, in my humble opinion).

I would buy another if lost or stolen in a heart-beat!!!