Cort EFVB1 Violin/Beatle Bass

Features have been reviewed well; mine is sort of a tobacco burst w/ pearloid pickguard; made in 1997. Very heavy (luthite), high mass bridge, fat neck...good quality all around. Very pleased.

I've had it for 8 months now and have used roundwounds and now have Rotosound flats on it (Steve Harris 55-110, I believe). Incredible sound with plenty of low end and it can growl nicely with the bridge pup soloed. Has a very sweet vibe with the heavy flats on it (makes me think of Jamerson every time I play it.) I love this bass and it has quickly become a favourite of mine. Warm and full; even w/ heavy flats it can cut through the mix, or at least, sit nicely in it without "room of boom" syndrome. This bass is surprisingly versatile: jazz, blues, motown, even rock out with it. It's great!

I got it used but not abused. I like a high action so I've tinkered with it to suit me and I haven't had to shim the neck at all. I'm not a big fan of plastic nuts but this one recreates the tone of a fretted note quite well so no need to replace that (or anything for that matter).

7 years old and solid as a rock; I'm confident this bass will find it's way into my estate. The only thing that disturbs me is the luthite as I've "heard" it's not a user friendly substance. In addition to that, I've heard of people taking strap buttons out of a luthite body to install strap locks only to find that the screws won't re-insert securely without filler or toothpicks or some other remedy.

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I've only got 2 basses right now; the Cort and an Epi Thunderbird, however, I've owned dozens of basses over the years so I have a lot of first hand knowledge and experience. I just love this bass. It has one of those sounds that I've been looking for over many years...it makes me want to pick it up and jam. The T-Bird will make it's way to ebay or into a trade but not the Cort. It would be rather difficult to replace if it were damaged or stolen but I most definitely would replace it. I have a real affinity for this bass; it's quite unique so your mileage may vary.

I've had my Cort bass now since 1998. As opposed to the black ones I've seen on the net, mine is sunburst (very a la Macca). Two volume knobs and one overall tone knob. Passive pickups. The bridge is very modern and adjustable, thank God! I wouldn't want to have to deal with an original HOFNER type bridge! The tuners are nice and modern, but not as stable as they could be in heat. Nice fat frets.

I didn't get it with a case, but I got one nice and cheap.

It's very good for that retro vibe and I used it a lot in a 60's cabaret group. It was too boomy at times and the lead guitarist, responsible for the sound, used to hate it. I hated him back on behalf of the bass!

The elctrics are quite silent and the sound is nice and full and boingy, bottomy, but you can get round that quickly with an amp that has a good graphic section.

It weighs a ton, though!

It came set up quite well, but I had to lower the action considerably to get comfortable with it. No flaws with the finish or sound at all.

This bass gets taken out very couple of months - it's not one of my main basses, as we mainly do rock gigs and this is much more of a cabaret bass.

the strap buttons are lovely and solid and the strap is held on tight with the old Grolsch bottle rubbers!

The neck has never needed touching or adjusting in the 6 years I've had it.

The bass was a gift and a very thoughtful one. I have about a dozen other basses and have stopped buying now. I don't think you can get these now, so I'd have trouble replacing it. If I want the Beatles vibe, I also have two Rickenbacker 4003's to fall back on.

could come with a few more features

the Dual pickup system produces a fantastic funk tone, rich and ready. Placed with a good amp and the audiance would really Feel this bass

the twin humbucker pickups in silver finish enhance the beauty of this black bass, but needs finetuning to get all strings sounding the same volume

4 hours after i bought it (second hand) i was playing it live. It enhanced the music brilliantly. even recieved a little nock, and there was no dents or scratches. The solid body will not break easily, and the neck seems securely fastened

great sound makes this bass, but you do need a strong set of shoulders. Having got used to playing fender guitars, this bass uncomfortably pulls forward, constantly, and if you play it for over 2 hours you will start to feel it. Once set up though this feels like it will play for ever

Features include a violin-shaped EF(luthite) body, bolt-on hard rock maple neck, 32" scale, 22 fret rosewood finderboard with dot inlay, fixed bridge, chrome hardware, 2 on a side squared headstock, chrome tuners, 2 MightyMite Vintage Alnico Bass Pickups, volume/blend/tone controls. The only available finish is Black and made from 1997 to 2000. My wife gave me an early prototype EFVB1 bass (the words "patent pending" appear on the back of the bass - the bass is one of about 200 or so) as a birthday present in 1996 that she found at a local Cort dealer. The bass is pretty simple so I can't give it a 10 on features.

I am an avid fan of violin shaped basses. I own several different brands of violin shaped basses, including an original Hofner from 1966 as well as the newer Jay Turser models. In my opinion, the Cort EFVB1 basses are among the best sounding Hofner clones on the market. Cort told me these models were originally designed by Jerry Auerswald and were meant to address some of the deficiencies that plagued other violin bass models. Cort was interested in achieving the "Beatles" tone but without the cost of using exotic wood and expensive nitros lacquer, and avoiding the cheap plywood and lacquer materials found in other inexpensive violin bass models. What Cort discovered was the environmentally friendly material known as luthite, which to this day I still have no idea what the stuff is made out of. What I do know is luthite was able to give the sound of a hollow body without the fragile characteristics of the Hofner style construction method. With flatwounds or Hofner type Rotosound bass strings, these basses will thump along with the familiar sound of the Hofner bass, but at a more reasonable price of $399.99 (list). All the classic Beatles tones, without the classic Beatle Bass price tag. In a word, I love this bass, but I am not too crazy about the black color...too many finger prints. But your supposed to wipe your bass down after every performance...right? Right?!

All of Cort's Musical Instruments are designed in America, but built are built in Korea. The catch here is that Cort owns its own factory in Korea so quality control is much higher than say a Jay Turser model or a Riff (JCPennys house brand). Once the guitars are built, they are sent back to Cort's main headquarters in Northbrook, IL. To be set up and checked for quality control before being shipped to the dealer.

My prototype violin bass is no exception to Cort's adherence to fine quality at a reasonable price. The finish, action and feel was very similar to my vintage Hofner, that is to say it was top notch.

In comparison to my Jay Turser violin bass, the Cort EFVB1 blows the "J-Turd" away in sound and quality. I use the Cort EFVB1 on gigs without a backup and it has never failed me. The "J-Turd" was not so lucky - after several shows with the "J-Turd" my guitar player had enough of the pickups cutting out, the volume knob rolling across the floor every time I adjusted the volume, the lack of tuning stability, etc. and grabbed the "J-Turd" during our break and promptly smashed the bass to pieces (much to everyone's delight)! He later apologized and replaced the bass with another one (which I use as wall art), but you get the picture. In a word, reliability with the Cort EFVB1 is not a problem.

I can't really comment on Cort's customer service because I have never had to deal with them

I love my Cort EFVB1 Bass. As my bass is a protoype and sadly they no longer offer this bass, I would have a difficult time trying to find one if the bass was lost or stolen. I have occasionally seen prototypes and regular production models on ebay for $200 to $250,
but not very often and they usually go fast at that price. If you are looking to replicate the sound of a Hofner style bass, but can't afford the cost of a Hofner the Cort EFVB1 Bass maybe your best bet.