Cort GB75

22 frets ,5 string ,might mite pickups,acive electronics,bolt on
body 1 piece swamp ash, neck 1 piece maple ,fingerboard maple.

Acive/passive with push/pull,Pickups MM at the neck ,songle coil at the neck.

Controls are :
volume (push pull a7ctive/passive),Blend ,concentric High/bass.
Switch for Boosting Mids /400/800),

triple swich for MMpickup at the bridge:COils of the MM can be soloed as individual "single coils",or selected in series,no parallel though.

Open pore finish (no finish ,beautiful though)
Hipshot Ultralight! tuners , great bridge modern style 3d adjustable.
34" scale

It suits Funky ,and above all ,modern SLAP style .
due to the woods used,quite a bright tone.

For that Price (350???)UNBEATABLE,never found in my life a "true modern slapper " for that price.

For the same reason (woods) ,it lacks the mid tone on fingerstyle ,meaning if you play Fast fingerstyle,the notes will be not clear,not defined.
I repeat, It's His "character" and i found the same kindof sound in other basses ,with similar woods.
to sum up ,It's like to play an exact "opposite of a warwick" .

The litlle issues:
Electronics is not well shielded (better do shielding after later) ..OK when playing with the band ,but BAd when playng close to the PC /television.
Difference from Active/passive volume is Too huge.
Also,there is a mid switch 400/800 which boost a lot the perceived volume,too much for my tastes ..i end playng with both pickups and toying just with bass/highconcentric pots + MM switch (single coiled or Full in series)

Pickups :
-the MM ("ala lakland" )style pickup on the bridge does his job ,

-the Single coil at the neck sounds Ok when Blended with The MM ,
but soloed Its fairly UNUsable To me ,it has a big "hole" on the midrange.Gonna get an upgrade soon.

KInd of sound :suits modern funky slap style ,
Rock where you want to hear the "metallic oomph",i found i can obtain a funny "steve harris" sound from that one ,with a good amp and compression.

Not for rock-progressive as when you make fast fingering it gets lost in the mix.You hear clear just the very high notes when playing with the band,or you have to EQ a lot,making your sound really artificial.

Action is REALLY LOW and really easy to play.

I really like that one ,it could be a much more expensive instrument. With a better neck pickup it could be a bass on 1000-1500$ range ,i swear!

The bass set-up at the factory was low ,even too low ,i had to rise up.
Fretwork is really good,low frets ,a bit of buzzing just for the too low action ,but strangely not unpleasent at all (hence the "iron maiden style"comment i did before)

Hardware is hipshot licensed ,the same of lakland .Very ,very GOOD.

I'm a bit suspicios about reliability of electronics on board,
but being Active /passive i would play it without a backup on gig without problem

20 years of playing ,various gear (fender jazz,custom basses)
i 'd get another one if stolen,for that price it gets me there

Love the High-bite on slapping ,the easy playing,the weight.
Hate the lack of midrange ,but i have other basses for that.
And no other bass i have slaps this well,though i'm not a "pure slapper", that bass gave me the input to study deeper that particular chop.

My second bass and a five string. Has 2 Mighty mite pickups one j-style and a humbucker. Mine is a 2006 model and (obviously) made in Korea. Has 22 large frets with abelone inlays. The neck is a classic C-shape, quite bulky when I first picked it up but comfortable. It has a volume, blend volume and an active EQ knob (stacked) as well as a midtone adjustor and pickup selector switch. Finish is open pore natural or simply polished swamp ash.

I mainly play rock and jazz and the midtone switch seems to give a satisfying blend between the two styles althaugh it prefers the jazz and has a nice warm sound with a slap and pop to die for. The low B has a distinct sound and is not as muddy as earlier Corts i played on. Only problem was the slight buzz on the 4th and 5th strings if not played well. Thus making the bass quite unforgiving on the low sounds. Think i can fix that with the struss rod though. Treble knob gives feedback if turnad all the way up.

When i got the bass the action was a tad high so i lowered it slightly now it plays loads better. The pickups were nicely fitted and the wood was in perfect condition and the hardware was spotless.

Hasn't failed me yet. The machineheads look solid and the bridge strong. The strap buttons are still as tight as when i got the bass. The finish seems solid to last after constant playing even in humid environments. Never adjusted the struss rod yet but might need to to cancel that buzz. Would never play without a backup, even if i played a fodera.

Never needed the support

I've been playing solid for only 3 years but i've seen alot in that time. I play it through a roland cube 100B and it gels well with the amp. If i lost it i'd probably buy it again or go for the Artisan A5 for a bit more. But you cant beat a good bass with a good price and seriously, it looks pretty sweet.

I bought this bass new for practise and backup purposes. It's a Korean made 5 string instrument. There's a 2 piece Swamp Ash Jazz-bass style body, bolt-on Maple neck, and a maple fingerboard. The body has an "open pore" finish, meaning there's no finish at all. The neck feels like it has been waxed though. It has 2 "Mighty Mite" pickups, a "Music Man" style humbucker and a "Jazz" style single coil at the neck position. Active electronics with bass/treble control, active/passive (pull volume control), and a 3 way selector to select the coils on the MM humbucker. Stainless bridge and tuners are made by Hipshot. It even has a Neutrik locking jack output. This bass is excellently equipped with high quality components.

I "needed" another bass to play at home and maybe for backup purpusoses when gigging. At the local music store I was checking out all sorts of basses, including a Yamaha TRB, some Mexican Fenders, and a few Warwicks. My other basses are from Michael Tobias so I am rather spoiled in the sound department. But surprisingly... this bass sounded and felt really good. I fact, it's a very good bass for hammer/slap style and rock. It lacks the clarity and articulation of my Tobiases when playing finger style jazz and funk, but its not bad either. The only negative points are the slightly noisy electronics (when treble is cranked up) and a slight hum when not touching the strings (needs better shielding). But overall, it sounds much better than lots of other much pricier instruments. There arent many better basses in the high value for low money department.

I never bought an instrument before that was so well setup straight out of the shop. It has a much "beefier" neck than I am used to, but nevertheless its comfy and has a very very fast action without any buzzes. Its a forgiving intrument when your technique isnt perfect (as opposed to my Tobiases). The entire fit and finish is flawless. No gaps between the body/neck joints, and the Hipshot hardware is just brilliant. The balance of this rather light weight instrument is also perfect. It just feels and plays great.

I will definitely use this bass live, especially for the funky stuff and as a backup. It feels like its made to last, but since it has an "open pore" body, I guess its not a bad idea to wax it a little.

I dont have any experience with customer support, since I didnt require any.

Overall its very good value for money, this GB75. I would recommend this bass to anyone and not only those with a low budget. The active electronics aren't that great, but since the bass sounds good when switched to "passive" and is well built, a future upgrade to better Bartolini or Aguilar electronics would do the instrument justice. I once had a Korean made Tobias bass which I found to be totally disappointing, nowhere near the feel, quality and sound of my USA made Toby's. Nevertheless, this Cort GB75 proves that the Koreans ARE capable of building high quality instruments for a low price. Great bass!

I assume a 2003 model from the serial. Korean. Bought mine in Beijing, China. 5 String. 22 frets. Based on the sound, I would say the frets are stainless steel (though I have no confirmation of this, and could actually be talkin out the side of my neck, here). Active electronics with bypass (by pulling up on the volume), pop-out battery box (says "Fishman" on it - don't know if all the electronics are Fishman or not; probably not, or they would be advertising that on their website), Mighty Mite Jazz Neck p/u, and MM 5 bridge pickup, master Volume, Pickup Blend, stacked Bass/Treb control, Neutrik locking Jack, decent looking MM'ish bridge with string through body or bridge (nice wide string spacing, plenty room to dig in), Hipshot Lic. tuners, string tree for ADG strings. Don't know the scale (too lazy to get up, get my ruler, then convert metric to inches). At least 34" - B nice and tight (when I had a low B string on it, that is). Strings line up almost dead-center over all magnets - nice quality on the bridge/pickups install! Neck is a bit wide heading toward the 12th fret and beyond, but not bad, and fairly flat. Easy to play and comfortable for my medium to large hands. Body is a decent piece of Swamp Ash, neck is 1-piece Maple, fingerboard Rosewood. Abalone dot markers on fret board (nice touch); color is orange burst which tends to be fairly transparent. For the money it has some pretty high end accoutrements (did I spell that right?). Again, for the money, a solid 9. They skimped on the pickups/electronics, but more on that in a minute...

My music style...hmm...I am a bass player! I love slap/pop ala Graham, Miller, Clarke, Wooten, etc. I love funky/R&B fingerstyle; love Jaco's bridge pickup fingerstyle too. In love with the voice and presence of the upright. I try to emulate them all on my bass (to varying degrees of success and skill). So, Funk, Blues, Jazz, Fusion, some Rock; but I'll play with anybody (have played Folk/Country, and some heavy Rock on occasion).

Now, how does the bass sound? To start, it has a super acoustic/unplugged sound. But, it simply can't do walking bass well; not with the blossom/swell and swing that some other electrics might manage (I've been trying for months, at least, with no jazz success; plucking over the fingerboard yeilds a too-low output, and something is just missing when jazz is requested of it). It can do fingerstyle well, slap/pop even better. Chords sound full, and musical (especially since I have it strung with a high C, detuned to B). Tapping is nice and clear (the little tapping that I can do, that is). The sound, particularly the clarity and slap sound is why I bought this bass (compared it to a Warwick RockBass 5, and the sound was a world better for some reason, to a Cort Curbow 5 which had a cutting slap sound, but still didn't stack up, and various other basses in it's price range including a nice ESP that had sound quality/versatility comparable, but cost more and had too crowded string spacing at the bridge). For the price, it had the best sound in Beijing at that time.

Here's the downside though. I can be really hard to find a good sound with it's own characteristics. A little bland in the character department. And my ear often gets the impression that it is a little too electric or electrified, and metallic - too high fi. Except when I solo the neck pickup, boost the bass a tad, boost the treble even more - then it's got some distinct character, complexity, and voice. However, in passive mode, the pickups sound almost identical to the active, so I think this is more of a cheap pickup issue (cheap MM brige that is) than an electronics thing. So, with the neck pickup soloed, it does a bold, midrangy slap, with plenty of lows and nice highs. With the balance 50/50 it also does a good slap with less output, and less midrange, but decent bass/treb output. With the MM pickup soloed it's got this incredibly strong midrange with less bass and treble output - terrible for slap (and terribly disappointing, as I was hoping for a Stingrayish slap tone; none of that here, baby.), but great for a cutting and tight (though often tonally indistinct) fingerstyle tone. They got to skimp somewhere, and the electronics are where they did here (and the neck/fretwork, but more on that soon...). Now, for the money, I'm gonna give it a barely 8. That said, I wouldn't hesitate to drop Barts or SD's in there, had I the money and opportunity (hey, I live in China and get paid in RMB - not like I can skip down to the corner Guitar Center and pick me up an SD MM replacement system at will:(

Summup: Fingerstyle is acceptable. Slap is above average, but lacking character and complexity in most positions, and a little metallic/electric sounding with the treble cranked. Definately no Stingray here, despite it's resemblance to one.

Ohh, almost forgot (could I have forgotten something in this windy diatribe?? It boggles the mind?and the answer is no!) Currently I am playing through a Laney Hardcore 60 bass amp ? great sound (Celestion 12 even) and options for the price (paid 1300 RMB which is about 160 US). Best sound/features/build quality for the price in China, hands down ? you may want to check them out, though I don?t know the street price in the rest of the world, if it's really such a value elsewhere. The strings are a standard set of Fender 4's (given to me of course - who actually spends money on Fender strings?) and a Daddario high C. The Fenders are more subdued, but come alive when put to

And here's where this great bass falls down. When I picked it up, played a little slap/pop, I knew I had found the best sounding five string in Beijing for the money, at that time. So, I didn't bother to test out the neck, action, fretwork like I should've. Did that at home and had this issue, see...action was quite high. When I lowered it to a fairly acceptable height, had this tremendous amount of buzzing starting at the 13th fret all the way to the 22nd. Especially on the A/D/G strings (fingerboard looks like it has a bit of a radius to it). Raising the strings caused it to lessen the buzzing, but made it a bear to play up high (quite a shame that, cause it really does have a nice clear solo sound up there). Plus, the truss rod, when at max torque, still didn?t have the guts to straighten the neck fully, let alone put it into backbow with the bass tuned to standard pitch. Took it back to the shop, to the ?tech?. He says, in Chinese of course so this is a ruff translation: ?Oh, all Korean made basses in the price range do that? (which was an earful of rubbish that I wasn?t trying to hear; he was just covering up his laziness or inability to repair it). Walked out of the shop a little distressed, especially cause I liked the bass a lot, and it is my only fretted I China. So, after some research, thinking about it, and looking at it closely, here?s what I did to alleviate this problem: first, I strung it Low E through High C, then detuned it half a step to reduce tension on the neck. This fixed the issue with truss rod, which became able to compensate for the string?s pressure and adjust to my desired flatness (can't get is super flat, as it buzzes on lower frets then, but close to flat now), as well as alleviated a little of the fret buzz and allowed me to drop the action a bit. But still was not an acceptable height, nor non-buzzyness. Then I got nasty, cause I was fed up! Went down to the local B&Q, bought some medium grit metal sandpaper, and just went to work on those frets. Now the action is pretty low (acceptable), string buzz is mostly gone, frets look a little ruff and I scuffed the fingerboard a teensy bit, and the frets might crap out sooner than expected but oh well. Small price to pay. When they do fail up high, I?ll just have to learn how to refret, cause I get this bad feeling that there may not be decent guitar tech in China, least not in my neck of the woods...so, now the playability and action are very good ? not the best I?ve owned nor played, but doable. The frets are all filed nice and smooth. No other complaints about the fit/finish. And after all that, I have two words for Cort ? quality control (actually, it no doubt just passed qa/qc, which is likely how their operation and indeed most other mass manu?s are run?but you know the drill) Ok. Before my work on it, I?ll give it a 6; after, an 8. Again, this is for the price. By the way, I could care less about the finish ? the sooner it gets banged up and scraped the better (sorry if I seem flippant, but reliving the torture of operating on my own bass, without prior experience, put me out a little). But, in all fairness, it looks really well finished, cosmetically. If I had an authorized tech nearby, I would have dropped it off long ago, so he could do what did, decide that it is a bad neck/fret job, and have that sucker replaced! If I ever decide to put the Low B back on, I think many of the issues would return.

Not sure how it will do live, though I can speculate it will hold up well, as the hardware and electroncis are above average. Don't have to adjust the truss much now, since all that hard work and tweaking to get the string tension vs. neck bow balanced (see above). Yeah, I would use it without a backup, especially cause it has that active bypass, so no battery worries at all.

Never dealt directly with the company. They seem to indicate on their websites (US and International) that if it has a problem I can ship it all the way to Korea (not that far from China, but heaven forbid the shipping cost!) and they would repair/replace manufacturer's defects, including neck issues - this statement seems to be a reaction to the fact that they put out so many instruments, that they have put out quite a few with bad necks (which is quite true of an older Cort GB 44 I once owned that had a busted or inadequate truss rod). Of course, if you happen to have an authorized service center near you, it might be worlds easier to get it serviced. Their websites seem pretty informative; pretty pictures:

http://www.cort.com/basses/gb_series/index.html

Been playing guitar/bass for eight years - learned both at the same time; still learning actually ? who isn?t? Self-taught, if there really is such a thing. What have I owned? Gee, what haven?t I owned? G&L L2000E, very early model (that was THE tone; never heard better; too bad the truss rod wouldn?t keep an adjustment!), Fender (Mex.), Carvin (such craftsmanship!), Takamine (B10 ? such a great bass ? why did I sell that!?), Peavey G Bass, Cort Curbow 6 and 4 (and a couple misc Courts), Hohner (4 and 5 headless), Danelectro (nice, unique tone), Samick, Washburn, MTD and a slew of other basses. More than twenty in the past 8 years (as well as playing countless basses, even high end, in music stores), so I consider that I know a thing or two about decent basses. Still searchin for that tone/playability combo that?s perfect for me. Right now, other than this Cort, I?ve got and OLP stingray copy (that?s got 2 Seymour Duncan MM pickups custom installed by yours truly ? even for a basswood body, it has fantastic tone and great playabilitly ? sittin at home in the US though), a Dillion MM4 copy (nice tone woods, construction, and playability for the price ? less than $200 barely used on eBay, with shipping!), an older Samick 4 Custom Shop (that needed the fret board reglued when I got it used ? glad I only paid a $100 for it; but, it has the tonewoods (Mahogany body, Flame and Birdseye Maple neck, if you can believe that, and dead on Jazz bass bridge p/u tone or fat Pbass tone, and great slap tone all rolled into an old fallin apart, super-playable, package that could use it?s buzzy electronics to be trashed and replaced with something worthy ? whew!), and finally, a made in Korea ?Jordin? bass (try and find that in the States!) which I popped out the frets out of (ok, maybe I had a little fretworking experience before this Cort), filled, sanded, and got 1000 dollar playability and 2000 dollar tone from (after many hours of work and tweaking), and it's a really beautiful imitation of a Warwick Infinity Ltd (almost lawsuit material ? guess there?s a reason this Jordin ain?t sold in the States).

If it were lost/stolen, would I buy it again? Fraid not. Would be lookin? at a G&L L2500 tribute, MusicMan Sub 5, Lakland 5, Peavey Millenim Plus 5 (the American made which they foolishly stopped producing - you know the one) or especially a Used G&L American made. But when you're down and out in Asia, you've got to take what you can get (or afford). Send questions/corrections if you got em. Hope all that helps - take care!