Cort RB5 Elrick

This is a new model that I believe is replacing the Josh Paul signature model. The only difference I have detected is the oil finish and flame maple top instead of quilt maple.Made in Korea.25 vintage style frets (one is the zero fret which gives it a fretted sound on open strings).Controls are volume with push/pull active/passive switch,p-up blend,treble,mid,bass. It has 2 Bartolini MK-1 p-ups with active Bartolini MK-1 BMT pre-amp. Natural oil finished light swamp ash body with flame maple cap on top,there is also a thin vaneer of a dark colored wood between the ash and maple. The deep set 5-bolt bolt on neck is three pieces of maple with a rosewood fretboard and a matching flame maple cap on the peghead.Tuners are Hipshot. Chunky EB10 Bridge. Cool matte black finish on all hardware. 35" scale.

I play a variety of styles with this bass and it does fit the bill for all. At least as good as you can expect with out having a different bass for each song. I use it with an Ampeg Porta bass rig with a single 12 for quieter applications and a large Hartke rig for louder applications. It has an inherant punchy warm sound that can be eq'd for a dub deep or slap zing. The Bart MK-1's may not sound exactly like the U.S. made Bart's,but they sound great none the less.

Out of the box I loved the wide string spacing and the shallow neck profile. The bass played and looked great. The quality of these made in Korea basses are really top notch. Now for the bad stuff. I was doing some minor tweaks to the set up when I double checked the intonation. It was a little sharp and when I tried to adjust this in, it just wasn't happening. I'm no pro, but I've been setting up my own basses for some time. I called the retailer and he quickly responded by email to put me in touch with the repair tech at Cort Guitars. When I called him he couldn't figure it out over the phone so I had to ship it to him. He found that the nut slots were not deep enough.That was keeping the strings from touching the zero fret which threw the whole scale off. That's Why the intonation couldn't be set.

So far this bass seems super solid. At least as good as any other mass produced bass. I will probably replace the strap buttons with locks as it just makes me feel more secure. The oil finish has some sonic benefits I'm told.I like it for its feel and beauty,but as we all know it leaves the wood exposed to dents and dings of which I have none as of yet. Quick change battery access and pre-amp bypass make this a worry free gigging bass. Hardware is solid.

Dealing with Dan at Cort was easy and smooth. I waited a couple of days after I knew he had recieved my bass then I called him to check on it. He verified it was there, but said he was backlogged and would call me as soon as he got to it. He was true to his word and called me with an explanation and news that it was fixed and would be shipped back to me free of charge. I spoke to him probably 4 times. I was never made to feel like I was a bother to him and was spoken to as a peer and never talked down to. Great service. Dan made an inconvenience as smooth as possible.

I've been playing for over 11 years,and I am an official gear head. I have either owned or played just about every name brand out there. My current main bass is a custom 5-string Warrior. I've never played a better bass than that one. I sold all of my basses except the Warrior because I wasn't playing often. Then when I began playing more I wanted some thing that was versitile,played great,looked great,and could be replaced if destroyed by a flying projectile or knocked off its stand between sound check and set time. (I still use my beloved Warrior in safer surroundings.) I shopped extensively in stores and on line. In my opinion there isn't a better buy under $1000.00. It's not a Warrior or even a Pedulla, but it's as close to a boutique bass as you will find for less than half what you would pay to get one. One mans trash is another mans treasure, but at least check this bass out. I've never owned a Cort before as I've never been impressed with their products. I may check out that curbow fretless model now. Not perfect, but for the money...