Cort 70E

Finish: Satin - Looks nice. I like how the satin finish discolours the white trim around the edges.

Body Style: Dreadnought. I'm a bigger fan of cutaways, but this ain't hard to get used to.

Bridge style: Plastic - I haven't tried ebony or bone or any other style, so I cant give specifics on how the plastic bridge piece affects the tone.

Tuners: Non-locking generic

Neck: Thin, mahogany - like my electric guitar. Not amazingly fast but good enough.

Accessories: None

Made in china, date unknown. (but this is obviously brand new from the factory, I can still smell the glue!) Purchase July 2007.

Frets: 20 - 14 reachable without hitting the body.

Top: Solid wood, laminated. (spruce) A gorgeous finish, mine turned out rather nicely.

Controls: 3 way equalizer on preamp, volume dial, and phase on/off.

Pickup config: Unknown - but it sounds STELLAR.

Body: Solid spruce back and front, sides and neck mahogany.

My style: Rather eclectic. Jazz...Rock...Pop...Folk... This guitar fits it all.

My amp: CRATE MX10 (10W). Sounds spectacular coming out of it, but I've never plugged the guitar into a bigger amp.

Noisy? Ha! This guitar is fantastically slick compared to what I'm used to. Absolutely no fret buzz, even after angling the truss rod so the action is extremely low. There is a slight buzz coming from inside the guitar when I hit an open low-E. However, I have detiremined this to be caused by the preamp rattling...and if I hold a hand against it, there is no rattle. I probably just need to tighten the screws.

Sounds: Sounds great when finger picking, basic strumming, slapping, and innotation. I can hear a very slight off-tune when I get to the higher frets (like past 10), but I am picky. My tuner says it doesn't get off by more than 5 cents on the 20th fret.

Likes/Dislikes: I love the sound, very rich, very powerful, bright highs and deep lows. The sound projection is fantastic, like a jumbo except--not a jumbo (which I can barely get my arms around most times). I sing loudly and the raw guitar, unplugged, can very easily overpower my voice...and I don't even use a pick.

Action: From the factory, I don't think the action was fantastic. It was nice for the first couple frets, and then it got terribly high. Perhaps a whole 3/4th inch by the 20th fret. But after adjusting the truss rod, I got it down to a flat 1/8th inch throughout the entire neck. It's much easier to play now and stays in tune better at the high frets.

Finish: Absolutely gorgeous. I saw $1000 guitars that didn't look as good. The top is flawless, bookmatched to the nth degree, the back is the same with a beautiful mahogany color stain, and the mahogany neck/sides are simply amazing. I haven't seen a better looking guitar from any companies other than C.G. Martin.

I give this guitar a 9 instead of a 10 because from the factory, the action was bad. Easy fix though.

Could I play this live? Absolutely. I'm sure it'd even stay as pretty, as in just the few days I've had it, I've already bunged it against several door jams and I cant even find a scratch. Jeez, my last guitar had finish so soft you could almost indent your fingerprints.

Hardware: The bridge pegs look like they will last a long time, the bridge nut, also. I can't say the same for the tuning pegs...they look like cheap generics, really. They look nice (right now), aren't loose, don't buzz, and stay put, but I wouldn't trust them with my life. I will probably replace them with a brand name soon.

Warranty is 3 years. I've only had it for 4 days, so obviously I haven't dealt with Support yet. If I had, we'd really be looking a major problem.

I have played for 2 years, practicing for about an hour a day, and have owned about 6 or so guitars, both electric and acoustic. Out of all of them, my Bridgecraft SG knock-off is still my favorite, but this Cort is a very close second. I can easily see having it for many many years, giving it to my kids when I finally "screw the money!" and buy a Martin, etc.

The only regrets I have about my purchase is that, when I went in to the dealer to buy another guitar, I was planning on a 12-string, and now I am disappointed that I didn't get a 12 (I was really looking forward to the experience of learning)...but I am quite happy with the guitar I bought instead. My cheap Harmonia was starting to fall apart and I decided it was finally time to buy an acoustic worth more than the case it lived in. And at only $210, I think I got a fantastic deal. I compared it to guitars all the way up into the $500 range, Fenders, Gibsons, Ibanez, and this was the best, especially considering the built-in pickup and preamp. I could NOT be happier, and would definitely buy this a second time if I lost it.