Cort ACC15F

This is a classical guitar with nylon strings. It has a cutaway and also a Fishman Classic 4 pickup system. It has a solid cedar top and laminated rosewood back and sides. The neck is solid mahogany. The guitar is very comfortable to play and I have not needed to make any adjustments to the set-up. Cort is the biggest guitar maker in the world, so they have the pick of the timbers, buying them in bulk. They also have an excellent design and qulaity control team, who know their stuff. This guitar is a credit to Cort's manufacturing system.

This guitar has a very strong sound. The bass is warm and the treble is bright and the guitar feels very resonant and alive. In fact, I tried many classicals in my local shop and picked this one out mainly for its sound and feel. I had no idea it was a Cort until I looked inside and saw the label. I was after an electro-classical with cutaway to do some jazz/latin/crossover playing at live gigs. I also have a Ramirez classical guitar and a Vicente Sanchis flamenco guitar. I have been playing guitar for over 30 years and I do know a good nylon string guitar when I hear one.

For AU$ 499 this guitar has a very good finish and specification. But there are one or two minor things I don't like, but they are not show stoppers. The machine heads are finished in chromium plate and look cheap, but they work perfectly well. There is also a dark brown plastic binding along the neck, and around the body front and back and that looks cheap as well. But it does the job. Also the bridge is not finished with any varnish and has no decoration and looks a bit basic, but again it does the job. The action was fine straight out of the box and does not need to be adjusted for me. There is no buzzing anywhere, and all the notes sound even at all fret positions. The body varnishing is perfect, but the neck was finished with matte/satin varnish, but I have buffed it up with some metal polish and now it looks glossy like the rest of the guitar.
The ACC15F is contructed to a typical Spanish guitar design with fan bracing under the bridge. The internal finger bracing and back spine bracing all appears incredibly neat. This is an area where a lot of cheap guitars fall down, but Cort has done a really excellent job with these Chinese made classicals. Looking inside it could be a 2,000 dollar guitar made in Madrid. The cedar top is book-matched well, as is the rosewood timber on the back.

I think this guitar is well made and will last a very long time. All the hardware and electroic circuitry work well. I would certainly use it at a gig without backup.

Cort guitars are supported in Australia through an importer called Lamberti Brothers, who have a very good reputation. I have had some dealings with them now and then and they were always very professional and helpful.

This guitar is an utter bargain and it punches way above its weight. Although the price is low, the overall quality of contruction and general design and sound performance are really excellent. It is a pleasure to play this guitar. I know there is a lot of snobbery and pickiness in the classical guitar world, but would be very amused to find out what a professional concert player thought of this guitar.