Post by Tony Ravenscroft on Feb 17, 2020 10:18:08 GMT -6
I already owned a plastic-body Cort Curbow4 bass. This got me curious about the rest of the Cort line, which shows up infrequently online but is very difficult to pin down in the United States. There used to be a Cort dealer in Texas, but now I can't find the site.
I spotted a nice hardtail h-h in black, with "Sterling" in gold script on the trussrod cover. Other bidders dropped out very quickly, so I got more of a bargain than I'd intended.
It's a very nice guitar. The neck has a "soft vee" profile, which I hadn't played in a couple of decades and greatly enjoy (at least occasionally), so for that alone I'd recommend considering one for your arsenal -- you'll probably like it.
The only downside is the bridge pickup. Like on a later Cort purchase (a Viva Gold), the pickup is Gibson-spaced but the strings are Fender-spaced. I'd previously believed that this doesn't make any difference with modern humbuckers, but in both cases it's VERY obvious that the high-E string is quieter. So, you'll probably want to find yourself a good "F-spaced" pickup.
{A PAUSE -- When I took the following photo, I deliberately sighted in on the low-E string, and stood far enough back that the parallax error is effectively zero. If you squint a little, you will see that the high-E string is inarguably off-center, in fact a tiny bit past the outermost slug of the bridge pickup. Yes, magnetic pickups are not precision devices, and I am VERY AWARE that the magnetic field sort of forms a messy "thumbprint" over each pole slug. Therefore, even the E strings will be just fine. The PROBLEM is that This Is Not So, and I was very surprised. When I mentioned this on a forum, I was told that I was wrong, by someone who ought to know better. I got in trouble for demanding a wager: he'd send me $200, I'd send him the Sterling, he'd learn that I was correct, I'd pocket the remaining cash, and he'd ship the Sterling back to me at his cost. An Admin told me I was being "argumentative" and had no reason to dislike being called stupid in public.
}
Here it is waiting for some bench time --
Let's cut right to the chase and leave details for later. First, physical aspects --
To the best of my abilities, this appears to be the immediate precursor to the Cort S-1000, so might (or mightn't) have a mahogany body... which I will figure out just as soon as I install an F-spaced diMarzio.
(Further discussion of the series will be in another thread; I'll keep this one specific to the branded Sterlings.)
I spotted a nice hardtail h-h in black, with "Sterling" in gold script on the trussrod cover. Other bidders dropped out very quickly, so I got more of a bargain than I'd intended.
It's a very nice guitar. The neck has a "soft vee" profile, which I hadn't played in a couple of decades and greatly enjoy (at least occasionally), so for that alone I'd recommend considering one for your arsenal -- you'll probably like it.
The only downside is the bridge pickup. Like on a later Cort purchase (a Viva Gold), the pickup is Gibson-spaced but the strings are Fender-spaced. I'd previously believed that this doesn't make any difference with modern humbuckers, but in both cases it's VERY obvious that the high-E string is quieter. So, you'll probably want to find yourself a good "F-spaced" pickup.
{A PAUSE -- When I took the following photo, I deliberately sighted in on the low-E string, and stood far enough back that the parallax error is effectively zero. If you squint a little, you will see that the high-E string is inarguably off-center, in fact a tiny bit past the outermost slug of the bridge pickup. Yes, magnetic pickups are not precision devices, and I am VERY AWARE that the magnetic field sort of forms a messy "thumbprint" over each pole slug. Therefore, even the E strings will be just fine. The PROBLEM is that This Is Not So, and I was very surprised. When I mentioned this on a forum, I was told that I was wrong, by someone who ought to know better. I got in trouble for demanding a wager: he'd send me $200, I'd send him the Sterling, he'd learn that I was correct, I'd pocket the remaining cash, and he'd ship the Sterling back to me at his cost. An Admin told me I was being "argumentative" and had no reason to dislike being called stupid in public.
}Here it is waiting for some bench time --
Let's cut right to the chase and leave details for later. First, physical aspects --
- 3x3 tuning head that reminds you instantly of a properly curvy version of the MM/EB 4x2 head
- radically overswept Strat-variant body
- upper-horn strap button @ fret 10
- offset fingerboard dots
- chunky hardtail bridge
To the best of my abilities, this appears to be the immediate precursor to the Cort S-1000, so might (or mightn't) have a mahogany body... which I will figure out just as soon as I install an F-spaced diMarzio.
(Further discussion of the series will be in another thread; I'll keep this one specific to the branded Sterlings.)