Mudpup Posted November 1, 2021 Share Posted November 1, 2021 (edited) I had a week off last week and treated myself to a me day with an afternoon visit to a guitar shop to try out a bass I was curious about. It was a Cort A4 Ultra with the new Fishman pickups. I wasn't over impressed with the pickups personally as they seemed to compress the sound particularly on the E string. Probably good for modern slappy stuff but not to my taste and it's one of their top end basses at c£1100. And I was only looking anyway. The next model down is the A4 Plus which is effectively the same bass but with Bartolini licensed pickups and a maple/mahogany body instead of an ash/mahogany one. The guy in the shop suggested trying it to really show the difference in the pickups. I spent 20 mins having a noodle and came away thinking I much preferred the cheaper version as it had a bit more character and booty about the sound. It has the same Hipshot hardware, neck through design and the neck profile is lovely. I'm struggling lately with jazz style necks and even though this is still quite narrow at the nut it has a flat fingerboard radius and a slightly deeper profile with a flattened feel to the back of the neck which I think can get along with better. It seems to be the flatter board that works for me and the fretwork and edges are sublime. The bass itself feels fabulous - the open pore finish and generally curviness of the body feels great and it seems pretty light as well. I was only having a sniff around anyway... That evening I was idly pooching about online having a think about the bass and I tripped over someone selling a used version of the one I liked. Looked pretty good in the advert and after 20 minutes of messaging we struck a deal. It wasn't local so I was on the train the next day heading north to check it out. Turned out it was only a few weeks old and still had the tags on it and a decent gig bag too so I grabbed it. Haven't gigged it yet so it's been a week of home use and I can never tell if something is going to work for me until i've done a few gigs with it but it seems pretty good so far....time will tell Edited November 6, 2021 by Mudpup 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddHytheTown Posted November 2, 2021 Share Posted November 2, 2021 Great buy! I'm a big fan of Cort basses, so I reckon you'll be very pleased with this. Really nice finish too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebenezer Posted November 2, 2021 Share Posted November 2, 2021 Fantastic basses, also a very good upgrade platform, pickups/circuit although to me there is very little wrong with the bass stock. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted November 2, 2021 Share Posted November 2, 2021 I remember playing lots of basses at the LBGS a few years ago. These Corts were by far my favourites. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chyc Posted November 2, 2021 Share Posted November 2, 2021 I'm totally with you on the Fishman pickups, I just don't like the sound, even in the hands of people who can definitely play. Barts are much nicer IMHO. Bass looks really nice. Congrats. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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