Cort Artisan A4 Plus - What do you think?

Gear
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Hello Guys!

It has not been long since I finally got back to learning to play bass but I already got super pumped up about upgrading my instrument.

At the moment I have a Cort Action PJ 4. Similar to what Josh has reviewed in beginner bass videos. I got it about 5 years ago but have been playing for about 2 months now.

I had my eye on several basses from which one stood out really hard and I kinda found a good deal (600€ in 10-24 installments)

Cort Artisan A4 Plus FMMH

Other basses I have considered were:
Sire Marcus Miller V3 2nd Gen
Sire Marcus Miller V7 2nd Gen Alder
Sterling by Musicman Ray 4
Fender Jazz Bass

Cort Artisan A4 has the higher price over any of these but also equipped with best stuff and it is a true eye candy.

What do you guys think. Does anyone here own this bass? Are there any basses in this line up that I should consider?

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  • Body: Mahogany
  • Top: Flamed maple
  • 5-Piece neck-thru-body: Maple/Wenge
  • Fretboard: Panga Panga
  • Dot fretboard inlays
  • Scale: 864 mm (34")
  • Nut width: 38 mm
  • 24 Frets
  • Pickup: 2 Bartolini MK-1 humbuckers
  • Active Bartolini MK-1 preamp with 3-band EQ
  • 1 Volume knob and 1 balance knob
  • Platinum hardware
  • Hipshot Ultralight machine heads
  • Hipshot Trans Tone Dual Access bridge
  • Active / Passive mini switch
  • Ex-factory stringing: Nickelwound .045 - .105
  • Finish: Thin open-pore lacquer
  • Colour: Black cherry

This is the shop that I got this deal: Lucky Music Milan

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@Fahri that is one sweet bass it has it all, if it plays as good as it looks then well worth the money. The hardware alone is top notch.
When does she arrive :rofl:

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+1 on that it’s a lovely bass

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They took it out from the box for me to try it out and left it hanging on the wall. The guy teased me saying "look this is the last one we have and tomorrow is Saturday so lots of visitors… ".

I’m thinking about going back to the shop on Monday but let’s see.

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Why not get a chair and wait outside for the store to open? :rofl:
You wont sleep tonight thinking of some stranger playing with her
You know she is worth it
:guitar: :slight_smile: :guitar:

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That is an impressive amount of bass for that money.

Ask yourself these three questions.

  1. Do you like the way it looks?
  2. Do you like the way it feels?
  3. Do you like the way it sounds?

If you can answer “Yes” to all three, you’ve found your new bass!

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@Fahri I kept thinking about this thread and decided to dig a little deeper.

If you really like your Cort but want almost everything to just be better, the Cort Artisan A4 Plus FMMH is going to be really hard to beat.

You mentioned the Fender Jazz. Without knowing which Fender Jazz it’s hard to compare. If you’re talking about a Made in Mexico Fender Jazz, the Cort Artisan looks to be significantly better in every way.

If you’re talking about a Fender American Professional then things get harder. The American Professional is an amazing instrument. The downside is the $1500 US price tag. I have a hard time recommending that unless you played the Fender and instantly fell in love with it.

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Like @eric.kiser, I’ve come back to this as well @Fahri except to admire. Such a hot looking bass ass well as the specs. She also has 24 fret’s. I’ve just went from P bass to a 24 fret. Even if your not going that high, the access to the 20th fret is a total buzz, a Bass Buzz :rofl:
I think Eric’s tic list of three about says it all.
:guitar: :slight_smile: :guitar:

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Thanks Eric! it will be hard to fall a sleep with all these thoughts!

On the site there is the American Jazz Bass and as you said it is way out of my range. The next in line cost about same as the Cort A4 and it does not state the origin so I assume that they are Mexico built and I clicked much better to the Cort.

My hardest contender is still Sire Marcus Miller V7 which has really good build and lots of parameters to play with under your hand.

Plus I really want an Active Bass. I am hanging out here with only a USB Interface (Focusrite Scarlet Solo) which does not have any extra tuning so EQ on bass would make a big difference.

I am married with 2 small kids so cranking up to 11 with a proper amp is not fore seen in the future!

@Jamietashi Well my poor Cort Action PJ 4 already has 24 frets! Still almost never played them. Heck I am still on the 6th module and just arrived to the 12th fret officially . I have way to go!

Thank you guys both!

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The Cort Artisan is also active with a nice active/passive switch for using it in either mode.

When I was undecided, this is what I did.
I prioritized it like this

  1. Feel
  2. Sound
  3. Looks

When comparing feel I didn’t even plug the instruments in. I would go from one to another to something completely different and then back though all of them.

Focusing on how the whole length of the neck feels and how it compares to the others?Then, I focus on how the body feels against me and go back through all of them again comparing the body feel.
Then fretting notes low, middle, and high on the neck and how it feels to transfer from one part of the neck to another.

Then I plugged them in. Try to only focus on one thing at a time and only change one thing at a time. For instance, use the same amp with the same settings for every bass you test out. That way you have the same foundation to test from, making sure the differences in what you hear is just the differences in basses.

This probably sounds like a giant pain in the @ss. For me, I had to break it down in to small pieces. Otherwise, there were just too any options and I had to come up with some way to start ruling out some of them.

Good luck. I look forward to seeing what you decide on :+1:

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Yeah that is absolutely how I wanted to approach to it today. But the Music shops here in Italy are just back in business after the long lock down.

They were cool enough to let me play around as much but it feels weird to be touching around so freely…

But I see what you mean. I am thinking to bring my own bass and my usb interface (it is so light weight) and try them against the setup that I am used to.

On the other hand I have an urge to slow myself down finish the B2B course take my time with my current instrument, build up some more experience on the subject of what I need and then go back to it.

I might miss this great deal meanwhile which is a shame.

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Court all the way.
First, let me say I am prob biased, as not being a huge fender fan, but that court Is georgous.
I would go Sterling StingRay after it, with close third to Marcus Miller, which I like, beautiful finish on ones I have seen.

I love the see thru wood grain like on the fort and MM Sires. But

Like Eric Stresses, it must feel good. All places you are looking at I assume have greatreturn policy, so if you end up not liking something, or finding a better deal, or better suited Bass, you are covered. Of course it’s a little trickier when financing because once you buy, you are kind of limited to that store, unless you want multiple lines of credit, which, for me would be dangerous ( :crazy_face: ).

Also, you mention Active EQ. Are you good with only 5he active EQ, and not Active Pick ups?
Many Basses with active EQ are not listed as Active Basses, so you need to look at the controls (no s) on the bass which sometimes tells you if it is active, active bass or both. But be sure to read the features of Basses you like, cuz they may have active EQ even when not listed as active, or they don’t come up in Active bass search.

Active Pickups I think are not recommended for beginners as well, I think they can cover technique issues, and help create bad habits.
If you do get Active pick ups, it is good idea to have the Active / passive select as Eric mentioned the Cort to have I think.

Lastly, if you look at the back of a bass, and see the small cover for a battery compartment, it has Active something. Usually EQ, but other stuff too.

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A lot of great features on that bass, high quality electronics and hardware too. Plus exotic wood choices, and a gorgeous color.

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for sure. I want it myself. Unfortunately I have not seen many Cort for sale used, and not even new at any of the BIG GUYS here in the states. GC, Sam Ash, MusiciansFriend, Sweetwater.

Now I have to admit, Ihave not dug too deep, but after seeing this beauty, I might. The Sire’s are more readily available, and lots of nice MM’s I have seen, but still, not much used. That is sort of a testament to them if nobody is willing to sell theirs.

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My regular bass is a Cort B4 Plus.

What you will have discovered if you have dug around a bit is that Cortek have factories all over the place and make other brands as well.

So if you were making basses for other companies and knew which components worked well together, wouldn’t you slap the same gear in your own bass with a slightly different body and headstock and sell it cheaper than the rebranded one?

The easiest comparisons are between cort and Ibanez, which Cortek makes a range of.
Look for the same pickups, preamp and construction materials, then compare price points.

My B4 Plus is the ONLY one of my basses which is totally silent in my computer room.
As it was my first bass, I thought there was something wrong with all the others when I bought them in to practice on.

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Lol. Funny.

Yeah, I know the brands and factories making for many brands are out there, and distributors like SX (who make stuff, a lot of stuff now) put together Basses from extra, or B stock and sell the same bass with a different name.

What I did not know was the Cort / Ibanez relation, so thanks for that bit of info.

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Update on the subject!

Today I went back to the shop with my wife (couldn’t stop talking about it!) and saw that the guy was no bs. The Black Cherry A4 was sold to a girl!

Hanging on the wall in its stead there was an Artisan A5 Plus with natural wood color. I played with it a bit and it felt super smooth. However 5 strings was too much meat for me to handle and yesterday they told me A4 for the same color was out of stock.

Observing my huge delusion they have called the local provider to check stock there and found me one!

The deal is done with blood (figure of speech for a 10 part payment) Now expecting this girl to come home!

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@Fahri Wow! everything you wanted and some. She is beautiful :heart_eyes: :guitar:

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Very nice!

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That’s… stunning. :blush:

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