Argghh, another boring Cort...or is it?
The motivation was to find a lighter, easier playing instrument that won't break my back or kill my fingers - lest we forget I'm a re-treaded guitar player - and my fingers (and shoulders/back) were straining a little on a 34ín scale.
I've been reading good things about the Cort Action Jr, so when one popped up in great condition, I snapped it up.
One thing that stood out immediately is that it's not a toy - you can slap it, strum it, pluck it and it just works. Some of the others are really finger/pick only - slapping doesn't really work on them - though everyone tells me SS basses are about the low end and not the pop.
I've done a few little things to it : the frets were not as well finished as I'm used to seeing on Corts - the fret ends needed to be rolled - they really dug into the hand when sliding around the fretboard. Changed the silver knobs to black...because I could =D. I wanted to pop to put some D'addario halfwounds on, but the local distributor does keep not stock of SS strings - avail on special order only. Managed to scrounge a set of SS La Bella stainless flats for a bargain.
I be debating the pup, it's not exactly a standard size - for now it'll stay. We'll see what happens there, maybe made a mounting plate out of black perspex to fit a pbass pup or find a mighty mite/bartelloni from a curbow/artisan that'll work.
The most important thing for me is that -posture wise- it feels like a guitar. My back and shoulders are very happy - and already I'm seeing how much easier it is to get my fingers where they need to be, without having to concentrate on placement.
It'll never replace a 34in Pbass, that I understand. Although, with the right strings, I have hopes that it can be a versatile bass that one could easily gig with and the majority of people wouldn't know the difference.
For a laugh, I popped the 34in Hofner, 30in Cort and 25.5in pimpocaster together for a group shot. Yip, the SS Cort does fit into all my standard guitar cases...unexpected bonus!
