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What is it?
Bassists may not be too familiar with the Cort brand name, but it’s odds on that you’ve already played on a guitar or two built by this Indonesia-based company. As well as its own range, Cort also manufactures for other brands. In fact, it seems that almost every big American guitar maker that has expanded its range with a Far East-built line has used Cort’s considerable resources at some point.
The GB-Fusion series is specifically aimed towards the bassist who craves the feel of a Fender-style instrument, but doesn’t want to spend a fortune to get it. Add some individual styling, including a spalted maple top and an eye-catching Blue Burst finish, and the GB-Fusion 4 is born.
The blueprint is reminiscent of the classic Fender Jazz Bass, albeit with a longer fretboard and deeper treble-side cutaway. The body is made from alder, which should give the bass a resonant and well-rounded tone, with a spalted maple top. Electronics comprise a pair of Cort’s newly-designed single coil pickups, master volume and pickup blend controls, and an active 3-band EQ.
We have reviewed bass guitars by Cort before, notably Jeff Berlin’s Rithimic and the headless Artisan Space 5, but this latest addition is modelled on one of Leo Fender’s big hitters. So here we go: a lower mid-market four-string J-Bass that comes in at a budget-friendly $699.
Specs
- Launch price: $699.99 / £659 / €699
- Made: Indonesia
- Type: Four-string electric bass guitar
- Body: Alder, spalted maple top
- Neck: Hard maple, C profile
- Fingerboard: Indian rosewood
- Scale length: 34 inches / 864mm
- Nut/width: Plastic / 38mm
- Frets: 22, medium-jumbo
- Hardware: Hipshot Ultralite tuners, MetalCraft M4 bridge
- String spacing at bridge: 19mm
- Electrics: 2 x Voiced Tone VTB-ST single coil pickups, 1 x push/pull pot for volume & preamp bypass, 1 x pickup blend, 3-band active EQ
- Weight: 9.4lb / 4.2kg
- Options: Antique Brown Burst finish and Birdseye Maple fingerboard on 5-string model
- Left-handed options: No
- Finishes: Blue Burst
- Cases: Cort gig bag
- Contact: Cort
Build quality
Build quality rating: ★★★★☆
The alder body is capped with a spalted maple top that, in combination with the Blue Burst finish and matching headstock, gives an elegant appearance that belies the relatively modest price tag. The finish has been applied well and certainly looks the business beneath the see-through pickguard.
The hard maple neck has a rounded C profile with a 12-inch fingerboard radius and a smooth matte finish for a more ‘vintage’ feel. As with the alder of the body, I’d not expect this wood to be of the quality found on a US-made instrument, but a one-piece neck is nonetheless very welcome.
A two-way trussrod can be accessed at the base of the neck should you wish to adjust the relief, while a straightforward bolt-on joint, consisting of five screws with individual metal collets, securely holds the neck onto the body.
The fingerboard is Indian rosewood, unbound and inlaid with glow in the dark side dot position markers, while 22 medium-jumbo frets are all neatly installed, profiled and buffed so as to provide a silky smooth playing surface.
The MetalCraft M4 bridge is fitted with four chunky steel saddles. The design allows for the strings to be loaded either through-the-body, or from the top, depending on the thickness of the strings. This is a rock-solid design and one in which we put a lot of faith. By the same token, you can’t really go wrong with the Hipshot Ultralite tuners, which feel smooth and easy to turn.
The controls are reassuringly grippable, although some have a slightly flimsy air about them, especially the push/pull volume control. Whatever the feel, everything is neatly wired, as a peek behind the plastic control cover will attest.
Playability
Playability rating: ★★★★☆
When tangling with guitars in the lower price bracket, it’s often the setup that suffers the most, but here the intonation is surprisingly good
The overall design, as noted, is clean and well proportioned, which translates to a comfortable feel when you pick up the bass. It balances well in both sitting and standing positions and nestles comfortably against your body when strapped on.
You’ll have noticed that in some reviews we often ramble on about how accessible the upper frets are on electric guitars, but in this case, that top F on the 22nd fret of the G string really does lend itself to easy playing. That doesn’t happen all that often.
When tangling with guitars in the lower price bracket, it’s often the setup that suffers the most, but here the intonation is surprisingly good, remaining in tune with all but the most abusive dive-bombs that we could throw at it. The action is set a little high, but not enough to put players off.
Sounds
Sounds rating: ★★★★☆
Plugging in and giving those single-coil pickups a bit of a workout with the 3-band EQ set flat results in an articulate tone. Even without any knob twiddling, I’m able to work my way through the genres and sound like I’m fitting in.
There’s not a huge deal of harmonic complexity on offer, but this bass nevertheless performs well given its very approachable price tag, the directness of the fundamental tone making for a really likeable bass guitar that’s capable of a wide range of styles.
The bridge pickup is pure fingerstyle funk: punchy and with all the midrange bark you’ll ever need, while singling out the neck pickup lends extra presence in the bass frequencies. The pickup positioning means that plucking right back towards the bridge or forward over the middle of the body is effortless.
The bridge pickup is pure fingerstyle funk: punchy and with all the midrange bark you’ll ever need
Through a decent amp, the active EQ is surprisingly effective, with slapping made especially versatile, especially with the user-friendly 38mm nut width. Roll off the mids (but not all the way: this bass needs some mid-range to avoid feeling sucked-out) and you’ll find a breezy, wasp-in-a-box tone.
The GB-Fusion 4 also has the edge when it comes to old-school tones, given that the active electronics can be switched off with the push/pull volume knob, although the purist in me does miss a passive tone control.
This bass has plenty of cutting power, and it’s versatile enough to handle just about any gig from modern rock to subtle jazz.
Verdict
When a factory has been building guitars for companies such as Fender, Ibanez, Schecter, and Music Man, you’ve every right to expect a decent standard of construction, and the Cort GB-Fusion 4 doesn’t disappoint.
There minor issue of a loose volume control isn’t something you wouldn’t see on considerably more expensive instruments once in a while. To put things in perspective, this is the only real fault that can be levelled at this bass. It’s also some way visually from the average lower-priced or mid-range J-style instruments, and that streak of individuality also scores highly.
There’s really little to complain about here, particularly the price, which should already be lower in your local guitar emporium than the list price quoted here.
Guitar World verdict: The Cort GB-Fusion 4 gives the impression of being a rather more expensive bass guitar than it actually is. Solid hardware and a decent setup help to make this a real player’s instrument that should easily satisfy anyone after classic bass tones in an individual-looking package.
|
Test |
Results |
Score |
|---|---|---|
|
Build quality |
Few corners have been cut in terms of build and finishing. The hardware used is equally impressive. |
★★★★☆ |
|
Playability |
Everything feels solid and businesslike, with the lower cutaway giving easy access all the way up the neck. |
★★★★☆ |
|
Sounds |
The single coil pickups coupled with the active EQ deliver plenty of volume and variation. Expect to spend some time fully investigating the range of sounds on offer. |
★★★★☆ |
|
Overall |
It doesn’t break boundaries in terms of its body shape, but it’s far from ordinary in terms of looks, and there’s no shortage of tonal variation to be had via the active electronics. |
★★★★☆ |
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