This is my second bass I got from Cort. The first reason I chose Cort again is that I generally heard that they offer incredible products for a good price. And this is exactly what I experienced when I bought my first one, a Cort C4 Plus, which I liked significantly more than other basses in that price range. And it is also exactly what I experienced after buying this one.
Another reason was that I really like the shape and feel of their basses. Just like the C4 Plus, the A4 Ultra Ash feels modern, light and comfortable to play, which is SUPER important to me. Simply put, I just love the way it feels.
The third reason was the fishman fluence pickups.
These pickups are just a completely different experience, they basically redefine what is means to be versatile. I also feel like they are way better at picking up all the harmonics and subtleties of the strings, as well as capturing a much more pleasant dynamic range than regular pickups, resulting in a much richer signal.
(well they are ACTIVE pickups with an ACTIVE preamp after all)
Just in case you have not yet heard of the capabilities of the Fishamp:
- 3 Voice modes, which intuitively (not entirely correct) translate into: Neutral/Mid Contour/Mid Boost
- You can enable Single Coil mode by pulling the volume knob. (This SERIOUSLY increases the possible sounds you can get)
My initial thought about the preamp was "Why is there no mid eq control?" but this soon resolved itself, as the voicings and the two EQ's for bass and treble are simply enough to get want you want.
You will simply not miss the mid knob!
There is however one problem I experience, that seems to be relatively common with active pickups (EMGs have it as well): If you pick relatively hard, the output signal seems to clip, independently of the preamp controls. This can be mitigated as follows:
- Lower the pickups (do this first, mine came shipped WAY too high)
- Check/Change the 9V battery (it may be too old)
- Use a voltage higher than 9V (up to 18V)
The last option always works with no exception. Note that the fishman fluence bass soapbar pickups are designed to work with voltages ranging from 9V to 18V, so this is safe.
Note however, if you use 18V (two 9V volts in series), that the built in battery cabinet can only house one 9V battery, this is the only problem I encountered with this bass.
Oh yeah, and IT LOOKS F*****G AWESOME! But you really should not buy a bass just for the looks. This bass just happens to have it all.
