Cort guitars and other questions

[Tomek]

Hi, recently I came across Cort G 290 at their web site. It's equiped with 2 EMG SA and 1 EMG 89 pickups. The point is that it's very cheap (bearing in mind those EMG's).

Maybe some of you know something about Cort guitars?

Why are they so cheap?

Are they worth their price?

 

At this price level I also thought of Ibanez SA 1260 and Yamaha Pac 812V. Which one of those 3 would you recommend?

 

These 3 guitars(Cort, Yamaha, Ibanez) are Strat-type (ibanez is more for Rock and fast playing as far as I know).

In my country they are a lot cheaper then American Standard and other higher Fender's models.

Are they as good as Fenders in action and sound(maybe they are better than Fender Strat?)?

Are they more versatile?

 

Maybe there is other guitar company that you would recommend to me?

I'm looking for great sounding and versatile instrument.

 

I have Fender Standard Strat(Mexico) now. Would it be a big difference if I move to one of these guitars?

 

Sorry for all grammatical mistakes

I really thank you for all your replies!

Best wishes - Tomek

[picker]

The Cort G 290 is list priced at $950 for the US market, and that isn't cheap. You could get a whole lot of guitar for that much, and from a lot of companies, too.

Cort started out making very inexpensive beginners guitars, but lately have been trying to move up market. They have a signature series of instruments designed for different stars, Larry Coryell, Matt Murphy, Hiram Bullock, and others. The stuff they are making these days is pretty good. The problem with Cort, Yamaha, Ibanez and a lot of other companies is that you can never sell them for as much as you paid for them, even if you bought them at a discount (which most folks do). If you plan on playing it till you die and passing it on to your kids or something, that's not an issue.

 

I have played a couple of Cort G series guitars,even owned one, and I like them fine. Nice necks, very playable, and they have a lot of nice features. But I've seen them priced used for $250, and I bought mine for $150, with a Wilkenson trem, locking tuners, and a coil tap for the bridge humbucker.

 

I don't care much for the Ibanez SA 1260 AV and the other Ibanez's like it, I don't like the shape of the necks; too flat and skinny. It lists for less that the Cort, although it doesn't have a coil tap for the bridge pickup. The Yamaha PAC 812V is about the same deal, or seems like it from what I can tell, but I lke the neck shape on the Pacificas better than I do on the Ibanez's.

 

Does your Mex Fender have a humbucker (double coil pickup) in the bridge position? If so, does it have a coil tap? Does it stay in tune when you use the whammy bar? Is the neck straight, and does it play in tune all the way up the neck? Those are the questions you need to ask yourself regarding quality and versatiltity. If you can answer yes to all those questions, you are probably about as well off with your Fender as you would be with the Cort. If not, the Cort would probably be your best bet out of the ones you named. It IS NOT cheap, but it would be the most versatile guitar of the bunch.

[Guitarzan]

i have owned both a cort MGM 1 and a yamaha 812w. the new 812 v is only different in the fact that the bridge is a yamaha design instead of the wilkinson and the 812v has a bridge mounted JB instead of a 59. they are great guitars. very stratty with some extra balls when you use the humbucker.

the cort models are very well made. a band that has been recording at the studio i was at this weekend used a cl 1500, which is the hollow body LP shaped guitar with the vine inlay. the guy has a lot of PRS guitars but the cl 1500 got used alot.

my MGM was a very nice guitar and i was looking for a strattier tone when i traded it for my first Godin.

any ibanez's that have a serial number starting with a c are made by cort anyway. these are usually the lower to mid models.