My recycled CORT Electric Guitar

Ok, this was found in a trash can and recycled. Put new strings on it, adjusted the action and it sounds pretty darn good. Called CORT cause I can't find any info on it and a fella there said it was made in 78. Korean origin. Anybody ever see on like this? Plays very well, heavy ass neck and a nice round profile like an old LP maybe a 60's style neck for an LP. Big and fat. Has a micro tilt adjustment too which is cool and bullet truss rod. Needs new tunning machines but stays in tune very very well irregardless. Ok let me know and thanks for any info.

PS CORT says it was made like 78 according to serial number and they didn't make very many single humbucking guitars. So there ya go.

Nice find, congrats.

Isn't it funny that so many of those '70s guitars that were put down as 'cheap' at the time actually turned out to be pretty good guitars?

- D

Looks like a good find. I have a Cort Electric Bass labeled P-Bass copy. It's been a decent bass since I got it years ago for $15.00--it just needed a bridge saddle and strings.

One of my Squiers has those same machines, they never were very good. I'll probably go for a set EZ Locks from GFS.

Heard back from CORT. Made between 78 and 80 but probably early 78 according to the serial # and the owner of CORT. List price back then was around 350 maybe a bit more depending on where and who was selling it(retailer). Everything is original on it and it is heavy and like I said has a fat neck. Micro tilt adjustment is cool to fool around and makes a big difference it seems in string height. Has a bullet truss rod and the input jack it beat up and bent up a bit around the edges but works as it should. One would think it would be a metal guitar, at least I did but it isn't. Nice fat and twangy tones depending on switch position and tone rolled on or off. Sustain is very good too. Balances nicely on the shoulder too. Pretty happy with it. thanks

I have a Cort acoustic steel string, and it is one of the best darn acoustics I have ever played. I put extra light gauge strings on it so it plays almost like an electric. (Well not quite but the action is great) I put a Fishman transducer pickup under the bridge nut, and only recently I found out that those need a pre-amp so I picked up the Fishman pre-amp for acoustics new for 50 dollars and it sounds sweet. The jack for the plug is in the center of the rear strap holder, so you don't even know the guitar was modified to look at it.

Without any electronics being plugged in it has a great tone; solid rosewood back and sides and solid spruce top. I think the fretboard is Ebony. I only paid about $200 for it new. I must have bought it God knows when, but it was way before the early 90's is all I know.

I was just thinking inexpensive acoustic when I got it, but it has turned out to be a gem.

nice find and also great that you kept it out of the wastebin!

I have a Cort Strat copy. Its the regular s-s-s Strat configuration and just has a regular bolt on neck with no tilt feature. The neck is maple/maple and is a fat "C" shape. Truss rod adjustment is in the cavity.

The body is made from some kind of plywood and is seriously heavy. 10lbs or more, definitely heavier than the heaviest Les Paul. It has more sustain than Pauls and Juniors. :lol:

The tuners and trem were crap. The trem block wasn't even solid, it was just made from stamped sheetmetal. I replaced the tuners with Gotoh vintage style and I replaced the trem with one from Allparts. A regular Fender trem wouldn't work because of the narrower string spacing. Another crazy thing about this guitar is that the single coil pickups are larger than Strat single coils.

I probably still have the old tuners in a box somewhere if you need a replacement for that one on the end. But I recommend swapping them for modern tuning heads because they're junk. :lol:

If that guitar was made in 1978 then I'm Mick Jagger.

I'd place it ten years later since it has all the hallmarks of the eighties' Eddie Van Halen one pickup super strat lineage and it also has that eighties Cort Headstock and string guide. In 1978 there simply wasn't a market for a guitar like that.

Serial numbers of Korean guitars are confusing, people I know kept on trying to sell a 1989 Squier (made at the Cort factory) as a 1979 because of them using the Fender serial dating method of the S standing for "Seventies" and the first number of the digits standing for the year of manufactor. Let me guess, you've send the serial number to Cort without a picture of the guitar itself because I'm pretty sure they wouldn't make a mistake like that.

Well then you must be Mick Jagger. I sent the pics to CORT to a sales rep.(Jeff Hubert). He had the ownerlook at the photo's and he said made in 78 or so maybe 80. Just going by what he said. He said it's pretty rare in that they didn't make many single pickup guitars back then especially in hb config. So there ya go. thanks

looks like it easily could get the Van Halen treatment...paint her red and put some black and white stripes on her. schwing!

Well then you must be Mick Jagger. I sent the pics to CORT to a sales rep. He had the ownerlook at the photo's and he said made in 78 or so maybe 80. Just going by what he said. He said it's pretty rare in that they didn't make many single pickup guitars back then especially in hb config. So there ya go. thanks

Well to back up what I was stating I went searching for old Cort catalog scans and they are HARD to find, but from what I DID find showed that your guitar is a Cort Ferrari 1 and that one was introduced in 1984.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_QubetTjZ7dw/S1TmW8ivfeI/AAAAAAAAFlg/oPpzivnCOeg/s800/cat_1984cort_003.jpg
This is the cover of the 1984 Cort Catalog showing the Ferrari 2 the sister model of your guitar.

Try searching on the Cort Ferari 1 and see what you'll find.

And I still don't see Jagger's face when looking in the mirror either.

Well then I'm Mick Jagger and your not. I'll contact that sales rep. and tell him. Do you know the specs on the guitar? They said back then it retailed for like 350-400 bucks. Mine I don't think is plywood but it is heavy and with a big ass neck on it. Mine holds tune pretty well even with those cheap tuners it has on it. The HB is pretty decent too and again sustain is very good. thanks