Cort Bass Guitar article
Cort Bass Guitar for Beginners: A Complete Guide
New bass players will find the brand's entry-level range consistently reliable and well-built. Here is what you need to know to get started.
If you are new to the bass and considering a Cort bass guitar, you are looking at one of the best-value choices on the market. The brand's manufacturing experience means its entry-level instruments are consistently better built and more playable than most of what they compete with. This guide covers what you need to know as a new bass player: what the range offers, which models suit beginners, and what to expect when you start playing.
Why a Cort Is a Good Starting Point
The company behind the brand is one of the world's largest guitar factories and has spent decades manufacturing for major brands. That experience translates into instruments with straight necks, reliable hardware, and good factory setups at prices that entry-level instruments from more famous brands cannot match. A new player picking up a Cort bass guitar for the first time is unlikely to encounter the setup problems — high action, buzzing strings, sticky tuners — that often make entry-level instruments from other brands frustrating for beginners.
The Action Series for Beginners
The Action Bass Plus is the most recommended starting instrument. It features an alder body, a comfortable maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard, and two passive pickups that produce a clean, balanced tone. The neck profile is manageable for new players; the string spacing is standard; the action is set at a playable height. The instrument does not require modification to be usable. Play it through a practice amplifier and it will produce a decent bass tone immediately.
Understanding the Controls
A basic entry-level model typically has a volume control and one or two tone controls. Volume is self-explanatory. The tone control rolls off treble frequencies — turning it clockwise gives a brighter sound; counter-clockwise darkens the tone. On a two-pickup instrument, a blend or pickup selector control lets you mix between the pickups for different tonal characters. A bridge pickup gives a brighter, more punchy tone; a neck pickup gives a warmer, rounder sound. Most beginners leave the controls close to the middle and adjust as they develop preferences.
What to Practise First
Start with the major and minor scale in first position — this develops left-hand finger strength and right-hand plucking technique simultaneously. Bass technique is built around clean fretting (press just behind the fret, not in the middle of the space), consistent right-hand plucking, and muting strings that are not being played. The neck consistency on a cort bass guitar makes it easier to develop accurate left-hand technique because the neck profile and fret finish are predictably good. For the next stage, see our mistakes to avoid and our buyer's guide.
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