The launch of Cort's more modern than thou singlecut Artisan A5 Plus SCMS five-string electric bass was so successful that it has offered a the format with a quite lovely open-pore bubinga top.
While this new bass retains much of the future-forward spec of the A5 Plus SCMS model, with Bartolini MKI pickups, Hipshot hardware and the five-piece maple and purple heart neck, it has a whole name of its own – the Artisan A5 Beyond.
Whether bubinga is indeed a step beyond the spalted maple top and swamp ash body of the A5 Plus SCMS is a matter of taste, but in this life it is nice to be presented with options.
Elsewhere, the A5 Beyond features the same 35.5" to 34" multi-scale dimensions as its sibling. Again, the watch word is modernity. The ergonomics of the A5 Beyond are all very player-centric, with all 24 frets easily accessible.
The cast zinc and aluminium string posts of the Hipshot Ultralite machine heads 30 per cent lighter than regular tunings, which should help stop neck-dive at source.
Controlling those MK-1 pickups, you've got a 3-band active EQ, and the bass can be run in active or passive modes.
The A5 Beyond has an MRSP of $1,699.99 but is already turning up online for a street price of £999. See Cort for more details.
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