Cort Artisan Space 5
Today's topic is the Cort Artisan Space 5.
I recently played an instrument from this series, and here's my humble review:
Neck 8/10 The neck is comfortable, made from a pile of heat-treated wood. The frets are well-finished from the factory. There's a heel on the headstock, which is very good. Kiesel couldn't boast of this until recently, even though they cost an order of magnitude more. Steinberger is no different.
Body 9/10 I'll immediately note the extremely convenient cutaway with excellent access to all the frets, which is definitely a plus. The body overall is very comfortable, symmetrical, and will sit well on any stand, unlike, for example, a jazz bass. The only thing I didn't like was the edges of the top; it looks especially odd on the horns.
Electronics 6/10 The pickups sound decent, but the preamp was disappointing. Firstly, it doesn't have a middle stop on the potentiometers. Secondly, it's too sharp. It can be turned off, but in passive mode, the bass doesn't have a tone knob.
Hardware 7/10 On the plus side, the bridge is very nice. The tuners are easy to grip and turn comfortably, not too soft, but not too tight either. On the minus side, the toplock is simply awful. The quality of the toplock and its construction are incomparable to the bridge. Even the finish quality is different.
Overall rating 7/10 A good working instrument for under $1,000. A good base for future upgrades. In the future, I'd like to see a few more finish options for these instruments, as well as a version without a top and with passive electronics.
Would you like this instrument?