Cort unveils the AB850F, a jumbo single-cutaway body acoustic-electric bass guitar with built-in Fishman electronics.
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I always find it odd when I watch “acoustic” or “unplugged” gigs/videos and see the bassist using electric bass. Hopefully having more acoustic bass guitars in the market can help bassists sort this oddness out.
The new Cort AB850F one-ups the company’s line of reasonably priced acoustic bass guitars, and it gives bassists the ability to play this instrument on stage via its built-in Fishman pickup and preamp system.
This acoustic bass guitar starts off with a full-size jumbo body that follows conventional tonewood combination, having laminated spruce for the top and laminated mahogany for the back and sides. Spruce is favored for its punch and clarity which also works for bass guitars, while mahogany’s earthy appeal and the warmth that it adds to the tone made it the choice of wood for this particular model. For improved resonance and structural stability, Cort implemented modern x-bracing to support the guitar’s top. For easier access to the upper frets, Cort had the body designed with a Venetian cutaway.
The neck is crafted from mahogany and topped by a rosewood fingerboard, with a total of 22 frets along its standard size 34″ scale length. The instrument’s familiar scale length and nut width (1.693″) make the neck feel similar to popular electric bass guitars, which in turn helps minimize fretting technique adjustments for smoother transitions when switching from electric to acoustic bass.
To make the Cort AB850F more gig friendly, Cort teamed up with popular acoustic guitar under-saddle piezo pickup builder Fishman, to have this bass come pre-installed with electronics before going out of the production line. To be specific, Cort went with the Fishman ISYS + EQ system which comes with the popular Sonicore pickup, as well as a two-band EQ for tone shaping, and phase control for onboard feedback suppression. For quick and convenient tuning, the preamp also comes with a built-in tuner that has a nice looking LED display.
Other features of this acoustic bass includes dot inlays on the fingerboard, rosewood bridge, and soundhole rosette. It is currently available in either natural or black finish.
Finally, the new Cort AB850F is reasonably priced at just under $450 and it ships with a fitted gigbag. You can head over to Cort Guitars for further details.
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