Cort Sunset I and Sunset II Guitars Review - Guitar Interactive Magazine - Issue 16
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ย. 2024
- Read the full review here bit.ly/Cort_Sun...
Harking back to the good 'ol days of Rock 'n' Roll and Rockabilly, the Cort Sunset I and II are vintage styled guitars with some modern features that should appeal to a wide range of 6-string slingers. Tom Quayle donned a large quiff, his crepe soled shoes and started to rock...
A fact not widely known is that Cort is one the biggest manufacturers of guitars in the world. Producing instruments under its own brand name and for others, it has developed a reputation for delivering quality at very attractive price points. Recently, Cort has started to gain a wider profile under it's own name, so now seems like a good time to check out two of its latest models.
The Sunset I and II are designed to appeal to a vintage-minded Rockabilly or Rock and Roll player, yet certainly have enough modern appointments and tonal variety to make them attractive to others beyond these genres. We were supplied with both guitars for this review, with the higher-end Sunset I being first up for examination.
The Sunset I features a chambered (not fully hollow) mahogany body with a maple top finished in resplendent Candy Apple Red and it sports a slight sparkle to the paintwork. The set in neck is all mahogany with a rosewood fretboard, white binding and super-comfortable 12" radius. The traditional 24 ¾" scale length makes the guitar feel immediately like home and all appointments, from the Bigsby roller bridge, Grover tuners and rectangular white pearl inlays feel and look like quality. A set of TV Jones Classic and Classic Plus humbuckers have been chosen for the neck and bridge positions respectively for an authentic tone and add a modern versatility to the design with a wide range of tones available from the three way switch and single volume/tone knob configuration.
These pickups need discussing in a bit more depth as it seems to be a hallmark of Cort that where a lot of Far Eastern guitar and bass companies will simply clone a suitable cheap single coil or humbucker for a new instrument, Cort goes that extra mile and sources its pickups from experts, as it has here with these TV Jones models and did with the Curbow bass Dan Veall reviewed in our last issue, which came with Bartolinis. For the uninitiated, TV Jones made his name with Gretsch and his pickup users now include a who's who of Rock nobility, apparently including Billy F. Gibbons, David Gilmour and Joe Perry! This isn't, it has to be said, the kind of quality you expect to find on what is quite an inexpensive guitar.
Perhaps the most impressive element of the Sunset I (and Sunset II for that matter) is the flawless construction on our review models. The Candy Apple Red paint job is perfectly realized and the binding, fretwork and general construction are of a very high quality - again, impressive for a guitar in this price range. The neck profile is comfortable and should be an instant hit with Gibson or Gretsch owners but the smaller body shape gives a more modern and sleek profile that should please those looking for something a little different. Tuning was generally good for a Bigsby equipped guitar and the Grover tuners were very responsive, adding mass to the headstock, creating a very nicely balanced instrument for both sitting and standing players that is lightweight but resonant.
Tonally the Sunset I is a pretty versatile performer thanks to those lovely pickups. Whilst the electronics are simple, careful use of the controls can elicit twangy Rockabilly tones, dark and warm Jazz tones or jangly Beatles-esque strumming sounds if required. Both pickups perform very well with overdrive and have a slightly more modern tone than their vintage looks might imply but still retain the hollow characteristics of the body design and have a warm, mahogany bite.
The Sunset II is essentially a very similar guitar to its sibling, featuring the same chambered mahogany body, maple top, mahogany neck and general appointments. Unlike the Sunset I, the II features a Tonepros Licensed bridge with a stop tailpiece and a pair of TV Jones Ltd humbuckers. Available in the same Candy Apple Red and Black colours, our review model had a similar flawless level of construction and finish, again unexpected at this price point. The factory setup was very good with a low action but bags of sustain, thanks to the fixed bridge and quality construction.
The Sunset II is definitely a more modern looking instrument and Cort has been very clever in keeping the main elements of the design but producing an instrument that will appeal visually to a wider audience. Tuning was slightly more stable than the Sunset I but that's to be expected given the stability of the Tonepros bridge in comparison to the Bigsby.
Check out the full review inc. video of the Cort Sunset I and Sunset II Guitars by Tom Quayle featured in Guitar Interactive Magazine Issue 16 here bit.ly/Cort_Sun...
I have a sunset II model and tbh it has some serious tone! awesome guitar one of the best I've played especially for my style of music its surprisingly flexible (Reggae, ska, blues, roots, gospel fusion, Samoan).
Definitely recommend this guitar and brand if anyone is interested. Well built and feels great.
I bought the Sunset I a couple years ago. I just love her, and not letting her go. Amazing instrument.
Forget the guitar, your playing....VERY tasteful, bravo
The problem is that Tommy Q can make a mop with rubber bands sound good...cool looking guitar!
79lpcustom true that! I bought this guitar after watching this video.
I love how the neck pick up and both together sound. A lot of neck pickups gets really muddy or wooly (add neck pick up adjective here)!!
Sounds great!!
I know this is an old vid, but just have to say regardless his employer, Tom does THE BEST reviews.
Thank you for this very well done test. Regards from Germany, Mario Stresow
After some more time and work,I"m beginning to think it"s a time problem,it remeins me of a Gretch I had,it took 5 years before it was beginning to sound good,by now, I would definately think,that its strenght lies in the rythm depardment,it fills out very well,and easy to control.
Amazing guitar playing, perfection!
Great guitars!!
Excellent play and tone man!!!!
Love the clean tones on the Sunset l. I want this guitar! Just a cool looking guitar.
This fellow should be giving on line guitar lessons.....He plays great!
I have one question...can i play these sunset series with high distorsion? Cuz i love vintage look but not vintage sound.
Pretty sure you can do whatever you want if you like the sound :)
I just bought this guitar after seeing this review! What a nice guitar for this price but what amp did you run through? A fender deluxe? Something else? I'm running through a Supro. Cool sound but I'm trying to get a tone similar to what you got on this video. Love the twangy grit on the top.
It seems that sunset 1 is hard to find now. Would you guys recommend getting the sunset II?
Hi my friend, a few weeks ago I bought a cort source guitar. My question is, it is a good guitar ?, could you recomend me this guitar to play blues ?. Thanks.
The Sunset I looks kinda like a MotorAve BelAire guitar
Take a look at The m900, that baby really outweighs these sunsets By far....!! (Big time). Cheers!
Fantastic review
An example of,it dosn"t always add up.I"ve tried every trick in my book,to make my Sunset 1,sound pleasing,and stay in tune, and with no susses.With these materials,it schould sound great, but no sir.I prefer an Ibanez Roadcore,or the new Squier Tele Custom,the one with the bindings.I have a tip for you thoug. I higly recommend the LTD EC 256 ligthweight. Its cheap,plays and sound great,and even has coilsplit.I myself,have taken the luxuary, to put a pair of Gibson 57 plus on my 256 flametop. But stock pick ups are abselutely sufficient. And boys,feel like stranded in a dead end street, try chaging your pickin technique, get yourself a tompick,remember to shorten the bastard,they are useually to long,,and maybe later,a couple on the fingers as well,and of you go, Freddy King, for example,a combination of plastic and irin on his fingers, which by the way, are very good on their own. Do you have strong nails?
Nice licks!
Great review!
What the hell is your amp? Like this great tone in common with Ibanez RC330t, too! Very punchy, very transparent and raw.
the sunset Jnr look a step below these two- i could be wrong ?...looking for a ytube demo of the jnr -anyone know ?
It looks like the same people who did this, designed the TV Jones guitar. Yes?
Cort made the TV guitars for Blues Saraceno yes
Gretsch and other more recognized brands are below this quality...
Cort guitar build quality, finish and QC is very, very, very good *IMPE* . Better than Yamaha who have become complacent, and many other brands by far.
Yamaha is also very good...but they have less variety of guitars
Gretsch streamliner series is made by cort Indonesia
Only clean sound not relatively . Pure clean sound , no cheating
Nice guitars for the price, well under a grand.
4
Well what can I say? that I finaly found out why the guitar didn"t sound to my expectations,and yes thats right, I did. The solution lay there right in front of my nose all the time,but old habit prevented me from seeng the solution. I have a great deal of guitars,thats the luxuaty these days,you end up having a park, " can I show you my collection"? And as a strong principle, I keep the pick ups as low as possible. These megetron pick ups, are quite the opposite,they shall stay as high as possible to sound good. When I did that,I finaly got the sound I"d expected, and maybe a little bit better. The tuning stability is something else, lets just say that tuning stability on my Sunset 1,it"s not its biggest strenght,but the sound,sweet and wild.
Came here after watching guitarworlds most recent video.
It's like watching an 11 year old on a squire through a practice amp compared to this.
Well compared to anything really...
And now you are 17....time flies
👍👍👍
no bigsby trem demo???? sad
its deligious my friend ı have one muahhhh..
I hear you, Just pull that bar at least once!
the clean sounds of the sunset 1 werent very clean...in fact the bridge pkup distorted...too much gain in the amp.
"shes a beaut " !!! ...can we keep her ma !....can we ????
It sounds like a srat
its great, cheap rickenbaker!
No Cort No Music
Funny guy and his MUSICAL GUITARS!