Cort G290 FAT II

GUITAR WORLD GOLD AWARD

PERFO R MANCE

The Cort of Public Opinion

CORT G290 FAT II

By Paul Riario

THE SILVER LINING of guitar snobbery is that it can easily be swayed by great guitars that nip at the heels of the establishment. All it takes are a few solid examples that are on par with “ivy league” brands in fit and finish and come complete with all the necessary upgrades that many players desire and at a price that fits within most working musicians’ budgets. As proof, Cort has made countless guitars for other manufacturers, yet their namesake instruments have been largely overlooked. Not anymore. Tapping into key features and ergonomic designs, Cort seems intent on overshadowing its competitors with their own models that are more than just the sum of their parts. And it is this galvanizing synergy that makes the Cort G290 FAT II a serious and worthy electric that has all the potential to be on the radar of many discerning players.

FEATURES Upon inspection, it’s impossible not to notice the top-notch componentry and woods on the guitar — that this is something entirely different from Cort. From its alder body with a gorgeous flamed top (in trans black burst, antique violin burst and bright blue burst) and one-ply white binding to its roasted maple neck and fretboard, everything about the G290 FAT II appears elevated. It also leads me to note that it feels so solidly built and airtight that you could probably drop this guitar and it would still play itself. The offset body feels snug pressed against you, with a generous belly carve and soft forearm contour that provides hours of playing comfort. Though it sounds like a misnomer, the Ergo-V neck profile is not a V-shape neck, but rather, a palm-filling profile that’s closer to a fuller “60’s” “C” shape with a soft satin finish on the back of the neck. The neck also sports glow-in-the-dark Luminlay side dots, an easy-to-burn-on 12-15.75–inch compound radius with 22 immaculately dressed frets, a Graph Tech Black TUSQ nut, Cort staggered locking tuners and an accessible spoke nut Hotrod truss rod wheel. The G290 FAT II’s articulate and detailed tones come courtesy of its Voiced Tone VTH-77 directmount pickups (in brushed nickel) merged with a custom pickup wiring to the 5-way switch that offers single-coil sparkle in the 2nd and 4th positions, and full-body humbucker roar in the other positions. Rounding out the guitar is Cort’s smooth traveling and floating CFA-III tremolo bridge mounted over a recessed cavity.

PERFORMANCE It’s hard not to draw comparisons of the G290 FAT II to vintage Ibanez Roadstar II guitars, but whereas the Roadstars of yore always felt bulky and a bit clumsy to me, the G290 FAT II looks more like an instrument you’d find in the hands of a professional session player. And that is exactly how I regard the G290 FAT II — a very measured and dialed-in instrument. Its approachable playability that promotes effortless bending and chording is the result of a low-action setup that’s exactly where it needs to be — without any choke-out points — and also where intonation is miraculously spot-on. In addition, Cort’s stainless steel tremolo has an evenly tempered up or down throw and stays remarkably in tune as long as you don’t treat it like a hammer. I’ll go out on a limb and assume the guitar’s “FAT II” moniker is a reference to the sound of its Voiced Tone humbuckers. For sure, humbuckers “fatten” tone, but what I find is the VTH-77 humbuckers sound more “full” than “fat,” meaning, there’s more definition, which is what I’d rather hear. The direct mount of the pickups adds fluent body and depth, with the bridge pickup having an expressive midrange and the neck humbucker projecting a throaty response. Even rolling the volume down, the pickups retain clarity as you throttle the taper between your rhythm and lead tones. I also dug the in-between split-coil positions for sounding singularly sweet and bright and offering a delicate contrast to the full-on humbucking brawn. There’s much more praise to heap on the G290 FAT II for being a studio-ready and gig-worthy guitar, but you only need to come by one.