Gonna stand up to the naysayers, here - give one a try. Matt 'Guitar' Murphey plays one, there's a Larry Coreyell (sp?) model (and I think Larry knows a thing or two.) - and a guitar player I work with (disclaimer - he's a luthier and mods everything he owns) has one of their Strat types and, with the above disclaimer in mind, it's one of the sweetest axes I've touched in ages.

Jul 7, 2013 - The headstock says 'Cort electric guitar' and there's two stickers on the back with a serial number, WO20785, and 'Fabrique en Coree'. On the Cort the bass is snappier, but also is thinner, and getting a smooth bluesy lead. Minacriss server download.

Y'know, I've got high-end Steinbergers, Parkers, Godins in my racks - what guitar is gettin' the most fingerprints on it these days? A $170 Squire Affinity Tele I recently picked up. Bang for the buck is ridiculous, plays as good as any of the above.

Yeah - I'm gonna upgrade the pickups and electronics pretty quick, but in a way that's the point- there's nothing precious about it, I can mod it to my hearts content without any concerns about 'value'. Hindi saral 2 font styles. Thing plays like a champ - everything else is subject to my whims. Certainly you get something for the big bucks (see above list) or the 'brand' name - but one of the best things to ever happen to guitarists was the advent of CNC manufacturing. Reliable, repeatable quality from intrument to instrument, able to be produced cheaply en masse. A 'cheap' guitar in 2009 is light-years ahead of one from the 60's, or 70's. So go find a Cort - get your fingerprints on it and see what YOU think. (And if you want to mod it, flag me and I'll put you in touch with my luthier friend.).

I've played them and liked them ok. I thought the ones I played were well made, sounded good, and played well. I've never owned one, I just played them in a local pawn shop. They've been in there a long time. I've played them more than I should have without buying them. I once grew tired of the gear I had and traded some with a friend.

I wound up with a cort multi effects pedal that had been taken apart and all the wiring to the input and output jacks, battery connector, and head phone jack were all removed. Someone had been trying to work on it. I looked up the Cort Co.

On the Internet and wrote them a letter explaining that I hadn't actually bought thier product but I had one that needed to be repaired. I told them I had electronics experience and thought I could work on it myself if they would sell me a schematic. They never answered my e-mail. A few days later I got a schematic in the mail with a number to call should I need tech assistance.

ORIGINAL: mcourter Y'know, I've got high-end Steinbergers, Parkers, Godins in my racks - what guitar is gettin' the most fingerprints on it these days? A $170 Squire Affinity Tele I've always wanted a Tele, and I've been looking at the Squier for that very reason: I like to tinker with them.

I made my own cheap Strat for that same reason: so I can upgrade it. I may go that route for my Tele, but a Squier is as cheap as a kit! Upgrading a guitar that feels good but is cheap is a great plan. My favourite guitar is a MIM Fender Telecaster that I bought in 1991. I swapped out the pickups (Tex.special for bridge, Fender Lace Sensor gold humbucker for neck), and got new tuning keys after 17 years.

Guitar= $300 (in 1991) Pickups= $100 Tuning Keys = $30 $430, for the best guitar I've ever played. I feel completely ashamed as I've owned 2 'real deal' Tele's in my time a bound edge red one and a blonde. I only ever had them because I loved them as objects and in the hope they would inspire me to learn to play them, I had them both set up by tech's that knew what they were doing and apparently people that played them said they were great.in truth I had no idea and lookalikes would have made just as great ornaments. Having said that I used to record with the cheapest Pearl snare drum you could get and it quickly became a favourite. Because it was cheap it had fewer tuning lugs and the threads on those were so coarse they came loose during the course of a session.

But it had a beautiful sound that recorded well and had plenty of character the fact that the lugs were cheap turned out to be an advantage in the end as you could change to tuning in half the time and to stop the de-tuning issue I used a sticky 'Spraymount' spray which worked a treat. I guess what I'm trying to say here is emphasising that you can pick up great bargains and make 'em work your way without having the 'name' but you do have to get your hands dirty trying them out.I think with a lot of top brand gear you pay a premium for assurance that it's gonna be with in the envelope of 'good', but by trying stuff out like this you can end up with something that offers you more than that, you can end up with something that is totally YOU! Of course, provided you don't go for a complete banger with a neck that is more suitable for archery and doesn't collapse in two when you tune it up. I used to stock a few Corts back in the day and never had problems or complaints with them. I've seen Cort guitars around. A music store within walking distance from me has the Cort line.