I play in a regular gigging band and have had good experiences with Cort basses. When I saw this model (B5 Element) I had to buy one. Quality of build, fretting, hardware etc is exceptional for the price, and the balance is incredible. I did find the midrange tones a bit of a challenge however., using a lot of eq on amp and preamp to make it more musical. However, binned the stick strings when they were starting to deaden and replaced with a new (other brand) set of 45-130 nickel rounds. What a transformation!!! This bass now compares with my high end custom 5, in terms of tone. ( the other bass has USA Bartolini pickups,). The bass needed a good set up when it arrived, but after a pretty straightforward truss rod and bridge adjustment it plays as well as any of my other basses (with less fret noise than some). After buying this bass I've culled my 5 string collection - Warwick and 2 nice Ibanez have gone, as this one plays and sounds as good, and balances significantly better. This is now my viable ( and well used) back up and alternative to my GMR custom bass.
If you buy one, give it some TLC and, potentially, new strings , you've got a really good gigging ans studio tool. I've even moved a 3 band parametric after changing string brand. Buy it with confidence .....nice bass
