Cort Guitars
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Cort Guitars (Cor-Tek Corporation) is a South Korean
guitar manufacturing Guitar manufacturing is the use of machines, tools, and labor in the production of electric and acoustic guitars. This phrase may be in reference to handcrafting guitars using traditional methods or assembly line production in large quantities usi ...
company located in
Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
. The company is one of the largest
guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
makers in the world, and produces instruments for many other companies. It also has factories in
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
and
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. Products manufactured by Cort include
electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...
, acoustic and classical guitars,
basses Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass ...
, and
ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...
s.


History

Cort was founded in 1960 as an importer of pianos by current CEO Young Park's father. At that time, the company was called Soo Doh Piano. The business slowly evolved from a piano importer to a manufacturer and sales division then finally into a guitar manufacturer in 1973. At this early stage of the company's history, Soo Doh was strictly an OEM supplier to other foreign brand name companies. The company eventually changed its name to Cort Musical Instruments, focused on guitars as it became much more proficient at it than producing pianos and released the first Cort-branded guitars in 1982. Cort began production of headless guitars in 1984 with designs exclusively licensed from
Ned Steinberger Ned Steinberger (b. Princeton, New Jersey, 1948) is an American creator of innovative musical instruments. He is most notable for his design of guitars and basses without a traditional headstock, which are called Steinberger instruments. He also ...
for Cort's own brand as well as for brands like
Hohner Hohner Musikinstrumente GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of musical instruments, founded in 1857 by Matthias Hohner (1833–1902). The roots of the Hohner firm are in Trossingen, Baden-Württemberg. Since its foundation, and though known ...
and Kramer. This development helped bring the Cort name to the mainstream electric guitar market and attracted the attention of other well-known brand name companies seeking contract guitar manufacturers in Korea.


Models

Cort does not have a specific model of guitar that could be called its “signature”, like the
Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously ...
for Fender or the
Les Paul Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype ...
for
Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...
. Instead, Cort produces a wide variety of
electric guitars An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...
,
acoustic guitars An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
,
acoustic bass guitars The acoustic bass guitar (sometimes shortened to acoustic bass or initialized ABG) is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually larger than a steel-string acoustic guitar. Like the traditional electric bass guitar ...
, and electric basses.


Electrics

* Aero * Classic Rock * EVL * Performer * G * Gene Simmons * Hollowbody * Sterling * Sunset * Master8R * KX series * M series * Signature * Viva * VX * X * Zenon * Zenox * CR


Acoustics

* Limited Edition * Earth * Core * SFX * CJ * MR * Classical * Standard * Bass * S (90's) * Jade * Luce * NDX * Bluegrass


Basses

* GB * Artisan * Curbow * Action * Arona *
Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; he, חיים ויץ, ; born August 25, 1949) is an Israeli-American musician. Also known by his stage persona The Demon, he is the bassist and co-lead singer of Kiss, the hard rock band he co-founded with Paul ...
Axe * Gene Simmons Punisher In addition to the models currently being made, Cort has produced many others, including the "S" series guitars (Stellar, Sterling, Starlite), the "Viva" guitars, "MGM" ( Matt Guitar Murphy), "Freedom" bass (
Billy Cox William Cox (born October 18, 1941) is an American bassist, best known for performing with Jimi Hendrix. Cox is the only surviving musician to have regularly played with Hendrix: first with the experimental group that backed Hendrix at Woodstoc ...
),
Neil Zaza Neil Zaza is an American guitarist known for his instrumental rock compositions as well as his adaptation of classical works by Bach and Mozart into his own blend of neo-classical, melodic, guitar instrumentals. Biography Neil Zaza was born in ...
,
Larry Coryell Larry Coryell (born Lorenz Albert Van DeLinder III; April 2, 1943 – February 19, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist. Early life Larry Coryell was born in Galveston, Texas, United States. He never knew his biological father, a musician. He w ...
, "Elrick" bass, "J Triggs" (
Jim Triggs Jim Triggs is an American luthier, described as the "P.T. Barnum of guitar makers." He grew up in Kansas, where he taught himself how to build mandolins and violins. He began building guitars in the early 1980s, influenced by such luthiers as John ...
), "Katana", and "Effector". Several of the earliest Corts were direct copies of popular models such as the Stratocaster.


Parkwood

Up until 2006, Cort manufactured a line of high quality guitars under the name 'Cort Parkwood'. In 2006, Cort turned Parkwood into a brand of its own and now does not feature the Cort name or logo. This is a brand sold exclusively through big box stores such as Guitar Center. Cort continues to manufacture the Parkwood brand in
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
although it is printed "Handcrafted in China" inside the guitar body. The Hybrid series coming from
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
.


Masterpiece (MMP) Series electric guitars

The Cort M-Series is as close to a signature shape as Cort gets across its range. Cort has released a limited production run of MMP series electric guitars from its own custom shop. Somewhere between 25 and 50 of each MMP model were released. So far Cort has released a
MMP1
with 'tree of life' inlay up the neck and finished in antique sunburst, an MMP2 an
MMP3
available in "transparent cannon blue" and "brown burst" finishes. These guitars are generally highly regarded and appear to be heavily influenced by higher-end PRS models, in both quality standards and style.


Contract production

Cort's main production focus is not on Cort-brand guitars, but rather on contract work for numerous other companies. Generally, large companies contract Cort to build lower-priced guitars that have that company's brand on them.
Ibanez is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as ...
, PRS (SE line), Parkwood,
Squier Squier is an American brand of electric guitars owned by Fender. The former manufacturing company, established as "V. C. Squier Company" was founded in 1890 by Victor Carroll Squier in Battle Creek, Michigan, producing strings for violins, ban ...
, G&L Tribute series line of guitars are among the most well-known brands that Cort produces. In recent years, small companies known for extremely high quality (and high-priced) guitars have begun contracting Cort to produce budget line models.
Avalon Guitars Avalon Guitars is a British /Irish musical instrument company based in Newtownards, Northern Ireland. Avalon produces a wide range of steel-string acoustic guitars. History The company, "Avalon Guitars Limited", was originally formed in 198 ...
, based in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, sold 8,000 guitars and more than doubled their income from the previous year when they contracted Cort to build a lower-priced guitar for them.


Controversy

Since 1997 controversy has surrounded Korean factories of Cort and Cor-Tek due to its alleged mistreatment of factory workers. Grievances include the closing of its
Daejon Daejeon () is South Korea's fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of 1.5 million as of 2019. Located in the central-west region of South Korea alongside forested hills and the Geum River, the city is known both for its technology and ...
factory with no advance warning on April 9, 2007, mass redundancies of all staff from its
Incheon Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...
plant on April 12, 2007, and the firing and mistreatment of union officials and members. On July 12, 2007, a Cort worker set himself on fire in protest, and on October 15, 2008, workers conducted a 30-day hunger strike and sit-in occupation on a 40-meter electricity tower.
Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerfor ...
guitarist
Tom Morello Thomas Baptist Morello (born May 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is best known for his tenure with the rock band Rage Against the Machine and then with Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, Morello ...
and
System of a Down System of a Down (also known as SoaD or simply System) is an Armenian-American heavy metal band formed in Glendale, California, in 1994. Since 1997, the band has consisted of Serj Tankian (lead vocals, keyboards); Daron Malakian (guitar, voc ...
frontman
Serj Tankian Serj Tankian (born August 21, 1967) is an Armenian-American singer, musician, songwriter, political activist and entrepreneur. He is best known as the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, keyboardist, and occasional rhythm guitarist of heavy metal ...
- both partners in the
Axis of Justice Axis of Justice is a non-profit organization co-founded by Serj Tankian and Tom Morello. Its purpose is to bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots progressivism to fight for social justice together. Formation In a 2007 intervi ...
- joined representatives of the Cort workers in a protest concert against Cort and Cor-tek on January 13, 2010, at the Nanum Cultural Center in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. Morello said "I fully support the Korean workers' demands for justice in the workplace. All American guitar manufacturers and the people that play them should hold Cort accountable for the awful way they have treated their workers." This controversy went through various legal stages in Korea from 2007 through 2012. Ultimately, Cort received favorable decisions from the Supreme Court in Korea that ended any further liability on Cort's part to the terminated employees. The court ruled that the closure of the plant in 2008 and subsequent layoff were justified.


Sources


External links

* {{Guitar brands Guitar manufacturing companies Electric bass guitars by manufacturer Manufacturing companies based in Seoul Musical instrument manufacturing companies of South Korea South Korean brands South Korean companies established in 1973 Manufacturing companies established in 1973