Guitar World Verdict
A true modern classic with a price that’s within reach for many players, Cort’s G250 SE raises the bar in quality for a double-cutaway guitar with player-centric upgrades. Whether it serves as your main guitar or as a backup, the G250 SE is a solid workhorse and a real joy to play.
Pros
- +
Affordable in price and high in quality.
- +
Roasted maple neck ensures stability and reliability.
- +
Player-friendly neck profile and medium jumbo frets provide easy playability.
- +
Cort’s mid-output Voiced Tone pickups produce brighter clarity and snap.
- +
Two-point vibrato is smooth and solid.
Cons
- -
None at this price.
You can trust Guitar World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing guitar products so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
What is it?
Whether you’re a novice, a shredder or even a dabbler, there’s a guitar that Cort can quickly curate for you. How so? Just head over to Cort’s comprehensive website and you’ll find a trio of dropdown menus that will generate the ideal guitar for your needs.
While this sounds like I’m shilling for them, rest assured, I have no skin in the game; Cort has done just fine selling a dizzying amount of electric guitars, basses and acoustics without my help.
What I can say is I’ve reviewed a few of the firm’s guitars in the shredder and the more contemporary categories – the KX700 Evertune and the G290 FAT II, respectively – and both were genuinely outstanding instruments.
Once again, I had the opportunity to check out Cort’s latest modern classic, the G250 SE, which ticks all the boxes in a pleasing double-cutaway design with an HSS pickup configuration that’s invitingly impressive in playability and tone. B
But you know what’s bonkers? It comes with an affordable price tag that makes scooping one up all the more enticing.
The G250 SE has the familiar double-cutaway curves found on typical overseas S-style guitars with the slightly elongated upper horn. What sets it apart from others is the fact that its basswood body is slightly asymmetrical, making it appealing to many players digging on the trendier offset designs.
From there, the guitar shares the same aesthetic as other S-styles by having a three-ply vintage black pickguard framing its attractive appearance in four muted and lacquered finishes of Ocean Blue Grey, Olive Dark Green, Vivid Burgundy and Black.
Roasted maple necks with their tried-and-true stability and golden brown hues are currently de rigueur, and Cort is on point offering it here as the guitar’s bolted-on choice at no additional charge.
The guitar does away with the common squared-off neck heel and replaces it with a smoothly beveled one for an effortless approach past the 15th fret. Also, the slim, C-profile neck is finished in satin with 22 medium jumbo frets and black dot inlays and features a 25 ½" scale length.
The G250 SE’s vintage voice is powered by Cort’s Voiced Tone pickups with a VTH-59 bridge humbucker paired with two VTS-63 single-coil pickups, controls for volume and tone (with coil-tap) and a five-way selector switch.
The guitar floats a two-point vibrato bridge with steel bent saddles, but you’ll need to be judicious in your vibrato throw to not go out of tune because the guitar comes with die-cast (non-locking) tuners.
Playability and sounds
It used to be that guitars with pinpoint playability and minimal upgrades in hardware and electronics would be straddling the $500-600 mark, but now – at nearly half the price – the G250 SE seriously competes with those instruments and exceeds all expectations.
From fit to finish, it’s staggering how good this guitar feels and sounds, making it nearly impossible to fault. Setup was fairly good, but, as an experienced player, I made some minor adjustments in dropping the action by lowering the two-point vibrato bridge and a slight truss rod tweak of the neck.
Playability felt effortless on its floating bridge in combination with the player-friendly carve on its roasted neck. Cort’s Voiced Tone pickups are somewhat vintage-flavored, as evidenced by their mid-output and neutral tonal coloration.
You can argue they lack the complexity or fuller-bodied tones of other popular brands, but what you’ll hear instead is a prominent glassy sparkle from the single coils and a firm, chunky bite from the humbucker.
The coil-tapped bridge makes an audible difference in tone without losing output, and when you factor in the combined brightness of bolt-on construction and a roasted maple neck, the guitar’s overall sound snaps with biting clarity.
Verdict
Guitar World verdict: A true modern classic with a price that’s within reach for many players, Cort’s G250 SE raises the bar in quality for a double cutaway guitar with player-centric upgrades. Whether it serves as your main guitar or as a backup, the G250 SE is a solid workhorse and a real joy to play.
Specs
Launch price: $349 / £299 / €299
ORIGIN: Indonesia
TYPE: Offset double-cutaway solidbody electric guitar
BODY: Basswood
NECK: Roasted maple, bolt-on
SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”)
NUT/WIDTH: PPS/42mm
FINGERBOARD: Jatoba, 9.45″ radius, black dot inlays
FRETS: 22, medium jumbo
HARDWARE: 2-point with bent steel saddles, die-cast tuners, steel
STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 52.5mm
ELECTRICS: 2x Cort Voiced Tone VTS63 single-coils, 1x VTH59 humbucker, volume, tone with coil-tap, 5-way pickup selector
OPTIONS: None
LEFT-HANDERS: No
FINISHES: Vivid Burgundy [as reviewed] Ocean Blue Grey, Olive Dark Green, Black
CONTACT: Cort
Hands-on videos
TV Guitar Center
장지용 - Blues Man
Nathan Leonard
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
