Cort Introduces Arena 1 Matthias Jabs Signature Guitar

Cort Guitars has announced the second signature guitar from Scorpions guitarist Matthias Jabs — the Arena 1. The guitar features Scorpu pickups, which were designed by Jabs and made to his exact humbucker/single coil/humbucker specs.

The Arena 1 is the second guitar in the Matthias Jabs Signature series. The first, which came out last year, offered a single pickup and a single control setup called the Garage. The Arena 1 goes to the other extreme.

“The idea was to provide guitars to musicians of all levels ... an instrument that could grow with them from their first garage band to their latest arena tour,” Jabs says.

Features include a Full Force Switch and Easy Grip Tone Pot. The switch provides a direct-out option that lets you bypass the electronics of the guitar and send the signal directly to an amplifier or preamp. The Easy Grip Tone Pot offers a single coil push/pull option on both humbucker pickups for maximum tone flexibility.

Specifications include:

  • Bolt-on Neck Construction
  • Solid Swamp Ash Body
  • Maple Neck
  • Rosewood Fretboard - 15 3/4" Radius (400 mm)
  • 24 Frets - (2.7 mm)
  • 25 1/2" scale - (648 mm)
  • White Dot Inlay
  • Die Cast Tuners
  • Floyd Rose Special Tremolo Bridge
  • Scorpu Pickups designed by Matthias Jabs (H/S/H)
  • Electronics: Two volume, one push / pull tone, one mini toggle, one 5 way switch
  • Chrome Hardware
  • D'Addario EXL 120 strings
  • Matthias Jabs Custom Gig Bag
  • Colors: Black and Candy Apple Red

MSRP: $949

For more information, visit cortguitars.com.

Damian Fanelli
Editor-in-Chief, Guitar World

Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.