Cort’s “modern take on the oldest form of guitar” boasts a solid Engelmann spruce top, Fishman electronics
We’ve written about Cort’s Gold-OC8 Nylon – the first classical model to join its flagship Gold Series of acoustic guitars – on this site previously, and have been mighty impressed.
Touted as “a modern take on the oldest form of guitar,” the new acoustic boasts an Orchestra Model design with a Venetian cutaway and internal hand-scalloped X-bracing, as well as a series-first Engelmann spruce top treated using an Aged to Vintage (ATV) torrefication process and solid pau ferro back and sides with black binding with triple-ply purfling.
But as spectacular as these specs are on paper, they sound even better in practice. Which is why we hooked up Zepparella guitarist Gretchen Menn with a Gold-OC8 to put it through its paces as only she can.
Gretchen begins her demo by playing through Pink Floyd’s famous instrumental Is There Anybody Out There?, and the guitar’s clear tone and rich dynamics are apparent right off the bat.
(Image credit: Cort Guitars)
“The OM body shape is compact yet resonant, and the cutaway allows better access to higher frets,” Menn states following her performance.
Other features on the acoustic include a walnut-reinforced mahogany neck, an ebony fretboard and bridge and a bone nut and saddle.
“Some standout features to me are the Aged-to-Vintage top, a process that gives the guitar a more open sound of a broken-in instrument but right out of the box,” Menn says.
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“And the neck width is in, I think, the perfect ‘goldilocks’ zone between electric guitars and classical guitars. So you can play comfortably with a right-hand classical technique, yet it also is okay for playing with a pick.”
What’s more, the Gold-OC8 is equipped with a Fishman Flex Blend preamp system featuring an under-saddle pickup with a condensed microphone and a built-in tuner, “to allow you to combine the tones for a wide sonic palette,” Menn says.
To demonstrate the variety of tones on hand, Menn plays the Gold-OC8 Nylon acoustically before plugging it into a Mesa Boogie Rosette acoustic amp “so you can hear the pickup system.”
In either configuration, the result is one gold-standard nylon-string acoustic guitar.
For more information on the Gold-OC8 Nylon, head to Cort Guitars.
Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.
