Revamped take on the company’s flagship G Series model boasts flame maple top, hotter humbucker and affordable price
Over the past few years Cort has made a name for itself with a range of exceedingly well-built and highly versatile electric guitars. And the newest entry in the company’s expansive line, the G280 Select, is only furthering Cort’s hot streak.
The new guitar, a revamped take on the company’s flagship G Series model, the workhorse G280DX, retains the high-quality woods and specs of that model and adds a host of new features.
Just ask LA-based guitarist, songwriter and producer Ruben Wan, who was only too happy to take the G280 for a spin in the above demo video.
“It’s a very versatile guitar that comes in my favorite pickup configuration, the HSS,” he says, highlighting the versatile dual single coil and humbucker combination.
(Image credit: Cort Guitars)
In addition to that pickup set, the guitar boasts a double-cutaway alder body with flame maple top (“it reminds me of the fusion guitarist era that I personally enjoy and love so much,” Ruben says), a Canadian hard maple neck – with Cort's Ergo-V profile – and 22-fret, 12-16" compound radius fingerboard for easier chording on lower frets and speedy soloing on higher frets.
Updates from the G280DX include a pearloid pickguard for eye-catching looks and a rosewood fingerboard in place of the original’s maple. Lastly, the guitar boasts a hotter Voiced Tone VTH-77 humbucker in the bridge position.
That new ’bucker is joined by VTS-63 single coils in the middle and neck positions, a pickup that, Ruben points out, “was developed by Cort based on iconic vintage sounds.”
Lastly, he continues, “the guitar comes with a solid steel block CFA-III Tremolo and staggered locking tuners, is available in two colors – Amber and Trans Black – and comes at a very reasonable price.”
As for how it sounds? Ruben obliges us by playing some tasty licks and cycling through each pickup, beginning with the neck single coil and making his way down to the VTH-77 at the bridge.
“Quick side note,” he says. “The humbucker actually gives a lot of grittiness by itself. I’m running through a clean channel, no overdrive pedals or distortion and it’s still giving me a really nice, crunchy tone.”
Indeed, there’s a wealth of tones and textures to be conjured from the G280 Select, all with easy playability, hot looks and an affordable price.
To check one out for yourself, 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.
