Cort G280 review

Serious value, serious performance

  • £429
We're big fans of the offset S-type and the glitzy Mocha Bronze Pearl finish is surprisingly classy up close

MusicRadar Verdict

A no-nonsense rock guitar with versatility and playability that surpasses double-cuts at double the price, we can't recommend this Cort enough.

Pros

  • +

    Obscene value for money. What a neck! Excellent humbuckers. Precisely engineered.

Cons

  • -

    We can't fault this for the price.

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With such a well-rooted background in value-for-money rock axes, it's no surprise that Cort's G280 hot-rodded double-cut is one well put together instrument.

We're big fans of the slightly offset S-type look, while the glitzy Mocha Bronze Pearl finish is surprisingly classy up close. Then there's the neck... oh, the neck!

"With an ever-so-slight satin feel and a width somewhere between an S-type and an Ibanez Wizard, the G280's playability certainly hits the spot"

With an ever-so-slight satin feel (not far off the hand-rubbed oil necks on the EVH Stripe Series), and a width somewhere between a traditional S-type and an Ibanez Wizard, the G280's playability certainly hits the spot.

You could argue that the well-worn pairing of Seymour Duncan '59 and JB humbuckers is hardly a recipe for cutting-edge tone, but they offer exactly what you want from a guitar such as this: straight-up classic sounds.

While the '59 has warmth and clarity for clean barre chords, the JB bridge humbucker has the fire to cash the EVH-sized cheques written by the shred-friendly neck.

Outside of tight distorted rhythms and leads, there's plenty to attract non- rockers, too, thanks to the sparkly coil-split cleans. Funk is within reach, as is Hendrix-y blues.

The G280 offers obscene value for money - if we could give it a six for this category, we would. Everything from the neck to the tones to the Wilkinson vibrato and tuning stability is engineered precisely to deliver serious performance.

Michael Brown

Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism, and has spent the past decade writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as a decade-and-a-half performing in bands of variable genre (and quality). In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.