But it's a question of what sort of tonal response you want from your instrument вЂ“ dark and warm like mahogany, balanced with clear highs a la the spruce, or something a little different in the blackwood model. Were it not for that finish, you could easily recommend the spruce-topped model as the best all-rounder, the one that makes good with a classic tonewood cocktail, perfectly mixed. The OM cutaway body is unlikely to offend the devout jumbo and dread community with an overabundance of timidity, yet it marries this volume to a suppleness that fingerstyle players will like. That, in a sense, is what Cort has been doing all along with this Core-OC Series. Tonally, it's something of a blank slate вЂ“ especially when played amplified вЂ“ and as such, it plays the percentages and has the potential to be a great all-rounder.

It certainly has no shortage of confidence it's dynamic and loud. As a tonewood for the back and sides, it's well renowned for being tight and powerful, but it's a novelty to find it used for the soundboard as well. Most of us will be familiar with blackwood. There is a lot of potential for that sort of thing here.ДЄs for the blackwood model, it arrives with few expectations. Of course, when you think of an all-mahogany acoustic, the mind turns to the blues and those Delta fingerstylists who can tease out all that plummy warmth with dextrous power, letting the notes bloom nicely in with more of a mellow attack. It feels tactile for fingerstyle folk, rewarding the dynamics of touch and suggesting a guitar that could go the distance with a beginner.ДЄs for the mahogany model, there's a little more oomph in those lower registers, more width, and a modest boom that might be too subtle for those weaned on the bruising output of a dreadnought but nonetheless may prove tempting for those who appreciate the idea of that power but want a more compact guitar. The sense of balance with a resonant low end is still a surprise for a guitar at this price. The Cort Gold-OC6 is a great strummer with an all-solid build that should be a ready and willing companion onstage. That lived-in feel is extended to the open-pore matte finishes, giving all the guitars here an eminently tactile feel, with the dimensions of the OM body (104mm/4' deep, 381mm/15' wide) offering a nice balance between manageable size and a loud and powerful voice.ДЄ very attractive cutaway electro-acoustic at a very attractive price. On the other side of the argument, it at least helps it distinguish itself and there will certainly be a market for that sort of grungy, muted colour. In a certain light, it looks colour-matched to Ed Sheeran's fire-damaged Martin that Eric Clapton gave him and Monty's was restoring.

The Trans Black stain is going to divide opinion. It is quite possibly the most commonplace acoustic tonewood recipe and yet you wouldn't know this one to look at it. Let's start with the spruce-topped model first.

Cort Core-OC Series: Performance and verdict Sweetening the deal is a padded gig-bag that looks like it'll keep your guitar safe when on the move. Unlike Cort's complement of electric guitars, these are all built in China where the humidity is more conducive to acoustic guitar making. No tuner here, and perhaps not the most inspiring acoustic guitar pickups on Planet Earth but nonetheless it'll see you through an open-mic night and presents all three here as stage-ready instruments. The controls for the preamp are mounted discretely in the soundhole and are a fairly rudimentary affair with flat, ridged dials for volume and tone.

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