Cort Guitars continues to carve out a home for high-intensity guitar players with the introduction of the KX500 Etched. As the new KX Series flagship, the KX500 Etched is designed for thoroughly modern players who seek top-tier aesthetics, parts, and materials in a guitar that can cover multiple genres of heavy rock. The KX500 Etched may honor the classics with its traditional setup, but it’s far from conventional, boasting a one-of-a-kind look and state-of-the-art Fishman® Fluence Modern humbuckers that make this guitar as sonically powerful as it looks.
As the 6-string, standard-scale version of Cort’s popular KX500MS, the KX500 Etched is designed and voiced to have its own identity and to make its own statement. The exotic ash burl top is a unique, 3D multi-layered “etched” black finish. Aside from being visually captivating, this wood offers a sonic character that’s brilliant and sparkling, with a solid, punchy midrange, making it a great combination with the warm and thick-sounding mahogany body.
The KX500 Etched offers a time-tested bolt-on design, with a double-cutaway and easy access to the 24-fret neck built with a spoke nut hotrod truss rod that improves stability while easing neck bow adjustment. The 5-piece maple and purpleheart neck (25.5’’ scale) is not only eye-catching, but provides a strong, focused sound in conjunction with the body’s acoustic resonance. Further balancing sound and style, the Macassar ebony fingerboard (15.75’’ radius) looks similar to rosewood and produces a deep rich tone with sweet, yet cutting highs. Cort’s new raindrop fingerboard inlay, designed specifically for the KX series provides an extra distinctive look.
Original and totally reimagined, the Fishman Fluence Modern pickups on the KX500 Etched are free from the hum, noise, and frustrating inductance issues that plague even the most coveted wire-wound pickups, revealing pure, uncorrupted, and melodic tone. Although the electronic setup maintains a simple look, the ingenious push/pull function on both the volume and tone knobs, in combination with a 3-way selector, unleashes the full potential of these humbuckers. The volume knob offers Voices 1 and 2, while the tone knob allows for the coil-split. Players can position accordingly to enjoy 4 distinct tones: full and boosted, fluid and clean, tight and crunchy, and organically distorted.
“Lately, I’ve been writing a lot of riffs where I’m playing chords and also the bass note,” said phenomenon guitarist Hedras Ramos in Cort’s recent demo video of the KX500 Etched. “I feel that this guitar is really good at capturing the low-end bass note and the chords. I can hear the four notes that I’m playing and I love that.”
The single hardtail bridge on the KX500 Etched further enhances this guitar’s resonance and sustain, while promoting tuning stability and easing string changes. The high-quality design is matched by Cort’s staggered locking machine heads that provide super tuning stability by eliminating string slippage at the posts and also facilitating quick string changes. Black nickel hardware puts the finishing touches on this model’s sleek aesthetic.
Whether a player is into prog rock, djent, or modern metal, they’ll love the superb playability and excellent articulation of Cort’s new KX500 Etched. Available at MSRP $1,099.99.
Get a closer look at the KX500 Etched and watch the demo with Hedras Ramos at www.cortguitars.com
About The Author
