Cortex is a guitar brand based in Switzerland and France.
They mainly produce basses, and their reputation was frequently heard around Europe.
When I visited Guitar Summit in Germany in 2024, I spoke with the creator of Cortex himself, who was exhibiting at the same guitar show.
We realized that he was a craftsman who was genuinely interested in making beautiful and musical basses, and that the actual quality of his work was very high, which led us to start doing business with him.
Geek IN Box is now officially certified as a Cortex Bass dealer in Japan.
The bass that was the deciding factor in the deal was the Napoleon Deluxe 5 Fretless.
When I first touched it, I was blown away by its smooth playability, rich string vibration, quick response, and organic, beautiful sound.
I felt it was one of the best fretless basses I had ever touched, and that was the basis for my decision to start doing business with Cortex.
This model, the Napoleon, has a modern double-cut body and a long enough bass string side horn that brings balance to the whole thing.
It is a different concept from the Fender line, but one that will be familiar to those who have played Fender for a long time.
This is a 5-string fretless spec, and in fact, it is the first Napoleon with this spec in the world.
The body is made of spalted maple on the top and walnut on the back.
The neck and fingerboard are made of the finest Flame Maple, and the fingerboard is coated with epoxy.
The body top and neck are painted in a beautiful see-through blue color, contrasting with the natural texture of the walnut and the beautiful shiny maple fingerboard.
It may be easy, but I feel a European atmosphere in these areas.
The fretboard has a compound radius of 10.5-26”.
This method of flattening the fingerboard from the low to high fret side is a specialty of Suhr Guitars and is known to be very useful in maintaining high playability throughout the entire fretboard.
The nut width is 45mm, and the neck feels slim.
The neck is thin, with a thickness of 20.5(nut)-22mm (12F).
The mass of the neck has a slim impression that is considerably squeezed, which also seems to have a positive effect on the sound.
Pickups are Delano Times Square SBC5TF, and the preamp is a GLOCKENKLANG 2-band EQ type.
Controls are volume (push/pull SW preamp bypass), bass, treble (TONE), and single/double coil switch SW.
Tuners are GOTOH, bridge is CORTEX original.
The sound is very smooth, with plenty of midrange and treble with rich overtones on top of a good amount of bass.
In a way it is like the best Fender JB, and in a way it is like a mighty Fodera.
If you play it, you will share my impression.
Accessories : Gig bag, strap, spec sheet
Text : Shunsuke Saga
Inspection : Iwai
Comes with manufacturer's warranty
Ships in a sturdy cardboard box.
We can also ship to overseas.
Contact Info
LINE : vwj2699r
email : info@bassick.jp
tel : 045 534 7133