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Cort Cut Craft
Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge
VS
Playability
73
Sound
86
Build
80
Value
80
Score
80
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Playability
78
Sound
85
Build
87
Value
68
Score
83
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Side to side spec comparison >

Cort Cut Craft vs Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge

Reasons to Get
Cort Cut Craft over Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge

Release Year
2019 vs 2017
From a more recent year
Scale Length
25.5" to 25" vs 24.75"
Less fret buzz with less string stiffness
Neck Profile
Acoustic Cort Neck vs Acoustic Rounded
Comfortable neck that works for most people
Pickups Brand
LR Baggs vs None
Pickups from a renown brand
Nut Width
1.772'' (45mm) vs 1.725'' (43.8mm)
Less likely to mute strings by accident and more space for fingerstyle
Body Shape
Medium Jumbo vs Dreadnought
Smaller than a Jumbo guitar but larger than a Thinline
Paint Finish
Poly vs Nitro
Resistant paint that ages well
Scale Length
25.3'' (642.6mm) vs 24.75'' (628.7mm)
Lower action and brighter natural tone
Fretboard Radius
15.748'' (400mm) vs 12'' (304.8mm)
Flatter fretboard makes it easier to play single notes and bend
Value Score
80 vs 68
Better price/quality relationship

Reasons to Get
Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge over Cort Cut Craft

Country of Manufacturing
United States vs Indonesia
Built with higher quality standards
Scale Length
24.75" vs 25.5" to 25"
Easier to adapt to
Neck Profile
Acoustic Rounded vs Acoustic Cort Neck
Comfortable neck with more grip
Nut Width
1.725'' (43.8mm) vs 1.772'' (45mm)
Favors small hands, easier bar chords and other shapes
Body Shape
Dreadnought vs Medium Jumbo
Prominent low-end tones in a large body
Paint Finish
Nitro vs Poly
Thin finish that creates aging marks faster
Scale Length
24.75'' (628.7mm) vs 25.3'' (642.6mm)
Easier bending, shorter fret separation and warmer natural tone
Fretboard Radius
12'' (304.8mm) vs 15.748'' (400mm)
More curved fretboard helpful to play chords without muting strings

Other Key Differences
Cort Cut Craft vs Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge

Back Material
Laurel vs Mahogany
Different Back Material
Sides Material
Laurel vs Mahogany
Different Sides Material
Bridge Material
Ebony vs Traditional belly up
Different Bridge Material
Fretboard Wood
Ebony vs Rosewood
Different Fretboard Wood

Shared Features
Cort Cut Craft vs Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge

Saddle Material
Bone
Same Saddle Material
Body Wood
Spruce
Same Body Wood
Neck Wood
Mahogany
Same Neck Wood
Headstock
3-3
Same Headstock
Nut Material
Bone
Same Nut Material
Strings
6
Same playing style
Body Type
Hollowbody
Warm tone, lighter and acoustic sound
Switch Positions
0
Same pickups versatility
Volume Knobs
0
Same volume control
Tone Knobs
0
Same tone control
Number of Frets
20
Same maximum octave
Bridge
Fixed
Good sustain and needs no set-up
Type of Frets
Medium
You'll feel the fretboard when pressing down the strings

Common Strengths

  • Solid Top Wood
  • Solid Side Wood
  • Solid Back Wood
  • High-Quality Nut
  • Expensive Wood

Common Weaknesses

  • Pickup Alter Switch/Knob
  • Locking Tuners
  • High-Quality Frets
  • Compound Radius Fretboard
  • Luminescent Sidedots
  • Strap Lock
  • 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • Active/Passive Preamp

Table of Contents

Price History Comparison

Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge Prices

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Which One is Better Overall?

After going through our comparison algorithm, the results show that the Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge is probably the better product overall with its final score of 83 compared to the Cort Cut Craft's 80 score, although not by a lot.

The Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge wins when it comes to playability, build quality. On the other hand, the Cort Cut Craft has the upper hand when it comes to sound, value for the money.

If you got small hands, you'll probably feel that the Cort Cut Craft is easier to play.

Which One is Better for Beginners?

If you're looking for your first guitar to learn how to play, the Cort Cut Craft is the better choice.

The Cort Cut Craft meets 4 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, while the Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge meets only 3. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players.

New Player Friendliness

Cort Cut Craft
  • Comfortable shape
  • Easy-to-use bridge
  • Tall frets
  • Comfortable neck
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Narrow nut
  • Short scale
  • Soft Strings
  • Locking tuners

New Player Friendliness

Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge
  • Easy-to-use bridge
  • Tall frets
  • Comfortable neck
  • Comfortable shape
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Narrow nut
  • Short scale
  • Soft Strings
  • Locking tuners

Nevertheless, when it comes to choosing an instrument, you should pick the one more compatible with your personal style. Still, below we'll try you to give you our results as objectively as it's possible to help you decide.

Cort Cut Craft Overview

  • From Cort's 2019 Limited series
  • Made in Indonesia
  • 6 strings
  • 25.5" to 25"'' scale
  • 15.748" Fretboard Radius
  • Solid European Spruce(Master Grade) top
  • Solid Myrtlewood back
  • Solid Myrtlewood sides
  • Walnut Reinforced Mahogany neck
  • Ebony fretboard
  • Bridge pickup: L.R.Baggs M80 (Preamp/Active)
  • Ebony bridge
  • Acoustic Cort Neck Set neck
  • 20 Medium frets
  • Die-Casting Gold tuners
  • Compare Specs >

Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge Overview

  • From Gibson Custom's 2017 Historic Collection series
  • Made in United States
  • 6 strings
  • 24.75"'' scale
  • 12" Fretboard Radius
  • Solid Thermally Aged Sitka spruce top
  • Solid Mahogany back
  • Solid Mahogany sides
  • Mahogany neck
  • Rosewood fretboard
  • Bridge pickup: (/)
  • Traditional belly up bridge
  • Acoustic Rounded Set neck
  • 20 Medium frets
  • Gotoh Keystone tuners
  • Compare Specs >

Sound Quality Comparison

The most important thing that will determine the tone of an acoustic guitar is the wood. Let's take a look at the differences between both .

Woods Used in Both

Mahogany wood pattern used for guitar building
Mahogany
Spruce wood pattern used for guitar building
Spruce

Mahogany is a fairly rare wood nowadays. It's used mostly for bodies due to its relatively lightweight. Gibson popularized it with their Les Paul guitars during their golden years, so this wood has a lot of good reputation behind it. The most expensive type comes from South America and it's still used by Gibson even today. Find out more about Mahogany.

Spruce has a light color with tight grain patterns. It's very stiff but relatively light. It's known for producing a well-rounded tone with a broad dynamic range. Find out more about Spruce.

Woods Used in the Cort Cut Craft

Ebony wood pattern used for guitar building
Ebony
Laurel wood pattern used for guitar building
Laurel

Ebony is a high-end wood, so it is not cheap. It's only used for fretboards because it's also very heavy. It does an excellent job as a durable material while looking elegant. Find out more about Ebony.

There are many types of Laurel, but East Indian is the most common for guitar building. Its color can vary from dark to light brown with black lines. Many people find its tonality similar to Rosewood, which favors the warmer frequencies. Find out more about Laurel.

Woods Used in the Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge

Rosewood wood pattern used for guitar building
Rosewood

Rosewood is an almost purple-looking wood that is used mainly for fretboards since it's heavy, rare, and expensive. It's sometimes used on acoustic guitar bodies to create stronger warm tones. Find out more about Rosewood.

Winner: Tie.

Electronics

The Cort Cut Craft comes with a preamp that allows you to connect it to an amp, unlike its competitor. This allows it to have more versatility and sound quality if you want to record with it or play live.

Winner:Cort Cut Craft.

Final Sound Quality Scores

Cort Cut Craft
Sustain 90
Versatility 85
Tuning Stability 70
Sound 86
Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge
Sustain 90
Versatility 80
Tuning Stability 70
Sound 85

Build Quality Comparison

When it comes to build quality, we like to take into account everything used to build the instrument. This includes materials, hardware and the quality control expected depending on the country where it was built. Let's see how the Cort Cut Craft compares to the Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge.

Country of Origin

The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. The Cort Cut Craft is built in Indonesia while the Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge is made in United States.

Indonesia is becoming the most popular country for guitar building because they can make good instruments for a low price. Some people think that they're 'the new China' when it comes to build quality. But the truth is that Indonesian guitars are more consistent, although Chinese quality has improved a lot in the last few years.

The United States is considered one of the best electric guitar manufacturers in the world. A guitar made in this country is supposed to have world-class quality control. Nowadays, guitars made in other countries can beat some of the ones made in the US, but most of the time, this country offers the best you can get. Of course, that comes at a price.

Winner: Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge

Nut Material

If you want your guitar to stay in tune and sound good, you need a well cut nut. Nut quality can be inconsistent even when comparing two copies of the same model. The best way to make sure you're nut will be well done is by getting a nut made by an expert company like TUSQ or Micarta.

In this case, both have Bone nuts. It's a type of nut found in high-quality instruments. They sound similar to Ivory since they give a lot of sustain and a bright sound (at least when striking open strings). The only problem they can run into is that you may get a bone piece that simply doesn't sound as well as others because that's just how natural materials are.

Fret Material

Most fret wire is made of nickel silver. This material eventually wears down after a lot of use and most instruments end up needing a complete fret replacement. However, some expensive models come with stainless steel frets. This is what you should aim for if you can afford it.

Unfortunately, none of them come with stainless steel frets.

Winner: Tie.

Tuners

Both come with regular tuners. The Cort Cut Craft's are Die-Casting Gold while the Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge's are Gotoh Keystone

Winner: Tie.

Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:

Strengths & Weaknesses
Cort Cut Craft
  • Expensive Wood
  • Bone Nut
  • Top Brand Pickups
  • Electronics
  • Bone Saddle
  • Solid Top Wood
  • Solid Side Wood
  • Solid Back Wood
  • Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
  • No Locking Tuners
  • Made in Indonesia
  • No Compound Radius Fretboard
  • No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • No Strap Lock
Strengths & Weaknesses
Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge
  • Made in United States
  • Expensive Wood
  • Bone Nut
  • Bone Saddle
  • Solid Top Wood
  • Solid Side Wood
  • Solid Back Wood
  • Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
  • No Locking Tuners
  • No Top Brand Pickups
  • No Electronics
  • No Compound Radius Fretboard
  • No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • No Strap Lock

Final Build Quality Scores

Cort Cut Craft
Quality of materials 81
Features 85
Quality Control 75
Build Quality 80
Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge
Quality of materials 96
Features 65
Quality Control 100
Build Quality 87

Playability Comparison

Let's now compare their playability. Bear in mind that the instrument will feel different depending on your hand size and play style. That's why you should always test before buying. But if you can't or want a second opinion on it, we can still take a look at each of the important measurements of the instrument for you. This way, we can predict how easy a guitar might be to play, or how different it will feel compared to the other.

Remember that, even though the difference might seem small, every inch counts when it comes to feeling of the instrument in your hands. Any variation can completely change how comfortable a guitar feels in your hands.

Nut Width

Cort Cut Craft Nut Width
Cort Cut Craft Nut Width
Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge Nut Width
Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge Nut Width

The nut width will affect the separation between strings at the nut. In this comparison, the Cort Cut Craft has the wider nut with 45mm (1.772'') vs 43.8mm (1.725''). This is a 1.2mm (0.047'') difference

This means that it will be more difficult to do bar chords on the Cort Cut Craft, especially closer to the nut. However, it's also easier to play without muting strings accidently. This favors people with big hands.

Scale Length

Cort Cut Craft's Scale Length
Cort Cut Craft's Scale Length
Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge's Scale Length
Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge's Scale Length

The scale length is one of the things that influences playability the most. This is the distance between the nut and the bridge and will affect everything from low action allowance, difficulty to perform bends, fret separation, and even tone.

In this case, the Cort Cut Craft features a multi-scale of 25.5" to 25" while the Cort Cut Craft has a regular scale of 25.5" to 25".

A multi-scale fingerboard incorporates two scale lengths at the same time. This is present in some instruments with long scale to give a different tension to the lower strings than the higher strings. The thickest strings need more tension to avoid fret buzz (especially when tuned low), so the scale is longer for these strings, while the thinnest strings will need less tension (because they have a lower gauge), so they have a shorter scale to reduce stiffness for bends.

It can feel awkward if you've never played a multi-scale because the frets will have more separation for the higher strings, but a lot of people love their versatility.

On the other hand, the Cort Cut Craft's 25.5" to 25" regular scale means it has a fixed scale for all the strings.This is considered a long scale, but slightly shorter than what's commonly found in acoustic guitars.

Since the distance between bridge and nut is relatively long, strings will feel stiff and more difficult to bend, but the tone will feel brighter. It will also be less likely to produce fret buzzing and rattling when strumming hard.

Lastly, remember that you can also affect the tension of the strings by changing your string gauge. You can use a thicker gauge for more tension and a lighter one for less tension.

Neck Profile

Cort Cut Craft Neck Profile
Cort Cut Craft's neck profile
Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge Neck Profile
Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge's neck profile

No single neck shape is better than others. However, most people tend to prefer a thinner necks because it doesn't get in their way when playing fast and most hand sizes can adapt to it pretty well. However, some people still prefer thicker necks for a better grip, especially if they have big hands.

In this case, both have different neck shapes:

The Cort Cut Craft has a C type of neck. This is what you'll find in most modern guitars. Most people feel like the thickness of a C neck is simply the less intrusive one for playing fast, while at the same time allowing you to grab the neck easily for resting if you want to.

The Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge, on the other hand, has a U neck. This is also referred to as ''baseball neck'' because of its shape. It's usually thick, which is why some people with big hands like it. However, they can also be thin, similar to a C shape, but with more shoulders for a better grip.

Fretboard Radius

Cort Cut Craft Fingerboard Radius
Cort Cut Craft's Fingerboard radius
Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge Fingerboard Radius
Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge's Fingerboard radius

Most guitar fretboards are not flat; they usually have a curve or arc across their width. A curved fretboard will make it easier to perform chords without muting strings, while a flatter one will make it easier to play single notes, which is good for bending and soloing in general. The best fretboards have a compound radius that varies across the fingerboard, but they're not common since they take a lot more work to build.

In this case, the Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge's fingerboard radius is smaller, which means it's more curved than the Cort Cut Craft's. This extra arc will make playing chords easier in this model. You won't be as likely to mute the strings, especially if you have big hands. However, playing single notes and bending will be easier on the Cort Cut Craft.

Still, both tend to favor soloing over chords, so if you're looking for a guitar for playing rhythm, you might want something else with a radius closer to a Stratocaster's 9.5''.

Hand Size Comfortability

Everyone has a different hand size, and that's why it's recommended to try a guitar before buying, even if others tell you that it's comfortable to play. However, we can know whether a guitar favors small or large hands just by knowing its exact measurements.

And after taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that the Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge favors large hands more than the Cort Cut Craft.

Cort Cut Craft:
Big Hands
Small Hands
Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge:
Big Hands
Small Hands

Fret Size

Cort Cut Craft and Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge Frets Size
Both have a similar Medium fret size

Both have a Medium fret size. If you like feeling the fretboard when you play, but also appreciate some easiness to press down the frets, this size offers a good balance for that.

Final Playability Scores

Cort Cut Craft
Bending & Vibrato Ease 75
Chord Playability 65
Solo Playability 80
Playability 73
Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge
Bending & Vibrato Ease 85
Chord Playability 80
Solo Playability 70
Playability 78

Specs Side-by-Side

Cort Cut Craft vs Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge
General Cort Cut Craft Gibson Custom 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge
Brand: Cort Gibson Custom
Year: 2019 2017
Strings: 6 6
Made in: Indonesia United States
Series: Limited Historic Collection
Colors: Natural Sunburst
Left-Handed Version: No Yes
Body
Type: Hollowbody Hollowbody
Body Material: Solid European Spruce(Master Grade) Solid Thermally Aged Sitka spruce
Sides Material: Laurel Mahogany
Back Material: Laurel Mahogany
Bridge: Ebony Traditional belly up
Neck
Neck Joint: Set Set
Tuners: Die-Casting Gold Gotoh Keystone
Fretboard: Ebony Rosewood
Neck Material: Walnut Reinforced Mahogany Mahogany
Decoration: Mother-of-pearl Parallelograms
Scale Size: 25.5" to 25" 24.75"
Shape: Acoustic Cort Neck Acoustic Rounded
Frets: 20 Medium Nickel Silver 20 Medium Nickel Silver
Fretboard Radius: 15.748" 12"
Nut: Bone Bone
Nut Width: 45mm (1.772'') 43.8mm (1.725'')
Electronics
Bridge Pickup: L.R.Baggs M80 (Preamp / Active)