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Cort Gold-D8
Takamine GN93
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Playability
73
Sound
85
Build
74
Value
82
Score
77
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Playability
77
Sound
81
Build
67
Value
80
Score
75
FIND IT ON:
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Cort Gold-D8 vs Takamine GN93

Reasons to Get
Cort Gold-D8 over Takamine GN93

Country of Manufacturing
Indonesia vs China
Built with higher quality standards
Release Year
2020 vs 2015
From a more recent year
Neck Profile
Acoustic Cort vs Acoustic Asymmetrical C
Comfortable neck that works for most people
Sides Wood
Solid vs Laminated
Helps with richer tones and louder volume
Back Wood
Solid vs Laminated
Helps with richer tones and louder volume
Nut Width
1.693'' (43mm) vs 1.685'' (42.8mm)
Less likely to mute strings by accident and more space for fingerstyle
Body Shape
Dreadnought vs Medium Jumbo
Prominent low-end tones in a large body
Scale Length
25.3'' (642.6mm) vs 25.4'' (645.2mm)
Easier bending, shorter fret separation and warmer natural tone
Fretboard Radius
15.748'' (400mm) vs 12'' (304.8mm)
Flatter fretboard makes it easier to play single notes and bend
Value Score
82 vs 80
Better price/quality relationship

Reasons to Get
Takamine GN93 over Cort Gold-D8

Neck Profile
Acoustic Asymmetrical C vs Acoustic Cort
Adapts to the natural shape of your hand
Nut Width
1.685'' (42.8mm) vs 1.693'' (43mm)
Favors small hands, easier bar chords and other shapes
Body Shape
Medium Jumbo vs Dreadnought
Smaller than a Jumbo guitar but larger than a Thinline
Scale Length
25.4'' (645.2mm) vs 25.3'' (642.6mm)
Lower action and brighter 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 Gold-D8 vs Takamine GN93

Back Material
Pau Ferro vs Quilted Maple
Different Back Material
Sides Material
Pau Ferro vs Walnut
Different Sides Material
Saddle Material
Bone vs Synthetic Bone
Different Saddle Material
Bridge Material
Ebony w/ Ebony Pins vs Fixed
Different Bridge Material
Fretboard Wood
Ebony vs Laurel
Different Fretboard Wood
Nut Material
Bone vs Synthetic Bone
Different Nut Material

Shared Features
Cort Gold-D8 vs Takamine GN93

Body Wood
Spruce
Same Body Wood
Neck Wood
Mahogany
Same Neck Wood
Headstock
3-3
Same Headstock
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
Paint Finish
Poly
Resistant paint that ages well
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
  • High-Quality Nut
  • Expensive Wood

Common Weaknesses

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

Table of Contents

Price History Comparison

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Which One is Better Overall?

After going through our comparison algorithm, the results show that the Cort Gold-D8 is probably the better product overall with its final score of 77 compared to the Takamine GN93's 75 score, although not by a lot.

The Cort Gold-D8 wins when it comes to sound, build quality, value for the money. On the other hand, the Takamine GN93 has the upper hand when it comes to playability.

If you got small hands, you'll probably feel that the Takamine GN93 is easier to play.

Which One is Better for Beginners?

If you're looking for your first guitar to learn how to play, the Takamine GN93 is the better choice.

The Takamine GN93 meets 5 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, while the Cort Gold-D8 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 Gold-D8
  • Easy-to-use bridge
  • Tall frets
  • Comfortable neck
  • Comfortable shape
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Narrow nut
  • Short scale
  • Soft Strings
  • Locking tuners

New Player Friendliness

Takamine GN93
  • Comfortable shape
  • Easy-to-use bridge
  • Tall frets
  • Narrow nut
  • Comfortable neck
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • 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 Gold-D8 Overview

  • From Cort's 2020 Gold series
  • Made in Indonesia
  • 6 strings
  • 25.3"'' scale
  • 15.748" Fretboard Radius
  • Torrefied Solid Sitka Spruce top
  • Solid Pau Ferro back
  • Solid Pau Ferro sides
  • Walnut Reinforced Mahogany neck
  • Ebony fretboard
  • Bridge pickup: (/)
  • Ebony w/ Ebony Pins bridge
  • Acoustic Cort Set neck
  • 20 Medium frets
  • Deluxe Vintage Gold tuners
  • Compare Specs >

Takamine GN93 Overview

  • From Takamine's 2015 G series
  • Made in China
  • 6 strings
  • 25.4"'' scale
  • 12" Fretboard Radius
  • Solid Spruce top
  • Black Walnut/Quilt Maple back
  • Black Walnut sides
  • Mahogany neck
  • Laurel fretboard
  • Bridge pickup: (/)
  • Fixed bridge
  • Acoustic Asymmetrical C Set neck
  • 20 Medium frets
  • Takamine Die-cast 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 Gold-D8

Ebony wood pattern used for guitar building
Ebony
Pau Ferro wood pattern used for guitar building
Pau Ferro

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.

Pau Ferro has a dark, chocolate-like color with straight dark grains that is being used as a replacement to Rosewood due to the regulations. It produces a warm tone that is somewhere between Mahogany and Rosewood. Find out more about Pau Ferro.

Woods Used in the Takamine GN93

Laurel wood pattern used for guitar building
Laurel
Quilted Maple wood pattern used for guitar building
Quilted Maple
Walnut wood pattern used for guitar building
Walnut

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.

This wood has beautiful patterns only found in specific types of maple.

It's a hard wood with a chocolate color that is often used to give an elegant finish. Since it's quite expensive and rare, it's mostly used for guitar tops. Find out more about Walnut.

Winner: Cort Gold-D8.

Electronics

Neither of them come with electronics that allow you to connect them to an amp. This makes them completely acoustic, so you'll need to use an external mic to record with them or play live.

Winner:Tie.

Final Sound Quality Scores

Cort Gold-D8
Sustain 90
Versatility 80
Tuning Stability 70
Sound 85
Takamine GN93
Sustain 75
Versatility 80
Tuning Stability 70
Sound 81

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 Gold-D8 compares to the Takamine GN93.

Country of Origin

The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. The Cort Gold-D8 is built in Indonesia while the Takamine GN93 is made in China.

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.

China has a bad reputation when it comes to building quality. However, times have changed and now respectable brands use China's cheap labor to build good instruments for a lower price. Don't discount a guitar only because it was built in China, but also expect more quality from countries like Korea.

Winner: Cort Gold-D8

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.

The Cort Gold-D8 has a Bone nut. 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.

On the other hand, the Takamine GN93 comes with a Synthetic Bone nut. Bone is the best natural material for guitar nuts. However, its tonal properties can be inconsistent. That's the problem that synthetic bone fixes. This is much better than using a plastic nut because the nut is more slippery—which helps with tuning stability—, and it gives your open strings rich harmonics.

Winner: Tie.

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 Gold-D8's are Deluxe Vintage Gold while the Takamine GN93's are Takamine Die-cast

Winner: Tie.

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

Strengths & Weaknesses
Cort Gold-D8
  • Expensive Wood
  • Bone Nut
  • Bone Saddle
  • Solid Top Wood
  • Solid Side Wood
  • Solid Back Wood
  • Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
  • No Locking Tuners
  • Made in Indonesia
  • No Top Brand Pickups
  • No Electronics
  • No Compound Radius Fretboard
  • No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • No Strap Lock
Strengths & Weaknesses
Takamine GN93
  • Expensive Wood
  • Synthetic Bone Nut
  • Synthetic Bone Saddle
  • Solid Top Wood
  • Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
  • No Locking Tuners
  • Made in China
  • No Top Brand Pickups
  • No Electronics
  • Laminated Side Wood
  • Laminated Back Wood
  • No Compound Radius Fretboard
  • No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • No Strap Lock

Final Build Quality Scores

Cort Gold-D8
Quality of materials 86
Features 65
Quality Control 70
Build Quality 74
Takamine GN93
Quality of materials 76
Features 65
Quality Control 60
Build Quality 67

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 Gold-D8 Nut Width
Cort Gold-D8 Nut Width
Takamine GN93 Nut Width
Takamine GN93 Nut Width

The nut width will affect the separation between strings at the nut. In this comparison, the Cort Gold-D8 has the wider nut with 43mm (1.693'') vs 42.8mm (1.685''). This is a 0.2mm (0.008'') difference

This means that it will be more difficult to do bar chords on the Cort Gold-D8, 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 Gold-D8's Scale Length
Cort Gold-D8's Scale Length
Takamine GN93's Scale Length
Takamine GN93'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.

The Takamine GN93 has the longest scale: 25.4". The Cort Gold-D8 is only 25.3" long. This is a 0.099999999999998'' (2.5mm) scale length difference.

This longer scale means that the strings need more tension to get in tune. This is good if you want to avoid fret buzz, which can happen when the strings are too loose and touch the frets while vibrating. This is especially important when playing in lower tunings. This will also let you reduce the gap between fretboard and strings (low action) to make them easier to press down. However, this higher tension will also make it harder to perform bends and vibratos as the strings will feel stiffer.

This also means that the frets have a longer separation between each other, so this will make it harder for people with smaller hands when playing some chord positions.

Another characteristic of a longer scale is that it makes the guitar sound 'snappier' or brighter. This is due to the extra separation between harmonics and overtones produced by the tension. This influences tone more than any other factor (except the pickups).

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 Gold-D8 Neck Profile
Cort Gold-D8's neck profile
Takamine GN93 Neck Profile
Takamine GN93'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 Gold-D8 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 Takamine GN93, on the other hand, has a Asymmetrical neck. Even though this neck shape looks like a poorly-made job, it's, in fact, the neck that most naturally adapts to the arc of your hand when grabbing a guitar neck. You'll notice that the lower part of your palm makes a more pronounced, deeper curve while the upper part makes a more subtle arch. This is the shape that adapts the best to that natural arch your hand makes while playing.

Fretboard Radius

Cort Gold-D8 Fingerboard Radius
Cort Gold-D8's Fingerboard radius
Takamine GN93 Fingerboard Radius
Takamine GN93'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 Takamine GN93's fingerboard radius is smaller, which means it's more curved than the Cort Gold-D8'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 Gold-D8.

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 Cort Gold-D8 favors large hands more than the Takamine GN93. But it's still more comfortable for people with small hands, as you can see in the score meter below.

Cort Gold-D8:
Big Hands
Small Hands
Takamine GN93:
Big Hands
Small Hands

Fret Size

Cort Gold-D8 and Takamine GN93 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 Gold-D8
Bending & Vibrato Ease 75
Chord Playability 65
Solo Playability 80
Playability 73
Takamine GN93
Bending & Vibrato Ease 75
Chord Playability 85
Solo Playability 70
Playability 77

Specs Side-by-Side

Cort Gold-D8 vs Takamine GN93
General Cort Gold-D8 Takamine GN93
Brand: Cort Takamine
Year: 2020 2015
Strings: 6 6
Made in: Indonesia China
Series: Gold G
Colors: Sunburst, Natural Natural
Left-Handed Version: No No
Body
Type: Hollowbody Hollowbody
Body Material: Torrefied Solid Sitka Spruce Solid Spruce
Sides Material: Pau Ferro Walnut
Back Material: Pau Ferro Quilted Maple
Bridge: Ebony w/ Ebony Pins Fixed
Neck
Neck Joint: Set Set
Tuners: Deluxe Vintage Gold Takamine Die-cast
Fretboard: Ebony Laurel
Neck Material: Walnut Reinforced Mahogany Mahogany
Decoration: Gold Custom MOP Abalone Dots
Scale Size: 25.3" 25.4"
Shape: Acoustic Cort Acoustic Asymmetrical C
Frets: 20 Medium Nickel Silver 20 Medium Nickel Silver
Fretboard Radius: 15.748" 12"
Nut: Bone Synthetic Bone
Nut Width: 43mm (1.693'') 42.8mm (1.685'')
Electronics
Bridge Pickup: