Cort Guitars

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cort Guitars is a guitar manufacturer based in South Korea . Cort is one of the largest guitar manufacturers in the world and produces instruments in its own name and on behalf of other companies.

history

In the 1960s, Jack Westheimer established business relationships with Japanese guitar manufacturers to import Japanese-made guitars to America. In 1973 Westheimer founded the company Yoo-Ah in South Korea with Yung H. Park as a business partner. Yoo-Ah was later renamed Cor-Tek, after Westheimer's Cortez brand. Park later took over from Cor-Tek.

In addition to guitars with the Cort brand, Cor-Tek also produces guitars on behalf of various major brands, such as B. Fender , Ibanez , Schecter and G&L .

Models

Cort does not have an outstanding model such as Fender with the Stratocaster or Gibson with the Les Paul . Instead, Cort makes a wide variety of guitars to cater to different guitarists and music genres. The production extends to electric guitars , acoustic guitars and bass guitars . The main focus is on good quality at competitive prices.

Electric guitars

  • EVL series
  • G series
  • KX series
  • M series
  • X series
  • Zenox series
  • Jazz box series
  • Masterpiece series
  • Signature series
  • VX series
  • S series
  • CR series

Acoustic guitars

  • Limited edition series
  • Earth series
  • SFX series
  • NTL series
  • CJ series
  • MR series
  • Classical series
  • Standard series
  • AJ series
  • LP series

Bass guitars

  • Masterpiece series
  • Signature series
  • GB series
  • Artisan series
  • Curbow series
  • PB1L series
  • Action series
  • EVL series
  • Arona series
  • Gene Simmons Ax
  • Gene Simmons Punisher

Aside from the models currently in production, Cort has also produced many others. Some of the first Cort models were direct copies of popular guitars such as the Stratocaster.

In addition to the stringed instruments, Cort also has its own amplifier series.

amplifier

  • CM Series
  • GE Series
  • MX Series

Parkwood

By 2006, Cort manufactured a range of high quality guitars under the name 'Cort Parkwood'. From 2006, Cort continued Parkwood as its own brand, without the Cort name and the Cort logo. Parkwood is still manufactured by Cort in South Korea, with the exception of the hybrid series which comes from Indonesia .

Contract manufacturer

Cort's manufacturing focuses not only on Cort branded guitars, but also on contract manufacturing for various other companies. Large companies conclude contracts for the production of cheaper guitars with their logo and name. The best-known brands include Fender , Ibanez , Schecter , Parkwood and the G&L Tribute series.

In the past few years, various small manufacturers known for extremely high-quality (and high-priced) guitars have begun contracting Cort to make budget models. For example, Avalon Guitars , a Northern Irish manufacturer, was able to sell 8,000 guitars through Cort's production of a cheaper model and more than double its income in 2003 compared to the previous year.

Criticism and controversy

Since 1997 the Korean factories of Cort and Cor-Tek attracted attention with alleged inhumane working conditions. Workers complain about a lack of breaks, long working hours, and insufficient supply of personal protective equipment when grinding and painting work that is harmful to health. Former employees report numerous verbal and physical abuse as well as a high number of occupational accidents.

In the following years there were repeated grievances:

  • April 9, 2007: The Daejeon factory closes without warning.
  • April 12, 2007: Mass layoffs of all employees at the Incheon factory . The wave of layoffs and the treatment of union members founded in the previous year are considered illegal by the national industrial relations commission.
  • July 12, 2007: A Cort employee protesting sets himself on fire.
  • October 15, 2008: Cort employees protest with a 30-day hunger strike and occupy a 40-meter-high electricity pylon.

Since 95% of the Cort instruments are exported, the employees tried to point out the grievances directly to the trading partners and end customers. There were also campaigns at international trade fairs such as the Frankfurt Music Fair, the Yokohama Music Fair and, most recently, in 2010 as part of the NAMM Show in California.

These incidents went through the various stages of the Korean legal system from 2007 to 2012. Ultimately, the Korean Supreme Court ruled in Cort's favor. Thus there was no further legal obligation towards the dismissed employees. The 2008 factory closings and the associated mass layoffs were considered justified by the Korean court.

Known users

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Firms get savvy about outsourcing , cnn.com
  2. ^ Guitar Workers Protest Sweatshop Conditions; Rage Against The Machine, Wayne Kramer Support ... ( Memento from June 1, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ a b Press this guitar and tears will pour forth: A ballad of labor rights abuses in South Korea. , globalethicsnetwork.org
  4. ^ A b Korean Cort Guitar Factory Workers Demand Fair Working Conditions , youtube.com
  5. ↑ 17-year Cor-Tek guitar workers' court struggle ends , hani.co.kr

Web links

Commons : Cort Guitars  - collection of images, videos and audio files