Let me be pretty honest, I had my doubts when I came across this bass. For me having an Ibanez SR500 with Bartolini MK1 pickups was a luxury that came along with a heavy price however CORT C5 gives you the same Bartolini MK1 with an added feature of Mark Bass Electronics plus an active/passive switch. Now that's when I started to show some interest in this bass. With lot of uncertainty I ordered this but it proved me wrong the moment I plugged in! It's amazing! Mark Bass lives up to the name and Bartolini MK1 doesn't fail to deliver! If you are looking for a budget friendly yet feature specific this is where you would want to invest. It's rugged, made for on road. It's a lot heavy than compared to Ibanez SR500 (duh obviously!) but a good strap should fix that. It's versatile in the way it sounds and all the magic happens with the Mark Bass electronics. So go for it, don't hesitate! Worth the money! I give it 5 out of 5!