Cortex Napoleon Deluxe 4 AL Birdseye
Alex Lofoco Signature Model
alexlofoco.com
Cortex Bass stems from the desire to develop an electric bass of exceptional quality, hand made, at competitive pricing. Combining the three concepts of quality sourcing applied to a design made in Switzerland and a high-end luxury finish made in France. The construction of our hand built “Napoleon” and “Ganesha” models were facilitated by an encounter and collaboration with Paul Lairat, Master Luthier in Courthézon (France), designer himself of a famous modern interpretation of the electric bass.
All structural woods (body and neck) used on Napoleon Basses are of European origin. The choice of electronics can vary, but are generally of American and European origin. Hardware can also vary, but comes from Japan, USA or Europe. Beyond the origin of all parts, sourcing also implies the respect of some market standards. That is why Cortex Bass has chosen to follow the Bartolini BC, P2, P4, EMG 35, 40, 45, Delano PC and MC Series for its entire pickup offer. That is also why we have preferred the “one string – one bridge” solution, allowing for classical string spacing, i.e. 19mm at the bridge for 4 string basses and 18mm at the bridge for 5 and 6 string basses.
Our basses are entirely hand made, following either our very own “Napoleon” shape designed by both Paul Lairat & Pierre Camilleri, as the “Ganesha” designed solely by the latter. The human hand takes action giving the bass a particular refined finish: Paul Lairat offers you all his expertise and a touch of flamboyance to ensure that our basses can live up to their name.
- The AL (Alex Lofoco) Signature is the same design as a Deluxe, with a walnut body and a maple or non-oily dense wood neck
- Extra space is provided between neck heel and neck pickup for slap style playing
- Ramp between neck heel and neck pickup is provided again to ease slap
- Active 2 band Glockenklang Electronics
- Two EMG pickups
- Neck: 35P4
- Bridge: 35J
The specs were specified to us by Alex Lofoco. His goal was to have a bass that would be precise in the high frequencies, allowing him to play solos with superb clarity without compromise.
Our thoughts…
When we look for new brands to represent on electricbass.co.uk they have to firstly fall into certain categories to align with how we wish to work. We then in turn have to also of course be a good fit for the brand and it’s owners, so it’s very much a two way street.
Cortex bass fits all of these perfectly. They are professionally hand made with the finest materials and craftsmanship in very limited numbers, these are the primary drivers for us. They are also incredibly nice people to deal with and they care passionately about their work, this is also very important to us too!
They care about who we are and that we are going to represent their brand professionally, in the way they require and that also meets their own very high standards! We hope that we are up to the task and we will in turn endeavour to meet and maintain these expectations.
The basses…
Cortex basses have their own unique style which is easy to see at first glance, the basses also play superbly right out of the blocks and in our experience are setup to perfection which is such a great thing to be able to pass on.
This bass…
This Napoleon Deluxe AL is an Alex Lofoco signature model and is such a joy to play.
Alex himself is a superbly talented and unique bass player and he is featured playing his own Cortex bass in the videos below. For more on Alex and his amazing bass playing, please visit alexlofoco.com
*This Cortex Napoleon bass is one of the very latest versions after 5 evolutions of the model.
The bass will of course serve any style of playing or any genre extremely well, but if you are a funk/slap player this really could be right up your street!
*NOTE: We not a traditional high street guitar shop and viewing of our basses is by appointment only at our studio or demo facilities located very close to the A1 in Bedfordshire. If you would like a private viewing and demo of this bass, please contact us to arrange.
