Dan Armstrong - Man & Guitars

Cort was apparently another badged name of Dan Armstrong copy. I was unaware of this until I saw one online for sale. I had serious misgivings as the instrument has all the looks and the lines of a Univox Lucy model. As seen at left, it appears that the volume and tone knob had been replaced, as has the 3-way selector switch.

At right, and seen from the back - everything has the Univox Lucy look to it, the routing of the acrylic, the three piece laminated neck, the carriage bolts that secure the neck to the body, and more.

At upper left, large dot position markers, a position marker at the very first fret and the shape of the faux-wood truss rod cover are all identical features seen on the Lucy model. At left & right - it also appears that the headstock was fashioned after the Lucy model up until the very top where it's obvious that some custom work was done.

To find out more I emailed the owner who was kind enough to reply, stating... "I was customizing this guitar for a customer and it said Cort on the headstock before I refinished it. It has brand new frets, nut, and electronics. This is a Cort guitar. I dont think they made to many of them."

I kind of like the headstock modification, as to me the Dan Armstrong type guitars just don't look right with Gibson or other known headstock shapes. Since this instrument is identical to the Lucy model in every respect, I'll be covering more of it's features when I get to that brand.

Jack Westheimer founded the Westheimer Corporation in 1959 leading the industry as one of its first U.S. importers. He started by importing bongos from Mexico and then looked to import musical instruments made in Japan. Westheimer distributed Cort guitars (among others) in the U.S. for 40 years. After a 40-year distribution relationship with Cort, the Westheimer Corporation announced it was ending the distribution agreement. As of December 1^st 2014 Cort guitars have been distributed in the U.S. by Davitt & Hanser.