The Cort Earth Mini is a rarity – a 3/4-sized steel string acoustic guitar that is both affordable and good quality. This smaller size makes it a good option for beginners or smaller guitar players. Read Cecilia Arambulo’s Cort Earth Mini Review and find out if it’s the acoustic guitar for you.
| Factor | Rating |
| 👀 Looks | 3 |
| 🛠️ Build quality | 5 |
| 😃 Playability | 5 |
| 🎵 Sound | 5 |
| 💰 Value for Money | 5 |
| Overall | 21/25 |
Cort Earth Mini Review: The Specs
The Cort Earth Mini is a ¾ steel string acoustic guitar that’s suitable for all styles except for classical music.
The solid sitka spruce top gives chords and fingerpicked notes a bright and lively tone with a resonance that you wouldn’t expect from a small body. I was immediately impressed as soon as I picked it up in the store and started playing.
The small size makes the Cort Earth Mini perfect for young students and children alike, players with smaller fingers, and musicians who like to bring their guitar on their travels.
Players of all levels will enjoy using this acoustic guitar. Beginners, in particular, will appreciate it for the shorter scale length, narrow nut width, and comfortable action right out of the box.
This is the kind of guitar that I wish I had when I started out on. But instead, my first instrument had terribly high action.
I would’ve had a much less painful experience if I had this guitar when I started learning how to play.
Intermediate and advanced players will enjoy it too if they’re looking for a guitar that’s easy to bring on camping trips, beach trips, and while travelling.
It makes sense to bring a cheaper guitar like this for travel instead of its more expensive counterparts.
I’ve taken mine on both a domestic and an international flight, and the smaller size makes it easy to stow on the overhead bin. Not all carriers will allow you to bring a guitar as a carryon, however. It’s always better to check in advance before travelling with any kind of guitar.
- Top: Solid Spruce
- Mahogany back and sides
- Fretboard and bridge: Merbau
Features
- Dreadnought body in 3/4 size
- Scale length: 578 mm (22.8 inches)
- Nut width: 43 mm
- 20 frets
- Acrylic rosette
- Chrome-plated encapsulated machine heads
- Finish: Thin open pore lacquer
- Color: Natural
Additional details
- Includes gig bag
- 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
- 3-Year Thomann Warranty
- Available since March 2022
- Item number: 539509
- Sales unit: 1 piece
Body and bridge
- Body shape: Dreadnought
- Body size: 3/4 size
- Top: Solid Spruce
- Bridge: Merbau
Neck and fingerboard
- Neck: Set-in Mahogany
- Fretboard: Merbau
- Scale length: 578 mm (22.8 inches)
- Nut width: 43 mm
- Number of frets: 20
Looks: 3/5
For the price, it’s understandable that the Cort Earth Mini has a basic appearance. The guitar has a satin finish which I prefer since it allows the body to sound more resonant – gloss finishes often affect the guitar’s sound.
There’s no pickguard on the body and the rosette has a minimalist design that complements the Cort Earth Mini’s size. There’s a lack of binding on the front and back as well.
I don’t really mind the unassuming looks of the Cort Earth Mini – but other players who focus on aesthetics might not be satisfied.
Build Quality: 4/5
The neck feels solid and durable, and the body also feels well-built. Being a solid top guitar with laminated back and sides, this isn’t the type of guitar that you’ll have to be super careful with on a day-to-day basis. However, mine did experience a small dent when I put it in the hold on a flight.
The frets on the guitar are nicely dressed and crowned. I find it easy to go up and down the neck since the fret edges feel nice and smooth.
The tuners that came with the Cort Earth Mini are die-cast which I have no problem with. The tuning has been relatively stable and comparable with my other acoustic guitars that have high-quality Grover tuners on them.
Playability: 5/5
The Cort Earth Mini is incredibly light and easy to hold. This means it suits female players. As a woman, I find it difficult to hold a full-size dreadnought acoustic guitar without having to adjust the angle of the guitar on my lap. That’s because the upper curve of the guitar usually digs into my chest.
But the small size of this guitar allows it to sit perfectly on my lap without need for further adjustment. The guitar feels so light that it makes me want to reach for it more than my more expensive acoustic guitars.
Right out of the box, I found the setup to be very comfortable. The short scale is a dream to play for someone like me who has short fingers. For once, my left hand didn’t feel fatigued as quickly compared to playing my other guitars. It’s super easy to play barre chords since I don’t have to put as much effort into forming the shapes.
However, not all players would be comfortable with such a short scale – particularly those with longer fingers.
Sound: 4/5
As soon as I picked up the Cort Earth Mini in the store, I was impressed with its sound quality. I wasn’t expecting much when I approached it because it looked unassuming.
As soon as I strummed the strings, I could tell it was a solid wood top – something which the staff also confirmed.
It has the type of resonance and volume that makes it sound like a bigger guitar. I love the woodsy quality of the tone. The notes sound well-defined and balanced.
The bass sounds pretty impressive for the guitar’s size – the notes sound tight and rich. The highs have a sweet resonant quality to them that makes this a great little guitar for fingerpicking. Chords sound rich and full, making this a great accompaniment to singing.
Like most travel guitars, the Cort Earth Mini isn’t going to be as loud or have as much projection as a full-sized guitar, but it performs well for its size.
Value For Money: 5/5
I paid $175 USD for the guitar which I thought was cheap (though it’s sold at a higher price in other countries).
I bought this guitar in the Philippines while on vacation and brought it to Canada with me.
In my opinion, you’ll definitely get your money’s worth even if you buy it at the recommended market price.
It would be hard to find another entry-level guitar in the market that has these features at this price point.
The guitar also comes with a soft case that looks nice and is well-padded. Lazer Music gave me a $10 discount and also gave me a new set of strings for free.
Overall: 21/25
I would recommend this acoustic guitar to players of any level, but especially to beginners. It’s well-made, has good-quality materials, sounds nice and is affordable.
It’s the type of acoustic guitar that you can bring anywhere, will last many decades, but won’t cost a lot to replace if you ever need to.
I can’t say I would improve anything on it since you already get a lot of value for the price.