Sterling by Music Man Cutlass CT20HSS Electric Blue

Sterling by Music Man Cutlass CT20HSS Electric Blue review

The Cutlass CT20HSS is an electric guitar with a poplar body, maple neck, amaranth fingerboard, and an HSS pickup layout. Its listed specifications give a clear picture of the instrument's construction and controls, but they do not establish how it sounds, feels, or performs in use. No customer reviews are available for this product, so this assessment is based only on the supplied details.

The listed price is 282, and the item number is 612678. The guitar is finished in Electric Blue and has a white pickguard. No top wood is listed. A bag and a case are both excluded, which is worth factoring into the purchase if you need a way to transport or store the instrument.

Body, neck, and fingerboard

The body is made from poplar, while the maple neck is attached with a bolt-on joint. These are construction details, rather than evidence about the guitar's weight, resonance, or comfort. The supplied specifications do not include body dimensions, weight, neck profile, or finish type, so those aspects cannot be assessed from the product data.

The amaranth fingerboard is also identified as purpleheart. It has 22 frets, white dot inlays, and a stated radius of 305 mm, equivalent to 12 inches. That radius provides a concrete measurement for comparison with other guitars, but the specifications alone cannot determine whether the fingerboard will suit a particular player's technique.

The scale length is 648 mm, or 25.5 inches, and the nut width is 42 mm, or 1.65 inches. The guitar also has a dual-action truss rod. The listed string gauge is.009 to.042. Together, these details describe the basic neck and string setup, but there is no information about factory setup, action, fret finishing, or the adjustment range of the bridge.

HSS pickups and controls

The pickup configuration pairs one ceramic humbucker with two ceramic single-coil pickups. A five-way switch selects between pickup combinations, while separate volume and tone controls provide the listed onboard adjustments. This layout offers several switching positions in a familiar HSS format. The product information does not specify the wiring of each switch position, pickup output, magnet details, or whether either control has a special circuit, so those characteristics should not be assumed.

The ceramic pickup type and HSS arrangement are useful points of comparison when researching the guitar, but they do not provide a reliable basis for predicting its exact tone. No frequency response, output measurement, recording, or playing test is included in the supplied data. Players should treat descriptions of sound as unverified unless they can hear the instrument themselves.

Bridge and hardware

The CT20HSS is fitted with a vintage-style fulcrum tremolo and die-cast tuning machines. The specifications do not name the tremolo's manufacturer, describe its adjustment options, or state how well it returns to pitch. They also do not identify the tuning machines' gear ratio. As a result, hardware performance and tuning stability cannot be confirmed from the listing.

The presence of a tremolo distinguishes this model's bridge setup from a fixed bridge, but the data does not explain how the system is configured or intended to be used. Buyers who rely on specific bridge behavior should check the instrument or ask the retailer for details before ordering.

What the specifications establish

• Construction: Poplar body, bolt-on maple neck, and amaranth, also called purpleheart, fingerboard.
• Fingerboard and scale: 22 frets, 12-inch radius, 25.5-inch scale, and 1.65-inch nut width.
• Electronics: One ceramic humbucker, two ceramic single-coil pickups, a five-way switch, and volume and tone controls.
• Hardware and included items: Vintage-style fulcrum tremolo, die-cast tuning machines, and no included bag or case.

Verdict

The Sterling by Music Man Cutlass CT20HSS Electric Blue has a clearly specified HSS layout, a 25.5-inch scale, and a tremolo bridge. The listing also provides practical measurements for the neck and fingerboard, along with the body and neck materials. Its limits are equally clear: there is no supplied evidence about sound, setup quality, weight, playability, or long-term reliability, and no customer feedback is available. At the listed price of 282, this is a specification-led option to investigate further, not a guitar whose performance can be confirmed from the available information alone.