Cort ES-OC4 NSG — Orchestra-Concert Cutaway Electro-Acoustic Guitar

The ES-OC4 NSG takes Cort’s “Everyday Series” blueprint and frames it inside an orchestra-concert cutaway: solid Sitka spruce top, mahogany body, feather-weight satin-gloss coating and a one-knob-per-job CE304T preamp. The 3 000-word narrative below examines each design choice—body dimensions, tone-wood chemistry, bracing calculus, ergonomics, electronics architecture, eco practice and maintenance routine—then distills the essentials in a white–gray specification table.

1 | Everyday Series Goal — Reliable, Affordable, Musical

The ES line was born after Cort surveyed touring sidemen who needed a workhorse that wouldn’t bankrupt them if “gate-checked.” Their asks: solid top for resonance, laminated sides for dent tolerance, satin finish for weight and stealth, cutaway for modern charts, built-in tuner to drop a pedal. ES-OC4 lands that spec at mass-production scale without skimping on bone hardware or rolled-edge comfort.

2 | Body Geometry — Orchestra-Concert Balance

Lower-bout width 15 ⅛″, waist 11″, tail depth 4 ⅛″: the OC silhouette splits the difference between parlor immediacy and dread bottom-end. A 3″-radius Venetian cutaway opens fret-17 triads, chord-melody harmonics and capo-free key changes. The slim waist hugs the player’s rib cage, reducing shoulder torque during multi-set gigs.

3 | Tone-Wood Palette — Sitka Spruce × African Mahogany

Top. AA Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) graded for consistent grain spacing; high stiffness-to-mass ratio gives dynamic ceiling and bright overtone stack.
Back & Sides. Laminated Khaya mahogany contributes woody mids and controlled bass bloom while resisting humidity dings. Ribbon grain glows beneath thin satin gloss.
Neck. One-piece mahogany encloses a dual-action truss rod and wears the same NSG finish for sweat-proof glide.
Fingerboard & Bridge. Rosewood substitutes deliver familiar density and dark-chocolate aesthetics.

4 | Bracing Science — Forward-Shifted Scalloped X

Spruce braces meet 5 mm north of the standard X point, freeing the lower bout for deeper bass air. Wings carve to ≈ 1.9 mm at the tips; two spruce finger braces flank the bridge plate to curb warping. Finished top mass ≈ 178 g — light enough for fingerstyle nuance, robust enough for pick-driven worship choruses.

5 | Natural Satin Gloss Finish (NSG)

Two coats only: water-borne pore sealer and a low-solids satin-gloss poly clear (~100 µm). The thin film lets the spruce attack speak quickly and kills spotlight glare for on-camera sets. The neck’s matte back avoids sticky summer slides.

Specifications