Cort Little Forest Angel LE-NAT — Limited-Edition Electro-Acoustic Guitar

The Cort Little Forest Angel LE-NAT is a numbered limited-edition acoustic that compresses the Masterpiece-grade design language into a compact grand-concert chassis. A torrefied spruce top meets solid walnut back and sides; an upper-bout player-port supplies personal monitoring; a Venetian cutaway and ergonomic arm-bevel invite marathon sessions. Cosmetic touches—a hand-inlaid abalone “forest” rosette, micro-engraved angel wing on the truss-cover, and a matching numbered neck plate—convert the instrument into functional art. Over roughly 3 000 words we explore its origin story, body geometry, tone-wood alchemy, bracing topology, comfort engineering, electronics architecture, environmental ethics, and lifetime ownership arc—then conclude with a quick-look white-and-gray specification table for studio, stage, and collector reference.

1. Genesis — Why “Little Forest Angel” Exists

Cort’s Little Forest sub-series sprouted from the company’s eco-lutherie initiative: “plant a tree, build a guitar, tell a conservation story.” Each limited run celebrates a specific biome. For 2025, the design brief was a temperate mixed hardwood forest—symbolized by walnut’s mocha grain, spruce’s alpine hue, and abalone inlays depicting saplings climbing toward canopy light. Only 500 units exit the Korean custom facility, each serialized LFA-NNN/500 on a brushed-brass neck heel plate. A portion of proceeds funds reforestation projects in northern India—the very watershed where the guitar’s FSC-certified walnut began life.

2. Body Architecture — Petite Grand-Concert, Big-Stage Capability

At 15″ across the lower bout, 4¼″ tail-block depth, and 11¼″ waist, the LE-NAT sits between a Martin 00 and a Taylor GC. A deep Venetian cutaway carves a 3″ radius conduit to fret 20, yielding jazz-friendly upper-neck reach without resorting to slimline travel-guitar compromises. A three-ply walnut/koa arm bevel softens the front edge, allowing elbow freedom during fingerstyle passages. The body’s modest air volume produces an intimate, microphone-ready voice, while the torrefied top pumps enough headroom for confident coffeehouse strumming.

3. Player-Port — Personal Monitoring Minus Wedges

Cort mills a rounded-triangle port on the upper bass bout and chamfers it to a 5 mm radius. Computational fluid-dynamics modelling predicted (and lab tests confirmed) a 2.9 dB near-field SPL gain with negligible forward-projection loss. A spruce “wing” brace splits airflow—roughly 35 % redirected toward the player’s ear, 65 % exiting the primary sound-hole. Result: you hear subtle finger slurs and ghost notes without over-plucking, shrinking right-hand fatigue during extended sets.

4. Tonewood Ecosystem — Torrefied Spruce × Solid Walnut

Top. AAA Sitka spruce torrefied at 175 °C in an oxygen-curbed kiln for three hours. Cellular crystallization stiffens grain, speeds attack, and browns medullary rays to vintage amber.
Back & Sides. Quarter-sawn European walnut (Juglans regia) offers a tonal midpoint between mahogany and rosewood—earthy mids, quick bass bloom, glassy trebles. Ribbon flames shimmer through a natural UV gloss only 110 µm thick.
Neck. One-piece African mahogany, carbon-reinforced, torrefied for stability. Tap tones align within 1 Hz of the top’s (0,1) resonance—Cort’s pairing requirement for Masterpiece builds.

5. Bracing & Voicing — Scalloped X with Walnut Fan Bars

Primary X braces: Adirondack spruce, scalloped to a feather-edge 1.8 mm at the tips; lower bout gains two walnut fan bars that sync top motion to walnut back velocity. The top’s final free plate mass: 168 g—10 g lighter than non-torrefied prototypes—producing laser-quick transients ideal for harp-harmonics and percussive palm hits.

Specifications