Cort OM-LE KOA-NAT — Limited-Edition Electro-Acoustic Guitar

The Cort OM-LE KOA-NAT marries the balanced intimacy of an orchestra-model body with the exotic beauty and evolving voice of all-solid Hawaiian koa. Conceived as a small-batch celebration of premium Pacific tonewoods, this limited edition adds a Venetian cutaway, discreet player side-port, carbon-reinforced neck, and LR Baggs VTC electronics, then numbers, signs, and certificates each instrument before release. What follows is a deep technical narrative—roughly 3 000 words—covering design philosophy, tonewood alchemy, bracing science, playability geometry, electronics architecture, sustainability profile, and owner experience, finished by a concise white-and-gray specification table.

1. Limited-Edition Philosophy — Why All-Solid Koa, Why Now?

Koa has long been the unicorn of steel-string tonewoods—rare, visually arresting, tonally situated between mahogany warmth and maple sparkle. By releasing a numbered OM run (only 300 units worldwide), Cort aims to democratize boutique koa without six-figure customs or multi-year wait lists. Each top, back, and side set is book-matched from the same billet, ensuring visual continuity and longitudinal velocity parity. A brass heel-plate is etched OM-KOA XXX/300; a holographic certificate carries the luthier’s signature and wood-lot coordinates from Hawai‘i Island’s FSC-certified ranchlands.

2. Body Architecture — Orchestra-Model Comfort, Stage-Grade Projection

A 15″ lower bout, 11¼″ waist, and 4⅛″ tail depth yield a voice that records with minimal EQ while filling midsized rooms unaided. The Venetian cutaway’s 3″ radius grants clean access to the 20th fret—crucial for jazz extensions and modern chord-melody voicings. A koa/maple arm bevel softens the top edge, allowing three-set nights without forearm fatigue.

3. Player-Port — Hear Yourself, Play Lighter

A rounded-arch port on the upper bass bout is chamfered to 6 mm and supported by a spruce wing brace. Roughly 30 % of cavity pressure vents toward the player, boosting near-field SPL by 3 dB with negligible forward loss—letting fingerstylists relax their right-hand attack and singers monitor pitch without hot wedges.

4. Tonewood Matrix — The Evolution of Hawaiian Koa

Top • Back • Sides. AAA curly Hawaiian koa air-dried two years, then kiln-conditioned to 7 % EMC. Koa starts bright, warms midrange over months of play, and eventually rivals vintage mahogany in fundamental bloom while retaining a maple-like chime.
Neck. One-piece African mahogany, torrefied for moisture stability, with dual carbon-fiber rails flanking the dual-action truss rod.
Fingerboard/Bridge. Macassar ebony supplies density for clear note attack and visual contrast against koa’s caramel curls.

5. Bracing Science — Forward-Shifted X with Koa Tone Bars

Primary X braces (Adirondack spruce) sit 5 mm toward the neck, freeing the lower bout for extended bass. Scalloped wings taper to 1.9 mm. Two koa tone bars beneath the bridge align top velocity with back resonance, producing an even decay across registers—ideal for percussive body taps and modern poly-rhythms.

Specifications