Cort SFX-MYRTLEWOOD — Super-Slim Myrtle Electro-Acoustic Guitar

The SFX-MYRTLEWOOD crowns Cort’s Slim-Folk-Crossover family with a tone-wood seldom seen outside boutique luthier circles. Oregon myrtle blends maple clarity and rosewood depth while flaunting sap-line swirls that rival koa for stage allure. Fit that into the 83 mm-deep SFX chassis — arched back, 24-fret cutaway and electric-grade neck — and you have an instrument that carries as easily as a semi-hollow, sounds bigger than its body suggests, and looks like custom-shop art straight off the rack.

1 | Why Myrtle? — The “Everything Wood”

Myrtle (Umbellularia californica) grows along America’s Pacific Northwest coast. Density sits between maple and mahogany; velocity of sound mirrors walnut. Luthiers call it the “everything wood” because it supplies maple-style brightness on the attack, mahogany warmth in the mids and rosewood depth in the bass. Figured sets feature curl, quilt and sap-line gradients that pop under gloss. On the SFX-MYRTLEWOOD, Cort book-matches AAA plates so the sap ribbon flows seamlessly from end-block to heel. A clear, UV-cured natural gloss locks the grain under a glassy lens without choking resonance, thanks to careful 3-pass leveling that finishes at ≈110 µm — still slimmer than many import polys.

2 | Body Geometry — 83 mm Depth, Arched Back, 15 ¾″ Lower Bout

Like every SFX, this model trims the body depth to 83 mm (3 ¼″) uniform front-to-back. To reclaim low-frequency air, Cort arches the myrtle back to a 12 mm crown and braces it in tapering transverse bars. Lower-bout width rests at 15 ¾″; waist is 11″. Total (uncased) weight hovers around 3.8 lb / 1.72 kg — lighter than a typical Thinline Tele. A 2.8″-radius Venetian cutaway and sculpted heel reveal the 24th fret, allowing intervallic tapping and sax-like legato rarely possible on standard acoustics.

3 | Tone-Wood Stack — Solid Myrtle Top × Myrtle Laminate Body

Top. AAA figured myrtle, kiln-balanced to 8 % MC, sanded to 2.7 mm centre / 2.5 mm edge. Myrtle’s high damping factor mellows strident pick attack while keeping treble harmonics crystalline.
Back & Sides. Three-ply myrtle laminate with outer plies book-matched curl. Cross-graining resists touring humidity shocks while retaining tonal DNA with the top.
Neck. One-piece mahogany, slim-C carve, dual-action rod. Neck heel blends into the cutaway’s contour for thumb-over comfort.
Fingerboard & Bridge. Ovangkol (≈ rosewood density) left oil-open for micro-resonance; mother-of-pearl small-dot inlays keep aesthetics minimal.

4 | Bracing Math — Hybrid X-Fan for Shallow Cavity

The hybrid system starts with an X crossing just south of the sound-hole; its lower legs dissolve into three fan braces that follow the arched back radius. Scallops dip to 1.5 mm at tips; the main crest measures 2.4 mm. This layout delivers an A-natural air resonance, avoiding the dread “wolf F♯” and pairing well with singer-songwriter keys. Onboard body-tap tests reveal even distribution across 100–300 Hz, ideal for percussive foot-loopers.

5 | Gloss Versus Pore — Why High-Gloss Here?

While most SFX siblings wear satin for stealth, myrtle’s curl demands gloss to refract light through its medullary rays. Cort shoots one UV sealer, blocks back twice, then applies a catalysed gloss top-coat. After level-sanding and buffing, the plate retains ≈110 µm film — heavy enough for mirror, light enough to avoid choking the cedar-like responsiveness of myrtle. Fingerprints wipe with a microfiber; no swirl-mark anxieties courtesy of modern UV chemistry.

Specifications