Ibanez PN12E - Vintage Mahogany Sunburst

I decided to take up the guitar again after a 4 decade hiatus. I wanted something smaller than my wife's dreadnaught at a reasonable price. This guitar fit the bill perfectly! It's beautiful, sounds great (both acoustic and amplified), holds tune, and is easy to play. The preamp and tuner both work well.Yes, the finish around the sound hole is not perfect, but I didn't buy it to look at under a magnifying glass.... It's a $200 guitar! This guitar sounds as good or better than other parlour guitars that cost twice as much!

You'll read some comments about flaws in the finish around the sound hole. Mine looks fine. I like the built-in tuner. For some reason, I can easily play that F chord on this guitar but not on my Yamaha. Go figure. Anyway, it obviously doesn't have a full rich sound like you ger from a dreadnaught but it's a lot easier to carry around than a full size. I'm very satisfied with my purchase.

I was enamored of the entire parlor guitar line currently being offered by Ibanez, of whom I was very skeptical when it came to acoustics. So I bought the PN 15 and the PN 12E - both are good buys - the PN12E is a phenomenal guitar for the money... hard to imagine getting a better guitar for 200 bucks. While there are one or two very minor material 'issues' - a slight blemish on the edge of the sound hole and some frets need to be dressed, but those minor issues aside, it plays great, sounds great and is gorgeous. It really finds its voice in an open tuning like Open D or G... really sings. Great bass response. It is a lot of fun to play. Just hard to put down. A blast.. worth every penny

The Guitar was almost what I was looking for. But the frets weren't finished on the ends, in fact, they were sharp to the touch. Loved the look and the sound wasn't bad. I just feel that filing frets is something the buyer shouldn't need to do.

Excellent guitar

Poor sound for expensive price 😡 ,with same money you can get better guitar in Indonesia with High quality sound.

Very well built.Sturdy and heavy.A lot more than what I expect from a parlor guitar

Unlike several of the reviewers, the finish on mine is excellent, and there were no build issues that I can see. I bought this "open box," so I can't speak to how well it is set up at the factory - this one may already have been set up. Strings seem a little heavier than I'm used to, but, again, that doesn't necessarily reflect on the strings that come with it. (And let's face it, I replace the strings on all my guitars when I first get them anyway.)Part of the electronic circuit, which runs between the bridge and the eq/tuner setup had come loose and was banging around inside the guitar. It's apparently held by double-faced tape, and I just need to dab some adhesive on it and press it back in place the next time I change strings. Again, not a problem.But all of the frets on the "thumb" side of the neck stick out so far they're likely to cause injury. They'll need to be filed down before I take it out to play or let anyone else play it. Again, I work on guitars all the time, so getting out the file isn't a major issue, but it speaks to the quality control issues that frequently come up in reviews.The tuners were bleah. The kind you have to tune way down and then back up because they're too loose to tune down in tiny increments. Just like the Kay I grew up with in the 1960s, despite their pretty closed backs. Yes, I can work with them, but they could be better.Now for the surprisingly good part: It actually sounds good. I have one other mahogany veneer Ibanez (a PN1MH) and it sounded like a brick out of the box. I also have two slightly smaller solid-topped guitars, and this keeps up nicely with those. Soundwise and appearancewise, I would not be embarrassed to take this on most of the stages I play (and I usually take "pro" guitars). I haven't listened to it plugged into an "acoustic amp" yet, but my guess is it will sound pretty much like almost every other guitar plugged into an acoustic amp, since almost all of them use similar technology.In other words, if you get one that doesn't have an irreparable problem, and you or someone you know can tweak the minor issues, you'll probably be satisfied with it for a lot of uses. That's why I gave it a "5" for value. But DON'T wait until it's too late to return it to inspect it or have it inspected. (Something I say about EVERY instrument you order online.)Paul Race - CreekDontRise