Ibanez EW2012ASE

Made in china,
Table, bottom and sides mottled ash (prettier than the photo)
Mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard and inlay perloïd
Rosewood bridge
Micro B-Band UST
Ibanez preamp with integrated tuner SRTn
Balanced XLR and jack outputs
Mechanical Chrome Smooth Tuner AS
Fund mini-jumbo cutaway

A very good job for such a small price! 9 / 10 because too much polish for my taste ...

UTILIZATION

For a 12-string, the handle provides good grip (Seagull done better but very expensive brands are less easily handles), nothing wrong with me!
In view of the cutaway access to acute poses no real problems ... but on a 12-string that is not the main attraction, just a little more.
The ergonomics is pretty average against: the guitar strapped to the tendency to "nose dive" (well the handle). In addition it is rather heavy for its class. It is that it is fully seated comfort. The table of mini-jumbo allows easy movement, and the body is barely thicker than a dread.
We sit, we pose on her knees and we get itches at once a sound which was not expected ...
9 / 10 because of the imbalance in weight between the handle and the body of the guitar that would have benefited from being corrected.

SOUNDS

In acoustics, the sound of the strings 12 EW certainly lacks a bit of media, it can also seem to lack a projection 12 string but the accompanying song is absolutely perfect: the first 12-string I found that allows me to clearly hear me sing without amplification.
Once connected, the preamp (very brief) fulfilled its function quite well: it corrects the lack of media easily ... but do not ask him too much anyway, it's not the fishman precision. The tuner is not astonishing precision, but it is already practiced on a model 12-string ...

Overall I would say that I appreciate the "little" projection of the guitar, it is ideal for vocal accompaniment in acoustics. Connected, it seems best to place an equalizer between it and the amp to fill the lack of responsiveness of the amp ... Because of that failure I would put a 8 / 10

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for 3 weeks. Originally purchased as 12-string secondary to lug around, it gradually takes the advantage on my Seagull ...
Likes: its projection acoustic moderate (equal to the dread of a 6-string), its sound muted, its handle very affordable compared to many others, his versatility, his absolutely flawless finish, originality overall guitar, tuner, and especially the price ...

I blame: too bright polish on the body, the slow response of the preamp (on the other hand I use 90% of the time in pure sound) and body weight / handle.

Before buying, in the same price range I tried a yamaha (very noisy), a Art & Lutherie (lack of bass) and another Ibanez AEL Series (too focused on the highs) ... this is very subjective, but the EW-NT 2012ASE immediately self-evident to me.
The price / quality ratio I think is just excellent! For less than 400 euros I did not imagine all fall on a guitar of this quality!
If it again, certainly I would do the same choice ... I come to prefer it to my Seagull me yet coûtée almost twice 10 years ago!

In short, on the whole I'd stick a 9 / 10