Ibanez PF1512-NT

I decided to get myself a 12 string, I only had one once before, some years ago, it was a pre-used one and to be honest it wasn't a very good one so I didn't have it long. Nowadays there are plenty of well-playable guitars of all sorts to be had from Thomann and quality overall has never been better, even the budget guitars. (I've bought three Harley Benton acoustics this last year).
This Ibanez is not a expensive guitar, though it's half as much again as the Harley Benton budget 12 string, which boasts a pick-up system which the Ibanez does not have. The main point for me was the fingerboard width. The Harley is wider, same as a "classical" guitar. Those few millimetres makes a big difference, some say the Ibanez is too narrow, but it suits me better.
Out of the box, the guitar arrived well-packed and the finish was excellent. I expected it to be a little better than the Harley Bentons (which aren't bad) and I was not disappointed there.
I don't know what the factory strings are, but they left my finger tips with black "tram lines" - some sort of gunk on them anyway. First I had to tune up to concert pitch. The machine heads worked smoothly, I think better quality the Harley ones. (I expected them to be better, at least as decent as my old Ibanez Strat ).
I found the sound level a little under what I was expecting - the six-string guitars I have are all a bit louder than this 12 string. It's a good sound nonetheless. Good sustain, no buzzes, twangs or other antisocial behaviour. Well finished frets, nice neck and fingerboard.
I anticipate needing to amp it up on occasion, for which purpose I bought the Harley Benton sound-hole magnetic pickup, which does the job nicely and sounds warmer than the customary piezo setups prevalent in many acoustics these days.
Overall, a very decent guitar, no frills yet obviously good quality.

Extra comment: A month later and I'm most satisfied with this guitar. My earlier reservations about the volume are no longer worrying me - some of it is down to playing technique, which I'm still catching up with. I don't think you can go wrong with Ibanez, this isn't my first Ibanez guitar, and it won't be my last.

If your primary instrument is the electric guitar and you want to enter the 12string guitar world without breaking the bank and you don't need/care about pickups, then look no further!

Thin and narrow neck (compared to most 12string guitars out there), low action, I couldn't find any finish/processing issues (which is remarkable for the price).

I tune all my guitars one tone lower so the first thing I did is to tune it to D. I like the sound (it's not my first 12string acoustic), the playability is beyond imagination for a 12string but on the other hand, I always use a pick so I don't know if the narrow spacing will be a problem for finger picking.

By the way, it comes with an extra bridge pin and bridge saddle (!!!), just in case.

?uning is as easy as it can be, it stays in tune even without serious string streching (well, that was a surprise as well!).

The 12string sound is right there, and it's not difficult at all to capture it (heck, I evem do it with a cheap USB microphone and the sound is there).

In conclusion, I did a lot of research before I decide to buy that specific guitar. If you are on a budget, you don't care much about pickups and your primary instrument is the electric guitar, then buy it and thank yourselves later. ;)

I will divide this review in pros and cons to help the process.

Pros:
-Very affordable
-Good wood quality, hardware and nice appearance
-Descent sound for the price
-Tuning is stable

Cons:
-The fretboard was as dry it can get
-One of the tuning keys it feels like stuck and its difficult to tune
-The fretboard is not as wide as I would like to feel comfortable. Its not a big problem, maybe 2-3 mm.

Overall a fun guitar to play.