Simon & Patrick SP12 Spruce

S+P 6, spruice, 20 frets, satin finish dreadnought, handmade in Quabec

sound is impecable. full, crisp, bright, large sound at low volume, i believe capibility of the instrament is based on the operator- with that, everybody that played mine was beyond impressed for a $350 instrament to say the least.

bad news first...the only problems i had was the glue on the pickguard didnt hold closer to the fretboard, and okay there was a little extra glue on the side of the fretboard near the 16th fret trapped under the finih-big deal. from the factory everything was tight-machiene heads, nut, bridge, neck, action scimilar to butter

the life expectancy of mine was cut short by my psyco ex- put her foot through the soundboard- but during its 6 year life the finish didnt chip, peel, fade or wear thin, after some pretty long and rough drunk jammin there was typical pick gouges past the pickguard(a technique used to amplify)- with a satin finish the tone gets better with age so if you respect this instrament you wont be let down, never gig without a backup- unless you never broke a string in your life, in theroy this could be the only acoustic needed, studio and stage- its worthy

i dont know if the craftsmen were showing off when they made mine or if they all play as well, however, for what it is- a lightweight yet rigid, beautiful sounding, playing and looking instrament they are well worth their weight in greenbacks, and believe me when mine was nearly destroyed, i had the money and a choice- spend $1800 to get her fixed, or buy a taylor
it wasn't an easy choie- i couldnt see such an incredible instrament go to firewood so i had to pay the price- now i only use it for recording since the top wasent replaced- just the x bracing with a little extra under the bridge, so when i lay into it i do get splinters but no tone was lost, what an amazing instrament

Made in 2002 in Canada. Solid spruce top acoustic 12 with mohogany neck, rosewood bridge and fretboard, and cherry laminate sides and back. Satin laquer finish. Dreadnought body style with a 1.8" nut. Very basic features. No frills. As I expected. This purchase was all about "sound quality for the buck". I added a hard shell case for $45 US.

The sound of this guitar is nothing short of astonishing, given the price. Believe me, I tried most of the 12's on the market -- Guild, Martin, Taylor, Seagull, Alvarez, and others. This guitar has the rich full sound of the Seagull/S&P Cedar 12's with the brightness (due I suppose to spruce) of the Alvarez and Martin's I tried. This guitar (and it's Seagull cousin) is the best "sound for the money" I could find in the 12 string market, by far. I suspect there is a Taylor, Martin, or Guild out there to top it, but only at 3X+ the price.

I had the guitar setup by the dealer and restrung with Elixers. The action is, therefore, absolutely perfect. The top is a good one. Nice bearclaws. The sides and neck do have some minor (nearly impossible to see) blemishes, but this is a "factory demo" model and it was priced accordingly. If I hadn't been told it was a "factory demo", I wouldn't have known it. I'll give it an 8, which reflects a 6 on finish and a 10 on Action and Fit.

The 3 ply laminate cherry sides and back should make this one very sturdy. That said, it is a laquer finish vs. polyester. Who knows? The way I see it, I don't have too much invested here so not so much of a loss with a nick or two.

Excellent guitar, particularly for the cash. I'm a "recovering drummer" who has been playing guitar for about 4 years. I own a Taylor 414c, a Taylor BabyM for travel, and a Fender Telecaster for the occaisional wall shaking. Only remaining wish is for it to have a front strap pin.

Not much in the way of features et al pretty basic guitar, strings wood, tuners,
Solid spruce top mahogany neck laminated cherry sides and back. Simple rosette 4 coat alcohol lacquer finish. Chrome tuners and such.
it was used when I bought it, so the dealer threw in a hardcase (the non-tkl canadian one, cheap but effective) some strings and a shubb capo (best capo I've owned yaaay shubb)
My only major annoyance was no back binding, but since that's not a real effect on sound I'm not real worried.
I rate it low since there's really not much in the way of features of any sort. It's far from pretentious unlike many of the asian models in it's range. It's all about sound.

Sound is terrific, very bright. When I first brought it home it had strings with visible corrosion, but still sounded good, so before I did any slide, I put on a set of markley 80 20 bronze...wow...beyond bright you breathed on it and it rang!! a bit more complex then a couple o the maple one's I've tried out, but definitly not mahogany. I am putting phosphors on it to mellow it just a bit in the next day or so since the 80 20's are finally getting a bit flat.

I played some Seagulls right before, and while checking out this one, but like the bass better on the SnP, though the Seagull with the Cedar top was not bad either, basically personal preference. On a dollar for dollar, and on a raw sound basis this is a real sweet guitar.

Setup was great, not much to mess up, top is fine for book match, there is no back binding which is my only real ding on the features, but everything that's there was as it should be.

I have no doubts in my mind that this thing could take a beating, it has the cherry laminate back and sides and at one point it took a real good whack..not even a scratch. I did polish the finish a touch where my arm contacted the top..ok I'm sloppy that way. But a 5 minute session with a worn scotchbrite and a little water and voila' it's like new.

Haven't had much cause to deal with them. They answered about half the emails I sent them, but the local dealers love them and say they're good to deal with. I did run into a salesperson at a shop once, great guy, didn't try to BS me or anything when he didn't know the answer to a question, just got ahold of the home office and got a real answer.

This was my first guitar, play a bit o mando and celtic 'zouk. Great service where I bought it and was impressed enough to look at their products again when I finally decided to buy a 6 string. I eventually bought a Pro Folk model, though it was a close choice with a Seagull with a cutaway for a bit less (Same company) For the record I did look at other brands as well. I think they are the best sound for the dollar, and easily rival guitars twice as costly, and more. Everytime I find a 12 I like better, the price tag has been 900+. I can't say it's a high market taylor or breedlove, but then for the price it's great. They seem to concentrate on sound where others are concentrating on inlays.

This S+P 12 is a 2001 dreadnought made in good ol Canada by the same people as Godin and Seagull... All Simon & Patricks come with solid tops, mine is Solid Spruce. All though a minor setback is the laminated wild cherry back and sides. No name tuners, im sure there good though. Pretty wide neck, its at least 1/4 inch more than my Fender DG20. Still is pretty comfortable. Has a pickguard, its nice, I think it makes the guitar look nicer, not to mention the protection(its only got a satin finish) Neck is really smooth, satin finish lets me fly. It is really heavy though, but then theres TONS of sustain too.

Sound, well this guitar can easily be compared to guitars 3 times as much as it is. Really rich and full tone, like you would expect to hear from a 12 string. A LOT louder than my Fender, which is probably due to the satin finish(makes the guitar fell rich to me). I like to play Dave Matthews and acoustic style rock and such, this guitar works great for all of those things. Im also getting into Tim Reynolds and lots of his stuff is on 12 string so that tone is there too. Great soudn for the cash.

Yup, not too bad for a 415 dollar guitar. Settup is pretty nice, I dont plan on having it settup by a professional for a year or so(u should every year). For a 12 string, the action is among the best I tried. I played a Fender DG 14s 12 that didnt compare at all in any category, it was poor. Top is perfect, lots of color, looks wonderful. Guitar is perfect in every way EXCEPT, allways the but, there is a small nick in the binding on the lower bout just where my arm sits and that digs in, oww, but its no big deal, its still great. Due to the nick, its a 9.

Never played live, dont plan on it in the near future, but I imagine it could stand. But remember, never gig without a backup, ever. Hardware is just the nickel plated stuff so it probably will last forever. Strap button is pretty good. Holds my strap on well too. Im sure it will give me years of playing pleasure.

Never talked to them, unfortunately.

Just 2 years Ive been playing. I have a Fender DG20CE acoustic, a Fender Acoustisonic 30 amp, a Hofner 515 classical, and this Simon & Patrick. If this guitar were stolen, I would cry forever then I would probably be without a 12 string guitar for a long time. I would probably end up buying another S&P because its such a great guitar. If you are in the market for a 12 string guitar, get this one.

Purchased new - but a recent vintage, not a 2001 model. Cane with the excellent B-Band/New Frontier system by EMF Acoustics (new models have a system from Quantum or LR Baggs). Solid spruce top, wild cherry sides and back (similar to many Seagull/S&P models), magohany neck, rosewood fingerboard and bridge, compensated saddle, semi-gloss (I think it's called a nitrocellulose) finish. Quality enclosed machine heads. Excellent fit and finish - like many Seagull/S&P guitars, there ain't a lot of cosmetic frills, just excellent basic materials and workmanship.

Nice, low action for a 12-string. I play mostly folk, rock, etc...(Neil Young, Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Traffic, Stones, etc...) and it sounds great! One of the nice things about the satin finish is that it really lets the top vibrate and project. I also own a 6 string Seagull (the Magohany Cedar CW with the LR Baggs Duet system), and while I love the warm sound of the cedar top on the Seagull, the spruce on the S&P really projects well. The B-Band system is excellent - I had read a lot about it, but it really blew me away. It's a shame that S&P chose to change piezo systems - the Quantum may be very nice, but the EMF system really gets it done, IMO. Truly outstanding sound and playability.

Action was low, with no buzzing. Compensated saddle promotes nice tone all over the fretboard. As I said above, this is a no frills guitar - the pick guard looks a little cheesy, but does its job. General fit and finish is excellent - if you want a more ornate guitar, look elsewhere (and pay up). If you want a dynamite $500 acoustic/electric guitar that comes alive in your fingers, you've found it.

Very solid instrument - the extent of my gigging with it will be at parties and (maybe) coffeehouses. Not only would I have no problem playing it out, I would WANT to play it out! Isn't that the point?

Given the satin finish, I would be a little careful with heavy strumming and banging around....However, I gladly accept that tradeoff versus a heavy laminated finish that may protect the finish but sacrifice sound quality.

This is my third Seagull/S&P - I started with a Seagull S6, then got the Mahogany/Cedar CW 2 years ago. I have never had to deal with them, because all three guitars have had absolutely no problem. Their reputation on various newsgroups related to customer service issues has been excellent.

I've been playing for almost 25 years, in one form or another. I've accumulated a lot of stuff over the years, and I take particular satisfaction in finding great sounding stuff for a good price. I'm at a point in my life where I have the money to buy a Gibson ES-335 for $2,000-$3,000, but I love my Epiphone Sheraton II (w/SD Seth Lover pickups installed afterwards) for a third of that cost. Same with my acoustics - I played other 12-strings in the same price range (Ibanez, Yamaha, Fender, etc...), and the S&P blew them away so thoroughly, it's not even a fair fight. I also played a Taylor 355 (cedar top, laminated sides and back like the S&P, etc.), and I admit that it is a nice guitar - for $1200! And that's without the B-Band (or similar) amplification system.

Is the S&P a Taylor? No. It's a damn nice guitar in it's own right.

Is there another 12-string guitar out there that provides as much quality, value, playability and TONE as this one does for 500 bucks?

Hard to imagine. I'm in love.