Description
The Rathbone S12 is a beautifully voiced, steel‑string acoustic that pairs a solid Englemann spruce top with Ciricote back and sides to deliver a refined, expressive tone wrapped in striking, boutique‑grade aesthetics. Englemann spruce is prized for its quick response and airy headroom, giving the S12 a crisp, articulate attack with a touch of sweetness that rewards a light to medium touch. Ciricote adds depth and gloss to the sound, with piano‑like lows, clear mids and a smooth, sparkling top end that stays focused whether you’re fingerpicking intricate passages or laying into broad strummed chords.
This model is built to feel immediately familiar in the hands, with a comfortable neck carve that encourages fatigue‑free sessions and a smooth fretboard surface that makes melodic runs and chord changes flow naturally. The action is set to a sensible, player‑friendly height, balancing clean fretting with confident projection. Intonation is true up the neck, so open‑position work and higher‑register voicings sit in tune and blend well in ensemble settings.
Visually, the S12 stands out. The solid spruce top shows a fine, even grain under a premium finish, while the Ciricote back and sides feature dramatic, bookmatched figuring that looks as luxurious as it sounds. Tasteful binding and rosette detailing frame the tonewoods without distraction, and the overall fit and finish reflect the careful QC Rathbone instruments are known for. Quality machine heads provide smooth, precise tuning and stable pitch over long playing sessions, and the bridge and nut components are chosen to transfer vibration efficiently for maximum sustain and clarity.
Tonally versatile and effortlessly playable, the Rathbone S12 is equally at home in contemporary acoustic pop, roots and folk, or more nuanced fingerstyle pieces. If you’re looking for an instrument that marries fast, sensitive response with rich, sophisticated overtones-and you want it in a package that looks as inspiring as it sounds-the S12 with solid Englemann spruce and Ciricote is a compelling choice that will continue to open up and reward you the more you play it.
