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well after months of eBay/classified/Facebook marketplace searching I managed to bag a Vox Valvetronic Tonelab as suggested/recommended by @EdwardMarlowe. It's excellent! exactly what i was looking for (although it has a bigger footprint than i was hoping for) the amp models are excellent, the effects are very decent and it seems very easy to use (not really dug too deep into it so far) Thank you for the suggestion! Matt

6 is enough for me, I wasn't considering the 12 well not yet . After much consideration, and a nearly swing to the tanglewood TW4 koa I've finally decided on the EJ-200SCE has been calling me the loudest. Thanks for all your advice and input.

I wouldn't recommend one as a first guitar for the reasons Douglas has given. In short, it's very specific sound that won't work well for most of the music you'll likely want to play. Also they're physically hard to play for a variety of reasons. Definitely not recommended as a first instrument, but again as Douglas say, try one out in a shop if you really must. One final point; transitioning from a 12 to a 6 is likely to be a lot harder than doing it the other way round. I don't know for sure though as I've never heard of anyone being daft enough to try it.

'Very' would be an exaggeration, but it's probably best to not have one as one's first guitar. The repertoire tends to be different, as they're more generally strummed, or used for cross-picking; seldom for 'lead' lines. The bug-bear, for beginners, is the tuning (twice as many strings, of course...), as they do not sound 'amazing' unless properly in tune. Worth trying out (at a music shop, or borrowed from a friend..?) before investing, unless really keen. Once acquired, though, they're keepers.

For added information, I'd endorse @Skinnyman's thoughts about Faith guitars. They're not religious zealots as far as I know, but they do make exceedingly good guitars that punch well above their weight. Made by a family company in Indonesia IIRC, but under the watchful eye of Patrick Eggle, who IMHO is one of the finest luthiers currently working in the UK. His own guitars sell for £3k and up. He personally inspects each batch that comes into the UK. I had the good fortune to meet up and chat with him at an event in Birmingham last year while taking delivery of my Mercury parlour guitar. He talked me through the production process, and how he personally inspects them to ensure quality control. Very nice man to boot. While I'm here, I notice nobody seems to have picked up on the Taylor link (apologies if I've missed it). These are prestige instruments, used by many of the world's top pros. They are beautifully made guitars that will repay your investment. I had the good fortune to own an 800 series 12-stringer a few years ago. Quite possibly the best-made acoustic guitar I've ever owned. As always, just my personal opinion, gleaned from 50+ years of playing things with strings.