Not gonna lie, when you take it out the box, it feels like cardboard, smells like a canoe factory and is TINY. That being said tho, mine came very nicely set up, the frets were very nice and even smooth, the strings were the thinnest I've ever felt, and while it does NOT sound like a resonator, it does have some unidentifiable charm that just gets under your skin. It sounds punchy and happy, well defined yet very gentle.. and it's just a joy to pick up off the couch. I had it for maybe a week before I put some cork from a wine bottle under the strings right next to the bridge for that twang and mellow swamp slide, and it was great! Then I wanted some more tension for open G tuning and I put some old .11 elixir strings on it and I discovered something important. First, the bridge saddle, nut and bridge pins sound really, REALLY hard. I'm sure they're plastic, but they sound almost like ceramic or a sea shell falling on stone or glass, very nice! Also, the bridge WILL start to buckle and bump at the slightest increase in tension. I saw it the next day, and it kept going. So now it has a resonator tailpiece I got for 10e, I put a bit of wood inside top to back under the front of the bridge for extra resistance and now it holds a set of .16 John Pearse resophonic strings with a .59 low E, no problem. I've even made a new bridge saddle out of a nice bit of olive wood I had and sculpted it resonator style. It lives on the couch and I make my wife groan everytime I reach for it because she knows I'll go into ballroom swampblues songs immediately and for hours. It's great, try it, so fun. Really smells of glue though, so be ready for that