I will leave an unbiased opinion as this is my very first impression considering I've just unboxed it on delivery today. I really loved how well packed the guitar came, but still the headstock is damaged, clearly from an accidental fall on the floor, which makes me think whether it's been like this from stock or if this was during delivery. In case it was like this from stock, that's quality control for you. Still something that didn't make me happy, since I paid the full price for the product and expected the instrument to be in mint quality.
Another downside of this instrument is that it came with 3 bottom E strings on the lows. I was expecting each and every string to have a different gauge. Who wants 3 E strings on the bottom lower ends? The "best" you can get out of it without getting frustrated with how muddy and flimsy the strings will become is to tune it as E D C on the bottom (e b g D A E D C) but like, seriously? I was really expecting to get the same tunings from my 8 string electric guitar, which are standard F# (e b g D A E B F#) or drop E (e b g D A E B E). I can't say I'm 100% happy with this purchase.
In all fairness, the string situation, I can even overlook by simply buying new strings with thicker gauges (still not happy as this costs me even more money, not to mention how painful it is to find strings for this instrument), but there's nothing more saddening than opening a package which was meant to be my birthday present and bump into a damaged instrument. Well, there you go.
The instrument itself plays well. No fret buzzing or sharp ends, which is a plus. A well built instrument for its price, so a win is still a win.
I'm ordering German Lute strings in hopes to get the lower pitches in place for the 7th and 8th strings and play the instrument the way I was expecting to be able to play it (the way it's actually meant to be, honestly).
