I purchased this Ruan Lute during this last Summer. The craftwork is easily identifiable as professional. My Ruan Lute has become my String, my companion, whose boundless beauty is further augmented by its emotional sounds. If you are the least bit interested in Ruan Lute, I recommend starting with this one. It is the cheapest, but it has proved itself durable. The sound of this instrument, to me, is somewhere between an acoustic guitar and a lute (and becomes more like one than the other depending on how you decide to tune it). It's so fun to play!