Ordered this banjo through the mail to Michigan, so it took a tip, and for about a solid month now i have been giving this banjo a good beating as a new student for at least an hour, sometimes hours a day. It still sounds beautiful with the original strings. I was easily able to alter the arm rest experimenting with positions. The wood looks polished without a scratch, and actually my 2 year old literally jumped on it while it was upside down I though for sure the bridge would be done but nope, didn’t even go out of tune, which is bananas… 10/10 a solid deal