I bought this for my husband, as he's wanted to add mandolin to his skill set for a few years now. He's loving the nice kit and easy-to-use book of chords. The instrument is respectable, not too cheap-looking and sounds nice as well. All in all, we're finding it to be a great value, plus it was delivered in no time at all. Very satisfied.

I got this mandolin to see if I had any talent for playing. I was discouraged with the feel and I didn't seem to be able to find a "relationship" with the instrument. I took it in to a luther for a professional set up. He adjusted the bridge and some other things (I have no clue) and changed the strings. What I got back was an easier instrument to play. The action on the strings were much nicer on my fingers. The setup cost me about $100, but I didn't pay much for the mando anyway. It's easier to learn without having to fight the dang thing.

While this package is amazingly convenient for that beginning player, it just didn't fit well with me 100%. I loved the bag and books; awesome. The actual instrument, however, leaves something to be desired. I find myself constantly having to re-tune it after only plucking it for a few minutes.

It gets to be a hassle afterwards. I think I might end up changing the tuning pegs. That's the only thing I can come up with that'll fix this problem.

Overall, however, I'm not knocking the entire package. The value of this is perfect. You get what you're paying for. You don't pay a very cheap, affordable, price for a mandolin that is not the best of quality, but worth it.

I would recommend beginners buy this, but if you're an intermediate player, or are annoyed by problems that are a result of you buying a cheap product, then I would recommend looking at Rogue's more expensive mandolins.

I have always wanted to play the mandolin. I have a resonator and a classical guitar. I was pleasantly surprised when I got this. There isn't a thing I don't like about this package. I'm not even going to change the strings. The books are great. I've had it a short time and playing pretty good already. This is a great deal!

I was pleasantly surprised when I pulled this out of the box. The mando has a nice heft to it, and the finishing details, binding, etc. appear to be very nice for this price. Actually ridiculously nice at this low price. Nice tone out of the box, I will change strings as recommended by other reviewers, but I can't complain. Nice gig bag, decent books. You really can't go wrong if you want to test the waters with a mando package that won't break the bank. Go for it!