OrientalMusicSanctuary Lacquered Aged Paulownia Guqin - 7-string Chinese Zither (Zhongni Style)

Their customer service is excellent, and the Guqin itself is also superb. Whenever you need assistance, they are always ready to help—they certainly helped me out. The staff members I interacted with were very funny and incredibly helpful.

If you are like me, you are looking at this because you have found the guqin captivating, and think you would like to learn it, but you aren't entirely sure -- and you want to spend as little as possible while still getting a good enough instrument to learn on. This is probably the guqin you want. Full disclosure - I'm a westerner who has very little familiarity with the instrument, and I do not have anything to compare it to... but I have bough several stringed instruments in many price ranges, and I have seen the best and the worst of them. This is, of course, not going to match up with a hand carved instrument from the finest woods available. But you likely knew that. When I ordered this, I expected it to take a month and a half. It came in in just over two weeks - extremely well packed, as well. It was surprisingly close to being in tune, so the setup seems solid. It didn't take long to refine the tuning and just start experimenting. There's a slight laquer smell, but nothing offensive, and it largely dissipated after opening the package. It shipped with an instructional book (in Chinese, as you'd expect) and a couple of bits of a "no slip" mat and a microfiber - and a soft case. I'm assuming the no-slip bits are to place under the instrument when you lean it up against the wall, assuming you aren't hanging it up. At least that's what I'm using it for. (Edit: this wasn’t the intention, it’s for putting under the tuning pegs and the goose feet- but it also works good for how I use it) The guqin itself? In short, I am blown away by the quality of this for what I paid. I've spent about this much on other instruments, and I've had them come in poorly packed, or with rusty strings, or some other problem. No problems here. The dots line up where you'd expect them to on the scale, and everything feels tightly assembled - I have no concerns about the durability of the instrument. Placing it on my table and trying to play, I can't help but smile - the sound travels quite nicely through the table to the floor, and you can feel it in your feet. Moving it to my lap, it is subdued enough to learn on without disturbing others. Again, I can't compare to other guqins, but this is so much better than anything I expected for the price. It reminds me of the plywood Kay Cellos/Basses in terms of how it feels - solid, good to learn on, and playable, but probably not what you'd take as the lead into a concert hall. But, you know, 1/10th the price. It's a bit too early to say how this holds up long term - I'll come back in a while with more to say, but for now I am completely surprised in the best possible way at this. Even if you just like the look of this and want to hang it up on your wall, you'll be happy with this, but I believe this will be a great instrument to learn on.

I didn’t know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised at the quality and sound. It even came with a padded carrying bag. While obviously not the quality of a fancy high end model, it’s decent enough to learn on and if nothing else makes a lovely statement piece in my living room.

There isn’t any more relaxing than ancient Chinese music to me. Love the sound they make. This is not the easiest thing to play and I will probably never get it fully, but I do enjoy trying.

Quality and customer service is fantastic. My guqin was delayed at customs and I messaged the seller over the weekend. Recieved a response within the hour, obtained multiple ways to contact in case of problems and recieved the guqin within a couple weeks after that. Great quality for entry level. For reference I've been a musician for 23+ years, semi pro touring, own roughly 18 instruments of all levels etc.

Arrived on time to the eastern USA, looks beautiful, and sounds great! Just mind that the beginner's book included in the package is written in Chinese. I am a beginner qin player but from my experience with other wood instruments (guitar, violin), this sounds great to me.

I wanted to take a moment to review this purchase we made a few months ago. The instrument came to us within the shipping time estimated. There was a hiccup with customs and when I messaged customer service they figured things out right away and kept me updated until the instrument arrived. It was well packed and in great condition. I messaged the seller for a tuning chart which they sent me very quickly. Everything about working with Oriental Music Sanctuary has been delightful. If you're looking for a nice Guqin to get started on, this one is great. It sounds absolutely lovely. My husband enjoys sitting outside and playing it in the garden. We are very pleased with this purchase and with the excellent customer service.