This is one of the best mandolins i have ever played. The neck is so comfortable and the flame is so beautiful. It took me months to pick this instrument out. I played many other instruments that were in the $10,000+ price range by makers like Ellis and even old Gibsons and this was my favorite instrument. The mandolin wad purchased new from the specialty acoustic room at the Rockin Robin guitar shop in Houston Texas in 2014. It sounds really close to Chris Thiles Loar mandolins and is very clear and bright without being clippy or choppy sounding like some mandolins. I love playing Bach on the mandolin so I picked this one out because it was very good for single note line playing. It comes with a hardshell case custom made by TKL for collings. This is a mandolin that deserves to be in the right hands and I am a professional musician who is more focused on guitar work right now so I can't stand to see this sit in the case all the time.