Great shape that is comfortable to play and fun to put together. I ended up gluing a selection of various thin hardwoods to the top for a neat color effect. It did take a fair amount of sanding and wood filling on the center rings outer edge to get them looking and feeling the way I was wanting but that is to be expected with any wood project. Also, it may be the standard now but at least with my kit it did not come with the neck notch on the top panel and top ring which was fine and actually preferred.