Take the negative reviews of this instrument with a grain of salt. Erhu is a very unique and challenging instrument and this includes getting a sound from it. Professional erhu players attest that you must rosin a new erhu bow for 4-5 minutes on BOTH sides because of how it is played. This is tedious during the setup of any erhu, but that being said, there are plenty of resources on YouTube to set up this instrument -- and once you get the hang of it, it works just fine. Provided you don't give up before you get a sound out, even with the in-box strings it sounds perfectly fine. I am a cellist and I had some culture shock transitioning to this instrument. It's great value for the money and definitely great to start on. Provided nothing gets broken in shipping, your instrument will be playable! The body is wood. The tuning pegs are plastic but I find it makes it easier to tune this way. Please do NOT mess around with the instrument's tuning pegs unless you are comfortable already with how these pegs work (applying pressure to the peg while turning). I watched "EMTV Ep 21 - Basic Erhu Setup" by Eason Music Pte Ltd, and "How to hold the erhu bow and make the right sound" by Music Hong on YouTube. Especially if you're completely new to string instruments, or even just new to erhu, I do recommend these before you fiddle with it too much! Note that the bowhairs go over the string closest to your body and under the further string. If you're new to bowed instruments, do not touch the bowhairs -- the oils on your hands should never touch the bowhairs of any string bow. After you get familiar with making sound and getting it set up, it helps that there are note markings on the strings! For the first while after you start using any strings, you will have to tune somewhat frequently. This happens with any stringed instrument and you're not doing anything wrong! Just practice a lot and you'll find yourself having to do it less and less often. Reminder: generally it's a good idea to buy reputable strings and replace your default strings on most instruments at this price point, however these aren't a necessity right off the bat for this instrument. The snakeskin appears to be real, and snakeskin is standard for many erhus. This may be an ethical dilemma for some. The instructions are all in Mandarin so using videos or articles is necessary. Lastly, you'll definitely want to buy a good case separately if you plan on dragging it around places because it's very sensitive. Overall, I'm very happy with my purchase and I'm excited to start playing -- a lot better than I am now, at least 😂!

This is my first time working with a bow and string as I've always been a guitar player. Tuning this thing was definitely the most difficult part but after getting the tuning down and setting up the rosin on the bow, I can get some pretty nice tones from this instrument. It's a little hollow sounding unfortunately, and the D string still comes up weirdly out of tune, but that appears to be more related to my non experience with this instrument. It's a solid product for a reasonable price as a learner instrument. It does come with extras of all the required necessities, like if you accidentally tightened the string too much and broke it!Here are a couple of tips that I had to trawl through all of youtube and erhu boards to find:Rosin the bow. Score the fresh piece of rosin and rub the thing down on both sides of the hair on the bow. I needed like almost 40+ swipes on both sides to get the thing catching the strings.Tuning the strings: The D string is the one closest to you when you hold the instrument. The A string is the one furthest pointed outwards. The wrapped string in the middle that goes bends the strings downwards is called a qianjin. It goes between the Top mark on the neck and the one right below it. It needs to be fairly perpendicular to the neck. Make sure that the strings at the top near the tuners are tightly packed at the top where the string goes through, not the bottom or all over the place. you basically tighten a little and try and shift it up with you thumb nail and then tighten a little further. this is very similar to restringing a guitar. You'd want to move the pegs out to do a starting twist then push in the peg all the way and gently twist to do fine tuning. this takes practice and time for sure.A few things you have to be away before tightening the strings. the Bridge must go int he middle of the skin area. the damper goes behind it near the bottom. you have to ensure both are in place before you really tighten the strings to tune.Setting up the bow and the erhu: it's actually easier to unscrew the bottom fo the bow and take the rubber clasp off the hook of the bow. as you unscrew you can move the clasp higher up on the bow as the hair gains more slack. This is the best/easiest way to put the bow between the D and A strings as it doesnt involve retuning the erhu.When fully set up, and you lay the erhu down on a table, you should see the strings at the pegs start off higher, then get pressed down by the qianjin then going back up to the bridge and the damper.Playing for a solid note: Look at the videos on how to hold the bow. it's not a crooked wrist like the violin. make sure that the bow is fairly perpendicular to the strings. If you're not perpendicular you're going to get alot of scratchy and sliding noises as this bow won't really catch the strings as well.Happy playing folks!

So I was going through my typical mid week crisis and i was trying to be productive so I said you know what let me learn how to do something new so I had a app on my phone with different instruments and the Erhu sounded so pretty and i just was so taken back by the beautiful sound this instrument made so I was like you know what? IM GONNA TEACH MYSELF HOW TO PLAY . knowing what I know now I should have just left it to the professionals and naturally gifted . But I ordered it and it came the instrument looks very nice and everything seems to work now once again I'm not even sure how to rate a erhu because the only experience i had at that point was on a app. So i admire it i go on YouTube and i look up how to play .. that's when i realized i made a mistake i really didn't even know how to play so long story short its sitting in the closet and every time i open up my closet i mistake it for a snake and get scared half to death I'm sure it works fine i just didn't know how to work it . what lesson did i learn ? the lesson i learned was next time your going through a crisis don't try to teach yourself how to play the erhu because you will further embarrass yourself and frustrate yourself even more through a already pending mental break down needless to say i further spiraled into my breakdown because on top of everything else now i found out that i sucked at something else . I'm giving it a low rating strictly off the strength of it adding onto my list of trash i call my life . Please be better than me .

Take the negative reviews of this instrument with a grain of salt. Erhu is a very unique and challenging instrument and this includes getting a sound from it. Professional erhu players attest that you must rosin a new erhu bow for 4-5 minutes on BOTH sides because of how it is played. This is tedious during the setup of any erhu, but that being said, there are plenty of resources on YouTube to set up this instrument -- and once you get the hang of it, it works just fine. Provided you don't give up before you get a sound out, even with the in-box strings it sounds perfectly fine. I am a cellist and I had some culture shock transitioning to this instrument. It's great value for the money and definitely great to start on. Provided nothing gets broken in shipping, your instrument will be playable! The body is wood. The tuning pegs are plastic but I find it makes it easier to tune this way. Please do NOT mess around with the instrument's tuning pegs unless you are comfortable already with how these pegs work (applying pressure to the peg while turning). I watched "EMTV Ep 21 - Basic Erhu Setup" by Eason Music Pte Ltd, and "How to hold the erhu bow and make the right sound" by Music Hong on YouTube. Especially if you're completely new to string instruments, or even just new to erhu, I do recommend these before you fiddle with it too much! Note that the bowhairs go over the string closest to your body and under the further string. If you're new to bowed instruments, do not touch the bowhairs -- the oils on your hands should never touch the bowhairs of any string bow. After you get familiar with making sound and getting it set up, it helps that there are note markings on the strings! For the first while after you start using any strings, you will have to tune somewhat frequently. This happens with any stringed instrument and you're not doing anything wrong! Just practice a lot and you'll find yourself having to do it less and less often. Reminder: generally it's a good idea to buy reputable strings and replace your default strings on most instruments at this price point, however these aren't a necessity right off the bat for this instrument. The snakeskin appears to be real, and snakeskin is standard for many erhus. This may be an ethical dilemma for some. The instructions are all in Mandarin so using videos or articles is necessary. Lastly, you'll definitely want to buy a good case separately if you plan on dragging it around places because it's very sensitive. Overall, I'm very happy with my purchase and I'm excited to start playing -- a lot better than I am now, at least 😂!

This is my first time working with a bow and string as I've always been a guitar player. Tuning this thing was definitely the most difficult part but after getting the tuning down and setting up the rosin on the bow, I can get some pretty nice tones from this instrument. It's a little hollow sounding unfortunately, and the D string still comes up weirdly out of tune, but that appears to be more related to my non experience with this instrument. It's a solid product for a reasonable price as a learner instrument. It does come with extras of all the required necessities, like if you accidentally tightened the string too much and broke it!Here are a couple of tips that I had to trawl through all of youtube and erhu boards to find:Rosin the bow. Score the fresh piece of rosin and rub the thing down on both sides of the hair on the bow. I needed like almost 40+ swipes on both sides to get the thing catching the strings.Tuning the strings: The D string is the one closest to you when you hold the instrument. The A string is the one furthest pointed outwards. The wrapped string in the middle that goes bends the strings downwards is called a qianjin. It goes between the Top mark on the neck and the one right below it. It needs to be fairly perpendicular to the neck. Make sure that the strings at the top near the tuners are tightly packed at the top where the string goes through, not the bottom or all over the place. you basically tighten a little and try and shift it up with you thumb nail and then tighten a little further. this is very similar to restringing a guitar. You'd want to move the pegs out to do a starting twist then push in the peg all the way and gently twist to do fine tuning. this takes practice and time for sure.A few things you have to be away before tightening the strings. the Bridge must go int he middle of the skin area. the damper goes behind it near the bottom. you have to ensure both are in place before you really tighten the strings to tune.Setting up the bow and the erhu: it's actually easier to unscrew the bottom fo the bow and take the rubber clasp off the hook of the bow. as you unscrew you can move the clasp higher up on the bow as the hair gains more slack. This is the best/easiest way to put the bow between the D and A strings as it doesnt involve retuning the erhu.When fully set up, and you lay the erhu down on a table, you should see the strings at the pegs start off higher, then get pressed down by the qianjin then going back up to the bridge and the damper.Playing for a solid note: Look at the videos on how to hold the bow. it's not a crooked wrist like the violin. make sure that the bow is fairly perpendicular to the strings. If you're not perpendicular you're going to get alot of scratchy and sliding noises as this bow won't really catch the strings as well.Happy playing folks!

So I was going through my typical mid week crisis and i was trying to be productive so I said you know what let me learn how to do something new so I had a app on my phone with different instruments and the Erhu sounded so pretty and i just was so taken back by the beautiful sound this instrument made so I was like you know what? IM GONNA TEACH MYSELF HOW TO PLAY . knowing what I know now I should have just left it to the professionals and naturally gifted . But I ordered it and it came the instrument looks very nice and everything seems to work now once again I'm not even sure how to rate a erhu because the only experience i had at that point was on a app. So i admire it i go on YouTube and i look up how to play .. that's when i realized i made a mistake i really didn't even know how to play so long story short its sitting in the closet and every time i open up my closet i mistake it for a snake and get scared half to death I'm sure it works fine i just didn't know how to work it . what lesson did i learn ? the lesson i learned was next time your going through a crisis don't try to teach yourself how to play the erhu because you will further embarrass yourself and frustrate yourself even more through a already pending mental break down needless to say i further spiraled into my breakdown because on top of everything else now i found out that i sucked at something else . I'm giving it a low rating strictly off the strength of it adding onto my list of trash i call my life . Please be better than me .