I bought this guitar to experiment with a 7 string electric in different tunings. The external is quite smooth, although not as smooth as some other instruments in a similar price range. Pickups are down to earth horrible, muddy on lows, which renders the whole 7 string idea kind of impractical. I need to purchase some clearer humbuckers, which Thomann does offer, of course. I'm not dissapointed with the purchase and I have plenty of fun with this project.