I have smoked hookahs before but never owned one until I bought this - I did a lot of research and everywhere I turned this hookah came up as the choice to make even for the price tag - So being the pretentious snob I am I had to have the best - - - and I'm glad I bought this - It pulls very easily and it is a beautiful, ornamental craft - As a newbie owner I have some comments because I get the sense this particular model is probably geared more for the experienced veteran: 1 - Since it did not come with assembly instructions or a diagram I had to go by the generic diagrams and set-up instructions from the website - I figured it out but this thing had some nuances that were obstructions at first - I was not prepared for the ornamental sections that fit around the shaft to shift and pull apart, I felt very clumsy as they collapsed and started falling everywhere - The shaft is threaded on both ends; one fits into a hub which screws into the heart; and one screws into a top hub which holds the tray and bowl - It took me a while to figure out that you have to just barely screw both ends to the shaft before tightening them both, otherwise one end of the shaft will go in to one hub so far that the other end will not reach its respective hub; due to the ornamental parts getting in the way - Those parts also wobble and clank and make it a bit tough to get the shaft to line up properly with the hubs at first - 2 - The base is opaque and you cannot see the downstem dipping into the water so at first it was difficult to figure out how much water to put in the base - I solved this problem by laying a flashlight down next to the base and shining it through; and measuring the water - 6 ounces of water, or 5 ounces of water and a handful of ice cubes - 3 - The shaft is noticeably loose in the base, making it alarmingly wobbly and clumsy I have read other reviews stating this so I guess I'm not alone - The base grommet should be thicker, however the upside to this is that it is much easier to drop the shaft into the base this way you aren't stressing to squeeze it in there, hoping you won't slip and destroy it so I suppose it's a good trade off; let's face it, a 30" hookah isn't something you carry around while you're smoking it - But be careful, if you lift it up by the shaft and the base is full of water it will drop off and you will have a big frown-inducing mess - 4 - I ordered the black one and the base I got was a dark green - I don't know if this was a mistake or if it's the way it's supposed to be but I think it was a mistake - I don't want to go through the trouble of sending it back and waiting on a new one, and it looks awesome anyway - As a newbie hookah owner, in summary, this is a fantastic instrument to own - Just handle it carefully and once used to how it assembles and disassembles it's easy and beautiful - I love it - Plus it came with a free Mya Thunder which is also a a sweet hookah and a cinch to put together compared to the Obelisk - If you're a first time hookah buyer I think you should buy the Obelisk as long as you are careful with your hands and patient when learning how to assemble and use this sucka -