[slingerland59]

I almost cry when I go to the drum shop in my area and see the shiny new, small DW kits for $3,000. Unless I win the lottery I don't see a purchase like that in my future.

I take some comfort in the idea that an affordable kit can sound good, with good skins and expert tuning. I'm not brave enough to try refinishing used kits. So for now, I settle for drums that sound good but aren't very pretty.