Well Greg - getting more than $1200 for a drum set without hardware is impossible...
People like to give $800 max for a full set, with snare and cymbals...
Those who have more than $1200 to spend buy electronic kits...
So, if You buy expensive gear, and want to upgrade - it's VERY VERY difficult to make something...
And we're a closed market because of taxes. I pay 37,5% of the declare value, or whatever the customs officer thinks is the price.
So, the cheapest Designer I would find would cost me $2500 (if I manage to lie about the value
)
And that is my 4 month salary, or a whole year of putting money aside - which is not possible also, because of the current economic situation...
Having all this in mind Greg - making a custom bass drum seemed like the right thing to do - splitting the set in two - 18bd,10tt,14tt/ft for gigs and 22bd,12tt,16ft for louder stuff and practise.
But I got stuck on 2 points:
1) If it's above $600, then Tim's Designer offer was a deal of a lifetime!!!
2) I would kill my dream of having a Designer - and that sucks BIG TIME!!!
The idea of me saving for a Designer and having a child (or two) and also paying mortgage for an apartment or house is just tooo much. At least with our mortgage rates it is..
On the other hand - I get about $30 per gig - that means I'll have to make 85 gigs to afford a Designer (or play roughly 3 years with this tempo)
...
The ONLY logical solution - I started buying lottery tickets...
Being an optimist after you've got everything you want doesn't count.