Clinton, I don't mean to be boastful but I think I make some pretty awesome didges comparatively. I've also got a goal of making excellent didges available at reasonable costs, so most everything I make goes for under $400 as I'm only out to make a living, not a killing, and I assume I will actually make more money by putting more sticks out there for less money rather than less sticks for more. I notice these 'super didges' to be coming out of Australia and honestly I think it's just a head game. Last year I sent some sticks off to didgeridoobreath.com in Australia where they were posted and sold very quickly for $795 each. I wouldn't even normally make didges as small and compact as the ones I sent to them but International shipping costs are outrageous so I had made these up as a special order. I think I make my best sticks in the 65 to 75 inch range and if I had sent them those instead it would have made that short batch look like silly toys. How much could they have fetched for my normal didges? Compared to the market for my shorties I'd say easily well over a thousand a piece, but that's the Aussie market and it seems like the inflated prices are reserved for Australia and Europe. To compare apples to apples, since I make split and hollowed I'll point out Eddy Halat. Eddy is a good crafter who pays a lot of attention to the artwork. I've been unimpressed with the sound quality of sticks of his that were priced at over $2000. Maybe I wouldn't have been so unimpressed if they had a tag of $300. I certainly wouldn't have let a friend buy it for over $400. A German guy last year ordered a stick from me after having been disappointed with a stick that Eddy had made for him at outrageous expense. I was very nervous to be providing a stick to someone with such a discriminating taste but even with the difficulty of describing the sound qualities he was after (and his English wasn't that good) I guess I nailed it on the first try and the guy was very very excited when he got it. I remember reading that JOL in Hawaii had put over $1,000 in stones into a didge he was making, and I'm sure well over a hundred hours. He could have made that same stalk play with the same tonal qualities in less than ten hours and with less than $10 invested but it was the pursuit of the art of it that the purchaser would eventually have to shell out several thousand dollars for, propably still leaving JOL short handed for his efforts. The point I'm trying to make is that the 'super didge' market is there as a carrot for those willing to chase it in an attempt to create a new elite market. In the U.S. I'd say that Jeff Lore and Tyler Spencer both produce didges worthy of our version of 'super didges' because not only are their ears impeccable but their craftsmanship is unmatched. I have unending respect for their abilities yet I sometimes find myself gazing in awe at the roughest Aboriginal didges with sharp uneven mouthpieces and thinking to myself that 'this is the real deal' and we American didgecrafters are like a bunch of furniture makers concerned that every detail be exact. If you ride a $4,000 ten speed and drive a Hummer you undoubtably need a super didge. If money is no object for you I'd reccomend you spend it on excellent Aboriginal didges with excellent artwork so at least you're getting something of value (the artwork). If what you're after is the best playing didges you can get your hands on either travel to Australia to try them out yourself or come to the U.S. didge festivals this summer and compare numerous sticks side by side. In my opinion, only a fool would pay out over a $1000 for something he couldn't even try first.

And its ugly as hell to boot.