I am looking into buying a marimba of my own, and I'm hoping you all could help me sort out my options.
Of course, with all students, price is a major issue- Also, I currently only have a access to a 4 octave marimba, so the bigger the better.

So, is Paduk really that bad?
DeMorrow Marimbas- Concerning 'practice' marimbas; would i just be buying a 2,000$ practice pad? Can they be refurnished to be useable in perfomance? Would you recommend one, even if i do not have access to a 5 octave (or 4.3) to perform on? With his performance marimbas, what is the price range?
Any info on DeMorrow would be greatly appriciated.

Any other suggestions are welcome as well- Thanks for any input!

I have a bit of experience with Padauk from Adams, Yamaha and the musser M-32. For my Junior High aged kids who simply want to explore the marimba learn to read music and make some decent music, padauk is a low cost option. For my older students who come to me for lessons in H.S. I suggest considering other options like used rosewood some synthetic and I even ordered a DeMorrow about 4-5 months ago. When the Demorrow comes in feel free to email me and ask how I like it. I took some pics of the Demorrow at Pasic but couldnt really hear it in that display room.
I have expressed my opinions on here and PAS, but I will paraphrase again on the Padauk: I dont like the M-32 with its 4.0 thin bars that STILL jump up and hit the "black" notes. There was a lot of rough edges on my bars on the lower sides and it just doesnt resonate well at all. The Adams and Yamaha were similar but I preferred the Adams for 4 small reasons. The resonators fold, the bars sound a bit better (seem more polised/finished)and the frame is a tad more user friendly. When I was buying them 3-4 years ago the Adams was slighty less money. I bout 4.3's. Adams even suggests they are better tuned but I cant hear the difference since they are in seperate houses and I never compared them on the same stage. I had a Yamaha padauk at one elem school and a Musser 300 kelon at another. The kelon may still be ringing from my last practice friday. I did finally put tape on the bars so the sound didnt run so far together!! I also play on a Musser 250(rosewood) and I had a 5.0 marimba for about a year in my home.
Go PLAY each of these you are considering and make your final decisions yourself. What works for me may not work for you. Thats why zildjain makes 40?? different crash cymbals cause we all dont think(hear) alike. Scott K

just curious, are you looking for a practice marimba, or a performance marimba?

You should email DeMorrow and get on his list if you are interested in buying a marimba. Also, he will be able to answer any questions you might have about his marimbas, lead time and cost.