I've been planning an ESM Val build for a while. I agree with the statement "buy local when you can," but for me having just moved out of the state he is in, I will continue to buy from Thomas at VQ. I don't intend to be a commercial for him, just know that he is, from my experience, a decent guy, easy to talk to, and will work to fix things if they go south. I only offer up this info because I believe that esm, though not perfect and still need to be "built" as apposed to "assembled", are a pretty good deal in a world of $750 to $2000 birds of similar size that the "big three" are now putting out (not to mention less build time and usually better then CMP-thought I would still prefer to spend 1/4 and "build" one of those then some of the "good ones" now shipping with quality issues). Just want to let people know there is a decent place to get them, and best of luck in getting this issue resolved.
One last thing, I made a promise to Banana Hobby 8 years ago that I would tell the world how bad they suck after they screwed me over every time I had the opportunity, so yes I concur with the previous post "BANANA HOBBY SUCKS!!!" (Hey Pete, me again!)