Does anyone have any feedback for me.  My wife and I are wanting to get our son a mallet instrument to practice with at home.  He has actually been asking if that could be a possibility.  He plays vibraphone in the Pit for marching band as well a a cheap student bell kit for some songs at church.  No one is wanting to upgrade the churches student bell kit (as obviously the prices are so high) and he's really not liking to play what they currently have.  I may have to demonstrate this point by asking the MM to give up his $3000 keyboard to play a $150 casio for morning services and when he balks at that idea say, "well thats basically what you are asking our son to do".  Now the obvious thing here is that HE purchased his own keyboard for that purpose and so basically that is where we (the wife and I and a couple other relatives) find ourselves.  We'd have ~ 500 to possibly as much as 900 to spend on this venture and what I've found, short of bidding on ebay, are what many of the online stores offer in this Musser M41 3 octave xylophone.  Normally I wouldn't think of such a purchase and currently he doesn't practice at home with his bell set at church, but this child is freakishly talented on mallets.  It really seems to come to him far too easily than it should (it just disgustingly wrong...I wish I had that ability).  We want to be as suportive yet get him something that will actually acomplish a good purpose. 
OK now the question.  I've emailed and called different places and have as yet to get an answer on the bar dimensions for this instrument.  I've found the full size instruments with 2 3/8" width bars and down to the student Vancore instruments with I think 10mm wide bars.  We have got to get something with at least the 1 1/2" bar width (I think thats pretty close) and does anyone know if this M41 has that?
I've posted questions about this to a couple people before and now I'm at the stage of this becoming a reality in the next month or so it seems.
Any ideas or comments appreciated- just keep in mind we have to stay under say $800-900.
BTW I've had no luck in locating a school willing to sell older used marching marimbas, bells ,etc.  I really don't want to bid but am willing to do that if necessary.
thanks

Hi, I have the same concern with the father of the musser student xylophone. My son, 14 yrs old plays the bell with the church choir. He had a vic firth 2.5 octave bell kit, bought it for $ 200  brand new on line. But its not really good. Below I copied the description of the GC jenkins vibraphone that I made a bid. Actually I was the second highest bidder but the seller email me if I am interested in buying. But, do you have an idea about jenkins vibraphone. Are they good? Please read the description below. I wish I could attach the pictures here but I do not know how.

THIS IS A G.C. JENKINS VIBRAPHONE..IT IS ALL ORIGINAL MADE BACK IN THE 30s 40s.THE YELLOW PEARL IS ORIGINAL ..THE METAL BARS ARE ALL PURE SILVER PLATED AND IN GOOD SHAPE. THEY RANGE IN SIZE FROM THE  BIG BAR AT 14 BY 2 INCHES DOWN TO THE SMALL BAR OF 1 INCH WIDE BY 6&3/4 INCHES LONG..THIS HAS A FULL RANGE OF BARS THIS IS ONE OF THE FIRST G.C  MADE..IT IS VERY RARE AND IN STUNNING SHAPE FOR ITS AGE..I TALKED WITH AN OLD MUSICIAN THAT KNEW ABOUT THESE AND PERSONALLY KNEW AT ONE TIME  LIONEL HAMPTON AND SOME BIG BAND GUYS....I WAS TOLD BY HIM THAT THE MOST UNIQUE PART OF THIS INSTRUMENT IS THE PEARL SKIN THAT IT HAS..I WAS TOLD THE PEARL IS FROM THE LATE 30s/40s...ALSO IT WAS MADE WITH THIS PEARL **NOT ADDED LATER**..ALSO THE BARS ALL HAVE SILVER PLATING..THE PIPES ARE BEAUTIFUL THE VIBE WORKS THE MOTOR IS A LITTLE SLOW IT NEEDS A NEW BELT..OTHER THEN THAT IT COMES WITH EVERY THING YOU SEE!! EVEN THE CASE FOR THE PIPES AND THE MALLETS..THIS IS ABOUT 5 FOOT LONG AND 3 FEET HIGH AND WEIGHTS 104 LBS..I DID TAP ON IT AND IT HAS A BEAUTIFUL SOUND..THIS IS SOLD WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET JUST AS IS..I MUST SAY LOOK AT MY FEEDBACK AND JUDGE MY OPINION..THIS IS THE BEST COLLECTABLE HIGHEST DOLLAR ITEM I HAVE EVER PUT ON EBAY..I WAS GOING TO PUT IT ON THE AUCTION IN NY,NY.....THIS IS DIFFERENT THEN OTHER G.C. JENKINS VIBES AND VERY RARE.