i've heard a lot of criticism towards the yamaguchi class. you basically watch him do everything for you, but get good classroom instruction. barnett's is here in town and two summers ago i met a woman who was attending class there that took both frame building courses. she felt like the yamaguchi class was not worth the money because you didn't get enough hands on time. she built a sweet tig welded titanium frame, which i think is worth the 2500, where as i don't think i would pay that to learn to braze a lugged frame...