MIDI drums help!

[RobRideout]

Hey guys
I'm looking to get an electronic drum kit, but I've ended up with a pretty specific list of things I want on it, and I'm finding it hard to find one that reaches all my specs, so I thought maybe someone on here would have an idea...
Firstly, I only have about £500 to spend, as I don't want to end up completely broke after this, but if I need to I could stretch a bit further.
I don't need any built in fancy sounds, because I'm using it to trigger MIDI drums through Superior Drummer, so I just need MIDI or USB connectivity with it, and ideally the option to expand the kit by adding extra cymbals for crashes/chinas/splashes etc.
Also, I was looking at roland kits and the choke button on the underside of the crash looks handy, but I don't know if that's in my price range.
I was also thinking about maybe building my own using trigger pads and a frame for a cheap kit, but I don't know how I'd go about it, so if anyone knows anything about that kind of stuff, and whether it's feasible, then please let me know!

[Mooncat]

I've owned both a yamaha DTXPress and a Roland TD8 (Mesh head pads).
Both are really good, and you should be able to pick up decent condition examples via ebay.  Depending how often you'll be playing them you could also look at the Alesis kits which are a bit cheaper and should trigger the sounds as well as the others.

[gav]

A really nice kit that doesn't break the bank is the Alesis DM10 Studio Kit. It's got all the I/O you need, 4 tom pads with rim triggers (which you can assign any sound you like to), a snare pad with rim trigger, kick pad, 2 crash pads, a 3 zone ride pad, and hi-hat pad with pedal. All of the snare/tom pads have actual tunable drum heads on them for getting the sort of stick response you're after, the crash and ride pads have choke triggers, and I know you don't need it, but it's got a cracking sound module too.
It seems to be going for around the £700 mark new, but I'm sure you could find a cheaper on on ebay, etc.
Just a suggestion.

[MadeOutOfCats]

In case you haven't discovered it already, there's a very useful DIY forum at vdrums.com, which you might want to check out if you're serious about making your own pads/triggers. They tend to assume you'll be using a Roland module (not surprising given that it's a V-Drum forum), but you should be able to get the designs working with other modules too, or with a trigger-to-MIDI converter if you're going the software route.

[Dave M]

Ive been looking at the same thing .. Obviously you (and I) cant afford the Roland or Yamaha, but Alesis do a USB kit with surge cymbals fro £549 .. which seem to work very well on demo's Ive seen on youtube

http://www.dv247.com/drums-and-percussi ... als--48544

or

the Alesis DM5 pro with the same surge cymbals
 
http://www.dv247.com/drums-and-percussi ... dle--79667

They're a decent make, but obviously make to a price point and wont be as good as the Roland / Yamaha's, but buy it with a 4 year warranty from dv247 and you're covered ... easy win !  

And no, I dont work for DV247  

[Tricky]

I can only comment on Roland gear, 'cos that's all I've owned (was TD8, now TD10); but I'd reckon you could probably pick up a TD3 off ebay for under £500, and you could get lucky and get a mesh headed TD6kx for under £650.
I'd strongly recommend the mesh heads - they're much easier on the wrists.

Roland Advantages:
Loads of bits and spares available
Pretty good build and reliability
Plenty of tech assistance on the web
Will hold its value relative to other makes

Roland Disavantages:
Initial price  

[RobRideout]

It arrived last week! A beautiful Alesis DM10
I managed to stretch my budget quite a bit with various other monies but it was well worth it I love it!
Now christmas is here and I'm gonna look at Condenser mics... To a new thread!

Thanks very much for the advice guys, you've not steered me wrong yet!