I have been building my dream set for years now, I started with 4 mismatched toms that I bought at a pawn shop in Virginia back in 2008, I cut two of the toms in half, added my bass drum from my regular acoustic set, I made mesh heads using the rims form old mylar heads and window mesh (2 ply) I used Pintech triggers and my DIY trigger holders, for cymbals I used a set of 5 pintech cymbals (single zone) and for the pedal (HH) I used the Roland FD7 I believe, for the module I used the Alesis DM5, for monitors I used 2 JBL 10 inch active speakers. It worked great for what it was but I soon after discovered software... I then bought Steven Slate drums and an Alesis I/O. Around the same time I discovered pet proof mesh, and replaced the mesh heads with that mesh, the only one that I bought was the bass drum head ( a Hart Dynamic mesh head) only because it is pretty hard to get a 22 inch DIY mesh head with the correct tension. The setup sounded incredible with the software, I was only wishing the HH was better....
Fast forward 4 years to 2012 when I bougtht a Roland TD-11, of course it worked great, but I missed the feeling of the mesh pads, I used it for a few years ( I still have it), I saw a gibraltar rack with over 15 cymbal attachments for $200, I had to drive 2 hrs to get it but it was well worht it, later I also saw a 7 piece acoustic set for sale on FB for $300, it was in great shape and I could not pass that up so I bought it. The set sounds great acoustic but i found it way too loud! funny how all the years of playing electronic drums spoil you, mind you, I have played acoustic sets since the early 90s... this time with more disposable income (and time) I decided to have a go at converting that set to electronic. I bought Remo Silentstroke heads minus the bass drum head that I had from before. I bought a 2 zone Roland snare trigger and a Roland bass trigger, and I bought the DDrum Redshot triggers for the toms, I had initially done my own bridge system but the piezos ended up being way to sensitive and for $60, I was able to have triggers on all the toms that just work perfectly, so now the current setup is 5 toms, snare and bass, and 7 cymbals all of it connected to the Roland Module with the exception of the 5th tom ( that module only allows for 4 toms
). the 5th tom is connected to the DM5, both module outputs are connected to a behringer small mixer and the output of the mixer is connected to a headphone amplifier which gives me 4 outputs (one for my headphones and 3 for cameras when recording drum covers). The whole point of this is that I didn't give up on the dream and yes it took me years before I had the time, but slowly I upgraded things until I got mostly what I want, that NO Roland kit will even come close to!. Now If I can only save enough to get the Strike module, (or any other module that can be loaded with your own sounds, then no computer will be needed and you have a great sounding kit that in the end is less than $3000 but sounds way better than Any other kit... My final point is that DIY is great for those who want to play but don't have the $$ or resources, it gets you there quicker, but the idea is to upgrade things until you have the perfect kit for you. Look in FB, Ebay, Craigslist, I saw a roland kit with 5 10 inch pads and module given for Free!! I was too slow to respond so someone else got it, but there are always deals to be had. don't give up on your dream because of a few things go wrong, it's only part of the fun!!