Hey man, I just picked up a new drum set for Christmas after wanting one for about 11 years (when I sold my last drum set).
I went round and round for a long time and was torn between 2 things first, accoustic or electric. Back in the day, I had a Tama Techstar electronic drum set, and boy did I regret getting it. It was so 1980's sounding. I said that I would never get one again. So I was really close to getting a Pearl Export series (don't recall the model). So I went out to Guitar Center (it is out next to Hu Hot and near Best Buy on University between Valley West Drive and 50th in West Des Moines). Anyway, they do some great price matching on all of their stuff. Heck, I brought in an emailed price quote, and they matched it no questions.
Anyway, really long story short, I ended up with a Roland TD6-SXT. I picked it up for $1500 ($500 off after price matching) and I got a rebate for an extra cymbal and nice headphones too.
Of course, you need an AMP (don't run them through your Axioms) too, so it can get pretty pricey.
I would have dropped about the same amount for an accoustic set (minus the cost of the amp), but after giving the Roland sets a test run (and REALLY wanting their $5000 model), I still opted for an electric set. I can turn it up, turn it down, listed through headphones, easily do recording, change the sounds from sampled accoustic sets, to some old school electric sounds, to sound effects, and so on. The biggest thing that I wanted was mesh pads for the electric set. Big difference and benefit over the rubber pads.
Anyway, head out to Guitar Center and give some drums a test run. Just ask them for some drum sticks (they have some that are all beat up) and go to it. They WANT you to try them. It you try an accoustic set, try both nylon tipped and all wood drum sticks. Different sounds depending on the sticks (particularly with the cymbals) and you may find that an "OK" set sounds more lively or possibly better with one stick over another.
Also, there are several online (free) training sites with videos that you can stream and play along with to learn. When (if) you get something, let me know, and I will send you the links.
If you have other questions, let me know.
Oh, one last comment about Ludwig. These are good sets too, but many people consider them "old school" sets. That may seem bad, but you may also find a good deal on one.
