Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Vintage Simmons Drums (UK) Users Group

This is a topic I can address, having done so many pro audio related things including freelance recording out of my house and live sound.

Guitar and bass amps are rolled off at particular frequencies that would be too low for electronic drum applications. They're also voiced for their respective instrument applications. A solid keyboard amp would suffice in a pinch but then you lose stereo field, monitoring from one point. For fun w/ my Simmons SDS-V, SDS-7, Clap Trap, SDS-1000 and Silicon Mallet, I'd plug them into my mixer and monitor through (Mackie HR824) active studio monitors. Now, if you want a full range stereo monitoring set-up the least you should do is get active P.A. monitors. I'm not endorsing but, Mackie makes those, too. They handle transients (the attack) well and have enough low end for extremely low tuning of toms and bass drums. You can plug directly into them and you're done. However, if money allows, I reccommend getting a small mixer, perhaps 4 or 8 channels, a compressor and inexpensive multi-effects processor. The mixer will allow you much more flexibilty. You can plug the individual outputs of a Simmons module into seperate channels, then adjust each drums level, equalize each to taste and spread them out across the stereo field any way you like. You can practice in private through the seperate headphone jack or route the sound to your monitors. The mixer also gives you more on stage. You would set-up your own mix, route it to your own monitors and send a feed to the Front Of House P.A. for the audience to hear.
As for the compressor, you could connect that in line with your monitors but if you get a small mixer you could plug it into the Insert Jacks of the main output. The compressor will do two things: control the dynamic output of electronic drums and it will firm-up their sound. Very important in a recording or live situation.
I mentioned a multi-fx because Simmons didn't come w/ any, affording the player a sound that came across as "produced" like the more modern electronic drums. A cheap unit will give you, at the very least, reverb and chorus which, in moderation really fills out the sound of vintage Simmons.