Vintage Simmons Drums (UK) Users Group

Daniel wrote:
> Well I'm new here and stuff... but my dad has an old Simmons kit in our 
> garage. He says the brain is broken, and me and my friend who plays 
> guitar are looking to use it to jam in quiet settings, but obviously I 
> need a new brain. I have no idea what is wrong with the brain, just 

It depends on what's actually wrong with the drum brain.  I've not seen 
an SDS9, but on the basis that it's computer-controlled it must have 
some kind of memory battery inside.  This will almost certainly be flat, 
and will need replaced.  If you're incredibly unlucky it may have leaked 
and damaged the copper tracks on the circuit board.

There is a user guide on http://www.simmons.synth.net but I didn't see a 
workshop manual for it.  The electronics probably aren't that 
complicated *anyway*.

What follows is a description of what I do whenever I get a new piece of 
unknown old kit to play with.  I've been doing this kind of stuff for a 
long time and I'm terribly forgetful, so some things may be obvious to 
me that I've left off.  If you're unsure about anything, ask someone else

Disclaimer: Electricity can be dangerous.  Do not kill yourself.  If you 
blow yourself up, it's your fault.  If you break it, you own all the 
pieces.  I didn't tell you to do it, I told you *how* to do it.

If you wanted to look at it yourself, the best thing would be to 
visually inspect the unit for damage (broken controls or connectors, 
dents, shake it and see what rattles).  Check the mains plug is wired up 
correctly (if it's got an integral lead) and that it's got the correct 
rating of fuse in it.

You might want to open it up (carefully) and check over the board 
inside.  If the memory backup battery has leaked, you *must* get that 
repaired and all the sticky conductive goo cleaned off the board before 
you power it up.  Remember, it's *conductive* and it's all over the 
place, who knows what it will connect to what?  So, if there's signs of 
leakage or any other liquid, *do not turn it on*.  Not even a little 
bit.  Not even just to see what happens.

If it all looks OK, plug it in and turn it on.  You might want to have a 
look at the manual at the link above to get some idea how to work it, 
but it should be pretty clear straight away if the basics are right.  Do 
the buttons work?  Do the LEDs light up?  Does it, in short, look like a 
happy SDS9?

Next up you may want to plug in an amp and some pads.  There should be 
some "trigger" LEDs on the voices.  They should flash when you hit the 
pads.  You might want to fiddle with the sensitivity controls - they may 
be damaged in which case the pads won't trigger.  You can replace them.
Going by the manual, feed it a "sensible" basic patch for a sound. 
Slowly turn up the amp as you hit the pad.  If you hear stuff, great. 
If you hear stuff that sounds like a Simmons (peeoowm peeoowm paff bomf 
dumf - yay!) then even better, it's probably working.

If it doesn't make sensible sounds (did they ever?) then there may be 
something else wrong with it.  You may find that one voice is faulty, in 
which case you'll need someone with a fair degree of experience to look 
at it - especially if there's no workshop manual.  I'm not sure if the 
SDS9 uses any custom chips.  My SDS7 uses hybrid modules which are 
unobtainium these days.  The rest of the stuff in it is just plain 
boring old opamps in the analogue bit and CMOS logic in the digital bit. 
  Nothing fancy at all.

If you can at least check that it's safe to test - ask someone if you're 
not sure - and post a description of what it does and what it doesn't 
do, then I might be able to tell you a bit more.

HTH
   Gordon