Vintage Simmons Drums (UK) Users Group

I really like my Roland PM-30. It has two little monitors you can mount on
your drum rack (so the sounds seem to come from the pads) or above the
woofer. The woofer can be set to behave as either a full-range speaker or
as a sub. And it's on wheels, so you can move it around easily. It has a
built-in mixer so you can have your toms to the left and right and center
pan the bass & snare. The sound is amazing for the size. It gets almost as
loud as my acoustic kit before the low end starts to distort; plenty loud
for practicing with a band or playing out in a small space.

The new Simmons (sic) amps seem to be better suited for practicing alone
in your bedroom or apartment at a volume that won't disturb the neighbors.
When I demoed a few in the store I realized pretty quickly that they
weren't nearly powerful, punchy or clear enough for use when playing with
other musicians.

Before picking up a PM-30, I'd been using bass amp/cab combinations but I
always heard coloration from the head. Sometimes that was a good thing,
sometimes it wasn't. Bass amps tend to trash hihats and cymbals, but they
give a nice oumf to the toms and snare. Back in the day, nearly all the
drummers I saw using Simmons were using real cymbals and hats, so using a
bass amp would have sounded great.

all my best,
- Scott