Vintage Simmons Drums (UK) Users Group

--- In Simmons_Drums@yahoogroups.com, sovereigng@a... wrote:
> OK, now. Few are qualified to answer this riddle. I've left all
the SDS-III
> queries to Jesper because he knows the most about them. My
turn....
> The original Simmons cymbal "pad" was made of some super dense
injection
> molded polystyrene. What a clangorous pad it is! If you thought
the
> clickity-click of the "V" pads was annoying......... Anyway, the
cymbal is somewhat of
> an oblong hexagon running 13.5 inches from front to back (viewed
from the
> played position as it is hung on a stand) and 11.5 inches from
left to right. As
> for triggering, there are in fact two piezos wired to the same XLR
connector.
> The pad is basically three pieces of plastic screwed together. The
first piezo
> is hot-glued to the camber or first piece beneath the bell
assembly. This gives
> you the basic cymbal sound that some of us who own the cymbal
module have
> come to know. The second piezo is hot-glued to the bell assembly,
under the dome
> and appears to have additional electronic components wired and
glued in place
> on top of the positive element. I believe this is a capacitor but
don't quote
> me. I can't make out what it is without cutting into the glue. The
reason I
> think it's a capacitor is because when you play the bell the
attack of the
> cymbal sound becomes sharper and more aggressive and has more of a
ping to it. Like
> the bell of a real cymbal. As real as they could get with an 8 bit
sample
> recorded onto a 32k EPROM in 1981. Now this effect is achievable
when you whack a
> regular hard top SDS-V pad and you have the sensitivity cranked
but the
> cymbal pad allows more natural dynamics and more realistic
playing. It's rather
> simple in design but a remarkable tribute to the genius of Dave
Simmons and his
> design team. And lastly, I believe they were only made in white.
But again,
> don't quote me. I vaguely remember seeing one in yellow when I was
a kid but that
> could be selective memory.
> How do I know all this? I own four, dead mint, three of which
were never
> played with a drumstick, factory stock, in the original boxes and
plastic
> bags. The XLR cables haven't even been untied.
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> played with a drumstick, factory stock, in the original boxes and plastic
> bags. The XLR cables haven't even been untied.

> Adding to this, AFAIK there's a similar feature for the snare giving it a
> rim shot effect when hit at full impact with sesitivity cranked high...

--- In Simmons_Drums@yahoogroups.com, <jesper@e...> wrote:
> > what kit is this from?
> >
> > Paul
> > P.s. I just added a 'misc' page to the simmons.synth.net site.
>
> What do you mean? It's an original SDS-V setup with all the cards,
extra
> cymbal/hihat pads, foot pedal etc - all in white by the look of
it...
>
> electronically yours, jesper
> - -- --- ---- ----- ---- --- -- -
> www.electronic-obsession.se

>
> i think he wants to know where the photo came from.
>
>
>
> --- In Simmons_Drums@yahoogroups.com, <jesper@e...> wrote:
> > > what kit is this from?
> > >
> > > Paul
> > > P.s. I just added a 'misc' page to the simmons.synth.net site.
> >
> > What do you mean? It's an original SDS-V setup with all the cards,
> extra
> > cymbal/hihat pads, foot pedal etc - all in white by the look of
> it...
> >
> > electronically yours, jesper
> > - -- --- ---- ----- ---- --- -- -
> > www.electronic-obsession.se