Vintage Simmons Drums (UK) Users Group

Hi drum dudes!

For those of you into "vibes" there's a Silicon Mallet on Ebay at this very
now...

electronically yours, jesper

http://www.bolina.hsb.se/hsidor/jesper
- -- --- ---- ----- ------ ----- ---- --- -- -
Electronic Obsession Mailorder
http://obsession.svart.nu

ok so awaiting the ebay silicon mallet...does anyone have a copy of
its manual they could scan for me? Schematics etc would also be nice.

--- In Simmons_Drums@yahoogroups.com, "p_k_daniels" <pete.daniels@...>
wrote:

>
> ok so awaiting the ebay silicon mallet...does anyone have a copy of
> its manual they could scan for me? Schematics etc would also be nice.
>

OK so it arrived its not a Silicon Mallet! it something ive not heard
of ...its a multi mallet...same thing almost...main differences are
its got only 2 not 3 octaves, Its about half the length and all the
electronics are built into the synth like case, no seperate box.
Anyway its exactly what I need as an addon for the kit. Now its all
fine except 6 of the 24 pads dont work...ive done some initial
investigation ...all 99 patches work fine, headphones fine, amp out
fine, midi fine. Took it apart , the top boards are 12 pads each and
have some sort of trigger proccessing board incorporated, so swapped
the 2 complete top sections round and the problem moves with the
section so I have either a partially duff processor card or some
knackered triggers. next stage is to swap the trigger processing
boards between the sections to try and identify if its the circuit
board or the rubber/wood trigger pads. Will keep you all posted and
will get some photos uploaded soon. its going on the backburner for
now as Im off to Stonehenge and then Glastonbury festival.

--- In Simmons_Drums@yahoogroups.com, "p_k_daniels"
<pete.daniels@...> wrote:

>
> --- In Simmons_Drums@yahoogroups.com, "p_k_daniels"

<pete.daniels@>

> wrote:
> >
> > ok so awaiting the ebay silicon mallet...does anyone have a copy

of

> > its manual they could scan for me? Schematics etc would also be

nice.

> >
> OK so it arrived its not a Silicon Mallet! it something ive not

heard

> of ...its a multi mallet...same thing almost...main differences

are

> its got only 2 not 3 octaves, Its about half the length and all

the

> electronics are built into the synth like case, no seperate box.
> Anyway its exactly what I need as an addon for the kit. Now its

all

> fine except 6 of the 24 pads dont work...ive done some initial
> investigation ...all 99 patches work fine, headphones fine, amp

out

> fine, midi fine. Took it apart , the top boards are 12 pads each

and

> have some sort of trigger proccessing board incorporated, so

swapped

> the 2 complete top sections round and the problem moves with the
> section so I have either a partially duff processor card or some
> knackered triggers. next stage is to swap the trigger processing
> boards between the sections to try and identify if its the circuit
> board or the rubber/wood trigger pads. Will keep you all posted

and

> will get some photos uploaded soon. its going on the backburner

for

> now as Im off to Stonehenge and then Glastonbury festival.
>

Ok did some additional fault finding,and my problem is with the
primitive membrane keypads and I think its a build flaw that maybe
awaiting for all silicon mallets, so id advise if you have one open
it up and check...
the 2 part membrane keypad is 2 pieces of semiflexible circuit board
the top is a silicon/graphit spray that hits a matrix of printed
tracks on the other one when the pads are struck.At one end the
printed track folds around the plywood base and is fixed in place
using a thin plastic strip and some sticky tape. The tape on mine
was yellow and black striped about 2 inch wide. something in the
glue of this tape has eaten the tracks turning them thin and black
and in some cases eaten them away altogether. so i know what the
problem is...still not sure how Im gonna fix it though.

If you have already opened it this far, the repair is easy. The black traces is corrosion and the malfunction is open circuits, check and locate with voltmeter. But you can mend the lines with liquid tin or silver paint. The paint is available in radio shacks or similiar.
If you need some posts for soldering your wires to, shoot some copper- plated staples into the wood, solder your wires to the staples and "connect" the tracks of the flex circuit board also with the paint. The current is not high, so a thin layer of paint is ok.
Good luck

----- Original Message -----
From: p_k_daniels
To: Simmons_Drums@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, June 23, 2008 12:25 PM
Subject: [Simmons Drums] Re: silicon mallet


--- In Simmons_Drums@yahoogroups.com, "p_k_daniels"
<pete.daniels@...> wrote:
>
> --- In Simmons_Drums@yahoogroups.com, "p_k_daniels"
<pete.daniels@>
> wrote:
> >
> > ok so awaiting the ebay silicon mallet...does anyone have a copy
of
> > its manual they could scan for me? Schematics etc would also be
nice.
> >
> OK so it arrived its not a Silicon Mallet! it something ive not
heard
> of ...its a multi mallet...same thing almost...main differences
are
> its got only 2 not 3 octaves, Its about half the length and all
the
> electronics are built into the synth like case, no seperate box.
> Anyway its exactly what I need as an addon for the kit. Now its
all
> fine except 6 of the 24 pads dont work...ive done some initial
> investigation ...all 99 patches work fine, headphones fine, amp
out
> fine, midi fine. Took it apart , the top boards are 12 pads each
and
> have some sort of trigger proccessing board incorporated, so
swapped
> the 2 complete top sections round and the problem moves with the
> section so I have either a partially duff processor card or some
> knackered triggers. next stage is to swap the trigger processing
> boards between the sections to try and identify if its the circuit
> board or the rubber/wood trigger pads. Will keep you all posted
and
> will get some photos uploaded soon. its going on the backburner
for
> now as Im off to Stonehenge and then Glastonbury festival.
>
Ok did some additional fault finding,and my problem is with the
primitive membrane keypads and I think its a build flaw that maybe
awaiting for all silicon mallets, so id advise if you have one open
it up and check...
the 2 part membrane keypad is 2 pieces of semiflexible circuit board
the top is a silicon/graphit spray that hits a matrix of printed
tracks on the other one when the pads are struck.At one end the
printed track folds around the plywood base and is fixed in place
using a thin plastic strip and some sticky tape. The tape on mine
was yellow and black striped about 2 inch wide. something in the
glue of this tape has eaten the tracks turning them thin and black
and in some cases eaten them away altogether. so i know what the
problem is...still not sure how Im gonna fix it though.





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- In Simmons_Drums@yahoogroups.com, "Michael Buchner"
<buchnerelectronics@...> wrote:

>
> If you have already opened it this far, the repair is easy. The

black traces is corrosion and the malfunction is open circuits, check
and locate with voltmeter. But you can mend the lines with liquid tin
or silver paint. The paint is available in radio shacks or similiar.

> If you need some posts for soldering your wires to, shoot some

copper- plated staples into the wood, solder your wires to the staples
and "connect" the tracks of the flex circuit board also with the
paint. The current is not high, so a thin layer of paint is ok.

> Good luck

Thanks to this good advice and about 2 hours with the conductive
paint Multimallet no366 is fully functional once again. not the
easiest stuff in the world to use that paint but well worth the £5.
Thanks Michael, advice much appreciated.

--- In Simmons_Drums@yahoogroups.com, "Michael Buchner"
<buchnerelectronics@...> wrote:

>
> If you have already opened it this far, the repair is easy. The

black traces is corrosion and the malfunction is open circuits, check
and locate with voltmeter. But you can mend the lines with liquid tin
or silver paint. The paint is available in radio shacks or similiar.

> If you need some posts for soldering your wires to, shoot some

copper- plated staples into the wood, solder your wires to the staples
and "connect" the tracks of the flex circuit board also with the
paint. The current is not high, so a thin layer of paint is ok.

> Good luck

Thanks to this good advice and about 2 hours with the conductive
paint Multimallet no366 is fully functional once again. not the
easiest stuff in the world to use that paint but well worth the £5.
Thanks Michael, advice much appreciated.

OK so heres another question regarding this...It has a number of
sockets on the back for damping sustain etc does anyone know what type
of pedal(s) works with this...is it variable pot or momentary open
close or latching open close or a mixture of these?...now I have it
I'm quite getting into it, its fun playing harmoney with drumsticks ,
oh and my partner/kids are getting quite addicted (the xbox hasnt been
switched on for 3 days!)