FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
This is a collection of answers to those questions, which occure significantly often

 

1. "What about the new generation of Simmons drums?"
2. "Can I rent a Simmons kit?"
3. "I want to sell my Simmons on Ebay. What would it be worth?"
4. "How can I clean/restore my Simmons pads?"
5. "Would you sell any Simmons gear to me?"
6. "Which font type is being used in the original Simmons logo?"
7. "Which material is used for the SDSV playing surface?"
8. "Why did Simmons go bankrupt?"
9. "How can I get an SDSV HiHat module?"
10. "Where can I get replacement FSR foils for my SDX ZI pads"
11. "Why do my SDSV pads not fit on standard Pearl tom arms?"
12. "How can I remove the shells from the body of an SDS9 pad?"
13. "Why did the surface of my SDS9 pads sink into the pad?"
14. "Can I use other than Simmons pads with my Simmons synthesizer?"
15. "Which resistance do the potis of the SDSV brain have?"
16. "Why don't the spurs of my SDS9 bassdrum fit into my SDSV bassdrum?"
17. "Why are all Simmons pads hexagonal shaped?"
18. "What happened to the old production facilities?"
19. "How can I open an SDS8/SDS7 MkIII pad?"
20. "Which size do the Simmons pads have?"
21. "Where do I get the knob caps for SDS8/9/200/400/800?"
22. "Wer can I get legs for my kick pad from?"

 

1. "What about the new generation of Simmons drums?"
To say it crystal clear: The drum kits SD5K, SD7K, SD9K, SD1, SDHB2 as well as the amps DA-50 and DA-200S do nothing have in common with the original british drum company "Simmons Electronic Drums ltd." which produced the famous hexagonal drums in St. Albans north of London between 1980 and 1994. On the contrary these are chinese mass products branded with the old Simmons logo. Behind this is the american chain of stores "Guitar Center" which undertook the name rights of "Simmons Electronic Drums" after these rights had expired a couple of years ago. Structurally identical drum kits appear under several different brands such as ION, Fame, Millenium, DD, OSP, YOKI, partly even offered cheaper than the so called "Simmons" kits. The label "Simmons" is only a marketing trick. Guitar Center advertises with the contiguity between today's and 80s Simmons drums, but there is no. Anybody who buys a new Simmons kit with the prospect of owning a piece of pop history has been fooled.

 

2. "Can I rent a Simmons kit?"
I already had several requests in the past for studio or tv productions. Basically this is negotiable

 

3. "I want to sell my Simmons on Ebay. What would it be worth?"
Simmons sets don't have a street price as they are not produced anymore. They are collectors items and therefor they achieve prices between "bargain" and "usury". I could not figure out any system concerning Ebay prices so far...

 

4. "How can I clean/restore my Simmons pads?"
In the download area you can find a PDF document with tips and tricks

 

5. "Would you sell any Simmons gear to me?"
Next question please...

 

6. "Which font type is being used in the original Simmons logo?"
This font type is called "Futura Light" and has been developed about 1930 by a designer called Paul Renner

 

7. "Which material is used for the SDSV playing surface?"
The surface is made of 2mm (+/- 0.5mm) polycarbonate plate lacquered on the bottom (glued) side. Polycarbonate is a kind of transparent artificial glas which is very resistant. It appears under several trademarks like "Makrolon" or "Lexan" which are in fact both the same materials.

 

8. "Why did Simmons go bankrupt?"
from the vantage point of the present this question cn hardly be answered. Fact is, that accounting for a strong competition, Dave Simmons was somehow forced to position Simmons with new and competitive products. He focussed on the SDX (even against conflictive oppinions within the company) which rather devoured a hell of development budget but didn't bring the desired sales success. I really cannot rate any strategic decisions made at that time so I won't

 

9. "How can I get an SDSV HiHat module?"
original HiHat modules are hard to find because they didn't belong to the standard set of modules (which acually consisted of bass, snare and 3 toms). But if you have a standard module in spare, it can be reconstructed to an original-like analog HiHat module not only providing the original sound but even working with the HiHat pedal

 

10. "Where can I get replacement FSR foils for my SDX ZI pads"
They are not available anymore. Although the manufacturer still exists in the US, they stated that Simmons got all plans back after the production period. But there is a possibility to repair the corroded foils. Contact buchnerelectronics@t-online.de

 

11. "Why do my SDSV pads not fit on standard Pearl tom arms?"
in order to save some money on hardware, Simmons provided their SDSV pads with cheap and compared with Pearl pretty crappy hardware (labeled "King"). One problem was the inferior quality, but due to less diameter of the taiwanese tom arms, the pads would not fit on Pearl hardware anymore if somebody intended to change the hardware back to roiginal Pearl mounts. The difference can be drilled out. A driller of that size is pretty expensive. If you pay the shipping, you may send me the disassembled rosettes of your pads.

 

12. "How can I remove the shells from the body of an SDS9 pad?"
To loose the shells from the body just stick your finger into the hole for the tom arm and press the shell to the outsite. It should resolve itself in case it is not glued (if the pads are still in default condition, they are only clamped). If the shell does not fall of completely, you can back it by sticking a dull knife between shell and body in order to carefullypart them. But be carefull! the shell is clamping to the body by a couple of plastic fingers who love to break and in this case the shels might not clamp anymore when you assemble them back again.

 

13. "Why did the surface of my SDS9 pads sink into the pad?"
The fact that the surface sinks into the pad over the years is because the wooden plate glued to the bottom of the rubber is exposured to gravitity. So if these pads will not be played, it is recommended to store them on edge or surface down. Do not pile them directly on each other. This will have a similar effect.

 

14. "Can I use other than Simmons pads with my Simmons synthesizer?"
Yes and no. The SDSV is optimized for trigger pulses from the polycarbonate pads. For example mesh head pads will not work properly. The SDX will not work with pads other than the original ZI. All other devices like SDS7 (with XLR/jack converter), SDS8/9/200/400/800/1000/2000 will work with pads based on piezzo transducer technology such as Roland PD7, Yamaha TP-65 and many more

 

15. "Which resistance do the potis of the SDSV brain have?"
A work which can easily be done by anybody who can hold a soldering iron is the replacement of broken or noisy potis. These poties have the following values. Module section: Noise, Tone, Bend, Noise Tone and Click Drum have 100 kOhm, Decay 1 MOhm. Mixer section: Sensitivity 4,7 kOhm, Vol(ume) 100 kOhm.

 

16. "Why don't the spurs of my SDS9 bassdrum fit into my SDSV bassdrum?"
The diameter of the SDS9 spurs is a litter wider than the holes in the SDSV. I got myself a 23mm driller in order to widen these holes. But please: No warranty! It worked fine for me but be careful, you might kill your pad! If you are going to get yourself a driller: Take the spure to the store

 

17. "Why are all Simmons pads hexagonal shaped?"
During the early development period Dave Simmons excibited at a trade show. He prepared 3 drum kits. One had heart shaped pads, one had bat shaped pads and one had hexagonal shaped pads. He wanted to demonstrate that these pads could be produced in any shape, but he noticed that the people liked the hexagonal shaped pads most. So this became the form for the serial production and the figurehead for all following product generations of Simmons drums.

 

18. "What happened to the old production facilities?"
(April 2010) Hatfield Road, home of Musicaid developments, is an ordinary one-family house. It doesn't seem to be used for business. Abbey Mill offers bed & breakfast service, Alban Park is a store for an importer company

 

19. "How can I open an SDS8/SDS7 MkIII pad?"
First of all: Make sure that is is really an SDS8/SDS7 MkIII pad! To get access to the inside you need to curve the rubber edge away to get access to the staple nails. You have to pull them all out. After it you can remove the shell. Now you see the piezzo and the wiring. check all solder connections. If they are all ok: Replace the piezzo. Before you assemble the pad again, fix the solder joins with hot-glur. This will keep them from getting loose while playing.

 

20. "Which size do the Simmons pads have?"
All tom/bassdrum pads have across the range of generations nearly the same sizes. Small/tom pads have an edge length of approximately 178mm (diameter from corner to corner 355mm), depth=55mm. The bassdrums have an edge length of 280mm (560mm from corner to corner) and a depth of 60mm (SDSV/8) or 90mm (SDS7, 9, 1000 and later)

 

21. "Where do I get the knob caps for SDS8/9/200/400/800?"
Fitting knobs at least for the SDS9 are Cliff K85 (google!). The corresponding knob caps also fit on SDS8/200/400/800 knobs. The caps will also fit to the early SDSV potis (especially from the Musicaid era) but NOT to the earlier SDSV brains because of less poti diameter.

 

22. "Wer can I get legs for my kick pad from?"
The legs seldomly appear on Ebay without the pad. So if you cannot find any used ones, ask your local metal worker to make a pair for you. It's no rocket science. These are only bended metal tubes with a spike stuck into the longer end. Easy to do for a metal worker. Although the diameter ist said to be 4/5" (Pearl style), I strongly recommend to bring your kick pad to make sure that it will fit. Particularly SDSV pads come with various diameters.