Simmons SDSV (SDS5) question?

[Mr. Varaldo]

Originally Posted by nestach

So I'm in a local pawn shop the other day and, among a ton of miscellaneous rack gear I see a Simmons SDSV. After getting home and researching it I see it is pretty rare and valuable. They want $500 for it but, knowing how pawn shop codes work, I see that they paid under $100 for it so I know I can talk them down considerably. I realize this is good deal regardless but here is my question. Is there any way to play this thing without the pads for it? I would love to keep it and use it but if I can't activate the sounds that's obviously a bit of an issue. If I can't use it or can't find some pads for it then obviously I'll turn around and sell it and get a nice profit. Anyways if somebody knows a bit more about this unit and how to utilize it your help would be very greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Oh, just in case you're curious, it is the standard setup of snare, bass, tom, tom, tom with no high hat or cymbal.

Yes, you can play it from anything that sends a trigger. A drum machine with separate outs is a good candidate, for example, a TR-808.

Pads, however, are easy and relatively inexpensive to find on eBay - you don't have to have the exact original model of pads: I'm using an SDSV but with SDS7 pads

[nestach]

Okay yeah I was wondering that because I see a set of SDS7 pads on ebay right now for $300 but they have no stands and look a little rough (seller reports moldiness). Any idea how often these pads pop up? I might just jump on them because they reportedly work they're just a little rough. Also I'm assuming the brain uses standard XLR cables to connect w/ triggers? Thanks for the fast response!

[Mr. Varaldo]

300 seems a bit steep if it's not in good cosmetic / working condition. I got my pads for 122.50 last year on eBay and they came with hardware, perfectly functioning... Yes, the brain uses standard XLR connectors

[chrisso]

I wouldn't exactly say 'rare and valuable', so don't assume you've made a killer find.
Each set is different due to the modularity. Most people when they were first released ordered a bass drum, a snare and three or four toms. Hi-hat modules are rare and quite collectable. I would love one. Did they do a cymbal module?
The sound tends to be recognisable and very 80's.
However, it's a useful drum tool, especially for augmenting other drum sounds.
It will trigger from any +5 pulse.
I have a small drumkat pad, and I can trigger the SDSV from a synth gate too.

[nestach]

Originally Posted by Mr. Varaldo

300 seems a bit steep if it's not in good cosmetic / working condition. I got my pads for 122.50 last year on eBay and they came with hardware, perfectly functioning... Yes, the brain uses standard XLR connectors

Thanks for the reply I'll keep that in mind I appreciate the help!

[nestach]

Originally Posted by chrisso

I wouldn't exactly say 'rare and valuable', so don't assume you've made a killer find.
Each set is different due to the modularity. Most people when they were first released ordered a bass drum, a snare and three or four toms. Hi-hat modules are rare and quite collectable. I would love one. Did they do a cymbal module?
The sound tends to be recognisable and very 80's.
However, it's a useful drum tool, especially for augmenting other drum sounds.
It will trigger from any +5 pulse.
I have a small drumkat pad, and I can trigger the SDSV from a synth gate too.

Yeah I may be playing it up a bit sorry I just got excited as we don't have a lot of electronic gear in this area. Thanks for the info on the +5 pulse because it would be nice to trigger the sounds just to hear what it can do before I pick up some pads.

[Astralform]

You're going to need a 15V spike to trigger the SDS-V correctly. A 5V rectangle wave will not do. I remember this because I used to own a Simmons SDS-6 (the sequencer). The later models didn't need this...

[nestach]

Originally Posted by Astralform

You're going to need a 15V spike to trigger the SDS-V correctly. A 5V rectangle wave will not do. I remember this because I used to own a Simmons SDS-6 (the sequencer). The later models didn't need this...

So what could I use to generate that?

[Morechips]

i don't have personal experience with the simmons sdsv... but on my tama techstar it is possible to trigger the drum voices using a loud audio signal, I used a rimshot sample. Cheapest pads are probably to be found either on ebay (for much much less than 300 anythings!!) or Thomann online music store (if you are in Europe).

You could also buy a piezo, wire it up to a jack plug and glue the piezo to something hard like a small piece of plywood, then wack the other side of the plywood with a stick....with the jack plugged in of course! this should work, as a piezo connected to a larger surface area is the active element in most drum pads. A piezo will cost approximately £1.00.

[Telehorse_UMA]

An old drum machine with trigger outputs does the trick. I used a Korg DDD1 for some time. Downside to this method: you only get to trigger one SDS V module at a time.

I you want to have all of them playing together get a MIDI/trigger interface. I went ahead and got =>this<=. But basically anything that puts out the correct trigger signals works.

Regarding Cymbal modules: yes, apparently they exist. Just like the HiHat modules they're very rare though. I'd love to get my hands on both. The SDS 6 sequencer also looks extremely nice, BTW.

[nestach]

Well I went looking around at more pawn shops, after doing some more research online, of course, and found this to control the SDSV http://www.hartdynamics.com/support/...s/MULTIPAD.pdf I picked it up for $75 and it works great, each pad has individual outs so I can control all of the modules at once. This works out perfect for me as it makes it more portable as I wanted to avoid having big clunky pads (although the nostalgia value of that would be sweet).

The only problem I'm having with the multipad is that it seems some pads will slightly trigger one of the pads next to them. It's very faint and, if I'm not doing a slow beat, is unnoticeable. Guess I'll have to look more into that.

Thanks again for all who replied you were a great help!