Simmons SDS-7

A bit quirky, but no rocket science.

It can be expaneded to 12-modules, but mine has the standard configuration of 5-modules.

It does not have midi, unfortunately and don't know if there ever was a midi option available for it.

No onboard sequencer, but the SDS-6 sequencer was especially designed for the SDS-7. Never, ever seen a SDS-6.

The sounds work well for all kinds of music and throughout the 80's they've been used in virtually every music genre.
Nowadays i have to admit it sounds a bit out of date, but i'm sure there will come a time when they become highly fashionable again.

The one I just bought must be quite old, as it use to belong to the drummer of INXS. I opened the device and couldn't discover any past repairments. When I bought it, it was in perfect working order.

It's too old for that.

I've been hoping to come across a Simmons module for more than a decade, but since they're so rare, never even saw one for sale.

I could not believe it when I saw this one at a second hand music store here in Sydney and especially after checking out its price, couldn't leave it there.

I love that typical Simmons sound that has been used on many of my favourite records of the 80's.

Of course it would have been nice if it had midi, but it doesn't bother me much.

I don't understand why the old Simmons stuff is not as wanted as other vintage gear. The SDS7 is true analog and has some awsome filters and a noice generator. With the popularity of the TR909, the SDSV and SDS7 should be just as wanted, but good for me, to find it in a store for a give away price.

The sounds can be programmed individually to make kits, which is easy once you know how to do it. I had to figure it out the old-fashioned way, with no manual. Basically, it's like programming a VCR; if you don't get the sequence of button presses correct, you start over.

The brain, which fits in a 3-space rack, holds 12 cards for individual sounds. I understand that it shipped with 6, and more cards were optional. The pads are velocity sensitive with respect to velocity and timbre (very cool).

IT SOUNDS SO COOL!!!! Don't expect it to sound like acoustic drums, though. (shame on you if you did - spend $2000+ for V-Drums :p ) See above for how the velocity sensitive pads rule. The hybrid digital/analog sounds can be everything from drum machine-like to space noises and beyond. (I have only used the "Bass/Tom" modules.) There are other types, like snare and cymbal, but they seem to be very rare.

Mine is a little beat up, but the parts are totally rugged. My only concern is the battery for the memory, but that can be replaced. I wouldn't use anything else.

There is absolutely NO customer support. Information on the SDS 7 is extremely limited. I have even tried e-mailing other SDS 7 owners, looking for any info that I could get, but never got a response. (you guys suck) I would LOVE to trade info/ideas with anyone familiar with it.

I love the SDS7, I just wish I could get my hands on some documentation! The pads are very responsive with a good bounciness and it is capable of making some wild sounds. I play guitar/bass/keys, but became a drummer the day I saw it in a store.

What a beastie! Give it a trigger on the pad inputs, one knob and 16 buttons do the rest. Each voice channel has seperate sensitivity and volume pots, and the controller section has a continuously rotating "alpha wheel" and a button for each parameter. Dead easy but actually using it is a pain sometimes - you have to be very careful to get the right sequence of button pushes to memorise a sound. It has 99 kits, each voice of each kit can be edited seperately, but you can't copy back and forth between kits. There's a socket for a memory card on the back, but I don't have one.

No Midi, just pad and sequencer triggers. If you don't have pads, anything that produces a voltage pulse plugged into the sequencer inputs seems to work. Piezo beepers out of Maplin for about 50p work just fine.

All those 80's electro sounds. "Thud Doomph Crack" gated kick, snare and toms from the sample playback digital section (2764 EPROMS, blow your own if you like!), "Peoom Peoom" Pigeon Street noises from the analogue section, CEM analogue filters. Each voice is on a seperate board, with a big yellow LED with the voice name on it, a trigger LED and a program LED, which shows which voice you're editing. Analogue and Digital Sections have Pitch, Bend, Mod and Level controls (0-255, comes up on big LED display), Filter has Pitch, Bend, Res and Decay, and the noise section has Click, Noise and Mod Speed. Simple really. Cheese city.

Mine was dead when I got it. It turned out to be easy enough to sort. Very little resources these days though. The CMOS battery for the patch memory seems to be holding up 15 years after it was built - must be a good sign. Sometimes a degree of card-jiggling is needed, probably would be cured by a blast of pot cleaner.

I got it in dead, sold as seen condition with a big dent on the front for #5. I might not have bought a working one, but I'm glad I got this one. A good piece of British synthesis history, and build like a Swedish truck.