Description

Simmons Electronic Drum Pads for sale.
€200 o.n.o.

An iconic piece of 1980's design and a piece of classic drum history!

There are x6 regular pads with x1 bass drum pad with the original bass drum legs.

NOTE: The sale is for pads only. No electronic drum "brain" is included in the sale. The pads don't produce any sound on their own.

Description: Any fellow drum-nut of a certain age knows all about these drum pads and their place in drumming history.
For anyone else, simply YouTube pop music videos from the mid-80's for reference. Most drummers in bands from that period used at least a coupla of these Simmons pads on their left (beside their hi-hat), or indeed using a the whole kit of pads if they were going for the boldly 'futuristic' look at the time. Just check out footage of Live Aid from 1985, there's always some Simmons onstage!
It wasn't just 'haircut' bands like Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran and Japan using them - big name drummers like Neil Peart (Rush), Bill Bruford (with '80's King Crimson) and Phil Collins (Genesis) and many others made great use of Simmons pads as part of their kit on live shows.
The classic "Simmons sound" associated with these pads is the "DUF-DUF-DUF...DUF-DUF, DUFFA-DUFFA" outro from the theme from "Eastenders", although this classic "hexdrum" sound came directly from the SIMMONS module, not the physical pads themselves.
The pads all take a standard 19mm "Pearl-style" hardware tube for mounting onto a drum rack or drum hardware stands (not included).

These are mid-1980's era vintage electronic drum pads. Possibly the SDS7 range. These were the second generation Simmons Pads, as far as I know, which were simply rubber-coated hexagon-shaped pieces of plywood, with a piezo trigger attached to the underside, and with mounting bracket included for mounting them onto a drum stand. The pads are compatible with near-enough any regular brand electronic drum brain module. The pads take a standard jack cable. The pads are all single triggers - no rim triggers. They're noisy to play and hard on the bones - so don't expect subtlety!

Possible uses for these pads are for use as...
1. A practice-pad drum kit (not plugged in), or...
2. If used plugged into a drum module (Roland/Yamaha/Alesis) as a functioning retro electronic e-kit, or...
3. As a static prop for theatrical use (i.e. "Back to the 80's" musical / A.I.M.S. related shows), or...
4. As a retro-rock & roll themed cafe/restaurant "museum" piece.

Condition: These are all 30-ish year old vintage electronic drum pads, and all show various signs of wear - from moderate to heavy wear. Most of the pads still work! I have tested them and labelled them as to which are working or not. The non-working triggers are a simple enough fix: soldering a few wires should do the job. The sensitivity of the triggers is crude by comparison to modern mesh-head drum pads. The sensitivity of the triggers in the pads may also vary, as is the result of the age and wear-and-tear of individual triggers.

There is White plastic casing on the rear of two of the six pads, with one white casing broken. (see pictures).
There is Black plastic casing on the rear of four pads, with one black casing to be re-fitted.
The bass drum originally had white rear plastic casing, but was re-sprayed black and is now badly worn.
The bass drum metal legs are rusted.
The rear plastic casings on all the pads don't always remain clipped in properly and so they tend to fall out, this is more of a design flaw with Simmons and less to do with the age or condition of the pads. Some casings have been gaff-taped/insulation-taped into position many times through the years. Undesirable tape residue may be removed with lighter fluid as solvent. I'm not sure if Simmons Drums can re-supply spare parts, but it might be an idea for the new owner to contact Simmons directly for some new rear casings and other small bits and bobs to fully re-condition these pads and restore them to their former glory.

Reasons for selling: I don't use the pads and have no further intentions to use them. I originally bought most of these pads in the late 80's, firstly using them as practice pads, then I gigged them live during the 90's at various stages with different types of bands, then I sold them, then bizarrely I bought them back about 5 years later...but that was well over a decade ago. I recently had them set up for the purposes of a visual stage prop for a musical show I was playing, "Back To The 80's", but they haven't been used as actual gigging e-drums in a looong time.

I'm open to trades and part exchanges so let me know what you have!