Last year I developed several peripherals for the Simmons SDS7 and it would seem that they're now becoming quite popular. Here are four 2025 Simmons SDS7 upgrades that I’ve had in recently.
Here's the upgrades that have been installed into these units:
A – Dark Matter switched-mode power supply installed. Pleiades lithium battery conversion and discrete MIDI platform installed. NC-7 noise-cancelling mod installed.
B – Dark Matter switched-mode power supply installed.
C – 120V – 240V conversion. Pleiades lithium battery conversion and discrete MIDI platform with Tubbutec uniPulse installed. RESET-7 Power-on-Reset upgrade installed.
D - Dark Matter switched-mode power supply installed. Pleiades lithium battery conversion and MIDI platform with Tubbutec uniPulse installed. Repair of bass drum module.
E - All customers have also purchased AMEP Advanced Memory Expansion Pack.
I've used the adjective 'discrete' to describe the MIDI platform feature of Pleiades. That's because all of my upgrades are designed around three main objectives:
- The outside of the equipment should remain untouched.
- The inside of the equipment should require no permanent alteration.
- Any upgrade can be easily removed and the equipment can be returned to factory.
Working to those three objectives can be quite challenging but hey, that's what I do! 🙂
Okay so you all know that I really love my job but the four Simmons SDS7 upgrades I've done so far this year have been a particular delight to work on, great fun and most rewarding. It gives me a true sense of comfort and pleasure to know that these iconic instruments will be banging away for another forty years!
A lot of the early Simmons stuff, can be, well... rather interesting to work on but nothing is quite as quirky as the SDS7. With a personality which can only be described as unpredictable, you really need to know what you're doing and in particular, you kind of need a lot of patience. Yes, it's only classic early eighties electronics and yes, that should sound easy but nothing ever goes quite according to plan when working on a Simmons SDS7!
The 120V to 240V conversion of SDS7 'C' in the image above, should have been really quite straight-forward but for the first time ever, I had a duff transformer. I couldn't believe it but the 240V tap was open circuit. This fault must have existed since production.
Destined to be for the US market, there's no way the that the transformer's 240V tap would have been tested at the Simmons factory or during the SDS7's past forty year life in the US. Luckily, due to the Dark Matter upgrades I've done over the past few months, I've built up a small stock of spare transformers.
WANT TO FIND OUT MORE? Here are links to posts featuring the products mentioned above:
Dark Matter Replacement Power Supply for the Simmons SDS7
Pleiades Lithium Battery Conversion for the Simmons SDS7
NC-7 Noise Cancelling Mod for the Simmons SDS7
AMEP Advanced Memory Expansion Pack for the Simmons SDS7
RESET-7 POR Upgrade for the Simmons SDS7
All items are available for purchase in the Simmons SDS7 Heaven category in my online store. If you're unable to install stuff yourself, then as you can see, I'm always happy to take in your SDS7 and do the work for you. Just contact me for a chat.
Four Simmons SDS7 upgrades so far this year and it's only June. Wow!