Although unexpectedly many SDSV brains and pads appeared on Ebay, I am sure that not everyone who has been desperately looking for an SDSV could get his personal instance. Anyway here is a virtual substitude:
This “unit” can be purchased at 3dstudio.com as a scalable polygon file. Probably this can be combined with a virtual SDSV sound library in the near future?
During the last month I had to swallow more than once when I noticed certain Ebay prices. In most cases the auctions seemed pretty high-price to me, but sometimes also very low. For almost 7 years I have followed quite all international Simmons auctions, basically to complete my collection, but also because of personal interest. For sure the prices depend on more than the actual gear that is to be sold: When does the auction end? Pick-up only? (Inter-)national shipping? Shipping costs? The seller’s feedback? The seller’s origin country? To be honest, I am still glad that I invested my money in Simmons synthesizers rather than in stocks although not every piece of my collection has been a real bargain. I talked to an editor of a recording magazine who proved that thesis. He owns some rarities like vintage Moogs’n stuff. He told me that all of his vintage gear that he bought 10 years ago has a double value today.
Anyway I decided to start tracking all these auctions from now on to give people an idea about the actual current value of gear or it’s value development and progress. Further more it will be possible to measure the number of appearances of a certain item over the time.
I remember the period when SDSV consoles appeared in average only once a quarter year. But during the last 6 weeks I have seen 5 of them! Very strange.
I am confident that tracking these auctions will at least answer my question when it’s time to start drawing my pension.
What’s even more fascinating than a Simmons SDSV? Exactly: A Musicaid SDSV. But these first steps of hexagonal history are so hard to find. I got an empty Musicaid SDSV frame, serial number #71, in absolute pathetic condition: rusty and filled with (vintage) British autumn leaves. I assume it has spend the last 25 years in a humid barn or basement. However no SDSV is to be scrapped. I was truely reminded of two years of my life, 1989-1991 when I had been working in a retirement home where I learned: “Everybody has a claim to a dignified evening of life”
I swear this oldie will live to see a second birth. My Musicaid pads need something to plug in. Stay tuned…
At school I was a nerd. Especially interested in mathematics and physics. Mathematics are based on theory and models. Perfect and clean: geometry, symmetry. Not as fallible as life. No wonder I had been immediately fascinated by Simmons drums: A ballanced form. The sound: calculable. No unknown quantities like acoustic drums provide. For those who want to learn more about the hexagon’s properties, I like to refer to the Wikipedia Entry about hexagons