One of the most often asked question is: “Where can I find a vintage SDS-whatever kit?” And my answer ist always: “Time, money, patience, luck”. When I look back how I found my rarest exhibits: I found at least half of it away from Ebay. At least “half away”. Let’s pick one of my rarest and favourites: Musicaid SDS3. I digged a broken SDS9 brain on Ebay/Germany. Not very cheap but I couldn’t wait to get one. For the first time after a won auction I asked the seller if he had any more Simmons gear for sale. He responded: “Well, yes, but the device I have is very old, does not even work and likely it’s not worth a cent”. He was talking about my SDS3, perfect cosmetic condition and with all original 4 Premier pads, and asked ME about it’s actual value. I am an honest guy, I did not want to fool him so I offered him 400 Euro (in my opinion a fair collector’s value at that time) although I would have got it for 50. We where both happy. My buddy Michael fixed it for me and analysed it for his own clone project. The SDS3 is a really magic device. Only about 100 units have been built, most or even all of them by Dave Simmons himself BY HAND. Somehow I think it is together with SDSV the best sounding analog drum synthesizer ever built. It is still my first choice for remix and dance productions. Some of my gear found the way to Simmonsmuseum in a similar manner. Only about half of my inventory came by won Ebay auctions. Mostly the not so demanded stuff. But any time I take a look at my collection, I am happy that I have invensted my money in Simmons gear and not in investment funts 😉 Probably in 2035, when I will retire, you may kindly ask whether I would part with something…