Ddrum Dios Maple vs Gretsch Catalina Birch vs Tama Superstar

gslewis

Junior Member
I'm considering purchasing a drum set and wanted an opinion between a Ddrum Dios Maple kit ($650) and a Gretsch Catalina Birch kit ($600) or a Tama Superstar ($800). The Gretsch has a cracked outer rim on the bass drum but the owner says that is easy to replace. The hardware included with the Ddrums is better. I will try to attach a photo of each. The Ddrums are the actual kit but the Gretsch is a posting of whaat the seller says is the same set he is selling but not the exact set. Does anyone have an opinion on which kit I should purchase? Tahnk you for any help you have to offer.
 

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Re: Ddrum Dios Maple vs Gretsch Catalina Birch

I have a ddrum dominion which is the older version of the dios and i love it. With good tuning and good heads kit sounds like a $2000 kit. But Gretsch is good too. Just not crazy about the catalina. I would go with the ddrums. Plus they look better too.
 
Re: Ddrum Dios Maple vs Gretsch Catalina Birch

For me it comes down to the build quality. The Dios is a better kit in terms of specifications if it is built well. Over the years, Ddrum has developed quite a spotty record for their quality control so if this particular kit has no issues then it's the better buy.

The Gretsch is a decent kit. Replacing the hoop isn't difficult.
 
Re: Ddrum Dios Maple vs Gretsch Catalina Birch

Go over the Ddrums with a fine-toothed comb. I bought a couple of their snares online and the quality control was not good at all. One of them was a "Grey Ghost" snare with the seam on the OUTSIDE of the shell. It looked like hell and it was the worst weld job that I've seen in over 40 years of drumming! I've never seen a seam that was exposed like that. The other snare was a maple Dominion with a bad snare side bearing edge. I was able to even it out with some fine sand paper but there's no excuse for sloppy work like that.
 
Re: Ddrum Dios Maple vs Gretsch Catalina Birch

I second that.....I own a ddrum dios maple kit and the quality and integrity are NOT there..Im returning to the merchant. The bearing edges are terrible and after 3 or 4 gigs, all the shells are splitting apart. And this was after the initial kit was sent back! Go with the Gretsch. I owned a renown maple for 6 years and it was solid.....even though its a catalina, Gretsch has much much better quality control.
 
Never had any experience with dios kits but I have a standard tama superstar and it's just awesome. The lugs and hardware overall on the drums are so good. If u like the connected lugs then the look of superstars grows on you quick. Looks like the pic u have up is of a hyperdrive series which is also good. They have shallower toms but they're quality kits as well. They're just made so solid. Very reliable and drummer friendly kit in terms of hardware and tunability. If you wanna save some money, go for a standard superstar kit as opposed to the hyperdrive series and u can grab one for like 400 bucks. I got mine in mint condition for 350.
 
Ddrum is just to hit or miss.Their quality isn't there yet,and the beer can sized bass drum for me is a big turn off.They just have too narrow of a tuning range.Nice looking lugs.Copies of 1930's Gretsch/Gladstone.

Tama and Gretsch are drum companys that have been building drums for a while,and really know their stuff,All the Tama gear I have sounds great and is pretty much bullet proof.Tama's motto is "the strongest name in drums",and they earn it every day.

Steve B
 
Tama does make solid drums. I've got an old kit that I bought back in the 80's and it's still killer! The wrap is finally coming off but that's to be expected as I was not kind to it. It still tunes up great! It also has the heaviest, weight-wise, steel snare that I've ever owned. Serious pop with that bad boy.
 
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