Gretsch Catalina Club jazz kit?

P

parksung

Guest
i've got a vintage Sonor kit that sounds deep and warm but is damn heavy to lug around...so i want to downsize...i play guitar based instrumental indie rock (2 guitars/1bass/keys). from what many have said, no matter what size the kit, if the sound tech is good enough, they can make me sound big enough, so why waste energy on carrying around huge, heavy kits?

so here are my questions:

1. would this jazz kit be a midget (18/14/12) and sound tiny in comparison to the guitars?

2. are these mahogany kits not full of enough punch? should i shop for maple, oak or ash?? i want warmth but with enough depth and punch to meet my guitarists

3. 30degree bearing edges...i don't know what that means and how it affects the tone...

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...alina-Club-Jazz-4-Piece-Shell-Pack?sku=445682
 
Last edited:
from what many have said, no matter what size the kit, if the sound tech is good enough, they can make me sound big enough




http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...alina-Club-Jazz-4-Piece-Shell-Pack?sku=445682

A sound guy who knows what he's doing can make roto-toms sound like cannon fire. I know, I've played roto's with great sound guys at the board. Unfortunately, I've also had the opposite happen, where the part-time bartender/sound guy is not quite up to the task. A little kit is a great addition. And if you keep your Sonor, you're covering your bases. The issues to think about? Band dynamics. Are your band mates disciplined in volume control or is everybody on 11 all the time, with "everything louder than everything else"?
 
A sound guy who knows what he's doing can make roto-toms sound like cannon fire. I know, I've played roto's with great sound guys at the board. Unfortunately, I've also had the opposite happen, where the part-time bartender/sound guy is not quite up to the task. A little kit is a great addition. And if you keep your Sonor, you're covering your bases. The issues to think about? Band dynamics. Are your band mates disciplined in volume control or is everybody on 11 all the time, with "everything louder than everything else"?

well, i'd sell my Sonors and just depend on 1 kit, so it'll be all or nothing...but yes, the lesser knowledgeable sound people will kill me if i get the Gretsch won't they?

my bandmates? they're pretty well controlled, luckily...
 
I have the gretsch catalina club and it is capable of many sounds. I use it for jazz mostly and rock gigs sometimes. It depends what heads you have on them...For jazz I have fiberskyns and for rock i use pinstripes and cs black dot. So, I definetly think you will have a great sound for your band out of it.
 
I played one at the local GC. It was out of the box with coated Evans G-1's. I was stunned. I mean low priced Philippine mahogany kits are NOT supposed to sound this good!

I hate to say it for those who one more expensive drums, but IMO, the Catalina club sounded MUCH warmer and nicer than the new Tama superstar or Pearl export.
 
I in the same situation, playing with a rock cover band. I'm also thinking of selling my Ludwig kit in favor of the Gretsch kit because it would be easier to gig with. I heard one at GC and the kick had a Evans head on it and it sounded very punchy, although not real loud. I suppose good mikes would fix that, but I was impressed with there overall sound.
 
Hello All,
I have a question for you Catalina Club Jazz players out there. It is my understanding that the kit comes with a riser for the bass drum. Do you have to use this ? Will the pedal function properly without it ? The reason I am asking is that I am thinking of buying this kit for some little kids and I want to be able to get the drum heights adjusted as low as possible.

Thanks
 
Yeah, it works fine without it... It is completely removeable and the pedal would easily attach to the hoop without any other equipment.
 
1. would this jazz kit.......sound tiny in comparison to the guitars?

2. are these mahogany kits not full of enough punch? should i shop for maple, oak or ash?? i want warmth but with enough depth and punch to meet my guitarists

3. 30degree bearing edges...i don't know what that means and how it affects the tone...

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...alina-Club-Jazz-4-Piece-Shell-Pack?sku=445682

1. Not tiny sounding at all. 18" bass drums don't have the huge boominess that 22" drums do, but they have a much more focused sound that is punchy and full of resonance. 12" and 14" toms should be able to be tuned to a large enough range to cover all of your bases.

2. If you're looking for punch, yes. If you're looking for depth, no. Miked up, these kits sound like any regular drum kit. By themselves or with a jazz band or acoustic guitar, they sound great as well. With a rock band, though, the mahogany shells "absorb" a lot of the cutting frequencies. They do have warmth and resonance, but not the kind that cuts through all of the guitars' sound. Once again, though; miked up, they sound great!

3. I think the more important thing is the rounded part of the bearing edge. It gives them the warmth you're looking for, but it won't allow them to cut through as easily. Different heads and different tunings can give you many different results. I would go with double-ply clear heads if you want the most "present" rock sound (more attack, lower pitch).

I like these kits a lot, but if you have the budget to get one new, then I'd look around for a used maple bop kit. I see them on craigslist at least a couple of times a month for around the $600-$800 range. Good luck, and let us know what you decide/get.

V V V V V
 
I've got a Gretsch Catalina Club jazz kit, with Bosphorus Cymbals. It took a bit of getting use to, only because I was use to playing a Pearl Kit 22x16 kick opposed to the 18x14, but hey its Jazz not Rock.
 

Attachments

  • DSC01225.JPG
    DSC01225.JPG
    159.7 KB · Views: 47,900
If you need boom and punch but smaller sizes....look at the DDrum pocket kits. Great sound, but smaller. Then again, depends on what you are going for.
 
I finally get to post a reply here! Just alittle background- I found this website and forum cause I was buying a Gretsch Catalina Jazz set and I wanted to see what drummers thought about it. I did a Google search and found this forum. But I found there were so many useful topics that I decided to stay. BOO YEAH!

Anyway, I love my Gretsch drum set. I bought it cause I wanted a small/compact/easy-to-set up drum set to play in small clubs and acoustically and that's exactly what I got! The price was great, the drums are great and I think any gigging drummer needs to take a look at this kit!

The ONLY problems I have with this kit are that I can't get the bass drum tunned just how I want it (though that's mostly my fault) and the bass drum riser isn't the bast (it'll dig into the hoop if not careful). Other than that, BUY THIS KIT NOW!!!
 
I got one of these bop sets for ease of transport & my 22" x 14" vintage kick was a little big (believe it or not) for some gigging situations I found myself in!!! (I play all kinds of music by the way)

The kit is fantastic - the evans heads don't really do them justice so I put fibreskyns top & bottom of the toms and a Powerstroke 3 on the kick batter - it sounds awsome! I have since used this kit in front of thousands at outdoor festivals, 1,500 seat theatres, cavernous clubs, in the studio and on live broadcast sessions for BBC radio and it always performs amazingly well. The sound engineers are always really impressed with the sound of the kick drum!

I wasn't impressed with the snare drum but am fortunate enought to have a few to choose from depending on the gig..

you can hear some of the BBC stuff I did with Jimmy Thomas at http://www.myspace.com/thejimmythomaspage
 
I've got a set of Cats in Natural finish a few weeks ago. I have 3 vintage kits, but I can't stop playing these. I've done 3 gigs with them and the sound guys like them. I played a coffee house gig unmiked in a very live sounding room and they sounded great. The only mod I've done is go for a better (wider) riser. The trick to the snare is to tune it high. It sounds surprisingly good.
GC will sell 'em for around $525.00 if you ask.
Matt
 
Back
Top