Another Gretsch Catalina thread...My review

drumr0

Silver Member
A friend of mine wanted to buy his 9 year old a new set of drums and he asked me for suggestions. His budget was $1000.

I recommended a set of Gretsch Catalina Maple or Birch shells. I know several of you play them and couldn't remember any negative comments about them and thought in this price range it would probably be the best bang for the buck.

Here's what he got at Guitar Center in Nashville:

Gretsch Catalina Maple 6 pc. cherry laquer finish. 10, 12, 14, 16 toms, 22 bass, 14 snare. PDP hardware pack with single pedal, cymbal stand, hi hat stand, and snare stand. Zildjian ZBT cymbal pack 16, 18" crash, 20" ride and 14" hats (even though I recommended nicer cymbals).

He paid (with tax) $950.00 (a great deal I thought)!

He asked me to help him assemble the drums and hardware, set them up and tune them for his son.

I was impressed with the quality of this kit right out of the box. The shells looked great, the edges looked great. The only flaw I found was on one of the bass drum hoops. It looks like the laquer bubbled up and flaked off. I told him Gretsch would replace it, but he wasn't worried about it, so we just hid it on the floor. I put the stock heads on and started the stretching/tuning process.

I have to say these were very easy drums to tune. I had them singing in no time (even with the stock heads). They sounded wonderful. I was pleasantly surprised. I put the stock heads on the bass drum with no muffling and it sounded killer too with very little tuning effort. Very punchy without being to boomy. The snare tuned up very nicely and quickly too with no muffling.

I was through working on them and got them sounding great, but I couldn't stop playing them. I knew they would sound good, but I was honestly surprised how good they sounded. Now I see why so many people play them.

The cymbals are ok..very bright with very little body, better than I expected.

My friend was very satisfied and appreciative of my efforts and offered to pay me. I declined and asked him to introduce me to his wife's cousin..Nate Morton..the Rockstar INXS house band drummer the next time he is in town. That guy can play!!

He is going to buy new heads in a couple of months and I would like some head recomendations from some of you Catalina owners.

I wish I could tune my DW's up as easy as this kit tuned up!!
 
That's good to hear another positive Catalina review to counter the negatives that some argue here.

I did shudder at the thought of spending $1000 on a new set for a 9 year old though.
 
That's good to hear another positive Catalina review to counter the negatives that some argue here.

I did shudder at the thought of spending $1000 on a new set for a 9 year old though.

That is a lot of money for him at that age, but he is a talented young man and I believe he will stick with it.

Could you make a head recommendation for them?
 
That is a lot of money for him at that age, but he is a talented young man and I believe he will stick with it.

Could you make a head recommendation for them?

Coated Evans G1's or G2's would be great on them. That's what Gretsch uses on the Club Jazz/Mod sets (G1's that is). Then clear G1's for resonants would work great. For the snare I love the Evans Power Center Reverse Dot, but a coated G1 and Hazy 300 reso is nice as well. For bass, Evans also stocks their kits that have Evans with an EQ4. That's what I'm using now.
 
I purchased The Gretsch Catalina - same set, same color, about two weeks ago. Man, I love them. I never used the factory batter heads on the toms though. I bought G2's and put them on immediately. Nice and punchy. I left the Gretsch heads on the resonants and don't feel I really have to change them. I use a Ludwig acrolite (Black Galaxy finish that looks good with this set) snare mainly, but the Gretsch sounds pretty good, too. I'm going to change the heads soon.
All-in-all this is a sturdy set that looks and sounds great.
 
Congrats to your friend, and props to you for steering him in the right direction. Another big '"G" on the bass drum head.
 
Thanks for the input guys!! I will recommend the coated G2's for the toms and the Evans Power center reverse dot for the snare.

I still can't get over how nice these drums sound even with the stock heads and such little tuning effort. The 14" tom absolutely sings. The 14" on my DW's is the hardest one for me to get sounding right.

The only other very minor issue was all of the "made in china" stickers we had to peel off.

Also I forgot to mention that I did not put a hole in the bass resonant head, and with no muffling I thought it would boom for days, but once again with minimal tuning effort it sounded killer with the right amount of boomy low end, but a ton of punch. It would actually vibrate back through me while I was playing, which I liked. I really liked all of the feed back I was getting with the solid heads. I think I might try a solid resonant on my DW's.

To give you a time line from start to finish including unpacking the drums to complete set up was 1 1/2 hours. Unbelievable!!
 
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Well, my school jazz band had a gig in town a couple of weeks ago and, well, let's put it this way: some complications arose and I forgot to bring a snare drum. (I know, right?) Well one of pianists had just bought one of these Catalina maple kits for Christmas being as he is a drummer as well, and happened to live very close, so his parents ran to grab the snare drum. Suffice to say I was impressed with the stock heads tuned at a medium-tight tuning the sensitivity and body that the drum held. It had a really nice warm tone, and sounded great with brushes.

Although I'll try to remember to bring a snare drum to our next venue, I have to admit I wouldn't mind borrowing that snare drum again.
 
Hey does anybody know if the brand Craviotto is actually any good? i might buy some and i need to know if they are worth it or not. Thanks!!
 
Hey does anybody know if the brand Craviotto is actually any good? i might buy some and i need to know if they are worth it or not. Thanks!!

Craviotto makes amazing drums. They are expensive, but worth it.
 
I've been looking for a new drum set to upgrade from my starter kit. My first were Gretsch Blackhawks. I was wondering if the Catalina Maple would be enough of an upgrade. Oh and I found them for about $700.

http://cgi.ebay.com/GRETSCH-CATALINA-6-PIECE-MAPLE-DRUM-SET-W-HARDWARE_W0QQitemZ370018475204QQihZ024QQcategoryZ64439QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

I got a Gretsch Catalina Maple kit in cherry red finish, and I love it! I immediately replaced the tom heads to pinstripes, and put an Aquarian Super Kick II on the bass (AMAZING!) I left stock heads on the resonants. The kit is super punchy, and looks equally as good as it sounds. The only complaint that I have is that I could never get a good sound out of the snare. I have tried various heads, like Evans reverse dot heads, Remo emperor X, coated ambassadors, Aquarian satin finish heads, but none produced a sound suitable for rock. Besides the snare, Catalina maple's sound simply amazing. Just get some Sabian cymbals, and you are set for life.
 
I got a Gretsch Catalina Maple kit in cherry red finish, and I love it! I immediately replaced the tom heads to pinstripes, and put an Aquarian Super Kick II on the bass (AMAZING!) I left stock heads on the resonants. The kit is super punchy, and looks equally as good as it sounds. The only complaint that I have is that I could never get a good sound out of the snare. I have tried various heads, like Evans reverse dot heads, Remo emperor X, coated ambassadors, Aquarian satin finish heads, but none produced a sound suitable for rock. Besides the snare, Catalina maple's sound simply amazing. Just get some Sabian cymbals, and you are set for life.

Thats exactly the kind of response I was hoping for. Ahhh I'm so excited!
 
Yepp! I am picking up my second Gretsch Catalina maple in less that 2 weeks!
Fabulous drum kits for the money!
 
I have a Tama Starclassic and before that a Fibes.. I played a catalina last mnth and was blown away.. just put a catalina birch on layaway and Im telling you it sounds great and looks awesome! best kit for the money by far even better than many kits that cost far more
 
Awesome thread - I saw that the last post was fairly recent, so figured I'd jump in. My first really nice kit was a Pearl MLK (mid 80's but before the long, hi-tension lugs), than some Ludwig Super classics (still ahve both of those actually) and then DW collector's. A few years ago I picked up the Catalina Jazz just because the price was so reasonable and I always wanted a kit with an 18" bass- I was amazed by that kit when I got it, just amazed.

I never used to even consider drums in the Catalina range; however, I've found that you can get some killer kits for really reasonable. I'm currently using a Ddum Domion Ash (granted those were kind of hit or miss as to quality for a while- or so I heard- I'm happy with mine). The Ddrum kit isn't quite as nice all around as the Gretsch- I've really been eyeing the newer Catalina Birch kits. I love the fact that you can get old school standard size toms (8x12 and 9x13) I love that. I've been thinking about going with a birch kit for a while and may get rid of the dominon ash kit and replace it with a set of the Gretsch.

What are thoughts on the sound of the birch? I wouldn't mind going with maple, but I've had tons of maple kits and according the Gretsch website the toms that come with the kit aren't the standard depths (thought these days I think 9x12 is considered standard)- I don't have anything against 9x12- that's a great szie, I just really ahve a soft sport for the classic depths- I love it. Now if they just offered a 14x24 kick to go with it I would be ordering right now!!!

I still love the high end stuff, but I have a family now and am really glad that the market has so m any really nice kits available for reasonable money. I remember the lower cost kits from back in the day and there is a world of difference. Manufacturing technology and super low labor costs in china make it possible for things like Catalina's and Dream cymbals- I love it!
 
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