Gretsch Catalina Birch 13X16 Bass Drum

[crlujan]

Started off as a RIMS mounted rack tom. So, basically, a virgin shell. Got the shell off of eBay. Ordered the claws from www.drumgearonline.com. Got the spurs and heads with a Guitar Center gift card. Hoops and tension rods from www.precisiondrum.com.

This is gonna be used with a tiny kit (bass, snare, ride, hats) for jazz sessions and small restaurant work. Plus it was alot of fun to put together.

Muffled with a tiny t-shirt barely touching batter head between pedal and head. Played it the other day with the small set-up. Sounded pretty cool. And was alot of fun.

Before...
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k266/kalujan/100_0511.jpg

After...
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k266/kalujan/100_0515.jpg

That's my son, Maceo, in the first pic. He's a little drummer himself.

[fourstringdrums]

Nice job. What are you using for a riser?

[crlujan]

No riser. My regular bass drum is a 14X18 that I use with no riser. I personally don't like the look of a riser. I understand it's function but get the same results by just lowering the beater.

[fourstringdrums]

No riser. My regular bass drum is a 14X18 that I use with no riser. I personally don't like the look of a riser. I understand it's function but get the same results by just lowering the beater.

Oh ok, it kind of looked like it was off the floor in the picture.

I keep going back and forth with my 18" I don't like the look as much either but without the riser I have a hard time getting as powerful and solid of a tone out of the drum even if I extend the beater and hit off center slightly as a few people have suggested.

[punkdrummer1]

the drum looks great! The white head really make's the drum look nice!

Bravo :D

[Maytridy]

Wow dude, that's a classy looking drum. Really nice!

[GRUNTERSDAD]

Another great Gretsch drum, but I would be afraid the three year old would be a little too much muffling for my taste.

[katman]

After...
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k266/kalujan/100_0515.jpg


Nice conversion job - it looks great. Just one question - do your tension rods angle out from the lug to the BD claw? BD lugs stand out further from the shell to allow the rod to clear the hoop. I can't quite make out from your pic if the rods are straight. If not, one can always use some kind of gasket or spacer between lug and shell.

[crlujan]

Nice conversion job - it looks great. Just one question - do your tension rods angle out from the lug to the BD claw? BD lugs stand out further from the shell to allow the rod to clear the hoop. I can't quite make out from your pic if the rods are straight. If not, one can always use some kind of gasket or spacer between lug and shell.

Yeah. They angle out slightly. I had thought about that possibility from the get go. It's already got a gasket in between each lug and the shell. Maybe thicker gaskets or eventually new lugs.

[Drummer Karl]

Looks so sweet!!
Was it difficult to mount the spurs?

What heads do you use for it now? Looks really really great, must have such a nice, warm and open tone when tuned a bit higher.

Karl

[crlujan]

Looks so sweet!!
Was it difficult to mount the spurs?

What heads do you use for it now? Looks really really great, must have such a nice, warm and open tone when tuned a bit higher.

Karl

Hey Karl,
Super easy to mount the spurs. Measured a bunch just to make sure they were the same on both sides. Had to drill 4 holes for each spur. Then all it took was a screwdriver to get those suckers tight.
It's got Remo Emperors on batter and resonant heads right now. Does sound very open. Like I said up top, just muffling slightly with a tiny t-shirt barely touching the batter. This drum has a very defined tone. Not just a thump. But a very distinquishable note.

Lots of fun to play. Just picking up some hardware to get this fully set up. My main kit is in the garage. But my wife is cool enough and actually wants me to set up this little kit (bass, snare, hats, ride) in the house so I could be closer if the kids start to go nuts.

[Jdrum14]

Another great Gretsch drum, but I would be afraid the three year old would be a little too much muffling for my taste.

Haha!

This might sound dumb, butI've never personally had the chance to hear small jazz bass drums and the like. What do they sound like?

[Deathmetalconga]

No riser. My regular bass drum is a 14X18 that I use with no riser. I personally don't like the look of a riser. I understand it's function but get the same results by just lowering the beater.

I am the same way. I play with an 18 by 18 BD that sits at ground level and I have a short shaft on the beater. I actually have to cut off the bottom few inches or else the bottom tip would gouge the head.

I never could figure out why so many people play with their shafts a foot long or more - I call it the Frankenstein configuration because it's big and loud and not very subtle. I've always played with just two to four inches on the beater shaft and in 24 years of playing, I have never, ever heard anyone ask me or any other drummer to play louder.

By the way, nice bass drum. I like how the lighter colored hoops really give it a classy look.

[DogBreath]

Beautiful drum! Great conversion job, very classy. When you said that you were using a "tiny t-shirt" to muffle it, I had no idea that you were leaving the child inside of the shirt, but that's the spirit of experimentation.

[Bossa Nova]

Wow! Nice job... good for you, quick and easy set-up. Great size for restaurants, huh? Let us know how it works in a live setting.

[eddiehimself]

Another great Gretsch drum, but I would be afraid the three year old would be a little too much muffling for my taste.


nah for me it would have to be a 5y/o at least :p

[crlujan]

I assure you the child is fine. He's been living shirtless for a while but he'll get over this time in his life with some counseling.
The bass drum sounds great. I finally got a chance to play it with a snare, a ride and some hats. It has a great tone. I'll try to get some sounds up soon. I'm supposed to be doing a little jam session with an organ and tenor sax next Tuesday. Should be alot of fun (I've gotta get one of those Roland Edirol things to record this kinda stuff). Small sessions and restaurant work is exactly why I put this drum together. And I think it's gonna do just fine!

[crlujan]

Here it is... the tiny bedroom kit. I think I'm having more fun on this than my four piece kit. It's just so much fun to play on just a snare and bass drum. I feel like my creativity is boosted.
13X16 Gretsch Catalina Birch, 5X14 Gretsch 120th Anniversary Snare, 21" Boshorus Traditional with 1 rivet, 14" Zildjian New Beat hats...
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k266/kalujan/100_0532.jpg

[Class A Drummer]

Very nice dude. That first picture you should save and give to your kid when he is older. Nice color.

[Porker69]

Wow, it's so perfectly done. I was planning to do the same thing with my largest floor tom when I saw this and now I want to even more.

[crlujan]

Wow, it's so perfectly done. I was planning to do the same thing with my largest floor tom when I saw this and now I want to even more.

Do it! Get the stuff from the websites I mentioned in the first post. I looked all over and that's where I found the best deals. I'm really digging the sound of this drum.

[stasz]

I'm running the same setup as you right now, except with two rides. It is a lot of fun, for sure. What confuses me however is the Gretsch anniversary snare missing the trademark die-cast hoops. Did you switch them out or did it come like that?

[Porker69]

Do it! Get the stuff from the websites I mentioned in the first post. I looked all over and that's where I found the best deals. I'm really digging the sound of this drum.
I actually have all the pages bookmarked on my computer all I need is make sure I have enough cash to ship the things I'm selling on eBay. But it will be a cool '64/'66 Ludwig bop kit.

[crlujan]

What confuses me however is the Gretsch anniversary snare missing the trademark die-cast hoops. Did you switch them out or did it come like that?

The drum came like that. If you go to this page... www.gretschdrums.com/?fa=120th you will see that the duco drum is the only one that came without the die-cast hoops. Weird, huh? Still sounds good. But, I will agree, very unlike Gretsch.