Your opinion of Gretsch Catalina Jazz...

[mrchips 1952]

After being away from drumming for 30+ years I would like to get back if nothing more than to drive my wife crazy. I would like a set of drums that take up a rather small space so I gravitated to the Catalina Jazz at my local music shop. I would like to play jazz and club drumming. Any thoughts as to the sound of this kit and it's construction? I can buy it for $549.00 (shells only) so I'd need a cymbal pack and hardware. If you like another set what would you recommend in this price range? Many thanks!!!

[bobdadruma]

The Cat Jazz is a fine kit, Many threads here about it. You can find them used easily.
Sonor also makes great sounding Jazz kits and Studio kits.

Tama Stagestar is another good one with a 14x18 bass for a good price.
They are blowing them out for about $400 because they are discontinued. (Goggle it)
I play a Stagestar frequently.
They come with good stands and hardware and a pedal that doesn't require a riser on the bass drum. Throw away the cymbals and heads that come with the kit and upgrade.
You will also want to get a better snare. I use the stock Stagestar snare for rudiment practice. The stock snare is playable with good heads.
See my profile pics.
I wound up with two maple snare drums, A Sonor Special Edition 9 ply 5.5x14 and a Mapex Black Panther 5.5x13. I bought them both used for a great price on eBay.
As a Jazzer you will want a warm sounding maple snare drum and good cymbals.
I use Istanbul Agop and Zildjian K Custom Hybrid cymbals for Jazz playing.

Yes, Your wife will stop talking to you soon after you get a kit again :)

[Bo Eder]

Yep, played one of those years ago and it sounded great out of the box since they put Evans G1's on them to begin with.

However, I've been eyeing one of those new Sonor Safari kits - and without hardware, the kit is $339 on eBay. It comes with those Chinese Remo heads, but it still beats paying $649 for a shell pack.

There's also another bop kit like the Gretsch called Custom Classic sold through Sigler Music on the 'Bay and a shell pack for those is like $360 (?) Rumor has it they're made in the same factory as the Gretsch ones in China, so I can imagine those would be fine as well.

But in your situation with your wife, may I recommend the Ludwig Vistalite John Bonham kit instead? I think nothing says I love you more than a 26" bass drum!

[willieboy_sf]

I think a much better choice is the Mapex Meridian Maple Manhattan kit. Small bebop sizes and better shells than the Catalina.

[GRUNTERSDAD]

The Catalina Jazz series is mahogany. What makes the Mapex have better shells? Gretsch has been doing it for 126 years so have no fears.

[bobdadruma]

There is nothing wrong with Mahogany, I just spent an hour playing my vintage 74 Gretsch mahogany round edge drums and I am in a state of drummers bliss!
Wonderful warm tone and long sustain.

[Frank]

You can't go wrong with the Cat Jazz kit. Most excellent. Esp. if you're going to be playing jazz.

If you can afford that Cat Jazz kit, consider going for it.

[droveto]

The 18 inch kick drum can feel a little limiting to some players but I've been able to get a wide range of bass drum tones from fat and punchy to a little high with some overtones. Where the kits lack in my opinion is the tom mounting hardware for the rack tom as it only attaches to two lugs/tension rods instead of the typical 4 for suspension mounts.

Really good set for the money though.

[bobdadruma]

The 18 inch kick drum can feel a little limiting to some players but I've been able to get a wide range of bass drum tones from fat and punchy to a little high with some overtones. Where the kits lack in my opinion is the tom mounting hardware for the rack tom as it only attaches to two lugs/tension rods instead of the typical 4 for suspension mounts.

Really good set for the money though.
I also am not a big fan of the tom mounting system on the Cats.

[brady]

There is nothing wrong with Mahogany, I just spent an hour playing my vintage 74 Gretsch mahogany round edge drums and I am in a state of drummers bliss!
Wonderful warm tone and long sustain.

Is the Gretsch Cat Jazz kit 'Phillippine Mahogany'...basically luan...like the Tama (Swingstar) kits used to be advertised as? I could be wrong...

[bobdadruma]

Yes they are most likely Luan.
African Mahogany is expensive.
Luan has the same characteristics as other mahogany woods.
I believe that my old Gretsch drums are Luan also.
There are many species of mahogany throughout the world.
Any of them can be used and called mahogany

[BradGunnerSGT]

I also am not a big fan of the tom mounting system on the Cats.

I actually like the "mini-GTS" mount on my Catalina Jazz kit better than the "full size" GTS mount on my Renown kit. To me the full size mount takes up a lot more space than I would expect.

But back to the original poster's question. I just got a Catalinia Jazz kit a couple of weeks ago and I absolute love it. I don't play jazz but I wanted a more portable kit with a smaller bass drum. I'm 5' 5", so I've always had a problem putting my rack tom(s) low enough for comfort, even with a 20" kick. Out of the box, it is totally set up for jazz/bebop (thin batters tuned pretty high). I, of course, immediately replaced most of the heads and tuned it up a bit differently. :)

The kick sounds great with an EMAD on it (stock batter, no hole), and the toms sound amazing with a Vintage Emperor over Ambassador combo. The snare was tricky, as other posters have already stated. Mahogany with rounded bearing edges is great for the kick and toms, but is not really suited for a snare drum, in my opinion. I managed to get it to sound reasonable with a new set of snares (puresound custom pro) and a coated PS3. I have my pork pie BoB as a backup, but I'm going to give the matching snare a shot for a gig or two. I have an old Slingerland maple snare that needs some hardware work and I'll probably get that in shape soon and recover it to match the Copper Sparkle finish of the rest of the kit.

[BradGunnerSGT]

Yes they are most likely Luan.
African Mahogany is expensive.
Luan has the same characteristics as other mahogany woods.
I believe that my old Gretsch drums are Luan also.
There are many species of mahogany throughout the world.
Any of them can be used and called mahogany

Yeah, it's funny how people get tripped up on that. They say "Ten years ago, Company X made crappy dirt-cheap kits assembled in sweatshops in Malaysia with that type of wood, so therefore all kits made with that wood must be crap". I actually *like* the sound of my Cat Jazz toms more than my (twice as expensive) Renowns.