Gretsch Cat Jazz & Zildjian Ks - mmmmmm

TTNW

Pioneer Member
I started playing this kit again and I really like it as a change up to my maple drums.

Gretsch Catalina Jazz Kit - 18x14BD, 12x9T, 14x14FT - Evans G1s with an Emad on the kick.

Snare is an old Titan 14 x 5½ hammered bronze with single point lugs and die cast hoops.

DW7000 pedal with DW5000 hi-hat

Zildjian Cymbals:

13 Quickbeat High Hat Bottom
13 K High Hat Top
18 K Custom Fast Crash
24 K Light Ride
18 K Custom Session Crash
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gretsch_cat_jazz_2.jpg

A little cymbal porn on my K Light Ride - Very good feeling ride!
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My bass drum secret weapon -- It's an Earthworks KickPad plugged into an inexpensive CAD kick mic. Awesome kickdrum sound no matter what straight to the board. It makes my 18 sound like a big BD when I go through a PA live.
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I've never understood why jazzers play with the small sized drums with massive cymbals but to each his own.
Gotta love the simple four piece setup and the K's of course.
 
I have the same kit. It sounds amazing, doesn't it?! Gretsch really knows how to make a drum sound good! I love the look of those cymbals. All in all, it's a killin' set up man! Lay down some recordings if you can so we can hear this beast!
 
Pretty nice set-up, I played one of these kits at my guitar center the other day.
 
I've never understood why jazzers play with the small sized drums with massive cymbals but to each his own.
Gotta love the simple four piece setup and the K's of course.

I have no idea either. I'm terrible with jazz rhythms.

I like the small kit, big sound and to change it up between dark cymbals and bright ones. As and Ks.

I play rock, pop, blues, r&b and funk. Jazz is my weakest genre.

Thanks for the comments. As soon as my DAW is working again I will start recording at home. I've had terrible problems with my pre-amp and DAW rigs lately. I think I'm going to have to buy a new PC soon.
 
Cool, I have the same set for my college Jazz Ensemble. The bad part is that is the only drum set our percussion gets to use.

Really nice set for Jazz though.
 
Cool, I have the same set for my college Jazz Ensemble. The bad part is that is the only drum set our percussion gets to use.

Really nice set for Jazz though.

Do you tune yours high for the music you play?

I tune my low to medim. I can't seem to get good tones from the bass and toms with high tunings.
 
Sort of..

Some of the hammer marks are right at the edge so at the angle that you're looking at the cymbal in the photo it looks more pronounced than it actually is.
 
That's a beauty of a snare drum you have there. Your pedal choice is quite interesting because i've always found that despite the 2 leg hihat stand being called a 5000 it's actually more like a 7000 so they go together better really. My friend recently said that he bought a 24" K light ride (which i've yet to hear) because it was the "best cymbal he ever heard". This guy plays rock music! So i guess it must be a very versatile cymbal.
 
Abso-freakin-lutely! It's the best cymbal I've ever heard, and the treasure of my collection...

I got an e-mail from Matt Bettis today and he said that he will take my A Ping ride and make it a Bettis Custom Cymbal.

It may take my 24 Ks place as the best I've ever heard. We'll have to see when I get it back. I will let you know.

Matt is going to let me know and hopefully it will look like this.

http://www.rarevintagecymbals.com/big_stamp.php?weight=2666

I can't wait.
 
That's a beauty of a snare drum you have there.

The snare is a 8 year old Titan hammered bronze. It has die cast hoops and weighs about 16 pounds. I use a coated ambassador on top and a clear ambassador with Puresound snares underneath. I bought it on Ebay a long time ago for $75 bucks.

For a cheap Chinese snare, it sounds amazing. I have been looking to buy another online and can't find one anywhere.

The guys I jam with on a regular basis, say that they like it best out of all my snares. I just got lucky with this one. Some times you buy a cheapy and they stink. This one is great. Go figure.
 
Do you tune yours high for the music you play?

I tune my low to medim. I can't seem to get good tones from the bass and toms with high tunings.

Last time it was used it was taken apart for a tom part in the Concert Band. Tuned all high and such. I might tune it down much more.

Bass needs a new batter hard badly. There is a dent square in the middle. School doesn;t do much for the bands so we do what we can.
 
I know traditionally those kits are setup for jazz with coated heads. Any Cat owners tried lower tuning and clear batters?
tracer
 
What do you think about the 18 K Custom Session Crash? Can you ride on it much?

There's a used one at a shop I might could get for $100-$120. Thinking about it. Its used but not much...still has the original inventory sticker on the bottom of the bell.
 
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