Gretsch Catalina Maple owners

Bildozer

Junior Member
Are'nt they a freaken pain in the ??? to tune without just getting real close and saying screw it I'll just throwing some e rings or moongel on em? ( current drum heads in stock, evans G1 clears on all resonant sides of drums, evans G2 coated, evans EC2's, remo coated emporer's, and evans G2 clears. I have also experimented on different resonant heads on all toms and the evans G1's work best for my ear ). I like to play rock, funk, old school metal & reggae. I also have two add on toms incorporated into the kit as well. I like this drum kit, but its a jjobb to tune it. The kit will stay tuned for a while after you get there and its just minor tweaks here and there after that, but if you change heads it takes forever!!!!!!!!! I think I should have maybe purchased a pro kit instead. I would have just had to wait another year, but let me know if anyone has any input.

Thanks,

Billy
 
Dude get evans g plus heads. They are soooo easy to tune and sound soo great with my catilina's. They resonate sooo well! and i only did a few half turns and they are all in pitch with eachother (the toms). Your problems will be sollved. Plus they are the strongest single ply head I have ever seen or heard!
 
I own the same kit mate. I gotta say, I found them so easy to tune. Compared to my old early 90's Exports, these things are a dream. Intermediate drums have come a loooong way in 15 - 20 yrs.
Dunno if it helps, but I'm running coated emp batters over clear amb reso's. Kick is a clear PS3 batter with Fiberskin PS3 reso. No drum is dampened at all, no moongel, no tape, no pillow in the kick. I play a similar musical style as you and my current set up works a treat. I spent a while playing around with different tunings (surprisingly wide tuning range btw), but very little time finding the sound I wanted. Keep playing around.......you'll find it. These drums 'speak' well for an intermediate kit..........they've impressed me!!.
 
I just put some emporers on my Catalina's and they sound great, some minor tweaking here and there, a great all around drum set.
 
If you're having difficulties tuning your Catalina Maple kit, you would probably have problems tuning any "pro" kit. Being able to tune a kit comes from a lot of experience and repetition and knowing what to listen for and how to achieve it. Sure certain heads will mask your problem, but being able to tune any head on that kit is what you should be working on. Keep working with it.

Dennis
 
I have never had a problem with my kit and have experemented with a few head combinations, all with good results. I have used G1's over G1's and now I use G2's over the G1's for a warmer sound. Keep at it, I'm sure it's not the drums.
 
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