is there ANYTHING bad about Gretsch Cat Jazz?

Hey everyone
I currently own pearl forums, and i feel like im ready for a better kit. Ive been getting more into jazz style drumming, and my forums sound to rocky for the acoustic/indie sound im going for with my music. Ive heard nothing but good things about the Gretsch Catalina Jazz set (AWESOME price), and the sizes are just what im looing for. Is there anything bad to say about this kit? i want to know everything. Thanks!
 
You may consider me somewhat biased but I've not heard anything bad about Gretsch at all. The Blackhawk series may be another story but the Catalinas are great drums.
 
thats funny.
I started out on Forums and then bought the cat jazz.

all i can say is go for it.
They are great for the price,
the stock heads are G1s so thatll save you some dough in the long one too.

the bass drum riser is ok, but you can play without it.
the snare is also pretty good.

the only thing about them IMO is the bass doesnt have much presence.
I havent experimented with any heads, but i find the bass drum to sound kinda flat.
maybe with a differnt head.

either way its a great kit for the price.
and now they have many different finishes, which is a plus.
 
I was wondering if the shells were Real African Mahogany or that leuan(?) crap. Someone answer me please?
 
Of course they are not real African Mahogony. They are OK drums. They are a low end, made in China budget kit. Not bad for this market but don't expect high quality wood.

True. These are not high end drums.

I second all of those who are saying what a nice sounding little kit this is and one of the best values going in drum sets right now.

I have two high end sets but neither is a 'small kit'. I'm getting closer all the time to buying one of the Catalina Jazz sets.

I've heard of sloppy rap and questionable edges on some of the other Catalinas (maples?) by some players. But not this series as of yet.

If you want to be sure then take the heads off before buying and take a peek to make sure there are no real issues. Personally, I don't expect you'll find any problems of any consequence.

Jim
 
I was wondering if the shells were Real African Mahogany or that leuan(?) crap. Someone answer me please?

Bill from C&C said:
great point.
and here an example.
Joey Waronaker wanted me to build him a kit out of Lauan wood.
The cheap mahogany the drums Pearl and Tama started making in the 1960's
Tama made under the name STAR.

I called Taka Hoshino of Tama and got him to build me following shells
8x12, 9x13, 14x14, 16x16, 16x18 tom shells
14x18, 14x22, 14x24 bass drum shells
all in 9 ply lauan with 9 ply reinforcement hoops.
I cut 45 inside cut. round over outside. and tons of hand sanding to finish. just to get contour just right. And then... you guessed it vaseline on the inside of shells and edges.
Those drums recorded Oceans 13 sound track.
I have received calls from Drum Doctors, Istanbul cymbals and several others in LA asking about getting a kit made from these shells.

I recently pulled the 24" kick and 18" floor tom and painted to match maple toms for BECK tour to open for THE POLICE in South America.
Go figure?

It's the quality of the shell that has the big impact on sound, significantly more so than what the shell is made of. And you just heard (read) it from one of the best in the business.
 
Mahogany is used for drum making, because of its integrity and capability to produce a very dark, warm tone (as compared to other more common wood types like maple or birch). The famous Beatles sound of the 60s was made with Ludwig Drums in mahogany shells. Today, several drum manufacturers have rediscovered the features of mahogany shells, resulting in several high end series offering shells made in this wood.

A wide variety of electric guitars are also made from mahogany, like Gibson's Les Paul line and most of the PRS guitars among others. It is noted, again, for its dark properties, as well as its weight (Gibson Les Pauls may weigh as much as 12 pounds), the combination of which produces a warm, rounded tone with huge sustain, for which the guitar is famous.

Mahogany is also commonly used in acoustic guitars. The wood is most often used to make the back, sides, or neck of a guitar, but it is sometimes used to make the top (soundboard) as well. Guitars with mahogany soundboards tend to have a softer, darker tone than those made from spruce.

Mahogany is now being used for the bodies of high-end stereo phonographic record cartridges[1] and for stereo headphones[2], where it is noted for “warm” or “musical” sound.

Luaun is a cheap grade of mahogany, but all mahogany is not luaun.
 
"The cheap mahogany the drums Pearl and Tama started making in the 1960's
Tama made under the name STAR."........... The Gretsch Catalina drums are certainly made better than 60's Pearl and Tama drums. Hardly any drums could be made worse, and still sell.

"I called Taka Hoshino of Tama and got him to build me following shells
8x12, 9x13, 14x14, 16x16, 16x18 tom shells
14x18, 14x22, 14x24 bass drum shells
all in 9 ply lauan with 9 ply reinforcement hoops.
I cut 45 inside cut. round over outside. and tons of hand sanding to finish. just to get contour just right. And then... you guessed it vaseline on the inside of shells and edges."..........and now certainly any cat who can call Tama and talk to Mr. Hoshino has a little "pull" in the industry. Then to have him build special shells and top that off with finish work that probably rivals DW, no doubt these shells are gonna sound good. Obvious they wanted something "other" than off the shelf Philippine Mahogany drums...........and certainly the Catalina drums are off the shelf. For $650 new, they are what they are.
 
It's the quality of the shell that has the big impact on sound, significantly more so than what the shell is made of.


This statement is so spot on I can tell you from experience. The quality of the wood DOES affect the sound yes. But craftsmanship has an equal impact, in fact a bigger impact in some areas. I've had countless times I've re-cut edges for people on cheaper kits, done some sanding, and even had trim shells to get the edges square to the side of the shell, and the kit always sounds better, and a vast majority of the cases it makes the drum sound like a much more expensive drum. Not to mention so many other factors; was each ply cut and formed in the shell or did they glue a few together and then bend the plys three at a time like some companies do to save time, type of glue used, thickness of each individual ply, grain direction of each ply in the drum, amount of pressure during shell forming, did they moisturize the wood too much or not enough before forming the shell, did they try to moisturize wood that's been dried out, I can still go on from here. But these are ALL craftsmanship issues just mentioned, not wood type or origin.

A friend of mine has an export kit made from that cheap mahogany, and you can literally feel the 16" floor tom in your chest from across the practice room. And the rest of the kit sounds phenomenal. And what's funny is we use the exact same bearing edges as described above. 45 degree with a slight round-over outer, or back cut, whatever you call it.
 
1) They can be good sounding drums. You have to mess around with the tuning a little more than you would on higher-end kits, but you can definitely get a decent sound out of them.

2) I hear that people have some trouble with the hardware not holding.

3) It's definitely luan.

Other than those, it's a great kit for the price!
 
They are nice for what they are. Its a jazz kit. If you select heads and tuning appropriate to the task they work out very well. If you put EC2's and EMADS on it and try to play Greenday tunes your going to be very disappointed.
 
I have a Catalina Rock (13,16,18, 26) but I can use the 18" as a bass and use the 13,16 toms--two kits in one! These drums are my favorite, even compared to my Mapex Pro M. Now, the 'mahogany' wood is not as resonant and full of tone like maple, but they still make a nice drum sound. I got this set to function as a jazz gig set, and it works beautifully to give that sort of Gene Krupa sound. Evans G1 Coated heads work wonders on this kit. The hardware is tough stuff as well, although perhaps without the sleek professional feel of the Pro-Ms. These are excellent drums, and if you don't mind the small sizes, go and buy these things!
 
I found a set of STAR drums at a yard sale for $5.00 a couple years ago. Sold em 2 weeks later for $300.

The coolest thing about the 60's Japanese kits was the wraps. Some of them were "off the hook" psychedelic. Some cats do collect them. Or at least own 1, just for yucks. $300 is pretty much "top dollar". You did real good. Buy low, sell high.
 
so i called every gretsch dealer in vancouver, and i can get it in either natural or rustic pearl. i had my heart set on white pearl, but either way ill go down to the store and see them in person, and if im not satisfied ill just get them to order me one in white. maybe ill get it in natural and if i ever want a new finish i can get it wrapped.

when i get it ill post pictures. im soooo stoked!
 
so i called every gretsch dealer in vancouver, and i can get it in either natural or rustic pearl. i had my heart set on white pearl, but either way ill go down to the store and see them in person, and if im not satisfied ill just get them to order me one in white. maybe ill get it in natural and if i ever want a new finish i can get it wrapped.

when i get it ill post pictures. im soooo stoked!

Mine are the white pearl. They came out with the natural about a week after I bought them
 
so i called every gretsch dealer in vancouver, and i can get it in either natural or rustic pearl. i had my heart set on white pearl, but either way ill go down to the store and see them in person, and if im not satisfied ill just get them to order me one in white. maybe ill get it in natural and if i ever want a new finish i can get it wrapped.

when i get it ill post pictures. im soooo stoked!

I miss some sparkle finishes for this kit ( gold, champagne, bermuda sand, green or tangerine sparkles). Both available, silver and red sparkle, are nice though. Good idea to wrapping natural finish. This looks easy to do and easy to remove.Take a look:

www.jamminsam.com/index.htm

Mine´s is White Pearl, the prettiest of all available in my opinion. I think this set´s bass drum should be as Club Rock one (virgin, no tom mount) since I use a snare stand for tom.
 
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