Gretsch Catalina Maple Snare head

Bram

Senior Member
Hello,

It's been quite a while since I've been here.
This afternoon, I cracked the batter head of my Gretsch Catalina Maple Snare (6"x14").
I had a Evans coated Power Center Reverse Dot on it. It gave the snare a quite sharp sound, which I liked when I played a lot of hard rock and metal. These days I play a lot more styles, including some pop, funk and jazz, but still also (hard) rock and metal.

Now I'm looking for a less sharp and more versatile sound. Should I buy a standard coated single ply head, like an Evans G1 or Remo Ambassador, or are there people with different opinions?

Bram
 
I use Evans Power Center Reverse Dot heads on most of my snare drums and believe it's one of the most versatile heads on the market. Why not use the same thing and tune it a little differently to get what you want or just get another Power Center Reverse Dot And a G1 coated and experiment for yourself. This would be a much better option that you could actually hear for yourself. It's very difficult to take a recommendation from another because they probably don't have the same drum/head combination and definitely not the same tuning as you would be using.

Dennis
 
Hello,

It's been quite a while since I've been here.
This afternoon, I cracked the batter head of my Gretsch Catalina Maple Snare (6"x14").
I had a Evans coated Power Center Reverse Dot on it. It gave the snare a quite sharp sound, which I liked when I played a lot of hard rock and metal. These days I play a lot more styles, including some pop, funk and jazz, but still also (hard) rock and metal.

Bram

I have the same Gretsch snare as you. I use an Remo Ambassador which works really well for many types of music.

Cheers!
 
I've heard many people say the snare with these kits is not good. What exactly is not good about the snare?

Shell
Hoops
Snares

Is it something that can be fixed cheaper than buying a new snare?
 
I've heard many people say the snare with these kits is not good. What exactly is not good about the snare?

Shell
Hoops
Snares

Is it something that can be fixed cheaper than buying a new snare?

I upgraded mine for like $80. I found a set of Puresound Super 30 wires on Craigslist for $17 and I bought a set of Die Cast hoops from World Max Percussion for $65.

Before the snare sounded pretty lousy. However, last month I had a two song session and on one I used my 5 x 14 Chrome Over Brass (easily a $300 drum) and on the other I used my 6.5 x 14 Catalina Maple snare. The engineer told me he actually preferred the Catalina Maple snare. I'm going to be posting some tracking videos as soon as I get the tracks back from a live session I did and I'll be sure to post them here when I put them on YouTube.
 
Based on your desired sound description, I would recommend a G12 coated head for your snare batter. An upgrade of the snare wires to the PureSound Custom Pro Steel 24-strand would also be something worth considering.
 
Based on your desired sound description, I would recommend a G12 coated head for your snare batter.

I was just about to mention the same. I've always used Remo ambassador, but I wanted a bit more body and tone out of my 14x5.5 snare, and the G12 (G plus) is just perfect. They're great on the toms as well. ;)
 
The right heads (don't forget snare side!) and new snare wires can work wonders.

You have a wide range of styles listed. If it were me I'd at least be changing the tuning for the different styles, possibly mild dampening changes.

But there is a conundrum. At one point no matter what the batter head is it won't quite work either in sound or possibility durability.

For example EvansSpecialist recommends the Evans G12 and I believe this to be a good choice. However if you play brushes a lot (like me) the coating will be great but the sensitivity - not so much. On the other hand a G2 (one of my suggestions) or G1 would work very well for jazz and brushes. BUT - both the G1 and G2 heads might give out earlier if you go through a season of metal playing. The G1 especially might be one that you would need to dampen and would still give you the more attack based sound similar to the Power Center since the head is the same thickness (I think) sans the dot in the middle.

Point I'm trying to make is that the more you expect out of one drum stylistically, the less likelihood that one head will satisfy you in either sound or durability.

Not saying that some aren't doing something similar but this has been my experience. I have 5 different snares and none of them have the same head or tuning right now.

Just trying to keep it real. The heads I'd recommend would be either the Evans G12 or G2 followed by maybe a Remo CS Dot or Remo Ambassador X. Also the Aquarian Studio X (with or without dot) or even Texture Coated (both single ply) might work. I've found the Aquarians to be the most resilient heads although not always the sound I'm looking for.


Jim
 
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