Gretsch Catalina Stock Heads

Hey everyone. I picked up a used Gretsch Catalina Ash kit and I absolutely love it. The previous owner installed Evans EC2 coated heads on all the toms and left the stock Gretsch resonant heads on. They sound amazing to me but now I am wondering if it really is worth it to swap the resonant heads for some clear G1's or would that not make much of a difference? I'm assuming the stock heads are very similar to G1's or clear ambassadors.

I have a Gretsch Catalina maple and I'm still using the stock "Gretsch by Evans" reso heads. I think my drums sound really good - they may sound even better with actual G1s on the bottoms but I have a hard time justifying replacing those heads when it's the tops that get hit all the time. And yeah, I know, the resos have a lot of energy vibrating them as well.

When I picked up my Gretsch Catalina kit, I asked the guys at the drum shop about the heads, and they said the heads were about the same as G1's. A "real" G1 may be a bit better, but not much. Peace and goodwill.

If you're strapped for cash then the reso heads can certainly wait a while. But eventualy it's well worth it to swap them out. There is a big difference between a quality head and a cheap one. Granted the difference is more noticeable on a batter head, but there is no doubt there is a difference nonetheless. If you can afford it, get rid of 'em.

Drumolator said:

When I picked up my Gretsch Catalina kit, I asked the guys at the drum shop about the heads, and they said the heads were about the same as G1's. A "real" G1 may be a bit better, but not much. Peace and goodwill.

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As a Cat owner myself, the stock heads are not comparable to a G1 by any measure....they're the same run of the mill cheapo heads that come on all intermediate kits. Basically the Evans equivalent of a Remo UT. Cheap, nasty and installed purely to keep the cost of intermediate kits down.