A little help?

CptHowdy

Member
So over the past few days i have noticed that i have had a lot of questions come up after reading some of these threads on the forum. Some of the things that have been discussed have made me ponder a bit.

I now own a 6pc. Gretsch catalina maple. Ec2 Coated heads on the toms, Ec reverse dot on the snair, and EMAD2 batter head on the kick. All of the resonant heads are stock gretsch heads. 16" and 18" ZXT Crash's, 14" Meinl HCS hi-hats, 10 Sabian Xs20 splash, 14" Wuhan China, 18" ZXT True China, 20" Paiste Mega Bell Metal Ride, 9" Stagg Black Metal Bell. Pearl Rack, and random bits of hardware.

(I only ask these questions because i cant find the answers myself)

I was looking at the gretsch online catalog and found that the smaller tom that i need is a 8x7, but i cant find any in my finish around the web.

If i can't find the smaller tom in the finish im looking for, is there a website that makes custom fabric wraps that dont stick to the shells?

Is it a bad thing to have stock heads on the resonant side of the drums?

The guy i bought the kit off of put foam tape in the snair to dampen it, is that bad?

And where can i find the serial number for my kit?

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I can post more pictures if you want.
 
I was looking at the gretsch online catalog and found that the smaller tom that i need is a 8x7, but i cant find any in my finish around the web.

If i can't find the smaller tom in the finish im looking for, is there a website that makes custom fabric wraps that dont stick to the shells?

It's a special add on. You'll have to order it from a Gretsch dealer if you want to be sure of getting one with the same specs as your kit. Anythings possible on ebay/used market, but you may have to be very patient.....being an add on, they won't be common. It may take some time. If I wanted one, I'd order it and be sure of securing it.


Is it a bad thing to have stock heads on the resonant side of the drums?

It's not bad, but stock heads are notoriously cheap. New pro level heads will make a difference. If you have the money, swap 'em out. If you don't, they can certainly wait.


The guy i bought the kit off of put foam tape in the snair to dampen it, is that bad?

Again not bad, but it is muffling the drum. Take it out and find out how YOU like your snare to sound. :)


And where can i find the serial number for my kit?

I have the same kit, never noticed any....do they actually have serial numbers?
 
1.Yea being patient is something ill have to do, i looked on ebay, craigslist, etc for one and got nothing but a finish i dont like.

2.The heads will need to wait haha.

3.I can't take the foam out because its pretty much glued, but it doesnt sound bad at all.

4.Im assuming that there is a serial number for them somewhere on the kit since i was looking at a previous gretsch thread and it was asked a few times for the kit that was on topic but couldn't be found. Im guessing it might be inside one of the drums.
 
Glued it??? What was he thinking?.........scratch that, why wasn't he thinking? That's a shame man, but if you're happy with it, then that's cool.

I've never seen serial numbers on the Cats, inside or out.

Actually, I just checked the snare (rest of the kit is currently in a mates jam room). No serial no. anywhere on the drum that I can see. Can't say I recall serial no's. any many kits in this price range.
 
I was looking at the gretsch online catalog and found that the smaller tom that i need is a 8x7, but i cant find any in my finish around the web.


Check out this drum. http://cgi.ebay.com/Gretsch-Catalin...lent-Cond-/200511340446?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0 Does it fit the bill, other than the color? If it does, what I'd do is buy it, wrap it with a wood veneer, stain it to "color match" your kit, and then gloss coat it. Might not get it "dead on", but "close enough for rock and roll", anyways.​
If i can't find the smaller tom in the finish im looking for, is there a website that makes custom fabric wraps that dont stick to the shells?
I would always prefer to glue a wrap to the shell, but yes, some wraps instruct you to just tape the edge down, and basically, the hardware is what holds the wrap to the shell.​

Is it a bad thing to have stock heads on the resonant side of the drums?
Not "bad" in a harmful way, but soundwise ... you can do better. If you play a lot, or the drums are over a year old, you probably should think about replacing them.​
The guy i bought the kit off of put foam tape in the snair to dampen it, is that bad?
Again, not in a harmful way, but personally, I don't dampen my snares with foam. Instead, I might run a "dampened", or "muffled" head type. Right now, I'm "experimenting" with Evans Genera HD Dry heads.​
 

Totally works for me, I don't know how i couldn't find it, probably looking to hard haha


Again, not in a harmful way, but personally, I don't dampen my snares with foam. Instead, I might run a "dampened", or "muffled" head type. Right now, I'm "experimenting" with Evans Genera HD Dry heads.​

I just put one of those heads on an old steel snare i had, sounded pretty well to me, but i also have a built in dampener with that snare as well to help a bit.
 
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