Why Ignore Gretsch Catalina Catalina Kits?

Rattlin' Bones

Rattlin' Bones

Gold Member
I go looking for new "budget" kits with 18" kicks and I never look at Gretsch Catalina. I'm laser-focused on other brands. I do really like thin shells like TAMA Superstar Classic (5mm toms) and Catalina are 7mm I think. But man, the finishes. I looked at Catalina kits online last nite and OMG the finishes available seem infinite. For budget priced kits, seems nothing under the sun comes in that many finishes. Lacquers, sparkles, flames you name it they make it. Wow.

If I could get past the 7mm tom thickness, maybe I should dip my toe in the Catalina pool.

How's the build quality? Hardware (lugs/ tom mounts/ rims/ etc)? Weight?
 
The sound is lacking. I've never played one of these that sounded worth a damn They're not even on my radar. Finishes, build quality. Doesnt matter. They sound dead.

" you're dead to me ". Yes, very much so.
 
I don’t like the Tamas, but I owned a Gretsch Catalina and it wasn‘t up to snuff compared to my other drums.
 
After playing all these kits, and the tens of thousands of videos I've watched, here's my 2 cents.

I think the Catalina Maple and Catalina Club sound the best out of all the budget kits. Better than the Yamaha Stage Customs (great value and great sound, albeit a slightly cold sound), better than the Sonor AQ series (I often hear slight inconsistency from drum to drum due to poor isolation mounting), and just slightly better than the Superstar Classics.

The Catalinas have a very clean and clear tone, with a very distinct attack. There's no muddiness. That's the classic hallmark of Gretsch drums. Perhaps the 5 lug toms have something to do with it.

I especially like the sound of the Catalina Club. The mahogany shells are so warm and pleasant sounding. The Clubs come with 1.6mm hoops, but I don't think that's a bad thing. It contributes to their sound.

Despite having a 7mm thick shell, they don't sound thick to me. Usually, thick shells don't sing if you hit them quietly, but the Catalinas sing perfectly at low volumes. I prefer thin shells. (in the 5mm to 5.6mm range) Usually, thicker shells sound stiff and cold, but these 7mm Catalinas sound fantastic to me.

The only thing I don't like are the tom suspension mounts. Also, the other competing kits have slightly better hardware, but I can overlook that because the Catalinas sound so good.


@Rattlin' Bones, after seeing your enthusiasm for the Superstar Classics I took another look and realized I liked them more than I thought. Those thin shells sound great. The only slight issue with super thin shells is that they don't project as well, and don't "give back" to the player as much, if that makes sense. That's my only reservation.
 
jaymandude said:
The sound is lacking. I've never played one of these that sounded worth a damn They're not even on my radar. Finishes, build quality. Doesnt matter. They sound dead.

" you're dead to me ". Yes, very much so.
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Yes they do sound dead very much so.
 
jaymandude said:
The sound is lacking. I've never played one of these that sounded worth a damn They're not even on my radar. Finishes, build quality. Doesnt matter. They sound dead.

" you're dead to me ". Yes, very much so.
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Love them or hate them, out of all the things that can be said about them, I don't think Catalinas could be considered dead sounding. Did you play a Catalina that wasn't tuned right, or had bad drumheads?

What make/model of kit sounds good to your ears? Just curious about your perspective.

@Tiges
 
I've only played one Catalina set. Bop sizes, but beyond that I couldn't give you any details. They were the house kit at a blues jam I attended.

I would say they sounded warm and somewhat subdued. Maybe that's where the "dead" description comes from. In any case, they fit the need perfectly at this blues jam. Not exactly my cup of tea, but they weren't awful by any means.

BTW, this kit was very well maintained and well tuned with regular coated heads.
 
IBitePrettyHard said:
Love them or hate them, out of all the things that can be said about them, I don't think Catalinas could be considered dead sounding. Did you play a Catalina that wasn't tuned right, or had bad drumheads?

What make/model of kit sounds good to your ears? Just curious about your perspective.

@Tiges
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I suppose that was harsh, but man they just didn't sound good to me. This was when they were first released may be about four or five years ago or maybe more? When everybody was super happy that they could get a budget kit with the Gretsch name, so they could go around telling everybody they had a Gretsch kit.

One or two of them are like the ones you see now with the satin flame finishes. And one or two of them were the even worse center lug drums that probably cost Gretsch all of 10 or $12 to build in a Chinese factory with child labor. I suppose the Catalina maple is a better kit, but I don't think we're talking about that.

My point of reference is mostly high-end Yamaha maple and birch, and Gretch USA custom and broadcaster.
 
Never owned a set, but I thought the ones I tried sounded good.
Especially the bass drum.
But that was in comparison to a Stage Custom bop kit I had at the time.
I never cared for the SC bop kit bass drum that much, but it did was it was supposed to do.
 
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jaymandude said:
I suppose that was harsh, but man they just didn't sound good to me. This was when they were first released may be about four or five years ago or maybe more? When everybody was super happy that they could get a budget kit with the Gretsch name, so they could go around telling everybody they had a Gretsch kit.

One or two of them are like the ones you see now with the satin flame finishes. And one or two of them were the even worse center lug drums that probably cost Gretsch all of 10 or $12 to build in a Chinese factory with child labor. I suppose the Catalina maple is a better kit, but I don't think we're talking about that.

My point of reference is mostly high-end Yamaha maple and birch, and Gretch USA custom and broadcaster.
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The Catalina series has been around since 2001. The earliest models had the center lug design, which is not my favorite due to the risk of bending the tension rods during transport. But I have played the oldest Catalina version and they sounded great to my ears.

However, it should be noted that I come from a jazz/funk/bluesy background. I play low and medium volumes most of the time. If I were a metalhead, the Catalinas would probably not be my first choice.
 
jaymandude said:
The sound is lacking. I've never played one of these that sounded worth a damn They're not even on my radar. Finishes, build quality. Doesnt matter. They sound dead.

" you're dead to me ". Yes, very much so.
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Hmm I found just the opposite. The beat to heck floor model at my GC sounds great. It’s the reason I put RIMS type mount on my new Yamaha sc. now the hardware is certainly not up to the Yamaha
 
I've heard and played a couple of sets, and I liked them.

One was played by a really good drummer, so that may have influenced me quite a bit. Also, another seat I played had great heads in a great room. Just about anything would have sounded good in there I think.
 
What I find remarkable is the variety of sizes AND finishes. I think Gretsch really gets this market niche. 99% of drummers are not on these forums. They make their decisions more with their eyeballs than shell thickness, wood type, and hardware. They find a kit in size they want and the number of drums they want and the finish they want. It's all about THE SIZZLE. Gtetsch gets it. You want it in a lacquer? A sparkle bronze wrap? Or Champagne? You want retro satin-y flames? Gretsch covers all the bases.
 
I had a Catalina a few years back and it was good, admittedly bigger than a bop kit.

The bass drum sounded great but the toms were lacking, especially the 13”. I could never get on with that drum.

Build quality is quite good, hardware didn’t feel very solid but what you’d expect from that price range. I don’t remember the drums being very heavy.

For their price it’s a decent enough set.
 
I've had a 12, 14, 20 Catalina Club in Marine Pearl which I sold when I bought a Mapex Saturn which I in turn sold when I bought my current kit, a Catalina Club 12, 16, 22 in White Chocolate lacquer. I know the downsides of the less than stellar hardware but it's good enough to do the job and I'm happy.
The only kits I've ever had people grab me post gig to compliment me on the sound of are those two.
It's horses for courses but can anyone say that these are definitively bad looking kits? (I'll give you that the photo of my current kit is from an awful angle)
 

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Juniper said:
I had a Catalina a few years back and it was good, admittedly bigger than a bop kit.

The bass drum sounded great but the toms were lacking, especially the 13”. I could never get on with that drum.

Build quality is quite good, hardware didn’t feel very solid but what you’d expect from that price range. I don’t remember the drums being very heavy.

For their price it’s a decent enough set.
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It's possible your 13" didn't sound great due to the mounting system. That size would be more susceptible due to their weight.

It doesn't quite look sufficient for a 13" drum imo.

oD3ZOgj.png
 
IBitePrettyHard said:
It's possible your 13" didn't sound great due to the mounting system. That size would be more susceptible due to their weight.

It doesn't quite look sufficient for a 13" drum imo.

oD3ZOgj.png
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I took the mount off after a while. Tried different heads too.

Not sure what it was, never got to the bottom of it before I sold the kit.
 
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