Gretsch Catalina Birch

[Cameron_Mahoney]

I have never played this set, but I was looking at the price range for a fusion sized set of these drums, and the product appeals to me. I know the company has a good reputation, but I was wondering if anyone could give me personal experience/advice on whether I should look into these further. I'm going to go to a guitar center or someplace soon to try and hear them myself, but thanks for the help.

[sjj123]

Hi Cameron, I have a set of these that I bought for my 13yo son. They are very well built and the finish is very nice. The birch snare and kick sound really excellent. We worked at tuning the toms a bit but dialed them in nicely. I feel these are a very nice set of drums.....you can grab a set off ebay easily. These drums are clearly louder than the oak custom yamaha's that I have been working with that many said are too loud...not so!

steve

[CLWarunki]

I recently sold my catalina kit, but it was great... esp for the price!!! Looked amazing too and turned a lot of heads. I had the cherry finish on them. I got my kit for around $900 on ebay, 6-piece and mint.

[Cameron_Mahoney]

Thanks for the advice, guys.

[Daniel LeClaire]

I recently picked one up as gigging kit. Now, if I could just find some gigs! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Anyway, I looked at a lot of sets but these seemed to be the best value. The drums themselves are very beautiful and sound pleasing. I still have the stock heads on, which are coated Evans, but I think the drums would sound better with clears. I bought the optional Gibraltar hardware pack with it and it is rock solid.

My only complaints are:

1 - The toms use only 5 lugs making tuning a little more work than you might be use too.

2 - The bearing edges aren't the best you'll see. Not that they are bad, but you'll probably see some rough edges and wood filler in places.

3 - The toms mounts aren't as easy to position as those on my Yamaha's.

Overall, I'm very happy with them.