Gretsch Catalina Maple 6 Piece
“The Gretsch Catalina Maple series is known to be one of the best maple kits around and when you take into consideration that you are getting a 6 piece kit (16” Floor tom FREE), for R 9,995.00, you’ll realise that you’ll be hard pressed to find a better deal.”
Anatomy
The Catalina Maple comes with 10”, 12”, 14” and 16” toms, a 22” Bass drum and a 14” x 6.5 Snare drum, and is available in 3 different finishes: Cherry red, Amber and Transparent Black. No hardware is included in this kit, so an extra cost to consider is a Gibraltar Hardware Pack. Options include the 4600 series, 5600 series or 6600 series at a cost of R1,995.00, R2,995.00, R3,495.00 respectfully. All packs include: a snare stand, hi-hat stand, one straight cymbal stand, one boom cymbal stand and a single bass drum pedal.On display at Bert Koster Percussion, South Africa’s importer of Gretsch drums was a very professional looking black finished kit for me to test. At first glance it appeared to be a flat black, but on closer inspection you’ll notice some black stroke work under the finish which should show quite nicely under stage lighting and with a flawless build quality, from near or far, on looks alone, I would be proud to own such a kit.With the full 6 pieces set up, it is easy to see how drummers from all genres would benefit from this versatile kit. There are numerous ways to configure the drum set; for an all round rock kit (using all 6 drums), to a fusion kit (using 5 drums), to a small jazz set up (using only 4 drums), it all depends on which drums you choose to use, and where.
A Closer look…
Closer inspection revealed that the 14” and 16” floor toms are leg mounted and not floating. This makes for a quicker, more solid set up that is much closer and tighter. It also come with a multi-range ball and claw tom arm, allowing for infinitely different angles for your tom-toms. This is a great benefit when you are in a rush to set up or when you have to share your kit at a show with other drummers. All that needs to be done is to hold the tom at the desired angle, tighten the screw and you’re ready to play. The toms connect to the tom arm via a GTS tom suspension system, allowing there to be no hole in the drum for better resonance and less structural noise from being attached to the bass drum.All drums come with ‘Gretsch made by Evans’ one ply coated top skins and clear one ply bottom, giving the kit a more old-school sound. There is always the option of changing skins; my preference would be a clear double ply skin and with maple shells such as these it would only enhance the sound and resonance. Also having between five and eight lugs depending on the drums dimension helps considerably for its durability and strong hold against drummers who put a bit more muscle into their playing. All lugs, screws and bass drum clamps are die cast which aids in a better tuning process. From unpacking to setup, it took only a few minutes to get a sound that I could work with.
Conclusion
I am sure that this versatile Gretsch Catalina Maple kit is going to be loved by whoever purchases it; Amateur to professional, for stage, to theatre, to the practice room. From its great finishes, to the beautiful tone of its maple shells, to the precise and solid build quality along with the fact that you can turn it into various kit sizes and setups makes this a good buy. To be honest the only thing that bothered me was that I would have to purchase a hardware pack, but having said that I believe that nothing should take away the fact that this kit has been designed to accommodate drummers in all genres, rock, pop, jazz you name it which adds to its value for money. Set up, play and enjoy!
Review By: Steven Jacobson
Supplied by: BK Percussion | 021 510 7770 | www.bkpercussion.co.za
Suggested Retail Price: R 9,995.00 incl. VAT
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