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Sound:
The toms pretty good with the stock heads, but they sound *great* with Vintage Emperors over the stock resos. The kick is OK with the stock heads, going to test out different heads to get a tiny bit more low end. Since I mic the kick on all but the smallest venues anyway, I'm not too worried about it. The snare was tricky, replaced the snare-side head with a Hazy 300 and the snares with Puresound Custom Pros. With the stock batter head cranked up a bit, it sounds pretty good. I'll probably put on a Coated CS and see what happens.
Ease of Use:
The kick drum tension rods were a bit hard to get started in the lugs, even with the grease packaged with the product. I thought I was going to cross-thread a couple of them at first, but they went in with a little bit of force. Otherwise, it was a snap to set up and get to playing!
Quality:
So far, everything seems very well constructed for the price point that they are shooting for. I have a Gretsch Renown kit and I can see the small price cutting measures that they took on the Catalina line, but overall it's a well-built and durable little kit.
I do wish it came with better bass drum claws, the hollow claws can sometimes dig into the hoop.
The Wow Factor:
The Copper Sparkle wrap looks really nice, it's going to look good on stage. It is a tad more golden than reddish, so it's almost a champagne color. When my band mates show up for rehearsal next week, I can imagine one of them asking me why I bought a pink drumset. ;)
Overall:
I just got this got a few days ago and I am very happy with this purchase. I have a "normal" full-size kit but sometimes need a small kit that can fit in my trunk. This kit is perfect for that and I will probably use it for most of my gigging needs. It's just that much easier to move around!
5 of 5 people
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Sound:
Gretsch quality without the price! I was completely blown away with the punch, clarity, and tonal quality. What a great kit for gigs or recording.
Manufacturer Support:
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13 of 15 people
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Sound:
This is a great kit! For being such a small kit, it puts out some great sound! I play in a rock/country band, and usually use this kit for the smaller venues, and it cuts right through. With the strange sizes of the drums, and the 5 lug tuning on the 12" tom instead or 6 lugs, it takes some time and effort to get everything tuned right. But once it's dialed in, it's amazing! The snare has a terrific crack to it, the toms have great tone and punch to them, and the bass drum actually has a really deep boom for being 18"!
Feature:
The only real hardware that comes with the kit is the tom arm for the 12" rack tom that mounts on top of the bass drum. This has a nice look to it, but even after tightening it up after positioning the tom, I find I have to re-adjust the arm after every song or two because it seems to slip a little bit.
Ease of Use:
This kit is terrific for setup and tear-down! I have another big drum kit for the bigger venues, where I need more drums and volume, and that takes forever to set up. But this little kit takes me about 10 minutes to set-up or tear down, and it's pretty light. Hard to believe that little kit can look and sound so good.
Quality:
I've seen three different colors of shells on this kit, and they all look terrific, in cool retro styles. I've had mine about 3 years, and have had no problems or complaints. The shells are really good quality, and you can tell Gretsch put a lot of work into a great quality design for a small, budget kit.
Value:
I paid $500 for this kit about three years ago (Shipping included!) and I love it! One of the best buys I ever made, and whenever I'm at a gig setting up, I can't wait to play it, and love the way it looks on stage with the lights and other gear! You should all buy one! Great for a practice kit at home too!
The Wow Factor:
I've had some drummer friends jump on stage and play with my band and they all love the kit and ask where I got it and say they have to get one. I get a lot of compliments from non-musicians also at gigs about how cool the kit looks and how great it sounds.
Overall:
Overall, I would buy this kit again in a heartbeat! If you're looking for an easy kit to setup at smaller venues that won't take up much room, and just has a great sound and look to it, this is the kit to buy! I can't believe how much you get for that low a price. I also use this kit as a second kit for band practices, and also plan to record our next CD with it. The only reason I didn't give it a 10 is that it doesn't have enough power behind it to play some of the bigger venues we play, but it holds up well for most small to medium sized places.
30 of 31 people
(96.77%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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