I love my Gretsch Catalina Jazz kit and mainly use it with my Premier Royal Ace snares as the stock snare is lacking and hard to tune or control!
So I had a thought and put the cast hoops from an old flaking Premier 2000 on it and it sounds quite superb now and has extra mass, I also put a set of puresound wires on it. [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v62/GaryNattrass/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps8shii1fj.jpeg[/IMG]
That is a good tip. The snare is the weak link on these sets.
Good for you Gary, I suppose die casts will make it very focoused I'm glad you've got it to how you like it, I thought it sounded quite good when I came round though. Just a thought- I think you can tune a drum a bit better if you put beeswax on the edges as well.
I put the beeswax on it when I bought it but you are right the cast hoops have made it far more focussed and I would guess it sounds similar to a renown or a brooklyn now.
Certainly a lot more useable and it records better too!
The Catalina Club kits are lauan shelled so the snare is only going to sound ok at best from the factory. Sounds like the die casts have really given it some focus and attack! Good thought!
