With a kit of this sound and quality, you don’t need to spend a fortune. If I were to buy a set today, I’d go get this one. Shells are the most important thing in drums. These are solid maple/walnut shells with NO poplar. They have beautiful finishes. What do the sets they sell for twice as much have?
I second this. 14“ depth sounds almost pre-processed, sound engineers love that. Controlled low end yet still big and punchy. However, I'd definitely have a hole in the front head and slight dampening inside.
This is a fantastic sounding kit. I think due to the fact that Nick is a great drummer and a very good salesman. Sweetwater found a gem when they found this guy! :)
Finally, a matching snare...sick of this NO snare included thing. This is probably the best value kit on today’s market. Sound expensive and sound better than a lot of expensive kits. Beautiful warm, vintage tones....a real winner for Gretsch and a great looker.
wood hoops look beautiful but wouldnt they get pretty banged up after playing on it a year or two? It sounds incredible too my only concern is I use the rims alot on all my drums and would worry about it on this one...does anyone know how these look after playing on them a while?
Would beat a lot of high end drumsets , in a blind test. The quality of the finish and hardware might be another thing, but value for money, is hard to beat.. Look and sound great .. A real vintage sound….not common in a lot of modern drums today..
I love my Gretsch Catalina Special Edition 5 piece. This is my second Gretsch kit in (6) months and I am very impressed with the GRETSCH DRUM SOUND. I was ruminating between this kit and the Tama Birch Walnut and I am glad I purchased this kit. This video was the reason I purchased mine and they sound amazing in person thank you Sweetwater!
I have a Catalina Club Rock with these same size toms. The 12/14/16 size intervals make for the perfect progression of notes both down and up. Wood hoops for toms are great! Not a fan of them on a snare, but I’m sure we could make it work. Great job, Nick. As always.😉
I have the Catalina 3 piece set. Perfect for my studio. I don’t use the stock snare but this kit is as good as a pro level drum set for recording. The build quality may not be as tough as the more expensive kits but it’s still a pretty solid structure wise.
After watching this video over a hundred times I finally went out to my local music store and bought this kit. It is amazing. Thanks for doing this video. I'm not sure I would have purchased it if you hadn't done it. Next on the list, Gretsch Renown.
I have just bought this 5 piece kit new in November 2022 and I love it ! I had kept my eye on these when the were first released back in 2020 and thought that's a really cool looking and sounding kit but was not wanting a new kit at that stage...Fast forward to this year and i decided that I wanted a new kit, with a different darker , lower, woodier sound and looked at what was around in the price bracket that I able to afford and kept coming back to these....Covid has decimated supply chains and available stock in most countries and I had seen Nick's video on these (many times) and thought that these seemed to be really great value so looked around to see what was here in my country and to my surprise this 5 piece shell pack was still for sale...My first reaction was OK why has this kit not sold already after 2 years? is there something wrong with it...more research and review analysis and nearly everyone who bought one of these was not disappointed so I bought them sight unseen and got them shipped to my local store...Totally made the right choice! these are great drums and tonally punch well above their weight...these shells really do sing ( that great Gretsch sound?) and I do not regret buying them at all....love the wooden hoops ( the side stick sound on the snare is the best I have heard and is so deliciously woody!), retro styling with the tom fitting mounted directly onto the shell and the tom mounting directly onto the bass drum would seem to destroy 2 x myths ...that virgin Bass drums sound better than ones that have no mounting fittings and that tom fitting that mount directly to the tom shell would also be inferior in terms of resonance and volume... these have no lack of tone, volume or resonance, in fact, if anything they almost have too much and I have had to dial them back a bit! ...Ok some of the hardware could be a bit more upmarket but these are Catalinas not USA Customs and the hardware is certainly adequate....But the shells are superb and to get a 5 piece kit, with snare, with Walnut/Maple hybrid shells, in the glorious Walnut Burst finish is phenomenal value for money IMHO...so if anyone out there is sitting on the fence deciding whether or not to get one of these kits, my thought would be to buy them!... Finally, a really big thank you to Nick D'Virgilio and Sweetwater for producing some of the best drum review videos on the Internet, I probably would not have decided to buy this kit, without this video.
I prefer one rack tom over two. Its more comfortable, cause you can put ride cymbal in place of that tom. I play heavy music and floor toms sound more aggressive for me.
I’ve played 3 up and 2 down for years. But recently I’ve minimized my kit to get back to some basics, and I gotta say I am really digging 1 up and 1 or 2 down.
@@sierragold im do think its greedy...every man wants to bang 3 o 4 . im not greedy ill just beat off on 2 pom poms some drummers want a size 6, 8 10 etc for me give me a size 12 and 14 and im good to go. ill beat off over them size 12 and 14 pom poms all day
I wanted to come visit the Sweetwater store in Indiana, but that doesn’t seem like that’ll happen because of the virus. The store is most likely closed, anyway.
You can put together an "8 piece" Yamaha Stage Custom kit which is superior to these for $100 LESS than the Gretsch 5 piece. One of my kits is exactly this, 8,10,12,13,14,16 toms, 22 kick and 14 snare. Fantastic sounding kit, just replace the heads. Almost as good sounding as my Recording Customs but not quite. Although the RC's are not worth the enormous price difference. Note: I'm 59, own 9 modern kits, 3 vintage kits and have been playing since 3 years-old.
If you want Birch. I'm loving the warmth coming from these hybrid shells. I would expect a 'Special Edition' to fetch more $$$ too compared to Yamaha's mid-tier work horse :)
Is that snare on high..? Nick usually has his snares tuned fairly high on other videos. No longer the beginner’s kit , they were regarded as once. Ideal for gigs, without freaking out over a $10,000 kit 🥶
I'm thinking of buying a new drum kit and resuming playing after a 40 year hiatus. I showed this video to my wife and told her not to expect me to play like this on day one. Nick's got crazy skills!
Just threw a couple of room mics and let’s get the real sound of the drum kit stead of overprocessed I have bought drum kits this way and when I got them home I was very disappointed they didn’t sound like they did on TH-cam realize they’re using expensive mics and processing
You would use overhead mics to get the most natural sound as room mics also give you room sound. This also isn't processed, it's just a full mix. Drum Center of Portsmouth makes videos were they switch between room and overhead mics and a full mix. Memphis Drum Shop and Drumcenter cz use an overhead. I used all of them before I picked my kit and I'm quite happy. It also takes decent mics to get a decent sound, even if you are just using an overhead. You can also never reproduce what a kit sounds like in person. The mics you use to record it and the speakers used to play it change the sound.
Hello, zildjian1884! It is not, it is lacquer over a final ply of walnut. Thanks for the interest! Cody Kraus, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1766, cody_kraus@sweetwater.com
@@lukefreeman970 Until the last few years, Gretsch was affiliated with Evans/d'Addario through the KMC group, whose third party international manufacturer provided stock heads for everything except the USA made drums. I had a Gretsch Catalina Birch years ago, and those stock heads definitely left much to be desired.
Yeah, most of the kits at this price point come with Remo "UT" heads, which is the cheaper chinese version of the ambassador. Some US Ambassadors/Emperors, or Evans heads would likely make a lot of difference. I'd personally put some Evans EC2's on the toms, an Aquarian Superkick 2 on the bass, and an Evans HD Dry on the snare for the studio and I bet they'd sound like a million bucks.
I wonder where these shells are made and I'm wondering how those black wood hoops will hold up over time. I'd hate to see them all chipped up after a year of playing. Sounds great but lots of compression on this audio. It doubt they will sound like this in your home.
Thought about that too. The wood hoops I've been using are clear maple not painted but have held up very nice. I would not recommend wood hoops to heavy hitting players for sure.
I hate the stock snares that come with a kit. I replaced my Catalina Maple 14X5 with a Mapex Black Panther Sledghammer 14X6.5 and it sound SO much better.
![[UNCUT] “บอสณวัฒน์” ลากไส้!! ใครหนุนหลัง "แม่ตั๊ก ป๋าเบียร์" I คนดังนั่งเคลียร์ I 30 ก.ย. 67](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QlD7mU2KKRk/mqdefault.jpg)
Thanks for checking out the Gretsch Drums Catalina Special Edition Shell pack! For more stellar drum sets like this one be sure to like and subscribe🥁
Hi I have a question about this kit when changing heads do the claws leave visible marks on the hoops?
What a nice Idea ,that finish is just so beautiful!
How many those drums there going to make?
With a kit of this sound and quality, you don’t need to spend a fortune. If I were to buy a set today, I’d go get this one.
Shells are the most important thing in drums. These are solid maple/walnut shells with NO poplar.
They have beautiful finishes. What do the sets they sell for twice as much have?
I'm mostly a Tama guy but boy I'm starting to really love Gretsch drums.
Larks Tongues In Aspic Same 😂
I've always preferred the sound of a 14" deep bass drum over a 16".
18 is the only way
Faster depth
Co sign. I've been doing some research and it really seems like if you want that deep punch, you want big and shallow.
I second this. 14“ depth sounds almost pre-processed, sound engineers love that. Controlled low end yet still big and punchy. However, I'd definitely have a hole in the front head and slight dampening inside.
Kicks at 14in deep have more punch and better rebound on your kick pedal. This is a great sounding kit 🥁
Ordering myself this but in the jazz sizes (18x14BD, 14X5.5SD, 12X8RT, 14X14FT) Thursday!!
Still like?
This is a fantastic sounding kit. I think due to the fact that Nick is a great drummer and a very good salesman. Sweetwater found a gem when they found this guy! :)
Nick has some serious creds! This guy knows his shit!!
Finally, a matching snare...sick of this NO snare included thing.
This is probably the best value kit on today’s market.
Sound expensive and sound better than a lot of expensive kits.
Beautiful warm, vintage tones....a real winner for Gretsch and a great looker.
If they ever make a Buddy Rich movie...Nick would be ideal.
They should make the movie...a great story.
That great Gretsch sound never disappoints even in their budget series.
wood hoops look beautiful but wouldnt they get pretty banged up after playing on it a year or two? It sounds incredible too my only concern is I use the rims alot on all my drums and would worry about it on this one...does anyone know how these look after playing on them a while?
Really nice looking budget kit. Would have been nice to hear them lower but they sound good.
Would beat a lot of high end drumsets , in a blind test.
The quality of the finish and hardware might be another thing, but value for money, is hard to beat..
Look and sound great ..
A real vintage sound….not common in a lot of modern drums today..
Those REALLY sound nice....
I love my Gretsch Catalina Special Edition 5 piece. This is my second Gretsch kit in (6) months and I am very impressed with the GRETSCH DRUM SOUND. I was ruminating between this kit and the Tama Birch Walnut and I am glad I purchased this kit. This video was the reason I purchased mine and they sound amazing in person thank you Sweetwater!
That's a lovely looking kit i gotta say.
I have a Catalina Club Rock with these same size toms. The 12/14/16 size intervals make for the perfect progression of notes both down and up. Wood hoops for toms are great! Not a fan of them on a snare, but I’m sure we could make it work.
Great job, Nick. As always.😉
I have the Catalina 3 piece set. Perfect for my studio. I don’t use the stock snare but this kit is as good as a pro level drum set for recording. The build quality may not be as tough as the more expensive kits but it’s still a pretty solid structure wise.
That's a beautiful bass drum sound!
Beautiful. Love the wood hoops on the snare and Toms.
That bass drum sounds sweeeeeet! One of the Best Kits I Have Ever Heard.
I ordered the 5pc. Supplies in Canada are going FAST!
😄
Jeez this is a beauty. I absolutely love walnut shells let alone walnut hybrids. I love my mapex saturn but wow this kit is making me wanna cheat lol.
Nick could sell me a Hello Kitty drum set. Dude is a great player and a master salesman! Great video, as usual!
After watching this video over a hundred times I finally went out to my local music store and bought this kit. It is amazing. Thanks for doing this video. I'm not sure I would have purchased it if you hadn't done it. Next on the list, Gretsch Renown.
How did I you liked them? Thinking on doing the same
How was the quality of edge and lugs? I've heard Gretsch has bad quality control.
I have just bought this 5 piece kit new in November 2022 and I love it ! I had kept my eye on these when the were first released back in 2020 and thought that's a really cool looking and sounding kit but was not wanting a new kit at that stage...Fast forward to this year and i decided that I wanted a new kit, with a different darker , lower, woodier sound and looked at what was around in the price bracket that I able to afford and kept coming back to these....Covid has decimated supply chains and available stock in most countries and I had seen Nick's video on these (many times) and thought that these seemed to be really great value so looked around to see what was here in my country and to my surprise this 5 piece shell pack was still for sale...My first reaction was OK why has this kit not sold already after 2 years? is there something wrong with it...more research and review analysis and nearly everyone who bought one of these was not disappointed so I bought them sight unseen and got them shipped to my local store...Totally made the right choice! these are great drums and tonally punch well above their weight...these shells really do sing ( that great Gretsch sound?) and I do not regret buying them at all....love the wooden hoops ( the side stick sound on the snare is the best I have heard and is so deliciously woody!), retro styling with the tom fitting mounted directly onto the shell and the tom mounting directly onto the bass drum would seem to destroy 2 x myths ...that virgin Bass drums sound better than ones that have no mounting fittings and that tom fitting that mount directly to the tom shell would also be inferior in terms of resonance and volume... these have no lack of tone, volume or resonance, in fact, if anything they almost have too much and I have had to dial them back a bit! ...Ok some of the hardware could be a bit more upmarket but these are Catalinas not USA Customs and the hardware is certainly adequate....But the shells are superb and to get a 5 piece kit, with snare, with Walnut/Maple hybrid shells, in the glorious Walnut Burst finish is phenomenal value for money IMHO...so if anyone out there is sitting on the fence deciding whether or not to get one of these kits, my thought would be to buy them!... Finally, a really big thank you to Nick D'Virgilio and Sweetwater for producing some of the best drum review videos on the Internet, I probably would not have decided to buy this kit, without this video.
Kick drum sounds fantastic! This poses great argument against virgin shell kick drums. :-)
Nick has his "Cure" band haircut today.
Why do they sacrifice a mounted tom to get a second floor tom? Can't we have four?
no, its not necessary to be so greedy...do you need to have 50 drums on top of the big drum
I prefer one rack tom over two. Its more comfortable, cause you can put ride cymbal in place of that tom. I play heavy music and floor toms sound more aggressive for me.
I’ve played 3 up and 2 down for years. But recently I’ve minimized my kit to get back to some basics, and I gotta say I am really digging 1 up and 1 or 2 down.
@@shanemartin8904 LOL great reply!
@@sierragold im do think its greedy...every man wants to bang 3 o 4 .
im not greedy ill just beat off on 2 pom poms
some drummers want a size 6, 8 10 etc
for me give me a size 12 and 14 and im good to go. ill beat off over them size 12 and 14 pom poms all day
Hi Nick - appreciate your videos as always !!
Can you give me your read on a Catalina Mic job I did - it's under TH-cam
" Ray Fields Drum Solo 2"
Even Steve Maxwell said he’d take this kit to a gig to play..
Beautiful kit!
Hi Nick ! Amazing sound :) Please can you tell me more about the microphones and preamp you use on this video ?
What exactly is "broadband" maple?
Anyone else think Nick looks like Jon Lovitz?
He's a mix of Lovitz and Tony Danza
I just bought a Mapex Armory 5 piece jazz kit ..brand new..350.00 ..shipping included! Coronavirus liquidation special I guess
Wow! Where at? That's amazing
Beautiful kit (love the wood hoops)! Sounds good as well
Why not Mahogany and Maple? Not really Catalina without Mahogany.
Nice sounding kit and holy crap, beautiful playing Nick! The fill at 8:33 is killer!
Can you use R-tom black hole covers on the wood hoops and claws?
I wanted to come visit the Sweetwater store in Indiana, but that doesn’t seem like that’ll happen because of the virus. The store is most likely closed, anyway.
David McAninch is it bad I live in Indiana and haven’t been there? It’s only like five hours away
Rusty Garlic Bread I’ve never been there, but I know it’ll be awesome. I’m just worried about the virus shutting everything down.
David McAninch actually I’ve heard the drum section kinda sucks. Audio and guitars are great but the drums are very very lacking
David McAninch the drum section is very lacking, they mostly have electronic drums available to play.
I strongly recommend you attend the annual "Gear Fest." Go once and you'll go back every chance you get.
You can put together an "8 piece" Yamaha Stage Custom kit which is superior to these for $100 LESS than the Gretsch 5 piece. One of my kits is exactly this, 8,10,12,13,14,16 toms, 22 kick and 14 snare. Fantastic sounding kit, just replace the heads. Almost as good sounding as my Recording Customs but not quite. Although the RC's are not worth the enormous price difference. Note: I'm 59, own 9 modern kits, 3 vintage kits and have been playing since 3 years-old.
If you want Birch. I'm loving the warmth coming from these hybrid shells. I would expect a 'Special Edition' to fetch more $$$ too compared to Yamaha's mid-tier work horse :)
Pearl decade maple or this gretsch??
these will sale like crazy.
Great sound.
I hate wood hoops....bummer.
Is that snare on high..?
Nick usually has his snares tuned fairly high on other videos.
No longer the beginner’s kit , they were regarded as once.
Ideal for gigs, without freaking out over a $10,000 kit 🥶
Paiste pst 7 video next!!!!
Nick is a happy boy now!
I'm thinking of buying a new drum kit and resuming playing after a 40 year hiatus. I showed this video to my wife and told her not to expect me to play like this on day one. Nick's got crazy skills!
Just threw a couple of room mics and let’s get the real sound of the drum kit stead of overprocessed I have bought drum kits this way and when I got them home I was very disappointed they didn’t sound like they did on TH-cam realize they’re using expensive mics and processing
You would use overhead mics to get the most natural sound as room mics also give you room sound. This also isn't processed, it's just a full mix. Drum Center of Portsmouth makes videos were they switch between room and overhead mics and a full mix. Memphis Drum Shop and Drumcenter cz use an overhead. I used all of them before I picked my kit and I'm quite happy. It also takes decent mics to get a decent sound, even if you are just using an overhead. You can also never reproduce what a kit sounds like in person. The mics you use to record it and the speakers used to play it change the sound.
Not a fan of wood hoops on toms and snare, but they do sound great. And of course, Mr. Di Virgilio never disappoints on his demoing of drums..
Gretsch drums always sound great to me when tuned well, as any drum does, but there’s no way I’m ever dealing with a 5-lug Tom again hahaha!
Gtr and bass player here umm watching this nice video of a drum kit
Wow!
Love it!! I need to check out the overall price online!! Thanks for the share!!🎼🎵🎵🙏👍😊
Only 10 min. and 33 sec. ? 15 minutes next time please! My enjoyment usually lasts minimum 15 minutes.
Hey Nick,
Which cymbals, type and inch are used in this video?
Hi please can you give me informations about all of microphones you use on this kit ? thank you :)
Reminds me of the Tama SLP maple kit...
It’s pretty funny two of those microphones are worth more than the whole kit
I have the Mapex pro m but these sound great / but do I change or not?
Yeah we get it that shell pack don't come with a snare drum at all
Sounds like Tony Williams' Gretsch kit.
I love my Catalina maple and mine came a 7 piece with a snare
That snare sounds great
😁👍
They sound great
This gives off very jazzy vibes
that bass drum sounds amazing
That Sabian HHX sounds great
wouldn't the wood hoops get damaged from rimshots?
It will. Wood hoops are more fragile. They are more likely to warp too
Can you do a video on the sjc Providence
sounds insane for the price
Veeeeery cool kit
What an amazing drummer!
5 lug tom
Nice
DUDE! Nick is EPIC
I dig it!
This kit, or the PDP concept maple classic? Hmmmmm
These , anyday...
Nice!
is the finish a wrap
Hello, zildjian1884! It is not, it is lacquer over a final ply of walnut. Thanks for the interest!
Cody Kraus, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1766, cody_kraus@sweetwater.com
😎👍WOOD HOOPS!!!
Can you switch the wooden hoops over to metal ones? Have the best of both worlds?? Will the lugs fit metal hoops??
To me these sound really flat. Probably the stick heads, Gretsch stock heads are crap
They have the Gretsch logo but they're Remo Ambassador heads.
Had Enough well to me, the stock Gretsch heads I’ve used we’re crap
@@lukefreeman970 Until the last few years, Gretsch was affiliated with Evans/d'Addario through the KMC group, whose third party international manufacturer provided stock heads for everything except the USA made drums. I had a Gretsch Catalina Birch years ago, and those stock heads definitely left much to be desired.
Yeah, most of the kits at this price point come with Remo "UT" heads, which is the cheaper chinese version of the ambassador. Some US Ambassadors/Emperors, or Evans heads would likely make a lot of difference. I'd personally put some Evans EC2's on the toms, an Aquarian Superkick 2 on the bass, and an Evans HD Dry on the snare for the studio and I bet they'd sound like a million bucks.
I wonder where these shells are made and I'm wondering how those black wood hoops will hold up over time. I'd hate to see them all chipped up after a year of playing. Sounds great but lots of compression on this audio. It doubt they will sound like this in your home.
Thought about that too. The wood hoops I've been using are clear maple not painted but have held up very nice. I would not recommend wood hoops to heavy hitting players for sure.
I didn't know Jon Lovitz brother played drums.
Beautiful kit but just not my style. Everything sounds a bit dark and sort of symphonic. The toms, for example, almost remind me of timpani.
You could easily tune down the resonance by using different heads.
Not a fan
snare is not tuned well.
I hate the stock snares that come with a kit. I replaced my Catalina Maple 14X5 with a Mapex Black Panther Sledghammer 14X6.5 and it sound SO much better.
that snare sounds fat and juicy, I love it