New drumset

[emac]

Okay, so I am getting ready to pull the trigger on the new set. I have it narrowed down to a Gretsch Catalina maple. Still not sure on the color. I am either going to go with the MR Cherry (the wife's choice) or the Red Sparkle Lq. Does anyone have the Red Sparkle lq. finish. I can't tell from the stock pics how good or bad it looks. The other question is hardware packages. I found one set that comes with a PDP hardware pack another offers a Sound Percussion hardware package. I would like your thoughts on those as well. Or I can get just the shell pack for 179.00 less. What do you guys think?

[pastor_bob]

emac, the Gretsch Catalina Maple kit is a very nice quality kit. I haven't seen the Red Sparkle kit, so I can't really comment other than to say that Gretsch has done a pretty good job of hanging on to the intermediate market, so I would assume that the finish would be as good as all other Catalina series kits. It does seem to me that I remember someone around here has one though, so maybe they will weigh in on this.

[emac]

Thanks Pastor. I really didn't see any other set that even comes close to the Catalina Maple in that price range. So, purchasing the set itself is a no brainer. It's just the peripherals that are the question mark at this point.

[tah821]

Whats included in each hardware pack? My Pearls came with SP hardware, and the only thing i dont like is the bass pedal, but i'll be getting a double sooner or later anyway. Dont have experience with PDP hardware though.

[emac]

Whats included in each hardware pack? My Pearls came with SP hardware, and the only thing i dont like is the bass pedal, but i'll be getting a double sooner or later anyway. Dont have experience with PDP hardware though.

It's just the basics, bass pedal, snare stand, hi hat stand and a couple of cymbal stands.

[dave0549jv]

Ive got some sound percussion Hardware, a few cymbal stands and a snare stand. They're basic, but i really cant complain about any of it. I havent had any problems. I'm pretty easy on my gear, though.

[pastor_bob]

emac, what series is the PDP hardware? I have a PDP 900 series hi-hat stand, and that thing is rock solid and very adjustable. I don't know if that is the series that is being offered though.

[emac]

Well. I went head and ordered my new kit last night. I decided to go with the Gretsch Catalina Maple, Cherry Red finish with the PDP hardware. I will post some pics once it gets here. Thanks to all for the input.

[emac]

One quick question, and Pastor Bob you can probably help me with this one. What do you think of the stock heads that come with this kit? Are you still using them or did you switch to another brand?

[pastor_bob]

emac, I like an open sound on my kit - I love hearing the toms sing, so I really liked the sound of the stock heads. I have since gone to a single ply coated head for the batter on all the toms. I did change out the snare batter for an Evans Genera HD Dry head, because I heard the snare with that head in a music store and I fell in love with the sound.