Re: Gretsch Catalina Jazz vs. PDP Concept CM4
I have a Gretsch Cat Club Jazz kit and a pdp X7, which is the predecessor of the Concept series (some changes were made, but I think it's probably close enough for me to be able to give you an informed opinion in comparison to the Gretsch kit). They really are applies and oranges -- which is exactly why I wanted them both. The Gretsch kit is great for jazz and a vintage rock sound. The pdp is a great rock kit. When I move from playing the Gretsch kit (which I tune high and open) to the pdp kit (a more EQ'd sound, even with G2-over-G1 heads), the difference is night and day.
I will say that hardware on the pdp kit is pretty lousy. Maybe they've improved it with the Concept series, but if not, the tom mounts tend to deform and begin to flare out, pushing on the tension rods. (I started a thread about this a while back, maybe last summer, if you want to research that issue more.)
I haven't had the Gretsch kit long enough to form an opinion about the hardware. The rack tom mount attaches to the tension rods, which would seem in theory to create tuning problems, but I personally can't hear the difference it makes (comparing the tom held or mounted), so maybe they've figured out the secret recipe.
Lots of people complain about the snare as the weak link of the Gretsch kit, but I think it has a great vintage-trashy sound. I used to have a Roland e-kit that had a "Vintage" kit setting with this same snare sound. I came to love it, and this is the "real" version of that sound! But I doubt it would work very well for "modern" rock.
I've never owned the X7 snare, but I heard it was weak.
Was any of that useful?
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