Right heads for Gretsch Catalina Birch

[dahter]

Early last year I played a Gretsch Catalina Birch at Guitar center and I fell in love with the set. I bought the fusion set online and in time I added 16X16 floor tom and 8X7 floor tom. I replaced the stock heads with Evans Ec2 clear heads on the toms and Aquarian Super Kick II on bas drum. Bass drum has become a cannon however I could not get the tone I wanted from the toms. I played the kit with stock heads for a while and in Guitar Center the same kit sounded alot better. I'm mostly playing hard rock and some metal. Well my question I know my kit can generate alot better tone that it does now because I personally played the same kit. I think the only explenation here is tuning the heads however I tried alot of different variations using a drum dialer but could not get the sound I want. Any ideas what would be the best heads for my drum kit both top and bottom heads and and suggestions on tuning?
Thanks.

[32ndHeartBeat]

Hey Dahter and welcome to the forum.
I have the exact same kit only without the 8x7 or 16x16. Being the intermediate Gretsch drumset, it is difficult to find the right heads for the perfect tone on the Catalina. I've had the stock heads, Evans EC2, Remo Emperor Clear, and now I'm using the Remo Black Suede heads which are pretty far from what I was looking for.
If you choke these drums up too much, they sound very flat and disorganized, however at the same time I think opening them up too much with the Emperors was a mistake too. My suggestion for a good head would be a clear 2 ply head like the Remo Pinstripe.

[Church Drummer]

My Catalina Birch kit came with Evan's G1 Genera coated heads and I think they sound pretty decent. I can't tell you what the reso heads are, they aren't marked but appear to be a standard single ply generic head.

[Beave]

Coated Evans EC2's sound great on birch drums. That will be my next purchase for my new kit.

[livewire80]

My Catalina Birch kit came with Evan's G1 Genera coated heads and I think they sound pretty decent. I can't tell you what the reso heads are, they aren't marked but appear to be a standard single ply generic head.

I am pretty sure that the resos are clear G1,s but I could be wrong.

In response to the thread, I have the pinstripes on my batter and stock G1's on the reso. The snare, however is the G1 coated.

Have you tried the o-rings to dampen for a deeper sound? They work well.

[fiacovaz]

Also, don't rule out location. What may sound good to you in the high ceiling room at GC will sound entirely different in your home. Every room will affect the sound of your drums.

[32ndHeartBeat]

Good point, Frank.

[funkymcstain]

i have had a cat birch sounding killer in the store with g2s over g1 batters a couple years ago when they first came out. that was what got me sold on the catalinas. i set my neice up with the same heads on her maple cats and they sound great too.

[pastor_bob]

Funky, I'm confused. Is that G2 batter and G1 reso? Since I've got the Catalinas, I just want to make sure I understand your formula for sucess.

[livewire80]

Hey PB, I am pretty sure thats what funky means. My catalina came with stock G1 coated batters and G1 clear resos. The G1 coated on the batters are a little to open sounding for my liking but I can imagine the G2 will tighten them up. Thats why I put the pinstripes on. The G1 coated is nice on the snare though.

[funkymcstain]

yeah, thats what i meant PB. g2 batters and g1 reso. in most cases i like the coated g1 for batter (wide open, let em sing). but with my current band, i need a little more focused sound live.

[Church Drummer]

I had considered trying the G2 or EC2 coated heads for my next head change, after reading your posts I think I'm definately going to try the 2ply coated heads for a more focused sound.

[thumper62]

please help. I also have a Catalina set .Birch. i have not benn able to get a solid kick sound. I'm currently using Remo powersrtoke coated. For muffling, I've tried the evans eq pillow.I need a round fat sound with good low end. I've been told that I would have to go back to a Maple set. What are your thoughts?

[Church Drummer]

I get a nice sound out of mine with no muffling, but I did cut a 4" port in the Reso head. That seems to give me a nice fat sound.

[Guitarfool5931]

I'm surprised no one has said anything about the drum dial. All the experiences I've had with drum dials had some pretty bad results. Try tuning the toms by ear. I am still no expert at tuning drums (especially my snare) but you get results that will make your toms sound a lot better. Look up some Youtube videos on how to tune if you don't know how.