Drums

Gretsch Catalina Maple

★★★★★★★★★★4.6(142 reviews)

All-maple tone at an intermediate price

by beatkeeper · Dec 2025

This is the kit that gets recommended over poplar/Asian-mahogany rivals because the 7-ply all-maple shells and 30° bearing edges give it a warm, full tone well above its price. The GTS suspension mounts let the shells ring.

It's a shell pack — budget for hardware, cymbals and (as always) better drumheads, because the stock heads are the weak point. Swap to coated heads and it transforms into a genuinely studio-capable kit.