Gretsch Drums Catalina Ash CA1-E825-BNB 5-Piece Drum Shell Pack, Black/Nat/Black Burst

After months and months of deliberation, weighing the pros and cons of multiple kits from different brands (Ludwig, OCDP, Crush, Sonor, even vintage Rogers and Slingerland) I decided to purchase this kit. I will admit I was really torn right before I pulled the trigger, there is a great value in the Sonor Session Maple kit sold on Amazon- only $50 more than this and it comes with some extras (sticks, stick bag, HH Radia Cup Chime, and some other junk). But since I have a maple kit already and I was looking for something quieter with a vintage warmth to it, I assumed these fit the bill perfectly, and got almost exactly what I expected.My main kit of the past 10 years is a DW Collector's Maple. The quality of this kit doesn't come close, not even a little, to that of my DW. But I gotta admit, I was pretty surprised with how very nice it is even when compared to my DW. This will be an extra kit that I use for band practice and will probably even use for shows.I was expecting a thin coat of paint, thin chrome, cheap hardware and fasteners, and I got some of that. As follows:-The shells are beautiful, the bearing edges are even and sharp, the finish looks fantastic and the ash comes from pretty good stock with very few flaws. The ply seams aren't that pretty, but on natural finish drums that's hard to do- especially at this price point. BTW, don't be fooled into thinking the black on these drums is lacquer or stain, it's paint- nicely/evenly sprayed, but still paint.-The lugs are pleasant, evenly chromed, and robust- but every single one, on every single drum, was loose. They will need to be tightened before you assemble, or you will get buzzing, rattling, and eventually loose bits inside the drums. The tom rim mounts are sturdy, but there are some spots that chrome didn't stick, not noticeable once they're assembled and/or on stage, but I know it's there and that's enough. Additionally, the tom arm memory lock tabs don't fit into the tom mount notches/keyways that well, so forget having the toms clocked on the arms properly next time you assemble the kit.-The snare throwoff is flimsy junk, although nice looking. The snare itself doesn't sound remarkable, I doubt I will use it. But it sure is pretty. It'll look nice on a shelf.-The bass drum is a bit of a disappointment: it's not very loud at all despite providing a very warm, bright, and punchy sound. I've only changed the batter head thus far, but I think the reso head will need to go too... something ported as well. The drum spurs have loads of adjustment and look okay, but the square head screws are pre-rounded and made of s*** metal. I suggest you either replace them, or try to get the adjustment done in the first shot and never ever touch them again.-Speaking of heads, the stock heads are junk, with Remo and Gretch brands printed on them. Change these out. Coated Pinstripes, Fiberskyns, Powerstroke, or even clear Emperors will be awesome, thick single ply to heavy 2-ply are what these drums want...Despite my gripes (which seem like a lot), I am really very happy with these drums. Very.While Gretsch may have cut some corners on the metal bits, they didn't cut corners where it counts: the shells. These drums sound incredible. Even with the junk stock heads they sounded great (at certain tunings), but with high quality heads, they sound absolutely fantastic, even better. There's no helping the snare though, it's just so "meh".tl;dr version: Great shells that sound, look, and feel lovely, but require some extra pre-assembly quality adjustments. Bland snare. Quiet bass drum. Lots of attack overall, little resonance. Great for pop-rock, pop-punk, big band jazz, and latin. Change the heads. Very nice kit for the price.Pro-tip!The Gretsch tom L-arms are the same diameter as DW- use DW hardware for better adjustment/placement, playability, and to avoid using the bass drum mounted tom holder.**UPDATE**After futzing around with the bass drum tuning and swapping the resonant head, I was able to get a big warm boom with a nice decay! I'm using an Evans EMAD coated batter and an Evans EQ1 coated white resonant. No additional damping aside from the big foam EMAD ring. They're tensioned 1/2 turn past when the wrinkles in the heads smooth out. Super yummy. Sounds great in jazz and doom metal, or any music that has room to breathe and minimal technical bass drum rhythm.The snare took some trial and error too, but with an Evans G1 coated batter and an Evans 200 snare side, I was able to get some really decent crack and ring to it. Moongel helps overring. I'm still not totally sold on the snare, but it's totally usable, if a bit generic sounding.