 Gretsch
I have a Renown. It's awesome. I thinks it's worth it to save for the Renown. The differences are: Renown has die cast hoops and 30 degree bearing edges. The Catalinas have triple flanged hoops and 45 degree bearing edges. The Renown has slightly thicker bass and snare shells as well, I believe. I like the Renown sound better. It's more focused with less overtones. You will have to hear it yourself and compare to see which you like better. As for the wood, Renowns are American Rock Maple whereas Catalinas are a maple-formula, whatever that means. I think its worth asking about. The Renowns also come with the silver sealer, whereas the Catalinas don't. I'm not exactly sure how much of the difference in sound is attributable to the sealer, but I will say the Renowns sound better to me. The Renowns also have a non-drilled bass drum, which in my opinion makes a huge difference as far as quality of sound. Another thing about the Renown is that you can get a 6.5" deep snare, which I like, and you can get it in Slate silver sparkle, which I like way better than any of the Catalina finishes. The Catalinas still sound great though and are an amazing value. See if you can compare them side by side in a store and see if its worth the extra price for you. It was for me. Oh, the other thing is that you can get a slightly deeper bass drum with the Renowns. It sounds really big, and I love it.
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