Vinnie's Drum Choices

You?re courageous to start this topic here! But, indeed, you?re not the only one. I?ll only comment on the sound (not performance) I?ve heard when I actually saw Vinnie live, because on records, well, you never know? I saw Vinnie 3 times live, 1 with Yamaha and 2 with Gretsch. Yam sound was awesome, Gretsch sound (mostly the toms) was total cardboard! I also saw Tony on Gretsch with Ian Hammer in 1991: Awesome performance. Awful drum sound. The Gretsch drums that are setup at my local drum shop don?t even compare, to me, to budget brands like Pacific.

I do hope that people don?t just buy Gretsch now because of Vinnie. I?ve never heard a Yamaha sound (RC, MC) that wasn?t good. But I have yet to hear a good acoustic Gretsch sound.
I don?t know 5/8 maybe it?s just the 2 of us.

I totally agree.....my dad has a 1960's or 70's gretcsh and both of us fail to get a decent sound out of them no matter what heads we use.

his DW and pearl masters and my new premier series sound WAY better....same goes for the new gretchs' in the shops....people seem to rave about them and shit their pants when they see one....but id never pay what gretch charge!

i guess its the name tho....and the history.

i'm surprised you guys think that. every time vinnie plays at the potato with his gretsch it sounds amazing. i think gretsch toms are like none other. it really has a distinct sound. i got myself new renowns and i love it.

I really liked Vinnie's sound in the mid/late 80's up through the time he officially switched to Gretsch. However, I think Tombo hit it on the head: we'll never know exactly what Vinnie used in the studio during his official Yamaha years. Porcaro was rumored to have done most of his studio work with Gretsch drums while he was endosring Pearl.

I thought Vinnie's Gretsch sound with Karizma was very good, too.

I was at Guitar Center about 15 or so years ago and they had a used Gretsch kit from the late 60's (10,12,13,14,16,22) in a dark stain that was absolutely beautiful. I remember it having a very unique sound (in a good way).

There's something I never really understood about the Gretsch issue. I've seen several posts on this board to the following effect:

- Gretsch drums are awesome, but their edges are completely inconsistent and unreliable.

- Yamaha drums are awesome, and are very consistent and reliable.

- You can get what might be the best of both worlds by getting Yamaha drums and having someone cut a "35-degree" Gretsch-style bearing edge.

- Furthermore, if Gretsch uses Keller shells, couldn't you just buy Keller shells, have a 35-degree edge put on them, and have what effectively is a Gretsch drum kit?

I personally put a lot of weight in what HoD members post on this board, so it never really made sense to my why Vinnie switched. I would think the endorsement part of the deal would have been much more attractive with Yamaha than Gretsch. If he could have gotten a great sound out of the Yamahas, then why switch? Besides, Yamaha has WAY more to offer hardware-wise, and their products are certainly much more readily available world-wide.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ April 10, 2004 03:31 PM: Message edited by: mja61 ]</font>

Well, I'm lucky enough to own both kits currently. (Yamaha Maple Custom and Gretsch Custom circa 2000)

They're both GREAT drums. For sure the only two I think I'd ever spend money on. There is something special about Gretsch drums. Their consistency is probably the worst around though IMO. My 10" tom was out of round from the factory; asked Gretsch about it and they said, "tough." It sounds amazing though.

Personally, I recommend Yamaha to virtually anyone who asks me what to buy nowadays. That recommendation is based solely on the sound I like and the fact that Yamaha delivers that sound on a VERY consistent basis.

To answer the question directly, I think Vinnie got great sounds during both "eras." (The Recording Custom being my favorite time of his playing and sound wise)

ummmm. I know I'm a girl, but I will have to put you all to shame with this. I've known Vinnie for a while since he has a friendship with my dad.
Vinnie's sound has always been Gretch. He never recorded with Yamaha's unless he was being televised. All those great recordings are Vinnie's yellow gretch drums that he brought with him to Los Angeles from Boston in the 70s. My dad told me stories about Vinnie pulling up to the Baked Potato after playing a wedding with his yellow gretch's piled up without cases in his little red convertable.
That my friends, is a fact. hahaha! I love this board
C

nice.

Chantel, are you at liberty to say who your father is? (At least give us some hints, like what instrument, what albums, etc...?)

Vinnie playing a wedding--man, I'd like to see that home movie.

Vinnie's got a great sound on Karizma Document, not so convinced of his sound on the Chick Corea Acoustic Band in Tokyo though (was it a Yamaha on that CD? Must have been since he was still endorsing them back then)... Or even his sound on the GRP All Star of the late 80's... But that's all relative to the mix isn't it, so hard to say on Live performances.

Tombo... You know Kim Plainfield now plays Pearl Drums right? You like his sound on the Plainfield/Goines Project? I do... However, his sound on the two Bill Connors (Assembler and Double Up) he played on.... CARDBOARD!!!! He was endorsing Gretsch back then...

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ April 10, 2004 10:37 PM: Message edited by: beat Hit ]</font>