People will be people. That's all there is to it. Some people will attach themselves to an identity and honestly feel they are more complete or somehow enhanced by it.

Value is assigned individualistically. What a person assigns worth is really not debatable. We are all different and have our own value calculators.

Gretch people have their worth calculators adjusted accordingly.

Ludwig people have theirs fine tuned.

Slingerland junkies run an abacus hopped up with old legos. I'd have it no different.

Gretsch have always been a desired brand. Round Badge Gretsch were played by several great Jazz drummers including Tony Williams, Art Blakey, and Elvin Jones, among others. I think there is something to "That Great Gretsch Sound" I believe they have a nice midrange full tone that projects well when played amongst other instruments. Other drum companies also made great products, I love Ludwig drums for their sound and vibe, but Ludwig's factory was open 24 hours a day during some times in the 60s, from the Ringo factor. They may have a desirability factor but when you couple the fact that fewer RB Gretsch were produced, with the greater desirability, really the sound component doesn't need to be discussed. It is just economics. Supply and demand determine the value. Fewer were made and the demand for vintage RB Gretsch is robust.

I'm a little new to this vintage drum thing but isn't the big difference between Gretsch and all the others, the shell construction?

Ludwig, Rogers and Slingerland were all producing 3 ply shells while Gretsch was producing the infamous 6 ply (or is it 5 ply?) "Jasper" shell.

I thought this was the big difference in the Great Gretsch sound.

I may be wrong. I'm sure someone will chime in.

Also, the Gretsch toms didn't have air vent holes, so they have that particular sound to them. I've owned a couple of Slingerlands that had rack toms without badges/air vents, and they sounded similar. It's liked that choked sound you get from a drum tuned way up, but throughout the entire tuning range.

You're a little off on the ply layups, but you have the right idea. Gretsch used different wood (gum wood) for the mid plies. That's one factor, but it doesn't make a difference equivalent to the selling gap. It's the people that decide that and the group has spoken. Humans can justify just about anything they want. Those outside of the group see it for what it really is ... or do they? Who's to say which group is right? Again, it comes back to how we place value on a tangible object.

It really is, "Just one of those things". I played Gretsch round badges for some 30 years and they DO sound very nice. But not twice as nice as Slingy or Ludwig or Rodgers from the same era. The toms have a nice, full, warm sound, but in truth, I never thought the snare drums sounded all that great. Slingerland, in my opinion, always made the best sounding snare drums.

In general, with all the different brands I've played over the last 40 years, I have to say the best sounding was a set of 1941 Radio Kings with calf heads. Another drummer on the same bill as me let me use them. It was a big thrill to get to play them.

Those things thundered, with the nicest tone I've ever heard. Wish I could afford a set of those!!

Like Stradivari's Violin techniques have long been up for debate and not fully understood by modern craftsmen and scientists, it is known for certain that the wood used included spruce for the harmonic top, willow for the internal parts and maple for the back, strip, and neck.

There has been conjecture that this wood was treated with several types of minerals, including potassium borate (borax), sodium and potassium silicate, and vernice bianca, a varnish composed of Arabic gum, honey, and egg white.

LoLoLoLo

Talking about mistery, i heard somewere that he was putting some of his selected wood pieces in water on the bottom of a lake for a few years before

using them.

That was Don Lombardi, not Antonio Stadivari.