[Tainojim]

You guys are all correct!

I chose Gretsch due to the fact that it has versatility. Skins on any brand of drums makes a huge difference. Acoustics like resonance and using mufflers is another factor in the Gretsch line. Low end drums no matter what brand limit the tonality. High end drums give you more room to achieve a higher spectrum.

Another factor is the type of beaters on the kicks. For example, I use the round mallet type beaters for that mellow sound, while my son prefers the hammer type beaters for that hard sound.

Now I'm talking about two different drummers playing on the same kit and no retuning involved and still achieving a completely different result on the sound.

It sounds completely different altogether when I play free style and my son plays industrial style.

Sticks is another factor on the Gretsch sound. Mellow, Rich, Robust and Attack should be a more meaning than just mellow.

I'm talking from experience, you just can't go wrong with Gretsch and the hardware is good, so don't believe the rumors. No drum company would sacrifice cutting corners on the hardware after putting all the effort on building a good drum.

I still miss my old 1959 Ludwig birch rock kit, it had built in internal adjustable mufflers. Something that I've not seen in any other kits, but I still love my Gretsch kit.

P.S Polka was left out of that list. Ha-Ha