Art Blakey & Pearl

[RobertM]

Does anyone know why Art Blakey stopped playing Gretsch and switched to Pearl? It seems like a lot of the early Gretsch masters (Blakey, Elvin, Roach) all left Gretsch for other companies (Pearl, Ludwig, Tama/Yamaha).

Just wondering...

[rendezvous_drummer]

He liked the sound of the pearls more than the Gretsch's....

I don't understand how either.

[sacco]

As far as I can remember most of them switched to Japanese sets. I can't remember many Gretsch jazz players switching to Ludwig (Max Roach did, but he also played Meazzi Hollywood and there are many pictures of him playing different Japanese sets, so ...).

Let's check some hypothesis:

Japanese sets were more "modern" both from a sound and an esthetic point of view
Japanese sets had better hardware
Japanese drum companies offered better endorsement contracts ...

[Chonson]

Also note that Gretsch was no longer under family control in the 1980s - add to that that people aren't jumping all over themselves for 80s era Gretsch, and I think you make a reasonable argument for people looking for quality.