I had one once and it was one of the worst sounding snare drums I have ever heard. It was dead no matter what heads I tried. I couldn't get rid of it fast enough.
The term that great Gretsch sound is marketing and nothing more...in my opinion. I love Gretsch drums...don't get me wrong. If only I would have bought the several round badge kits I used to see selling for 5-6 hundred bucks back in the nineties, I would be a rich man right now! Party The difference in the Gretsch sound lies mainly in their use of diecast rims. People will also argue about the un-reinforced Jasper shells as being the difference...but I think it has less of an effect than the diecast rims. Other than those rims, all the other contemporaries of that time used reinforced shells and triple flange rims...Slingerland's top flange was reversed to form the infamous "stick saver" shape, but they were basically the same mass as Ludwig's and Rogers' triple flange rims.
Gretsch aslo cost a little more than other drums because the diecast rims are quite a bit more expensive than triple flange. More cost = More prestige (to some). Like, "Who is capable of owning the most prestigious kit" -only the BEST drummers, of course!D' Drummer
That's my 2 cents of the subject. Violin
To recap: Diecast rims were/are the difference in the sound of Gretsch drums.
Some say that since the round badge drums weren't vented, they sounded different. Maybe it was a combination of all the above. But, what it boils right down to is that someone liked the tone of some drums one day and said, "Wow, those Gretsch drums sound great!"