I was in my local drum shop in Leeds on Friday, replacing an extinct snare drum stand,& conversation turned,as often does, to Vinnie: one of the guys had seen him last week in Manchester, so I asked him what cymbals Vinnie was using... he confirmed they were indeed Paiste, and that they sounded great.
The shop manager further offered the information, gleaned from their Gretsch rep, that he(Vinnie) had 'fallen out' with the Gretsches (something to do with the 125th anniversary marketing plans), but that ' bridges have been built', so they think he's continuing to use Gretsch .
Just passing on what I heard, but as everyone here has agreed(I think),
1. He can do whatever he likes
2. He will still sound like Vinnie.
sent from John's iPad