johnmarkpainter

It looks like the "Power Chamber" is in the Throat.
If the marketing strategy wasn't so lame I probably would have already ordered one considering there is a return policy.

RE: Cheeseball marketing hype

Plenty of other great companies will loosely throw out terms like "improved attacks, intonation, tone" with no attempt to qualify those claims.

jmp

wilcox96

yep....

dmf

Glad to see this query has kicked off some discussion.

When it comes to new gadgetry, be it trumpet related or any of a wide range of other products, I frequently find myself in two minds. On the one hand you could argue that the trumpet is a mature, proven, design and that if anything astounding was to be developed it would have been done by now. Alternatively, there is always that slim possiblity that someone has worked out how to design a better 'mousetrap'.

Regards - David

miles71

Wonder what guys like GR or Terry Warburton think........................

Ljazztrm

I heard back from John. Apparently he was having big time cable and phone problems so had to switch his service. He's a really nice cat and we had a really good talk about mouthpieces. Besides being a pro player, he also makes the pieces himself on a CNC machine....It's definitely worth giving him a shout. All the best, Lex.

hirnu

Hi Guys,
I will give you a little more info on John Eth and his Xstream mouthpiece as I play one myself.. This is a biased post as I played shows with John for 20 years in the Phoenix area. First off, John
was the No 1 call for shows and recording work in Phoenix (Including Lead for the Halftime Show of the Superbowl and some T.V. Shows) and is a great trumpet player. (Ask Bobby Shew if any of you know Bobby) John is still a very active player there but devoting a lot of his time noe personally making mouthpieces now. Like every Large Metro area in the U.S. he is known there if not nationally.
He has also played shows in Branson Mo. (Wayne Newton) Myrtle Beach, N.C. and has traveled playing lead with some of the Name "Ghost" bands. When Bud Brisbois moved to Scottsdale Az. in the late 70's he and John became very good friends and John played lead in Bud's band which rehearsed at the Musicians Union Hall. Bud told John that he thought one of the key factors to success in the upper regester is to accerate not the volumn but the speed of the airstream. This is why John invented the power chamber in the throat of the mouthpiece to use the "Venturi" effect to help speed the airstream. Call or E-mail John as he is a nice guy and will not B.S. or promise you that it will play itself. Hope this helps.
Hirnu

johnmarkpainter

Ok...that's pretty much the feeling I had.
He seems like a good guy that went along with some bad marketing.

You really should tell him to rethink the aesthetic and message of his website.
I don't think it is just me.
But I also have an immediate aversion to anything called "Extreme" so maybe I don't count :)

jmp

hirnu

Thank You for your marketing advice. I have forwarded your message to John and remember you can E-mail him or call his number posted on his web site anytime. I do know that
he is very busy making mouthpieces and shipping orders all of which he does himself. I guess in spite of the shortcomings you have noted many aspiring trumpet players are percieving Xtream as
a valid way to raise their performance level. Thank You Again
for your advice.

Hirnu

weril1

First post on this forum for me. Hello everyone!

I recently ordered a mouthpiece from John (XStream) after several EMails back and forth, and the guy has so-far, been a pleasure to deal with, and can't fault his professionalism.

He is making me an extra Top one size smaller then his listed line at .565", as well as sending the .575" top, and two backbores to try.

All he asks is that I return the combination that doesn't suit me.

Like many, I've spent far too much on mouthpieces over the years, yet I always trust my gut feeling, and so was willing to give this a try.

I'll let you know how it turns out if interested.

All the best
Peter
Melbourne, Australia

Ljazztrm

So I have been reading a lot of comments about the Xstream mouthpiece made by John Eth and just wanted to voice my own opinion. Firstly, I found John to be an extremely nice fellow and easy to deal with. He is a pro freelancer and makes his own pieces on a CNC machine. He is continuing to put out different models of pieces and I tried a couple with the more rounded and thicker rim contour....kind of reminded me of a Warburton feel, which I really like. I tried the XE model and, also, one a little smaller at .565. The diameters of these pieces didn’t feel as small as the measurements that I’m used to..Measurements that are used fairly uniformly by Warburton, Curry, GR, Schilke, Yamaha, and others. I think, like Jerry Callet, John measures his diameters further down in the cup and, so, the XE model, measuring, by his system at .575, felt more, to me, like a .600 diameter. And the .565 diameter, felt more like my Warburton WCC .590.

About the power chamber backbore. There is definitely something to this concept which I believe is a new design in mouthpiece technology. I did find these backbores to give me more power, efficiency, and I was using less effort. I would definitely recommend that players give these pieces a try. For those of you who are used to a more Warburton-like feel, I would recommend requesting the more rounded, thicker rim contour he makes.

The only reason I didn’t wind up purchasing one of his pieces is because I received a custom top by Mark Curry that is based off an idea of a freelance trumpet player named Mark Chuvala, worked on by Ken Titmus of Warburton, and then worked on more by Mark Curry. This is a quite unusual Maynard Ferguson like top (but with smaller dimensions than MF’s old Giardinelli piece with a tad more of an underbite) that happens to work extremely well for me.

So that’s by 2 cents on John Eth and his mouthpieces. Don’t be fooled by the ‘info-mercial’ website design. The guy is a pro player and mouthpiece maker, not a professional website designer or promoter, and very interested in making you a product that you are happy with. All the best, Lex.