Hi John,
My name is Rick Wilson and I recently bought a silver Xstream trumpet. I was not looking for or expecting much because I play in a brass band and most of my playing is on cornet. I just need a functional horn that plays pretty well in tune to use in church orchestra. I just sold an Edwards Gen. II that was a beautiful and great playing horn because I could not justify the amount of money I had in it when I play it one day a week. Your horn is working better for me than that one did! I take lessons from Dr Jim Buckner who is music dept. chair and professor of trumpet at Henderson State University and I took my last lesson on the Xstream. He was not only impressed with the looks and craftsmanship but mostly with how much the horn seemed to fit me. He has seen me play the $2500.00 Edwards and a $3000.00 Smith Watkins, but when I show up with your horn his reaction was THIS IS A BREAKTHROUGH, YOU HAVE NEVER SHOWN ME ANYTHING NEAR THIS . He was talking about the way I played the Xstream trumpet. I use a GR 65MX and usually have a weak d above High c but that night I had a good e and a week f. More importantly the b & c were popping out easily. I was doing lip slurs out of the Arban book (PG 44) at 120 bpm so it wasn’t just range, but response too. Sound was popping out with the slightest bit of air. I just ordered an Xstream mouthpiece with a XX4 top and XXX backbore, I suspect I will like your mouthpieces too. I won’t take any more of your time, I just want to say thanks for what you do. Rick Wilson
Thanks Mr. Eth for making the BEST mouthpiece ever. I love my XX4 top so now I'm going to try the X4. This has been the only mouthpiece I’ve played that actually does what it claims. Once again....Thank You!!!
Jeffrey W Garrett
John, It is marvelous.......The feel and the blow are both quite
different. They’re better! I'm thinking that the longer I play it, the
better it will be.
Sincerely,
John (Jack) Peck
Greetings John,
So far my first impressions.
Great looking well crafted piece! (I got a lot of questions and strange looks from some players.)I really noticed the core of my tone and projection through the horn improved substantially, with less effort on my part. Your recommendation on cup diameter and backbore was spot on. I notice some very nice air compression without any stuffy feeling. In other
words, I can really blow and move a lot of air if I want to, but never feel like I'm playing a large bucket size mouthpiece. High range speaks easier and with less effort. I didn't have a huge range increase yet, but I can tell this is going to improve due to the ease of all around tone production. All in all, I am very pleased with my new mouthpiece and look forward to some nice improvement in my playing. Thanks again for your help!!!
Regards, Peter A.
John,
I received the mouthpiece top and backbore today!!! In all my mouthpiece safari's, this is the quickest I have ever gotten delivery!!! GREAT!!!
I have a rehearsal tonight, and plan on putting the mouthpiece to the test. As for the few notes I blew through it, fantastic core to my sound. Also, if I lay back a little I can definitely light this bad boy up!!
Thanks!
John Miconi
Mr. Eth,
Thank you for getting my order to me so quickly. I am able to give less effort to the horn, and get results that I never imagined possible. I simply use less effort (air power) and this piece lights up the room. The tone is rich and full in the entire range of the horn as well. It is difficult to back off at times, but playing this piece has made me more disciplined in that area, with a great payoff in endurance. I was never one for backing "backing off" while playing high intensity commercial gigs, but with this piece, backing off the air doesn't diminish the intensity of the tone. This is an excellent piece. I wish you much success with your business.
Steve Hyde
www.myspace.com/stevehydemusic
While producing a recent record session, the soloist pulled out two trumpets, and asked which sound I preferred. He played both horns while getting levels, and I without hesitation, chose the horn with the more natural brightness and clarity. It turns out I chose the Xstream horn that I understand sells for under $1000.00, which was up against a custom Yamaha worth three times that much. We used that horn the whole session, open and muted to great effect. Good stuff!
Miles Black
producer, multi instrumentalist, arranger
http://www.milesblack.com
Dear Xstream Music Products,
I have had my mouthpiece for about two weeks now, and even though I am just a trumpet hobbyist/enthusiast, I have played long enough (about 30 years) to make some substantive comments. There is some prevailing wisdom that "equipment cannot give you what you don't already have", especially in terms of range. Well, after playing on the Xstream mouthpiece for just two weeks, it has not given me any extra steps on my range, but it HAS SOLIDIFIED my range and given me extra CONFIDENCE. There is no longer any difference between my "practice room range" and my "performance in front of an audience" range. They are the SAME. Also, my sound is fuller and more resonant. I should also mention one other thing. John and I have one thing in common. John came back from catastrophic facial muscle/nerve injuries as a result of a motorcycle accident, helped in great part by the Xstream mouthpiece, which he developed. I also received severe facial muscle/ nerve injuries as a result of a knife attack. For a long time, I felt that I was running in sand and making no progress. Now, I feel that I am turning the corner with the Xstream mouthpiece. Many thanks, John.
God bless you.
Greg U.
Houston, TX
