Jet Tone Doc Severinsen mouthpiece

Smokin Joe

Just bought a Jet Tone DS mouthpiece from WWBW. Did I really need it, no, did I really want one, yes, lol.

Anyway, I tried it and really liked it. A friend of mine had one when I was in college back in the late 70's, he let me try his and I wanted to trade one of my other mp's for the Jet Tone but he said no.

Fast forward to 2018, here's my question, who makes these mp's now?

I understand that Ratzenberger was making them back in the day, how do these new ones compare to the old Ratzenberger?

Back in the 70's could Ratzenberger make exact copies, or were there a little deviations to each piece.

Anyone play both pieces to compare?

Thanks, Joe

John Mohan · Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2018 1:00 pm Post subject:

They are currently being made by Schilke.

JonathanM · Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2020 3:45 pm Post subject:

I just picked up a delightful old Olds; the Special, this one from around 1959. Lightening fast valves, it's really a blast to play.

It came with an Olds 3 mouthpiece and, shock here, a Bach 7C.

It also came with a Jettone Severinsen Model mouthpiece, apparently an (or the) original model. It is an amazing piece. I've always felt a good modified V cup was easy to play, and this one certainly is. It is what I'd call a modified V, but very unique. The inner slope seems to go mostly straight down (as I think many of the early Jettone's did), then mostly a V'ish feel with a fairly large throat. I don't think mine is a 26 drill, I'd guess probably a 27 but I'm not positive there. It CAN play warm, but it's so easy to get an edge to the tone. I've tried it with a Strad, vintage Conn's, King Silversonic, it really roars with the Olds Special... What a great mouthpiece.

I'd love to try the new Jet-Tone DS Classic and the Patrick GDS in his vintage series to see how they compare and which is closest to this original.

At any rate, I'm thrilled with this piece; really a fine mouthpiece. I also have an original Symphony Model C, which is, in my opinion, a magnificent mouthpiece, and one rather underrated.
_________________
Jonathan Milam
Trumpets: 18043B, 18043*, 18043 Sterling Silver +, 18037 SterlingSilver+, Benge 4x, Olds: '34 Symphony, '47 Super, '52 Recording
Flugle: Strad 182
Puje: American Belle
Cornet: Olds Recording & Super

kehaulani · Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2020 4:04 pm Post subject:

Who made the Severinsen mouthpieces that came with the Getzen Severinsen trumpets of the mid-60s? Man, I did not like that mouthpiece.
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Yamaha 8310Z Bobby Shew trumpet
Benge 3X Trumpet
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JonathanM · Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2020 6:56 pm Post subject:

kehaulani · Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2020 8:59 pm Post subject:

Well, you might like it. I liked my horn but as to mouthpieces, I had been playing a Purviance 4*D4 which was a smaller, shallower mouthpiece.
_________________
"If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." Bird

Yamaha 8310Z Bobby Shew trumpet
Benge 3X Trumpet
Benge 3X Cornet
Adams F-1 Flghn

blbaumgarn · Heavyweight Member Joined: 26 Jul 2017 Posts: 705

In the 70s I had two of them for a while, just to tinker with. One was a Severinsen or MF that I bought through the local music store and the other was a Jet-Tone V-cup that a guy in municipal band traded me for my Benge 7c that came with my horn. I liked the V-cup mouthpiece better of the two, but I kind of felt that the tone and depth of sound wasn'there with either Jet Tone as with the 1C I was using. They will give your upper register a quick shot. I eventually got a Bach 10 3/4 EW that was better all around. It is still up to anyone's personal choice. I think I gave $16 bucks for the one Jet Tone in about 75' and now they go out at $125 bucks or so.
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there is one that lives to lay waste to woodwinds and strings, leaving them lie blue and lifeless along a swath of destruction that is a
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Tony Scodwell · Heavyweight Member Joined: 17 Oct 2005 Posts: 1961

Here is correct information on the origin of Jet-Tone mouthpieces:

Ray Amado conceived the original designs inspired by the Parduba mouthpieces made by John Parduba. He had a business partner named Bill Ratzenberger who owned a nightclub in Bridgeport, Connecticut at the time. Amado developed a system of duplicating mouthpieces with 1/4 inch aluminum plate templates 10 times larger than the mouthpiece rim and cup with the end result of reducing error by a factor of ten. Of course this was long before CNC equipment was developed. Most mouthpiece makers used a device similar to duplicating keys one to one and variables did occur.

Ray Amado had a medical analysis lab but was a very good amateur trumpet player and had many of the top NYC brass players using his new Jet-Tone mouthpieces. Urbie Green, Buddy Morrow, Snooky Young, Charlie Shavers and Doc Severinsen amongst them. With Getzen having success with the Eterna Severinsen model, they had Ray Amado supply the Jet-Tone Severinsen mouthpiece to them stamped "Getzen Severinsen Model". It was a very close design similar to the Bach 5C that Severinsen favored perhaps with a slightly softer inner rim.

Ray Amado continued his line of mouthpieces and probably the most successful model sold was the "Al Hirt Model" which was most like the Jet-Tone T3 model. It was a wider rim diameter than the other models and incorporated the double cup design like most of the other standard Jet-Tones. Ray Amado was solely responsible for all designs and special tooling and his business partner Ratzenberger was left with the business after some discrepancies with finance were discovered and Ray Amado decided to move on. Ratzenberger was trying to keep the level of quality established by Ray Amado intact but many problems developed. There are too many permutations of new owners after Ratzenberger died to list and the new Jet-Tone versions made by a number of makers are copies of the originals obtained from various sources, some correct and some copied from non-originals made later which are not like the Ray Amado Jet-Tones made through 1968.

Tony Scodwell
www.scodwellusa.com

kehaulani · Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2020 10:27 am Post subject:

So, was my Getzen Severinson, bought in 1965, actually a Jet-Tone made by Ray Amado?
_________________
"If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." Bird

Yamaha 8310Z Bobby Shew trumpet
Benge 3X Trumpet
Benge 3X Cornet
Adams F-1 Flghn

Andy Cooper · Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2020 4:14 pm Post subject:

At some point - perhaps in the 90's? WWBW acquired the rights to the Jet-Tone mouthpieces. The mouthpieces they sold had been "re-sized" to the advertised ID. Jet-tones sold immediately before they took over were smaller. I'm looking at a pre WWBW DS that has an ID about like a Bach 8C. (The MF mouthpiece WWBW produced felt about like a Bach 1 1/2 C rim).

A check with the old Kanstul MP site shows that their copy of a DS was very close to a Bach 5C.

JonathanM · Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2020 6:00 pm Post subject:

Andy, the 5 rim is probably accurate to the original, good info. That's reputed to be the id Doc liked. Interesting that the pieces were then enlarged. Thanks for details!
_________________
Jonathan Milam
Trumpets: 18043B, 18043*, 18043 Sterling Silver +, 18037 SterlingSilver+, Benge 4x, Olds: '34 Symphony, '47 Super, '52 Recording
Flugle: Strad 182
Puje: American Belle
Cornet: Olds Recording & Super

JeffM729 · Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2020 8:35 pm Post subject:

I still have the Getzen Jet-Tone Severinsen that came with my Severinsen trumpet way back in 1972. I did try the new Schilke made Jet-Tone DS and found it to be virtually indistinguishable from my original. The later DS models were inconsistent and some didn't come with the 26 throat.

I played that mouthpiece for big band and rock through the 1970s and never really had any issues or a desire to try other mouthpieces. Today I play some on a Patrick CR5ZM which is his take on the Severinsen with a shallower cup. Steve Patrick's 5Z is his take on the Jet-Tone Severinsen. Both are excellent mouthpieces.

Smokin Joe · Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2020 12:35 pm Post subject:

Ok so now my question is, if Shilke is making the current Jet Tone's that you buy off the WWBW website, why aren't they advertising them for sale on the Shilke website.

lukeypoo · Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2020 4:27 pm Post subject:

A few months back, I picked up an Al Hirt Model S off ebay for about $50. I like the super bright tone from them, but it tanks my endurance. I suspect it has something to with the fact that the inside diameter is much bigger than any piece I've ever used. I don't know anything about what each model means (Model S or the specifics of the Al Hirt). Anyone know more about the sizes and specifics?
_________________
Luke Judd
Trumpet:
Yamaha Xeno 8345
Cornet:
H.N White/King Cleveland Superior
Mouthpieces:
Olds 3, VB Corp. New York 10 1/2C

Andy Cooper · Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2020 7:43 am Post subject:

dershem · Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2020 7:44 am Post subject:

The Al Hirt models were designed to be 41/64 ID - about like a Bach 10/12. Which rim does yours have? The flat rim on the A model always bugged me - locked me in place.
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lukeypoo · Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2020 8:17 am Post subject:

JeffM729 · Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2020 8:32 am Post subject: Nail

JeffM729 · Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2020 9:31 am Post subject:

Here is the WWBW Jet-Tone Mouthpiece catalog.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=10NiTUFWH7vnuLU4C4MEIDF8vuoCX1hQW