OLDS Ultratone v Duratone

[Gary Matczak]

What's the difference?

[JohnZ]

ultratone was all chrome/polished finish, duratone had a brushed matte finish except for the bell.

otherwise I think they were the same basic horn.

[Gary Matczak]

ultratone was all chrome/polished finish, duratone had a brushed matte finish except for the bell.

otherwise I think they were the same basic horn.

I am holding a Duratone Mello in my hands right now,............and have seen oodles of ultratones,............this Duratone has a chrome polished finish just like any other I've seen,.......?

[JohnZ]

granted, it was 1972 or 73 when we took delivery of a full line of v/r duratones, and I recall being told that the finish was distinctive to the duratone line, but was the same horn as the polished ultratones.

a later change in the two lines, maybe? I'll defer to the younger, likely more knowledgeable folks.....

edit: the other possibility is that the duratone you have has been refinished. I vaguely recall someone in the PA area who refinished a few duratone horns to match the rest of their hornline. long time ago.....

[JimF-LowBari]

Was told (and totally forget who) that any horn with a bad finish was hit lightly with the sandblaster(?) to give it that matte/flat/Duratone finish. Then these horns had a smaller price tag. Wetshore had Duratone contras/baris and think either Frenchie or Mellie. Considering our finances at the time cheaper cost was a BIG consideration.

We got our Baris early 1974 and contras start of 1975. Used to have the web addie with Olds production numbers and month/year but lost it in the last system crash.

[Gary Matczak]

where's Hornsup when you need him?

[HornsUp]

The Ultratones and Duratones were made from the same components. The Ultras were all chromeplated, which meant that the entire horn had to be buffed.

The exterior of the Duratones was lightly sandblasted, and only the bell interior was buffed. Then the horn was nickle plated, and the bell interior was lacquered. This finishing process was less labor-intensive.

I really don't know why Olds came out with the Duratone line in the mid-70s. They had pretty much cornered the market on G-F bugles. Providing a less-costly instrument for our activity was NOT done purely out of the goodness of their corporate heart.

But Olds, under the ownership of Norlin, had slashed their quality level and replaced their legendary durable Ambassador student line with the catastrophic Pinto instruments. They were only a couple of years from folding. Larry McCormick was locked into a near-exclusive sales agreement with Olds, and apparently had a huge load of bugle inventory to dispose of. It was a good era to get bugles cheaply.

Perhaps the Duras were cosmetically flawed, but salvageable production from the sweatshop. I've played a lot, and own a few. And they all play the same as the Ultras. My DuraBaritone has a cool fuchsia case lining.

I've also seen several chromed bugles with the Duratone stencil. Such as the one Gary currently is listing on eBay.The only explanation is that they accidentally made it to the rack of instruments in the buffing room, where it was the no hablo Ingles 'hood.

I doubt any were re-finished and chromed. It would take a LOT of buffing to remove the sandblast texture, and in that process the Duratone stencil would be largely obliterated.

[Gary Matczak]

Thanks man!

[Puppet]

The Ultratones and Duratones were made from the same components. The Ultras were all chromeplated, which meant that the entire horn had to be buffed.

The exterior of the Duratones was lightly sandblasted, and only the bell interior was buffed. Then the horn was nickle plated, and the bell interior was lacquered. This finishing process was less labor-intensive.

I really don't know why Olds came out with the Duratone line in the mid-70s. They had pretty much cornered the market on G-F bugles. Providing a less-costly instrument for our activity was NOT done purely out of the goodness of their corporate heart.

But Olds, under the ownership of Norlin, had slashed their quality level and replaced their legendary durable Ambassador student line with the catastrophic Pinto instruments. They were only a couple of years from folding. Larry McCormick was locked into a near-exclusive sales agreement with Olds, and apparently had a huge load of bugle inventory to dispose of. It was a good era to get bugles cheaply.

Perhaps the Duras were cosmetically flawed, but salvageable production from the sweatshop. I've played a lot, and own a few. And they all play the same as the Ultras. My DuraBaritone has a cool fuchsia case lining.

I've also seen several chromed bugles with the Duratone stencil. Such as the one Gary currently is listing on eBay.The only explanation is that they accidentally made it to the rack of instruments in the buffing room, where it was the no hablo Ingles 'hood.

I doubt any were re-finished and chromed. It would take a LOT of buffing to remove the sandblast texture, and in that process the Duratone stencil would be largely obliterated.

Is it off topic for me to mention that although I never played a Duratone, the feel, finish and balance not to mention the sheer beauty of the original Olds (rotary/valve in G) was a wonder to play...

... and after 40 years is still great to look at!

Puppet

[Sweendoc]

It was all about price. The Duratone was the same horn as the Ultratone. The Duratone had a brushed chrome finish rather than the highly polished chrome, but it was 40 percent cheaper! That's why we bought a whole line of Duratones for the Derry Patriots in 1973. Kept the cost down, the inside of the bell had the highly polished look.