Tom Halchak (Blue Moon Harmonicas) interview

01:30 - Tom is based in Clearwater, Florida, and runs the Blue Moon harmonica company

01:43 - Business started out selling harmonica combs and how he started doing so

02:09 - Discovered the online community of harmonica and people requesting custom combs and experience buying own comb

04:18 - Started making own combs to sell, initially wood ones cut with a laser for Golden Melody, sold via eBay

04:40 - Combs were pre-made, ready to ship e pre-made, ready to ship

05:03 - Demand for the combs was instant and customers helped in the product development

05:27 - Started making the combs for other models besides the Golden Melody

05:51 - Tom’s day job was as a Financial Advisor, now retired, but liked to work with his hands and with wood

06:24 - Why do harmonica players want new combs?

07:27 - How do Blue Moon combs compare to stock combs from manufacturers

08:45 - The equipment Tom uses to make the combs is prohibitive for the harmonica manufacturers

09:15 - Uses a CNC milling machine to make the combs

10:56 - The precise cutting from the CNC milling machine is firstly entered into 3D modelling software

11:43 - The combs follow the same basic design as that from the manufacturers, but with some improvements made

11:57 - The custom comb industry started to replace the unsealed pear wood Marine Band combs

13:18 - Started using CNC Milling machine a year into production of the combs

13:56 - Harmonica players are happy to pay for a quality instrument and to repair their existing harmonicas

16:02 - Offers combs in 5 different materials, four of which are used by the major manufacturers

17:24 - The opinion on what difference comb materials make is divided, with possibly people’s hearing the differentiator

18:31 - Metal combs tend to be brighter, wood warmer, and plastic in the middle

19:40 - Plastic combs look cool as can be designed with different colours and patterns

19:51 - Blue Moon also sell custom covers, which come in various designs

19:59 - Adding own designs to covers is possible, but cost prohibitive

21:03 - What it takes to add a new comb, e.g. Golden Melody, to the Blue Moon product line

22:19 - Didn’t make any profit for the first three years Blue Moon was in business

22:32 - Posts new stock on Facebook page

23:04 - Has mostly retired from day job and focuses now on Blue Moon

23:45 - Tom is a classically trained clarinet player from his youth

23:50 - Initially planned to sell wood combs to replace plastic combs and the demand for different colours to identify keys

25:23 - Demand for different coloured combs gave Tom the idea to sell harmonica covers, using powder coating

25:49 - Started buying used / nearly new harmonicas and selling them in a ‘chop shop’ format

27:20 - Website created to start selling products instead of via eBay

28:00 - Started offering custom harmonicas, no longer selling used harmonicas

28:48 - Sold first batch of custom harmonica’s at a discount price to demonstrate them to his customer base

29:11 - Developed a business relationship with Hohner and Suzuki to start customising their harmonicas

29:29 - Early batches were just harmonicas with custom combs

30:09 - Developed customisation skills to then start offering fully fledged custom harmonicas

31:02 - Has some well known endorsers of Blue Moon products, including Jason Ricci and Rob Papparozzi

31:24 - How Tom developed his working relationship with Jason Ricci

32:07 - Jason approached Tom in 2015, initially for custom covers, and helped Tom develop harps set up for overdraws and overblows

34:03 - Jason Ricci played at Tom’s daughter’s wedding, with Tom jamming with him during the gig

35:02 - Blue Moon also sells pre-war Marine Bands, lovingly restored by Tom

36:16 - The mystique of the pre-war harmonicas sent Tom on the hunt for them and found them in plentiful supply

37:11 - The quality of the pre-war Marine Bands is high, as they were hand-made and they use softer brass

37:39 - Can see what sort of music was played on the pre-wars by how they are tarnished

38:12 - Get a sense of reverence playing the pre-wars

38:18 - Modifications Tom makes to pre-wars are generally to seal comb and replace nails with screws

38:48 - Reedwork carried out on the pre-wars

39:42 - Very selective on which pre-wars he buys now, to ensure he gets the quality ones

40:25 - How Tom came to hold the Sonny Terry estate to sell harmonicas from Sonny’s personal collection of harmonicas

42:22 - It was thought Tom could fix-up the Sonny Terry harmonicas a little before making them available for sale, but Tom didn’t want to amend them at all

42:48 - Also didn’t want to buy the estate, but just sell on behalf of the estate

43:43 - Arranged for a number of the harmonicas to be gifted to people who have supported Sonny’s music

44:00 - There’s an exhibit on Sonny Terry at the museum in Trossingen

44:16 - The Sonny Terry harmonicas are available to buy via the Blue Moon website

44:37 - People who buy them often share their stories of how they met or knew Sonny

45:01 - Sold in a presentation case, but you can access them to hold and play

46:02 - Provided with a certificate of authenticity

46:18 - The harps come with Sonny’s DNA!

46:28 - There was a Sonny Terry tribute concert at SPAH 2016, where some of the harmonicas from the estate were played

46:38 - Some of the estate harmonicas have been used extensively, some hardly played at all

47:54 - How many harmonicas were in the estate, how many sold and how many remain

48:20 - What kind of condition are the harmonicas in, especially the ones Sonny used a lot

50:29 - One person asked Tom to customise some of Sonny’s harps before purchasing

50:50 - Doesn’t know what songs or concerts Sonny used any of the harps on

51:45 - Also sells other memorabilia from the Sonny Terry estate, as Sonny’s wife collected lots of material from all the concerts, including contracts, clothing, cases, etc.

53:29 - Sonny toured extensively

54:05 - Tom’s own harmonica of choice: likes to try a range to check out his own wares, but Marine Band is probably the favourite

54:53 - Offers Blue Moon harmonics in different tunings, and the ones Tom uses

55:21 - Only sells 10 hole diatonics, not chromatics

55:39 - The different tunings available via Blue Moon website

56:02 - Tom offers great customer service

57:14 - The online harmonica community is very supportive

57:26 - Tom can help people with their GAS