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Holy moly… 🤯 We just got some unreal news: Enda Scahill and I just received word that our album The Dark Well has been picked as The Irish Times NO#1 Trad Album of the Year! 🏆

Yesterday

I’m honestly still processing it. We poured a huge amount of time into this record — chasing the right feel, the right grooves, and that something you can’t quite explain until it clicks. To have it recognised like this by a publication like The Irish Times is genuinely mind-blowing.

Most of all, I want to say a massive thank you to you here on Patreon. Your support makes it possible for me to keep creating, recording, and pushing things forward. If you’ve listened, shared the album, told a friend, or sent a message — it all adds up more than you know.

More soon… but for now I’m just sitting here going: pinch me!

Link to album

Well done that man! That’s a hell of an accolade!

13h

Outstanding achievement, you deserve the recognition for all your years of hard work.

Christmas Present (50% off) 🎄

December 21

Did you forget to buy yourself a Christmas present?
Treat yourself: 50% off your first month of membership on Patreon.

Use Code: DD637
https://www.patreon.com/cw/jaharmonicas/membership

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How to Solder Stainless Steel Reeds

December 12

Here’s a video that a lot of you have been asking for: how to solder stainless steel reeds.

Soldering brass or phosphor bronze reeds is usually pretty straightforward – most soldering irons and regular solder will do the job. Stainless steel is a lot more stubborn...

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Upcoming gigs in the north of Sweden 🇸🇪

December 10

I’m up in the north of Sweden for a few days, playing some gigs and doing a workshop together with the brilliant Jon Sousa – a fantastic guitar player and a real joy to play with.

If you’re anywhere near Umeå or Västra Örträsk, it would be lovely to see you there.

Gigs & workshop:

Thursday 11/12 – Taps & Tacos, Umeå – 19:00
Concert followed by an Irish session – bring your instrument if you’d like to join in.
https://allevents.in/umea/irländsk-musikkonsert-med-joel-andersson-och-jon-sousa/200029249699831
Friday 12/12 – Västra Örträsk – 19:00
A cosy evening of Irish music in the countryside at Atelje A-M
https://usercontent.one/wp/ortrask.se/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/251126-Jon-Sousa-och-Joel-Andersson.pdf?media=1707667441
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=24947237061645129&set=gm.4323882874561862&idorvanity=1416479638635548
Saturday 13/12 – Folkuniversitetet, Umeå – 12:00–14:00
Workshop: Step into the world of Irish music ☘️
Bring your instrument – we’ll dive into tunes, groove and feel.
https://www.folkuniversitetet.se/kurser-utbildningar/dans-musik-teater/musik/specialkurser-i-musik/umea/81477/

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Café Hang With Filip Jers — Testing J.A. Custom Harmonicas

November 30

I met up with my good friend and world-class harmonica player Filip Jers, and we had just a few minutes to spare before he needed to head back home. So we did what any harmonica nerds would do — we grabbed a table at a café, asked politely if we were allowed to play a bit (they said yes!), and hit record...

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Locked

Suzuki has done it again...

November 23

I’m honestly getting tired of using that phrase, but credit where it’s due: they’ve updated their straight sliders, and the improvements are real...

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75% Off Your First Month at J.A. Harmonicas

November 23

I’m offering a 75% discount on your first month here on the J.A. Harmonicas service & customizing Patreon — available until Sunday, November 29th.

If you’ve been wanting to level up your skills in harmonica servicing, tuning, setup, customization, and troubleshooting, this is a perfect time to jump in. This discount is my way of saying thank you for the support and of welcoming new tech-focused members into our little workshop community.

With your first 30 days, you’ll unlock full access to everything I’ve published so far: step-by-step repair videos, tuning demonstrations, reed work, comb adjustments, tool guides, deep-dive walkthroughs, behind-the-bench sessions, and plenty of new material coming up.

To claim the offer, use the code 6A71D at checkout:
https://www.patreon.com/jaharmonicas

This discount is only available to Free Members and can be used once.

See you inside the workshop!
Joel 🎵

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Complete service of a 16-hole Suzuki Sirius chromatic harmonica

November 21

This harmonica came in from a customer in New York who had already sent it to a couple of different technicians in the US… and somehow it just kept getting worse each time. I have no idea who worked on it, but let’s just say I wasn’t exactly impressed — except for one thing: ...

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Patreon Exclusive – World Harmonica Festival Vlog

November 19

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New Camera + Hands-On Tuning of a Seydel 1847 Easy Third

November 16

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Quick Trossingen Update for My Patrons

November 6

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Suzuki Fabulous Chromatic Review — The Most Luxurious Out of the Box Chromatic Harmonica Money Can Buy

October 20

If you’re serious about chromatic harmonicas, the Suzuki Fabulous lives up to its name — it’s truly fabulous. From the moment you hold it, the craftsmanship, materials, and attention to detail scream quality. Everything about it — from the whisper-quiet slide to the perfectly balanced tone — feels like a masterclass in precision Japanese engineering...

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Upcoming Travel & Events

October 16

Over the next few months, I’ll be on the road a bit more than usual — teaching, performing, and meeting harmonica friends along the way.
If you’re nearby, I’d love to see you at one of these stops! 💚

Birmingham, UK — 16–19 October
I’ll be at Harmonica UK, giving two workshops and spending some time at the Seydel booth together with Lars Seifert. Come say hi if you’re attending!

Oslo, Norway — 23 October
A guest performance with Enda Scahill at Riksscenen — really looking forward to making some music together again!

Trossingen, Germany — 28 October–2 November
Heading to the World Harmonica Festival, one of the biggest gatherings of harmonica players from around the world.

Umeå, Sweden — 11 December
A gig together with Jon Sousa at Taps & Tacos, and hopefully a few more shows in northern Sweden around that time.

Belfast, Northern Ireland — 14–18 January
Back in Belfast for Roots Are Showing, diving into some great music and reconnecting with friends in the scene.

Photo by Jörgen Sälde

2mo

I hope to make it to Trossingen next year. Umeå is doable for me but if there are any more northern Sweden dates, please update here :)

AUTHOR

2mo

There will be more updates coming along the way for sure 🤗

3mo

Looking forward to seeing you in Birmingham and Trossingen Joel!

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Hohner Xpression vs Suzuki SCX & Sirius

October 8

So after spending a lot of time recently building Suzuki chromatics, I finally got back to working on a Hohner chromatic, and to my surprise… it was so rough straight out of the box!😅...

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We’ve been submitted for a GRAMMY! 🤯💚

October 5

I can hardly believe I’m typing this — Enda Scahill and I have officially been submitted for a GRAMMY in the Best Global Album category for our new record, The Dark Well!

This album has already taken us on such an unexpected journey, and to see it recognized at this level feels surreal.

We’re so deeply grateful for all of you here on Patreon — your steady support and encouragement have carried this project from its very first ideas to this milestone. Thank you for being such an important part of the journey. 💚

If you happen to know anyone in the GRAMMY voting community, please feel free to share the link and help spread the word — who knows, maybe we could even bring one home!

Link to FYC: https://darkwellproject.com/for-your-grammy-consideration

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your continued support here on Patreon ☘️🎶

3mo

After all your years of hard work you deserve the recognition.

3mo

Go fellas - good luck! 🙂

AUTHOR

3mo

Thank you!!!

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Seydel 1847 Review – From the World’s Oldest Harmonica Factory

September 19

Did you know Seydel is the oldest harmonica factory in the world? Based in Klingenthal, Germany near the Czech border, they’re also the only company making reeds out of stainless steel. That alone makes them stand out, but what I really love is their player-friendly approach...

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🎉 Big news, friends! 🎉

September 14

I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve teamed up with Seydel to launch our very first harmonica together — and it’s a first in history: harmonicas tuned to Easy Third, available off the shelf!

For those of you who follow my lessons, you know that Easy Third is my go-to tuning — I use it in 90% of my playing, and many of the lessons I create are based on it.

Now, you don’t have to modify or custom-order a harmonica to play in this tuning — it’s ready to go!

This is something I’ve wanted to make accessible to players everywhere, and I can’t wait for you to try it.

Available here: https://www.seydel1847.de/j-a-tunings

New

Seydel

diatonic

1mo

Would there be one or two Easy Third tunings for the most common Celtic tunings? I was thinking G and C would be good for starters.

AUTHOR

1mo

G & Low-D would be the most common, followed by A & C and Low-F

3mo

The Seydel website is fantastic... until now, you could only get an Easy Third tuning from the "custom section"... in fact, my first harmonica tuned to Easy Third was a Seydel Session Steel... then I bought other models also tuned to Easy Third (Noble for example, even a Sailor Tremolo!) It's a pleasure to know that Seydel now offers a great model like the Classic 1847 tuned to Easy Third as a standard option... and that thanks to you!🤩

AUTHOR

3mo

It’s a fantastic resource for the harmonica world!! Happy to hear that you’ve been playing the Easy Third for quite some time 🤗 The new model with the walnut comb is just fab! 🤩

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How to Clean the Mouthpiece Assembly on a Chromatic Harmonica

September 12

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Simple Modification to Improve Chromatic Harmonica Response

August 26

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jaharmonicas.com

High quality custom harmonicas, repairs, lessons and much more.

http://www.jaharmonicas.com

Updated website

August 20

Hey everyone ☺️

I’ve been a little quiet on here lately, mostly because I’ve been putting a lot of time into getting the new website up and running. It’s finally live! 🎉

It still has a similar look to the old one, but there’s much more information available, plus new brands and models to check out. There’s still some work to do, but the main parts are up and ready.

Take a look when you get a chance—I’d love to hear what you think!