





After we wrapped up the tour, Joe began working on a 250 year old upright bass that belongs to Victor Wooten. While he was working, I asked him a few questions:

Joe: Actually, I am a former steel guitar player so my guitar preferences aren't very much aligned to the norm, so to speak. I collect, and am most interested in, the '30s and '40s high-end Gibson archtops such as the L5 and Super 400. Not so much anymore because you just don't see these now, but about 10 or 15 years ago when they were just around I collected as many as I could find.
But I have to say that I am a giant Fender fan and have been from the very beginning. Not only of the simplicity of the Tele and the Strat but also the way Leo Fender thought and designed. The correlation between his design mind, the product and its usability just knocked me out and was a big influence on me in the early '70s when I first started doing this.
Ryan's Guitars: Why repair and what do you love the most about it?
Joe: One reason I like doing repair is because a lot of the people we deal with are in the studio all day long, world class players, and they know really quickly what's in tune and what isn't in tune with their needs... what plays well, what the difference is between this pickup and that, wiring styles, and so forth. So to me one of the great privileges of this business is the expert feedback we get on all the things we do. You learn a heck of a lot from that.
Ryan's Guitars: You are primarily a local shop, but you also receive a fair amount of work from out of town.
Joe: Yeah, we stay busy enough locally that I don't normally try to cater to out-of-town jobs. One reason is because I like having a personal relationship with my customers so I can better learn what they like. That's easier to do when someone sits down and plays in front of you. Even so, we do get a lot of guitars sent in from out of town and we treat each job we are working on as the most important one in the shop, no matter who the instrument belongs to or where it came to us from.
Ryan's Guitars: One thing I've always found annoying is going to a guitar tech and requesting certain setup specs only to get the guitar back set up to the tech's preferences.
Joe: (laughs) I often go around the country to do Plek training, or help set up the machines and while in some of these shops you find that the setups are done to the shop owner's specs only. This is very common. Here we set every guitar up differently. We ask people what their setup preferences are and that determines everything about the job we do on that instrument.
Ryan's Guitars: You certainly rub shoulders with a lot of top-notch musicians... many of whom were not top-notch when they first started coming to you for repair work. Any parting words of wisdom for the undiscovered players out there?
Joe: Everybody I deal with, who is not just a player but well positioned in the hierarchy of players, keeps themselves from getting too "settled" or they won't practice, they won't play, they won't have the artistic drive and they won't push the envelope. All the great players that I personally know would never tell you they think they are good... and some of these guys are truly awesome players, but they just don't see themselves that way.
Ryan's Guitars: What are your five desert island albums?
Joe: Are you serious? (laughs) Gosh, that's an interesting question... well, the first one would be Jessie Winchester's first album, the Beach Boys "Smiley Smile", anything by Chopin, Bob Dylan "The Basement Tapes" and Albert King "I'll Play the Blues for You".
Ryan's Guitars: Thank you, Joe. It's been a great experience meeting you and touring Glaser Instruments.
Joe: My pleasure. We were glad to have you!
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Glaser Instruments
434 E Iris Dr
Nashville, TN 37204-3108
(615) 298-1139
The shop closes at 5:30 CST on weekdays and is closed Sat. & Sun.