Santa Clarita-based LsL Instruments will be displaying some of its guitars at this week’s NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) trade show in Anaheim.
Lance Lerman never set out to launch a guitar company.
But LsL Instruments, his Santa Clarita-based business that’s housed in a 5,000-square-foot space on Ruether Avenue, has emerged as a successful maker of custom electric guitars that are sold throughout the world and touted by some of the industry’s top players.
The company’s products are being showcased at this week’s NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) trade show at Anaheim Convention Center.
It didn’t start out that way.
Lerman, who had a background in woodworking, was employed as a banjo teacher at a Berkeley music store when he was offered a position as an instrument repairman. That gave him a chance to flex his woodworking skills along with his interest in electronics.
He later started another music company called D&L Instruments with a partner, but that business went under when the operation was burglarized.
Lerman moved his family to the San Fernando Valley in 1983 and established a woodworking factory that eventually employed 200 workers, although the company eventually folded in the face of increased competition from China and Mexico.
Still, Lerman wasn’t one to give up. He figured if he couldn’t beat them, he’d join them, so he moved to China and ran a woodworking and furniture factory there while also playing guitar in local bars at night. But that hectic schedule eventually caught up with him.
“Burning the candle at both ends wasn’t working out so well,” the 62-year-old Acton resident said. “It was time to come home to the U. S.”
Lerman returned, and that’s when his pursuit for a high-end instrument began.
“I just wanted to make a good guitar,” he said. “My wife Lisa and I are both lifelong woodworkers, so we had a fairly nice, well equipped wood shop in the garage. And since I couldn’t purchase the vintage guitar that I wanted… I figured I could make it.”
Lerman succeeded in producing a guitar that not only met his expectations, but that of other players as well. Soon he was getting requests to build more, and that’s when NAMM came into the picture.
“An amp company from Sweden asked through a friend if I wanted to rent 5 feet of their booth space at NAMM,” he said. “It was $1,500, but I thought what the hell… it could be fun. I had no expectations, but I ended up with distribution deals in Japan and Europe with about 30 dealers.”
That was back in 2008; LsL is still going strong. The company specializes in producing high-end guitars that are based on the designs of classic Fender and Gibson instruments.
The CVS Studio guitar is a prime example. Modeled after a Fender Stratocaster, the guitar features Seymore Duncan hum-cancelling pickups, a lightweight alder body and a Gotoh vintage-style bridge.
“I’ve used LsL guitars since they started,” said Carl Verheyen, who plays with Supertramp and also fronts his own band in addition to working as a session player in the Los Angeles area. “A friend told me to check out their Telecaster-style guitar. I already had a 1960 Fender Tele that’s worth about $45,000, but I went over to check it out anyway — and it blew me away.”
Verheyen said LsL is making a serious dent in the boutique guitar-building industry.
“I really endorse LsL,” he said. “They’re going about it in the right way. They are carrying Leo Fender’s vision into the future.”
Other players with LsL guitars include Keith Urban, Steve Travato, Ray Parker Jr. and Tim McGraw.
Lerman’s Santa Clarita shop was buzzing Wednesday as employees readied some of the gear and product displays for this week’s NAMM show, which runs Thursday through Sunday. But the work of building guitars goes on.
Diego Casillas, a finish assembly technician, explained some of the features that set one of the company’s Stratocaster-like guitars apart from similar instruments on the market as he strung the instrument up with new strings.
“This is one of our XT4 models,” he said. “It’s got a deeper double cutaway for higher access on the frets. It has 24 frets instead of the normal 21, so you have a full two-octave range of playing which is great for shredders.”
Lerman attributes the company’s success to one primary factor — attention to detail.
“The only way to set yourself apart from the others is to be better,” he said. “We had to make guitars that were so much better that they could overcome brand loyalty. It’s really difficult to do. It involves a lot of trial and error … and I guess a decent ear.”
This week’s NAMM show runs Thursday through Sunday. The hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. except Sunday, which runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit www.namm.org or call 760-438-8001.
