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~ LSL
Instruments ~
Lance Lerman started
this journey as the
first, and at the
time only, employee
of the now large and
respected musical
instrument developer
and distributor,
Saga Musical
Instruments. The job
there was simple,
fill orders for
instruments by
unpacking them,
setting them up and,
when necessary, make
minor repairs to
those instruments.
Then pack and ship
them. That
eventually led to an
apprenticeship
instrument repair
position at the 5th
String music store
in Berkeley, CA
where he learned the
craft. Being an
entrepreneur at
heart it was
inevetable that he
branch out and start
his own instrument
company. That was a
partnership between
Lance and a fellow
5th String
repairman, Joe Deetz
called D&L
Instruments. Lance
specialized in the
electric instrument
building and Joe was
the banjo and
acoustic instrument
specialist. After a
few years Joe left
and Lance continued
on until one morning
arriving at the shop
on Broadway in
Oakland, CA he
noticed a guitar
cord coming out from
under the front
door. Entering the
shop he found --
nothing
.....everything was
gone. The shop was
burglarized and
everything was lost;
customer's guitars,
machinery, tools,
everything, gone.
End of first guitar
building career.
After this Lance
moved into the
woodworking
industry, first
building a
200-employee company
in Los Angeles from
scratch, then
running multiple
500-employee
woodworking
factories in China.
Fast forward to
2007, when Lance
returned to the US
and was in his
favorite LA music
store, California
Vintage Guitar and
Amp, telling some
friends about an
Ebay scam where he
paid for a '73 Tele
that never arrived.
He was saying he'd
just have to build
his own guitar now.
They'd heard this
before and they very
graciously told him
that they'd like to
see it when it was
done. (They were
secretly rolling
their eyes thinking
"Here comes another
partscaster junker")
They didn't know
that Lance had been
a Tele junkie for
quite some time and
he had a clear
vision of what he
thought a great Tele
type guitar ought to
be - how it should
look, feel and
sound. They also
didn't know that by
that time he'd
acquired over 25
years of
professional
woodworking
experience.
He went ahead and
built that guitar.
At the first chord
strummed he thought
he'd done it - made
the guitar he really
wanted. He thought
it was good - really
good. It sure
sounded much better
than the Tele's he
already owned and
played for years.
But knowing that you
can't really judge
your own work, he
brought the guitar
down to Cal Vintage.
Those guys down
there really know
their guitars and
they don't pull
their punches. If
the guitar could
pass that test then
he'd know he wasn't
just a victim of
wishful thinking and
self-denial.
With some dread he
handed it over and
let the amazing
guitar guru, Tommy
Kay, play it. Tommy
said "YOU made
this?" "Yeah, I made
it" was the reply.
Tommy: "You made the
body?". And again
the answer was
"Yes". "You made the
neck?". "Yes, I made
the whole thing. All
of it, except the
metal parts. From
lumber - planks of
wood" Tommy's
answer: "I'm blown
away!, I'm totally
blown away!"
Then the question
that started a
guitar company: "Can
you make more of
these?"
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Since Lance
had nothing
better than
to look for
a new job at
the time he
said "Sure,
why not?".
More guitars
soon
followed and
they sold
immediately
- sometimes
within
hours. This
continued
until it
became
apparent
that this
was the job
Lance was
really
looking for.
A job he
felt
passionate
about, loved
doing and
quite
possibly was
one of the
few things
one could
still make
in the US
successfully.
So LSL
Instruments
was born.
They are
finding
success with
the delivery
of every
instrument.
Lance kept
making
guitars that
were scooped
up as soon
as they
appeared for
sale. Every
time a new
instrument
was strung
up and
played it
was love all
over again.
Each one he
hated saying
goodbye to
and it
wasn't long
before their
motto was
born:
"Never sell
a guitar you
don't want
to keep." |
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