Boutique VS Custom Shop. LSL Instruments VS Fender

You're ready to buy a serious Stratocaster. But nowadays with all these companies making their own version of my beloved Fender Stratocaster, should you spend your hard earned money on a Custom Shop Fender? Or should you go the "Boutique" route?

Here is my PERSONAL experience and opinion.

Right off the bat, I am an LSL Instruments Artist, I however make absolutely no money, commission, or anything for steering you towards LsL or not. With that out of the way I'd like to share with you my experience and thought process with this subject.

Your budget to buy a new Strat is in the 3 to $4,000 range. You could go and get yourself a brand new Fender Custom Shop Stratocaster, TODAY. But was that guitar made for you? I guarantee you it wasn't. And that in no way is bad. My god don't get me wrong, some of these guitars are exact replicas of guitars that are well over $40,000 and they do a damn good job replicating the sound look and feel of 'em! But my question is, was this guitar made for you? It was not. So, fine, let's go the Master Built route like the strat in this video. Well... that one still wasn't made FOR you. So you want a fender custom shop, that is master built, by a master builder, FOR YOU, with your specifications! YES!!! How long? 2 years minimum depending on how popular the builder is, and oh also your $4,000 budget is now a measly 25% deposit.

This is where a company like LsL Instruments comes in. They offer (and again this is MY opinion) better quality than the fender customer shop does, and guess what? They're building YOUR guitar the exact same way you ask them to do it. LSL is not as big as Fender, and has much less luthiers and guitar techs, so their attention to detail is that much greater, and things don't just "pass QC", they must be perfect.

I was fortunate enough to be contacted by LsL instruments and we discussed the exact guitar I've always wanted but never wanted to wait 2 years for and pay 3 seperate house mortgages to get it.

And there it is! Built to my exact specifications, a 1960s style Saticoy Custom in Vintage White. I hope you enjoy this video, and if you read this, thank you so much!

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@buddyblues
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[BuddyBlues]

Please read the description!! My vote is LSL. All day.

[vladrapchan]

I think that's probably the most tasteful and coherent "non-fender" strat headstock design I've ever seen. Beautiful guitar!

[unleavenedshred]

LSL all day!!! So what if I’m biased because I work there!🤘😃🔥

[Nologonz]

LSL al the way. Nothing against Fender I have a few. The sound of the LSL is amazing.

[portobear]

LSL for me, the tone when the TS kicks in is jaw dropping! Absolutely stunning looking guitar.

[MrBostechman]

Great playing and you did a great job of demonstrating each guitars strengths. But the LSL has a very clear tone all the way through each string - incredible balance and clarity. That alone is worth the price for this holy grail of guitars.

[juliangonzalez]

Lsl ftw! I have a T-bone, and by far the best neck I’ve played on any guitar !

[GlaucoAlves]

Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton used to use the middle pickup quite a lot. Great playing!

[sthengr]

Bought my first LSL Tele 2 years ago, loved it so much bought 2 more, then bought a Saticoy. I've had at least a dozen Fender Strats in my life time, 69 years old, I only have one now, it's a CS Masterbuild, sounds great, plays great. But my favorite Strat of all time is the Saticoy. I've had a Kelton Swade tele, very nice, sounded awesome but didn't like the vintage radius, traded it off. The 3 LSL Teles are just fabulous, I'd buy more but they are hard to find and I'm not ordering one because I might die of a stroke any day. :-)

[gazwilliams]

You’re playing is just 😮. That pick’n’flick style, man!

[hpstr]

Awesome review... but, dude, that playing! Starting at 8-min mark, I graciously thank you for the lesson! Quick question -- are those the 60's pups wound in-house by Lance and team? The LSL sounded fantastic!

[gelatosamurai]

Your pickup heights are sooo high. I have a set of LsL 50's in my ash strat and run them very low to get the sound as open as possible. Yet yours sounds wonderful! X

[splittswood]

Hmmm...Fender is way less harsh and has a ton of space in the tone. Butter.

[johnhardage]

The head drop at 4:38 🤣🤣🤣. I did the same thing when I played an LSL for the first time. Pickups are so balanced and the necks are the best by far.

[JakeBisognin]

Great playing man 🕺🏼 new subscriber after hearing you play 👌🏽

[ryanoshredmaster]

Or you can go the parts caster route! Warmoth makes fantastic necks to your specifications and I’ve built a couple using genuine fender bodies bought off reverb or stratosphere. My latest project is with MJT building a custom body. Oh and any combination of hardware and electronics your heart desires 😀

[adam-ykyd]

Love the sound of that LSL. Are the pickups the same ones that go in all the saticoy models?

[johnvcougar]

Love my LSL Tele (or T-Bone, or whatever they call it). Great choice.

[sashaliss]

Went to a boutique stores a few years ago looking for a vintage sounding S-style guitar. End up getting LSL.

[LelandIsley]

Just discovered your channel. Both of those strats sound marvelous thanks in no small part to your playing. If I had to choose it would be the LSL. It’s a little more throaty with a slightly softer attack to ear. However as you know what a player hears is different than what the audience hears. How do you define the difference?