CVS | LsL Instruments

When our first Saticoy prototype was made I thought that if I could get Carl's attention that THEN we would know that we were making a great guitar. You see Carl Verheyen is a recognized Strat® guru and tone wizard. Carl has done and continues to be one of the most sought after guitarists in L.A. He can do it all and does some of it every day. He does movies, TV, giant arena rock tours with Supertramp, tours worldwide with his own band and is a very busy session guitarist. And, Carl knows his guitars. He also has bat hearing.

About one year after we introduced our Saticoy model, the phone rang. It was Carl. He asked if we were interested in making his signature guitar. Carl could have gone to ANY guitar company and they would have been just as giggly and falling-over elated as I was. The answer was obvious.

As you might imagine, Carl has quite a collection of great guitars - no, really great guitars. The bar was set about as high as it could go. When we set out on this endeavor, the minimum requirement was to make the guitar that Carl would reach for. There was no way we would be satisfied with just another SINO (signature in name only.) This guitar had to be his number one and number one because it earned that position by being the best of the bunch.

Quite a tall order. Carl is a tough cookie.

So we started working with Carl. He brought in his favorites and we all set out to make it right. And after countless sessions, adjustments, reworks and re-do's, we came up with the Carl Verheyen Special. And yes, it continues to be Carl's favorite guitar. We started with our Saticoy model (which is what attracted Carl in the first place) and made it his own.

Now you can have and play the same great guitar that Carl does. Carl often drops by the shop and when he's here he checks out all the CV Specials we have. He's yet to find one we wouldn't be very proud of.

Select a feature on the guitar...

Finish

This guitar comes standard in 3 colors: CV Blue, Vintage White, and 3-Tone Sunburst.

All LsL guitars are finished with Nitrocellulose lacquer. We mix our own colors and apply as thin a finish as possible and then hand-sand and buff. We then crack the finish to allow the guitar to sing and since the finish is so thin already we apply a little creative beating so it has that played hard, brought home sweaty (for many years), kind of feel to it. Each one is unique and has her own personality.

Body

CV Specials are made with Alder bodies only.

We select the best we have for the CV's with a strict weight limit.

Alder is smooth and round with a darker tone.

Neck

Necks on CV Specials are patterned after Carl's '61 blue (but looks green now), Strat.

They come with a maple neck and a rosewood fingerboard.

Finish

CV Specials come in CV Blue, Vintage White, and our 3-tone sunburst.

All LsL guitars are finished with Nitrocellulose lacquer.

We mix our own colors and apply as thin a finish as possible and then hand-sand and buff. We then crack the finish to allow the guitar to sing.

CV Specials have no further aging.

Fingerboard Radius

Fingerboards on CV Specials are made with a 9.5" radius.

. We set all our guitar's action to .060" from the high E string to the top of the 12th fret and that suits most folks. Just right.

A 9.5 radius is a bit flatter than a 7.25. It can accommodate a lower action. So it can feel faster.

Frets

Our instruments all come with 6105 size frets. That is they are .090" wide and .055" tall. They are the perfect combination of width and height.

Stainless frets are available for an extra charge - they kill our tools and are difficult to make but they last almost forever and are a joy to bend on

Strings

CV Specials are shipped with the Dean Markley, Carl Verheyen, Balanced Bridge, Helix Electric string set.

They are:

.009, .012, .016, .026, .037, .046

We also set the guitar up with Carl's famous "Floating Bridge" setup. That allows the player to pull up on the trem bar and get a perfect minor 3rd rise in the "G" string.

Pickups

Carl Verheyen Specials come with LsL 50's Saticoy pickups. They are low-output, hand-wound and sweet as can be.

Pickguards

All LsL pickguards are made in-house and hand-fit, aged and finished.

CV Specials come standard in three colors and pickguard combinations:

CV Blue comes with a 3-ply, mint/black/mint pickguard.
Three-tone Sunburst also comes with a 3-ply, mint/black/mint pickguard.
Vintage White comes with white/black/white pickguards.

All backplates on CV Specials are the Carl Verheyen signature engraved, single ply white.

We use our own, philips-head, nickel-plated, aged, screws to attach our pickguards onto CV Specials.

Electronics

Mojo Vitamin-T, oil-filled capacitors, Bournes, low-torque pots that are very fast.

Like our Saticoys, the lower tone knob controls the bridge pickup and the middle tone knob controls the middle and neck.

Bridge

We use a 2 3/16" string spacing, Gotoh, steel-block , vintage style bridge. Our Standard Saticoys has a 2 1/8" spacing Wilkinson bridge.

This bridge is set up with Carl's floating bridge setup. This setup allows for a perfect minor 3rd rise in the G string by pulling up on the trem bar. We also set the spring claw at an angle as part of Carl's bridge setup.