Commas and quotations around letters of the alphabet

I have a sentence like this:

Be sure to say, “el,” for the letter “L.” The same goes for letters “V” and “X” below (i.e. say, “vee,” and, “ecks.”)

Is this correct? Seems like a lot of commas. Or is it like this:

Be sure to say "el" for the letter "L." The same goes for letters "V" and "X" below (i.e. say "vee" and "ecks.")

Also a quesiton about this:

Say, “L,” and make the proper sign.

Is that right? Or should it be:

Say "L" and make the proper sign.

Thanks for any help!

xoxo
Iza