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created by, and for, the working guitarist

the handmade mike lawson signature line guitars

With decades of experience recording and performing with countless legends like Merl Saunders, Bob Welch, and Jorma Kaukonen, Mike Lawson knows guitars.

So, when Pearl River approached him to develop a series of top-of-the-line guitars affordable for the working guitarist, Mike said, “Only if they’re ready to play flawlessly right out of the case.”

We built these guitars to Mike’s demanding specifications, combining his deep appreciation for craftsmanship and firsthand knowledge of what it takes to make an instrument that sounds and plays great without breaking the bank.

Now, the demanding specifications of this guitarist extraordinaire have resulted in the Mike Lawson Signature Line of handmade guitars.

The new ML8000-GCB and ML800-D guitars feature Fishman Sonitone pickups, Grover locking tuners, select solid spruce tops, solid rosewood backs and sides, and a nitrocellulose lacquer finish. And that’s just the beginning.

As Mike puts it, “It means a lot to me that working musicians can now play an amazing professional-level instrument at an awesome price that sounds equal if not better than the world’s best guitars.”

if you say ‘guitar virtuoso’ to any knowledgeable musician, you’ll
hear the name mike lawson.

“Starting out, I used a variety of guitars over the earliest years—many of them mid-level instruments that faced challenges with intonation, action, and overall sound. Those experiences taught me what a musician really needs from their guitar: it has to sound great, play smoothly, and hold up under the demands of live performance—all without breaking the bank. I want a guitar to sound like a $4,000 instrument, play and feel like one, but I don’t want to take a $4,000 guitar to a frat house or a corner pub. Especially not where the tipsy lady requesting a song “right now,” mid-performance, knocks the mic into your mouth.”

~ Mike Lawson

who is mike lawson?

He’s a guy with some amazing friends. He’s recorded and performed with Merl Saunders, Vince Welnick, Vassar Clements, Pete Sears, Gary Talley, John McEuen, Bob Welch, Dennis Robbins, Joe Louis Walker, Jorma Kaukonen, Phil Keaggy, Jack Casady, Scott Guberman, Dianne Davidson, Noah Wall, Tyra Juliette, Bill Vitt, Rob Wasserman, Michael Cleveland, Phil Madeira, among many more.
In addition to performing, Mike is a respected journalist, editor, author, and publisher. He owns artistpro, LLC, which publishes Musical Merchandise Review (MMR), Modern Band Journal, JAZZed, School Band and Orchestra (SBO), and Choral Director. He has published over 200 titles for leading music publishers and acquired best-selling works by Quincy Jones, Ken Scott, Bobby Owsinski, and Steely Dan’s Roger Nichols.

Mike co-authored Teach Yourself GarageBand and later acquired Mix Books and In Print to expand his catalog of instructional books for musicians. Passionate about music education, he joined the TI:ME team and, in 2021, acquired SBO and JazzEd to support educators.

He’s also a longtime voting member of The Recording Academy and a Grammy Trustee.

Now based near Nashville, TN, Mike has three adult children and—by some accounts—an excessive number of guitars. He continues to perform over 30 shows a year, paying tribute to old buddies Merl Saunders and Jerry Garcia.

“These guitars stand toe-to-toe with the best instruments in my
collection.” ~ mike lawson

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Mike Lawson photos courtesy of Michael Weintrob