Hello! I’m Mike Lawrence. While the name of this site and branding is “Rock Cliff Guitars”, I also use two other brands that are registered to me. You may see some of the guitars displayed here with this branding on their headstocks. Those are Appalachian Heritage Guitars and Lawrence Guitars! I started building guitars in 2005 in my basement studio in Kansas City, Missouri after retiring from 34 years of railroading. Later I moved back to where my roots are, Wild, Wonderful, West Virginia. I have been learning, improving and innovating ever since.
Rock Cliff Guitars is a one man operation and I am the owner, operator, builder, luthier, researcher, inventory man, janitor, web master, electrician as well as shipping and receiving clerk. Thank you very much for checking out my site and I hope you have enjoyed your visit!
I build one guitar at a time so each and every guitar will be different from the last. I start building each guitar with a style in mind and work on that one until completion. Depending upon the style I can usually build one or two guitars per month.
My mission at Rock Cliff Guitars is to build quality, sturdily built guitars that will last any player a lifetime and with normal use and care could be passed on as a family heirloom. I focus on quality of the build, not quantity or speed. I use mostly hardwoods from the Appalachian Region of the Eastern United States as well imported exotic woods as needed or when called for. High quality hardware and electrical components is all that I will install in my instruments. Building quality guitars is my passion. My love of wood and woodworking evolved into building guitars. There is nothing that I would rather be doing!
In addition to finding my instruments online and at select shops, you may run into me and my wife Janie displaying samples of our available inventory at fairs and festivals around North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. Check out my inventory on this website to find what is currently available.
Rock Cliff Guitars, Rock, West Virginia