Lawson Custom Electric Guitars
High quality one of a kind handbuilt guitars
about us
From there it was a small step to go from copying famous axes to making my totally unique models. Each guitar is handbuilt and by the very nature of making and ageing by hand means that you will never find 2 identical guitars.
I finish all my guitars with Nitrocellulose Lacquer as was used by Fender up until 1968. Personally I find the acoustic properties of the guitar are much better when Nitrocellulose Lacquer is used and it will continue to age naturally in time.
You will notice that most of the guitars pictured are Fender models and that is simply because that is by far the most popular of all the relics that I produce although I have relic'd Gibsons, Rickenbackers, and others. I don't only work on guitars - Precision and Jazz Basses galore have been through my hands.
My ethos is simple - to build guitars that look and play great.
If you have an enquiry please contact us
I have been building and repairing guitars for years but when I saw the low quality of some of the so-called relic guitars being offered by some manufacturers I decided it was time to do something about it
WANT A UNIQUE GUITAR HANDBUILT TO THE HIGHEST QUALITY
Services
Pro Series
We use only top quality USA made bodies & necks together with branded hardware. The bodies & necks are prepared and sealed by hand then finished with Nitrocellulose lacquer. Once the lacquer has cured the ageing process is next - neck & body are aged to a level somewhere between light & very heavy relic and the metal hardware is also aged to match so that when assembled, the whole guitar looks just right. We use boutique handmade pickups made by local builder Alan Dingwall, who has managed to produce accurate recreations of the pickups produced by the leading manufacturers from the 1950s - 1970s so if you want to reproduce the sound of, say, a 1965 Strat we can give you that sound. If you prefer we can supply any pickup of your choice but we highly recommend that you give ours a go first - we believe you'll be impressed. All the wiring components are USA specification - CTS pots, Branded switches and Orange Drop Capacitors. We also offer wiring upgrades such as Push/Push pots for extra switching options or the Fender TBX Tone pot for extra tonal options. Finally the guitar is assembled and after fitting the Ernie Ball strings (gauge of your choice) is given a full set-up.
Standard Series
We found that some people want that prestige 1960s guitar look but don't have the budget to go for the Pro Series so like most of the guitar companies out there, we decided we should offer a range of great looking, great playing guitars at a price that is within the reach of everyone. We still use great bodies and necks that are hand prepared and finished with Nitrocellulose Lacquer. The hardware is still of good quality and goes through exactly the same ageing process as the Pro Series. We use amazing handmade boutique pickups (made by local pickup builder Alan Dingwall) in our guitars but will happily fit any pickup that you want. We use only top quality USA components in the wiring - CTS pots, branded switches, Orange Drop Capacitors with optional upgrades such as the Fender TBX Tonepot or Push/push pots to give additional wiring options. Finally the guitar is assembled fitted with a set of Ernie Ball strings (gauge of your choice) and is given a full set-up.
Relic Your Guitar
One service that we thought would be of interest to those of you who have a guitar that you either love playing but fancy a change or you would like a relic but your other half doesn't understand that it is normal to just need "One More Guitar" then why not send us your guitar and let us turn into a well worn relic that looks like it's seen and done it all? We always refinish the guitars with Nitrocellulose - so that means all that old Fender Poly finish has to come off. We are perfectly happy to do that stripping for you but it does take FOREVER!! Sadly we will have to charge £50 to remove that paint So if you want to remove it yourself - please do so. Let us know what you are looking for - the more detail the better. We will then turn your guitar into a thing of beauty from yesteryear. Priced on individual basis - please contact us with your enquiry
