How a suburban Philly guitarist became the face of vintage gear

For more than half a century, Norman’s Rare Guitars in Los Angeles has been selling prime instruments to celebrities from all kinds of industries. And for the past several years, a Philly-area native has been the public’s introduction to their high-end selection.

Michael Lemmo is the face of the business on social media, and nearly every day he’s playing to an audience of hundreds of thousands of people. The store’s YouTube channel has 653,000 subscribers; the Instagram page 678,000 followers.

When visiting those social media accounts, the Huntingdon Valley native is prominently featured. More importantly, his guitar skills are on full display.

“I started playing at 11,” Lemmo told WXPN when he was back east recently. His first guitar was a Squier Stratocaster he got at the shuttered Franklin Mills Mall Sam Ash store. Those guitars retail at an average of about $250. Now, Lemmo regularly plays instruments that are close to 100 times that figure.

“ I play [guitars] that are worth like $300,000,” he said. He’s also been gifted guitars that the shop sells, a few in particular are a 1965 Fender Jaguar, a 1964 Fender Jazzmaster, and a limited run  Eddie Van Halen custom shop guitar that was about $25,000, a major step up from his first axe. These gifts have come from Norman’s customers, as well as fans Lemmo has picked up during his time at the store.

“It feels special on many levels,” he said. The aforementioned ’65 Jaguar was gifted by a woman named Susan, who Lemmo has never even met. Since the shop opened in 1975, owner Norm Harris had never seen one of his employees gifted a guitar by someone until Susan gifted him the instrument.

“ It’s not just ’cause I can play,” he said. “I think it’s a nod to how they feel about my personality. They feel like [my playing] is personal despite coming through a camera.”

As a young player, Lemmo started taking music lessons in church, but he was a Van Halen kid and quickly realized he wanted to lean into rock and roll guitar. He took some lessons around the area, but is largely self taught. He spent time in the School of Rock in Newtown, Bucks County and later went on to teach at the school a bit alongside German heavy metal musician Peter Baltes, of U.D.O. and Accept.

Suburban Riot was his first band at about 14 years old, playing emo punk music of the era. He took a recording class at Drexel, then earned a full ride to Berklee College of Music in Boston after auditioning.

“ I can’t even read music, and they were like, ‘read this,'” he said of the audition process. Lemmo told them he couldn’t read music, but that didn’t matter. “I performed and they loved it so much that they paid for my whole education.”

After two semesters under the tutelage of  Tomo Fujita, Lemmo found his way to the West Coast after Fujita told him simply to go out and perform.

He and his band moved to Los Angeles in 2011, but they split shortly thereafter and he formed his new eponymous band, Lemmo. As the band was gigging around, a friend suggested he visit Norman’s Rare Guitars to scope out gear and to show off his skills a bit.

That day he stopped in proved fateful, as his playing caught the ear of staffers.

“They came right up to me and  said, ‘hey, you sound amazing, can we do a video?'” He’d continue to visit the store, and staff would film and post videos.

Lemmo toyed with the idea of moving back to the Philly area, but Harris stepped in and offered Lemmo an opportunity. Lemmo replaced Mark Agnesi, who went on to work for Gibson Guitars, and became the online face of Norman’s Rare Guitars, playing guitars worth drooling over.

The store posts to social media daily for its “Guitar of the Day” feature. Lemmo’s first Guitar of the Day feature caught the eye of one of rock’s greatest living guitarists: Slash. The Guns N’ Roses lead guitar player bought a bass guitar from Norman’s after seeing Lemmo play it online.

Lemmo and hi coworkers plan out the daily features, which include Tele Tuesday for Fender Telecasters, Whacky Wednesday (sometimes it’s WednESday with Gibson ES models being featured), Thumping Thursday to show off bass guitars, Flattop Friday for acoustics, and Straturday when the iconic Stratocaster gets the spotlight.

 ”Sometimes Norm suggests guitars, but mostly it’s me,” he said of choosing a guitar of the day, often going with whatever catches his eye.

And those guitars influence what he plays for the camera.

 ”You’re not gonna play an Everly Brothers guitar without playing some Everly Brothers,  or if it’s an iconic guitar, like an Epiphone Casino, I gotta play some Beatles,” he said. “ Some of it’s on the fly, some of it’s planned.”

Norman’s hosts plenty of guests and shares their playing online, too. Recently, Philly’s SNACKTIME was featured on the store’s social media pages, playing Prince’s “Kiss,” Bobby Caldwell’s “What You Won’t Do for Love,” “Thank You” by Sly and the Family Stone, and their own 2025 single “ENOUGH.”

“They were so cool, Norm loved them,” he said. “ They were there all night after hours because Norm was so stoked.”

Others who have appeared on the page include Philly’s Nick Perri, Marcus King, Melissa Etheridge, Marc Maron, Joe Bonamassa, and another Philly-area legend, John Oates, who Lemmo has shared a stage with.

Lemmo has spent plenty of time with big Hollywood names who have come through the store, as well. Jack Black,  Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin (he eventually gave lessons to their son Moses), and Post Malone, to name a few.

While Lemmo spends his time among immaculate vintage instruments and celebrities, he still misses Philly. He’s often sporting green in support of the Eagles and longs for spring, autumn, and winter. LA may not feel like Philly, but Lemmo said the vibe in the store is a bit like a barbershop filled with the Philly ethos.

“You really shoot the shit, you know? It’s got attitude and it’s real,” he said. “That’s how the shop really reminds me of Philadelphia.”