Handcrafted Tumbleweed Guitar
Pricing & Info
There are too many variables to give an exact quote without discussing your project with you,
but it would take some wild parts and tricks to exceed $2500.
Sound like a lot of money? It is, but. . .
The woods I hand-carve for the body, neck, and fretboard cost me $200.
Another $150 on neck hardware.
Pickups, pots, caps, wire, switch, jack: $180.
Bridge, saddles, knobs, neck plate, strap buttons, stainless steel screws, and pickguard, another $150.
Now I'll spend more than 60 hours sawing, routing, sanding, wiring, measuring, painting, polishing, and tuning. By now we are bouncing around minimum wage.
How can Guitar Center sell a guitar for 1/4 of this price?
I. Don't. Know.
I do know, however, that. . .
I use American parts whenever possible: Planet Tone Pickups from Denver, Switchcraft jacks from Chicago, and Gavitt cloth wire from Massachusetts. The wood is sourced worldwide, but I purchase mine from a lumberyard in St. Louis.
When American isn't possible, I have a list of tried-and-true foreign parts such as formerly American-made CTS pots and Japanese Gotoh bridges, saddles, and tuning machines.
I use as little plastic as possible. I've made several guitars with ZERO plastic.
I'm happy to incorporate a client's preferred parts, but my stable of go-to's is solid, reliable, and respected.
Would using a CNC machine allow me to sell guitars for less?
Yes, but my testicles would fall off and my proudly expressed passion for hand-building would be exposed as a farce.
Anyone using a CNC machine to do the "tricky, painstaking, time-consuming" aspects of guitar-building can discover their true passion by noting how they spend their time while their CNC machine spits out a soulless guitar for them.
Don't get me started on CNC. Ninny frauds.
I want to build as many guitars as possible. It's what makes me happy. To do that, I need to make my clients satisfied and happy. Moncoota Montotta.
