Long story short: a custom Tumbleweed Guitar starts at $1200.

It would take some wild parts and tricks to go over $2500.
There are too many variables to give an exact quote without discussing your project with you.

Sound like a lot of money? 

It is, but. . . 
 
-The woods I hand-carve for the body, neck, and fretboard cost me at least $130.

-Another $130 on neck hardware: stainless steel frets, tuning machines, buffalo bone nut and fret markers, string trees, strings, and truss rod.

-Pickups, pots, caps, wire, switch, jack . . . at least $180.

-Bridge, saddles, knobs, neck plate, strap buttons, stainless steel screws, and pickguard—at least $110.

Now I'll spend at least 50 hours sawing, routing, sanding, wiring, measuring, painting, polishing, and tuning.














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 Wilkinson and Gotoh bridges, saddles, and tuning machines.

-I use as little plastic as possible. I've made several guitars with ZERO plastic. I enjoy making wooden pickguards, using cloth-wrapped wire and solid metal knobs.
 
I'm happy to incorporate a client's preferred parts, often for an additional charge, but my stable of go-tos is solid, reliable, and respected.

















Would using a CNC machine allow me to sell guitars for less?

Yes, it would, but my testicles would fall off, and my proudly expressed passion for hand-building would be 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 operates.
 
Don't get me started on CNC machines.

I want to build as many guitars as possible. It's not about money. I'm here to be satisfied and happy. To do that, I need to make my clients satisfied and happy.