When I was at Benedetto for a tour, they mentioned that wood binding vs plastic was a $1200 up-charge. I bought a very nicely mother of pearl inlaid (with D'Angelico split blocks) pre-cut fretboard and a nice highly complex MOP headstock inlay for around $120 for one of my guitars. So it varies from a hand builder who does things in-house to someone who imports CNC inlay and goes that way. I think in a lot of cases, with hand builders the decoration amounts to 30% to 50% of the cost of the instument, but for machine builders, the cost is in the investment, not the work.
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Brian Evans
Around 15 archtops, electrics, resonators, a lap steel, a uke, a mandolin, some I made, some I bought, some kinda showed up and wouldn't leave. Tatamagouche Nova Scotia.
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