All, Ok, from an amateur maker who just turned full time, here's what I figure on an instrument.
Example: A 13 crs baroque lute on a Dieffopruchar body (~ $472 in USD) * 11 ribs of nicely flamed maple ($50) * black spacers ($5) * poplar neck core with ebony veneer ($10) * beech or boxwood pegbox, ebony veneered ($25) * cherry pegs ($20) * ebony fingerboard ($35) * Master grade German Spruce "jumbo" top ($120) * bone nut ($5) * European pear bridge, ebony topped ($10) * Rosewood strap buttons ($12) * nylgut and overspun strings ($180) This instrument would take about 150 hrs to make (rose cutting is time consuming, making the bass rider/treble rider, etc.) At even a finish carpenters wage of $25 per hour that's $3,750 in skilled labor or $4,222 for a "fair price" (You may notice that this is amazingly close to what the "name" makers are asking for the same instrument). Damned few makers are able to demand that kind of price. My price on this instrument would be $2,500 or so. That makes I earn about $13.50 per hour for the job, about what I could make at the tool shed in Home Depot. If you build, it is for a reason other than money unless you have established a "name". Hope this helps, Rob Dorsey, luthier Florence, KY USA -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
