How Much Guitar Luthier Workshop Owners Make on $326K-$11M Sales
You’re pricing skilled bench work, custom builds, and repairs while trying to protect your own pay This estimate uses a five-year US workshop model with $326,500 first-year revenue, $85,000 Master Luthier pay, materials, overhead, payroll, capex, and reserves as planning assumptions, not salary guarantees, tax advice, or automatic distributions
Owner income$85kNet margin75.8%–78.7%Revenue for target pay≈$256kBusiness difficultyHard
Want the six income drivers?
1
Bench Throughput
$326.5K
More billable bench time turns the same workshop hours into the model's $326.5K first-year revenue, so take-home rises fast.
2
Service Mix
$450-$2.9K
A mix that shifts from standard repair to restoration lifts the average ticket and pushes more gross profit to the owner.
3
Build Backlog
$5.5K-$9.5K
Custom acoustic and electric jobs carry the highest ticket sizes, so booked build slots do the most to grow income.
4
Gross Margin
758%
Keeping material waste and rework low protects cash because every point of margin flows straight to owner income.
5
Fixed Overhead
$63.6K
Rent, utilities, insurance, software, photography, and maintenance set a hard cash floor, so lean overhead supports pay.
6
Labor Capacity
$107.5K
Master luthier, apprentice, and manager payroll set the work limit, and poor quality control can turn labor into rework.
Want to test your luthier owner pay?
Owner income calculator
Estimate owner take-home and the target-pay gap from revenue, gross margin, labor, fixed overhead, marketing, reserves, and target pay. Use it to test whether the workshop can cover owner pay in the first operating year and at higher volume.
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Planning note: Research-based planning estimate only; not guaranteed salary, tax advice, or owner distribution advice. Actual owner income will change with demand, staffing, taxes, debt, and reinvestment.
Want to see the workshop forecast and owner take-home?
The Guitar Luthier Workshop Financial Model Template dashboard shows revenue mix, margins, costs, reserves, and owner pay assumptions, plus $326,500 first-year revenue, $47,120 EBITDA, and $45,500 capex; open the model.
Owner-income model highlights
Owner pay outputs
Revenue and margin
Scenarios and assumptions
How much revenue does a guitar luthier need to pay the owner?
If the owner wants $85,000 and the Guitar Luthier Workshop pays $22,500 to an apprentice plus $63,600 in fixed overhead, the first-year cost base is $171,100. With a 66.8% contribution margin after materials, shop COGS, marketing, and card fees, required revenue is about $256,000. The modeled first-year revenue is $326,500, which leaves $47,120 EBITDA before capex, taxes, debt, and reserves.
Cost base math
$85,000 owner pay target
$22,500 apprentice payroll
$63,600 fixed overhead
$171,100 first-year cost base
Revenue check
66.8% contribution margin
$256,000 revenue needed
$326,500 modeled revenue
$47,120 EBITDA left
Does hiring help a guitar luthier owner make more?
Hiring helps a Guitar Luthier Workshop only when paid output rises faster than payroll. In the model, payroll climbs from $107,500 in year 1 to $230,000 in the mature year, while revenue rises from $326,500 to $1,116M and EBITDA from $47,120 to $509,107 before taxes and reserves. If utilization is weak or quality control slips, the first hit is owner cash.
When hiring works
Revenue outpaces payroll.
EBITDA rises to $509,107.
Apprentices add paid output.
Manager frees owner time.
When hiring hurts
Payroll reaches $230,000.
Rework payroll keeps growing.
Weak utilization cuts cash.
Quality slips hurt margin first.
Are guitar repairs more profitable than custom guitar builds?
For a Guitar Luthier Workshop, repairs usually bring faster cash, but custom builds put more gross dollars on each ticket. A first-year standard repair contributes about $309 on a $450 ticket, while a custom acoustic contributes about $5,955 on an $8,500 price and a custom electric about $3,785 on a $5,500 price. The real winner depends on labor hours, rework, deposits, and backlog risk, and the planning step starts with How To Write A Business Plan For Guitar Luthier Workshop?
Repair cash
$309 contribution per repair
Uses a $450 ticket
Brings faster cash in
Depends on labor and rework
Custom ticket value
$5,955 acoustic contribution
$3,785 electric contribution
Uses $8,500 and $5,500 prices
Backlog risk can slow cash
Key Takeaways
Bench time pays only with tight scheduling control.
Custom builds lift revenue, but deposits protect cash.
Materials and rework decide real gross profit.
Overhead and payroll need paid work to scale.
Owner income scenario comparison objective
Owner income scenarios
Income changes with mix and staffing, because the shop earns from custom builds, restorations, repairs, and upgrades. More apprentice support lifts output, but payroll and workshop overhead still cap take-home pay.
Low, base, and high owner-income cases for a guitar workshop.
Scenario
Lean CaseLean Case
Base CaseBase Case
High CaseHigh Case
Launch model
This is the lean first-year path, with about $326,500 revenue and $47,120 EBITDA before owner draws.
This is the Year 3 model, with about $679,250 revenue and $202,237 EBITDA as volume and staffing both scale.
This is the mature-year upside path, with about $1.116 million revenue and $509,107 EBITDA as the shop runs near full capacity.
Typical setup
It uses 12 custom acoustics, 20 custom electrics, 15 restorations, 100 repairs, and 40 hardware upgrades, with one master luthier and a half-time apprentice.
It uses 24 custom acoustics, 45 custom electrics, 25 restorations, 150 repairs, and 65 hardware upgrades, with a full workshop manager and $207,500 payroll.
It uses 36 custom acoustics, 75 custom electrics, 35 restorations, 200 repairs, and 100 hardware upgrades, with a full manager, a 2.0 FTE apprentice, and $230,000 payroll.
Cost drivers
Custom build mix
repair tickets
apprentice hours
marketing spend
workshop overhead
Higher build mix
more repair flow
manager pay
apprentice scale-up
lead generation
Mature build mix
fuller staff
higher repair flow
upgrade volume
lead generation
Owner income rangeBefore owner reserves
Salary plus small distributionsLean Income
Salary plus moderate distributionsBase Income
Salary plus larger distributionsUpside Income
Best fit
Use this when you want a conservative owner-pay plan that assumes slower build volume and lean staffing.
Use this for the most likely operating path once the workshop has steady orders and a manager on staff.
Use this to test upside if custom work, repairs, and upgrades all stay booked at mature-year volume.
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Planning note: These scenario ranges are researched planning assumptions, not guaranteed earnings, salary promises, tax advice, or distributions. Treat them as owner pay before taxes, reserves, debt, and reinvestment.
Guitar Luthier Workshop Core Six Income Drivers
Billable Bench Hours And Throughput
Billable Bench Hours
Billable bench hours drive income only when each hour turns into a finished, paid job. In this model, total jobs rise from 187 in year one to 446 in the mature year, a 2.4x increase, so the owner earns more only if scheduling, parts, and customer approvals keep the bench full and moving.
The mix also matters: standard repairs go from 100 to 200, upgrades from 40 to 100, restorations from 15 to 35, and custom builds from 32 to 111. If quoting, sourcing, photography, documentation, and client updates stay non-billable, they quietly cap owner pay even when demand is strong.
Protect Bench Time
Measure billable hours, not just booked jobs. Track approval lag, parts wait time, rework, and non-billable admin hours per ticket; those are the leaks that cut income. If the shop spends too much time on quoting and customer messages, owner pay falls even when the calendar looks full.
Booked jobs by service type
Billable hours per job
Approval lag days
Parts lead time
Rework and return visits
Non-billable admin hours
Use deposits, clear scopes, and change-order pricing to protect throughput. The goal is to move from 187 jobs toward 446 without hidden unpaid work. Faster handoffs lift cash flow because completed repairs, upgrades, restorations, and builds get invoiced sooner.
Average Ticket And Service Mix
Average Ticket and Service Mix
Higher ticket prices raise income only when labor hours and rework stay in line. In year 1, the mix is priced at $450 repairs, $800 upgrades, $2,500 restorations, $5,500 electric builds, and $8,500 acoustic builds, with blended revenue per unit near $1,746.
The mature mix lifts blended revenue to about $2,502 per unit, so the owner earns more from the same shop flow if the work stays tight. One-line test: if a high-ticket job needs too many extra hours or fixes, the higher price can miss the mark on take-home pay.
Price the scope, then protect the margin
Track each job by service line, quoted hours, actual hours, and rework rate. The inputs that matter most are unit count, mix by repair versus build, labor hours, and change orders. If the high-skill mix grows, cash flow and profit improve only when the shop collects deposits and bills scope changes fast.
Use clear scopes before starting.
Charge deposits on custom work.
Price change orders in writing.
Watch hours per ticket weekly.
Push more work toward restorations and builds only if the team can hold quality. If a $8,500 acoustic build or $5,500 electric build triggers repeat fixes, the extra revenue gets eaten by labor and delays, and owner pay slips even while sales look stronger.
Material Costs And Gross Margin
Material Cost Per Build
Materials control how much of each sale turns into gross profit. In year one, acoustic units carry $1,440 in materials plus 4% revenue-based COGS, a fee tied to sales; electric units are $1,000 plus 4%, restorations $415 plus 4%, repairs $87 plus 3%, and upgrades $360 plus 3%. The model shows gross margin moving from 758% to 787%, so cost drift hits owner pay fast.
What this hides is the mix of wood, hardware, pickups, finishing supplies, waste, and outsourced work. If those inputs rise and pricing stays fixed, cash left for payroll, rent, and owner draw shrinks even when bookings look strong. One late supplier increase can erase profit on a low-ticket repair or force a custom build to do the work of two.
Track Job Cost Before You Quote
Build a parts list for every job and compare quote to actual spend by type. Use $1,440, $1,000, $415, $87, and $360 as starting estimates, then update them with current supplier quotes, scrap, and any outside work. If a build needs extra wood, finish, or hardware, the margin should change before the order starts, not after the parts are bought.
Here’s the quick rule: if material cost moves, price or scope should move too. Watch actual material cost as a share of each sale, plus change orders, waste, and rework. That keeps the sale cash-positive and protects the gross profit that pays overhead and owner income.
Labor Cost And Delegation
Labor Cost and Delegation
Labor only helps if it turns into more completed, paid work. In year one, payroll is $107,500, including $85,000 for the Master Luthier and $22,500 for an apprentice. In the mature model, payroll reaches $230,000 with two apprentices and a workshop manager, while revenue per payroll dollar rises from about 30x to 49x.
Here’s the catch: more staff also means training, supervision, and quality control. If extra labor creates rework, slow handoffs, or weak finish quality, owner take-home can stall even when revenue grows. The real test is whether each added labor dollar increases finished, billable output more than it adds overhead and fix-up time.
Measure Output, Not Headcount
Track completed jobs per payroll dollar, rework hours, and on-time delivery by role. The key inputs are labor cost, job count, completion rate, and the share of work that passes quality checks the first time. If apprentice time replaces paid repair or build time, delegation is helping. If not, payroll is just eating margin.
Measure finished jobs weekly
Log rework by technician
Set clear sign-off checks
Pay rises when the Master Luthier spends more time on high-value work and less on avoidable correction. Use apprentices for repeatable tasks first, then expand only after their output stays clean. If quality slips, slow hiring before payroll outpaces completed, paid work.
Fixed Overhead And Shop Format
Fixed Overhead
Fixed overhead is the monthly nut the shop pays before the first repair ticket lands. Here it is $5,300 per month, or $63,600 per year, including $3,500 rent, $650 utilities and climate control, $300 insurance, $250 software, $400 photography, and $200 equipment maintenance. That cash comes out of gross profit, so it directly limits owner draw and how fast the business can pay the owner.
Shop format matters because climate control and storage are fixed, not tied to each job. At the model’s disclosed 668% contribution margin, overhead alone needs about $95,100 in annual revenue to cover itself. If booked work stays under that run rate, the owner is funding the gap from cash or outside capital instead of pay.
Track the Monthly Nut
Measure overhead as a monthly burn rate, then divide it by completed jobs to see how much each job must carry. Keep $45,500 of one-time capex separate from recurring costs so the P&L stays clean. If rent, HVAC, or insurance rises, price and throughput have to rise too, or owner income gets squeezed fast.
Track overhead per completed job.
Separate capex from monthly costs.
Price jobs to cover fixed burn.
Watch climate control and rent.
The clean test is simple: can monthly revenue clear $5,300 before the owner expects pay? If not, the shop needs more billed work, better mix, or tighter space costs. A lower-rent, well-controlled workshop usually protects take-home income better than a bigger space with slow bench utilization.
Custom Build Pricing And Backlog
Custom Build Backlog
Custom build income is driven by unit price, annual build capacity, waitlist strength, deposits, and completion time. Here’s the quick math: first-year custom build revenue is $212,000 from 12 acoustic and 20 electric guitars, while mature-year revenue reaches $814,500 from 36 acoustic and 75 electric. More finished builds raise owner pay only if the shop can keep quality and cycle time steady.
What this estimate hides is cash timing. Deposits are not provided, so booked revenue may arrive before or after cash is collected. Long build cycles can also bury margin problems in work in progress, especially if material costs, rework, or scope changes climb faster than price. One clean rule: if completion time slips, profit slips with it.
Track Backlog, Not Just Sales
Measure backlog value, average days to complete, and deposit coverage on every custom order. Track how many acoustic and electric slots are sold, started, and finished each month, then compare that to the 12-unit first-year and 111-unit mature-year build path across all custom work. This shows whether revenue is real cash or just future work on the books.
Use separate pricing and scheduling for long builds, and test whether faster completion improves owner draw by freeing capacity. If waitlists get strong but deposits stay weak, cash flow stays tight even when revenue looks good. The best control is a simple rule: no start date without a deposit, scope, and target completion date.
