Originally posted by pstring
What was that hold hamburger joints jingle, Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce, special orders don't upset us.... well who stocks purpleheart and quilted maple bodies? Special stuff costs special prices, abalone bird inlays costs real money except when it's done in a SE Asian guitar mill, I have a friend that does inlay work, you could easily spend a couple of hundred on material alone, nice custom guitars should have a high quality finish, right? What kind of money you think that can run? A proper finish takes about 6-8 weeks to do by anyone who will really do a quality job. Incidents, I ain't trying to talk you out of anything you want to do, just want to make sure you stay realistic, the good stuff cost money even when you bargin hunt... start stuffing that money under the mattress,you're a hardworking guy, you'll accomplish anything you set your mind too, I'm sure of that......

what i have in mind right now is, instead of getting a custom guitar right away, i will most likely purchase an American Strat (3 tone sunburst).

How do you do inlays? Are they glued onto the neck? I'd be interested in learning to do them myself, considering the price, plus i'd like to make sure they are done exactly to my liking.