Musical Instruments & Acoustic Products worked example

Custom Build Quote Cost at 92% scope capture share: a worked example

What does the result look like when scope capture share reaches 92%? The full calculation is worked below with real intermediate numbers. Use when a luthier or custom shop is quoting a one-off guitar, custom speaker cabinet, or tuned acoustic panel and needs a defensible cost the customer can sign off on.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Custom build hours estimated: 100 hours (unchanged)
  • Blended shop rate: 45 $ / hour (unchanged)
  • Scope capture share: 92 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 80)
  • Design and setup adder: 250 $ (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Variable custom build cost = custom build hours estimated × blended shop rate × scope capture share) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 4,390 $ for total custom build quote, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 43.9 $ / piece for quote cost per build hour.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 4,140 $ for variable custom build cost.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 250 $ for design and setup adder.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where scope capture share sits at 80% and the headline result is 3,850 $, this scenario comes in 14.03% above the baseline at 4,390 $.
  • A figure at this level is achievable when scope capture share is genuinely sustained, not just peaked for a shift. It assumes your hour estimate is reasonably accurate — custom builds notoriously overrun, so pad the estimate or carry contingency for discovery and rework.

Results at a glance

  • Total custom build quote: 4,390 $ (headline result)
  • Quote cost per build hour: 43.9 $ / piece
  • Variable custom build cost: 4,140 $
  • Design and setup adder: 250 $

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Custom Build Quote Cost calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.