There's a big market for "fancy" guitars these days. 5A maple tops, gold hardware etc. I think you really need to aim for higher up the ladder if you want to make money. How much do you think you could make a standard telecaster for? Maple neck, ash/alder body etc and what do you think you could get for it? Is that worth it? Going higher up and adding fancy inlays etc doesn't make a guitar any better as a guitar (and only really costs time,not money) but really increases prices. Just look at PRS's up charge price list, $250 for gold hardware etc. I can't think of any smaller makers that build simply but good guitars that do well. Unfortunatley low prices equals low quality in many peoples eyes, and that can be difficult to get away from or change people's minds.