Cole Luce is a guitar-maker who dreams of securing his reputation as a master luthier and achieving financial success with a small guitar manufacturing company. His goal is close to realization when his company investors withdraw financial support without warning and mysteriously drop out of contact. Without financial support, his dream quickly turns to despair as his electricity is turned off, his cars are repossessed, his health insurance cancelled, and he and his wife, Jewell, find themselves staring into a nearly empty refrigerator and pantry. It is when Jewell is admitted to Edna P. Slate's Women's Center for evaluation of depression and exhaustion that he must face the real possibility that that his wife's health is at risk and his marriage may be crumbling.

His guitars are almost ready to show; his vision is nearly realized; his years of striving are on the verge of bearing fruit...but to continue his quest may prove too costly. Heartbreak Guitar is the story of a man with a passion, but few resources. It is the story of a man who is striving to fulfill a dream, but whose quest puts in jeopardy the most important elements in his life...his marriage, family and friends.