I would add this – SCGC has not become the company it is by doing things the way other are doing them, or by adapting every change that comes down the road. They do not offer soundports, or bevels – they don’t bolt on necks, and while they’ve played with torrefied material, they still work almost exclusively with traditional seasoned materials. So just because other builders add a shape, or a finish, or almost anything else, that is not what would motivate Richard to change what they do at SCGC –
And specifically, a change in the finish would not result in much, if any, lowering of cost. Adding more finish options could potentially add cost, with the nature of their shop.
I can certainly understand the desire to get a SC a little cheaper – but I’ve found the bast way to do that is to keep your eyes open and be ready to jump when someone gets a bad case of GAS and lets one go – in fact, if there is a model or some specs on one you’d like to find, you might post it and we could all keep our eyes open for you!