Well gang, my BTO arrived at my FLGS yesterday, and I went to pick it up today. To sum it up, Taylor made several errors with the specs: no bear claw figure on the top and no multicolored ebony on the headstock, fretboard or bridge as ordered. I was pretty bummed.
Mind you, the guitar is still beautiful with its edgeburst finished top, and the Macassar ebony turned out to be beautiful (probably the best visual feature of the guitar). Fit and finish were spot on. It played very well and sounded very nice. At the end of the day, I couldn't bond with it.
My dealer was already on the phone with Taylor yesterday, expressing his displeasure with their poor performance on this custom build. They have already assured him that they will do what it takes to make this right. The bad news is that they would have to start a brand new build from scratch, using a different Macassar set than I had originally chosen. In any case, be on the lookout for this guitar at a roadshow coming to your area - that's probably where it will end up.
I may go back to my other alternative, which was a K24e with upgraded koa. My dealer also showed me some other wonderful guitars from other makers today (Collings, Bourgeois, etc.) that I may consider, but I'm still leaning towards Taylor, as they are responsible for the six marvelous GAs I own today. I'll keep you all posted!