Agreed Mayfly.
Same thing with the 7 string, and let me preface this with the statement that I am a huge 7 string proponent.
I thought they'd sell a million if they'd open up their options more, then I started working there.
I awaiting the millions of emails inquiring about 7 strings, with topics all across the board, ie; body shapes, hardware options, scale lengths, etc...
For the 51 weeks that I worked there, I could count all of the inquiries related to the 7 string in anyway, on both hands. Less than 10 inquiries in one year! That was for the whole company, not just me as one single sales rep. Reason that I know this? All of the other sales reps knew my love of the 7 string, and routed these inquiries my way, so I handled all of them for that year.
Just because we are emotionally attached to a product/feature/option, doesn't mean that it is viable for this particular manufacturer, their individual business model, their client base, etc... Supply and Demand. It always comes back to that. Just as I mentioned about the Gecko model earlier. When Takaeuchi went belly up some years ago, the Gecko had to be re-designed to accommodate another bridge by another manufacturer. It was a costly undertaking, which involved programmers doing their thing on the computer, using up a CNC machine to make a prototype (which takes that machine out fo the normal production cycle = opportunity cost) to verify specs work in an actual end user situation, then multiply that by close to 10 times before you feel you can sign off on it. It all adds up to a significant amount of wages, compensation insurance, health insurance, materials, offset production, prototypes that will never be sold to an end user, etc.... It's expensive, and can take many years to recuperate any of that operational cost back.
There's a reason why folks look at Excel spreadsheets with sales figures all across their product line to determine stronger selling months/years in order to project ahead for production. If it doesn't sell, and therefore profit, there's no point in a business producing it.