Alrighty, I have more options to add to the list!!
For a meer $100 you can add a 1/4" figured maple top with a two step dye job. That basically means that I darken the figure with a dark dye, sand it off and then apply a transparent color over that.
Here is a link to my album here on ss.org with that purple 8 string I did earlier this year for an idea of what the dye job looks like.
Sevenstring.org - Tom Drinkwater's Album: Guitars