Hey everyone:
Thanks to my friend across the pond for bringing this to my attention. Even though I had received one in the past, models with thumb notches as "standard" cannot be ordered without them. I altered my original post and am posting this also so as not to confuse anyone. Sorry for the mix-up and mis-information.
Best, capt. Chris
Reaching into the "wayback machine" to help clarify for those lurking in this thread...
If you order a model that defaults with thumb notches (like, say, Model 5) and add a double-hilt option, they will build your order without thumb notches.
This wasn't mentioned earlier (or I missed it, which happens).
Last weekend, Capt. Chris was showing off his latest #5 creation with NS2 option (and sparkling white handle!), the thumb notches were missing. I caught Scott out in the wild and he verified that they don't add them if it's a double hilt.