Put that way it sounds like a heck of a deal. But, put another way, that's a CRAZY expensive mug! I had two of of the mugs (three guitars, but one I bought used without the mug). I guess when I sold the guitar I included a mug with one and didn't include the mug with the other. I have absolutely no memory of any thought that might have gone into including or not including a mug, but I still have one, my keepsake of once having been an Emerald owner. It's a very nice mug, but it's not a $2000 mug! Unless of course, someone here wants to buy it for $2000. Jeez, I guess I'd even take $1500. Probably won't run it in the classifieds, though...

-Ray

Wait for the mug. You could get a guitar anywhere.

Have them ship the Amicus now... and include TWO mugs with your next guitar. :D Yeah, I'm a problem solver.

My mug showed up (no customs ransom) two months after the x20, unbroken.

I did have to email/ping them about the missing mug.

FWIW, just for those contemplating a build, just because the instrument is completed and your final payment is in, calculate about another 2 weeks before it is actually in UPS hands, and then a week in actual UPS transit. So for a fairly standard build, its about 2 months construction plus 3 weeks thinking about and getting ready to ship+actual transit time. Even then (IME) they only get turned over to UPS late Fridays anyway and sit the weekend in Sligo - if you didn't start tracking on a Friday you sit until the next Friday. If you make the shipping video on Friday you won't actually ship until the next Friday.

Now factor in mug delay :)

Someone is going to pop up and say their instrument sailed through US customs fine, but the mug hidden in the guitar box was stopped for several hundred in import duties.

That sounds about right. Mine was in last week’s shipping video; I got the tracking number on Monday, and confidently expect it to start moving tomorrow.

My confidence was misplaced. Upon enquiring, I was told it was scheduled for pickup next Monday.

I had a similar response on the one from last week when I inquired the following Monday ("oh pickup Tuesday or Wednesday")... in the fullness of time. It was picked-up on Friday at eod in Donegal and sat all weekend in nearby Sligo. As usual it wandered around for a while and made Koln on Wednesday then took off like a rocket and was in my mitts half-way across the world the next day, without ransom. Fun to watch the system work.