gajoma Posted January 27, 2009 Posted January 27, 2009 Why can't I find any information about this guitar at Epiphone.com? Is it an Epiphone or what? Link: Epiphone Invader Gary
EpiEric Posted January 27, 2009 Posted January 27, 2009 Looks like an LP Junior Special with a different name. Maybe it's a special run for Thomann? I can't find it on the Epiphone web site anymore, either, but it looks identical to an LP Junior Special other than the name.
ladyscaglyc Posted January 27, 2009 Posted January 27, 2009 I, too, didn't find anything about the "Invader". My local pawn has had one for a while now, if things start lookin' better ($$$) I might try the haggle under his $140.USD Do you think it was a starter pak model of a Jr.? Better yet, does anyone know if this is a plywood body? curious too, Vin
corcoran Posted January 27, 2009 Posted January 27, 2009 I had one. It was another name for a Junior. It had bolt on neck and came with humbuckers. I think they had this model as to the P90 junior's previously offered during the late 1990s to the early 2000s. Here's a picture of mine P94's, mustang knobs, varitone A very nice guitar indeed.
gajoma Posted February 10, 2009 Author Posted February 10, 2009 I bought one. Out of the box it is what one could expect for the money. - The tuners (machine heads?) are totally crap. Could not stay in tune. I removed and opned them and they were rusty and very loose. I then put in some Shallers instead. It stays in tune now. Next job must be changing the plastic nut. The body IS made of plywood. (I scratched the inside of the painted back cavaty - No doubt!) The neck is really nice to play. The intonation was perfect. No need for adjusting. This guitar is ready for rock 'n roll now! I use it at home thru a Epiphone Valve JR. head and a 1X12 cab. With the vol. knob (guitar) halfway I adjust the amp for a clean sound. Turning the guitarvol. to max. really makes the sound nice, warm and distorted. According to the serial number it is made in Indonisia at Samick's factory in August 2004. This will never be My main guitar. But i plan on using at a gig next month as a backup. I have tried Epiphones twice the price of this one, but not better. But I'm still wondering: Why can't I see anything about this guitar at Epiphone.com? Gary
macjansson Posted March 4, 2009 Posted March 4, 2009 I'm thinking about getting one of these myself and replace the tuners with Grovers and the pickup with one of these http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/humbucker/progressive/prails_shpr1/. The pegholes for the tuners are the 10mm? Does anyone know?
macjansson Posted March 4, 2009 Posted March 4, 2009 Ya can't polish a turd.. Yeah that's true. Might go for the Gibson Les Paul junior but I can't seem to find that great deal I found yesterday. A Gibson Les Paul Junior VS for 578€ instead of the 1000€ it costs at the local musicstore. Edit: Yeah that deal is gone, today the only have white and cherry models.
rowdy27 Posted March 4, 2009 Posted March 4, 2009 Be patient..save your cash for the best you can afford..or make a deal at the shop for a monthly payment.
gajoma Posted March 4, 2009 Author Posted March 4, 2009 The pegholes for the tuners are the 10mm? Does anyone know? No. They are 8 mm. - I carefully used a 10 mm drill. Gary
Guest icantbuyafender Posted March 4, 2009 Posted March 4, 2009 yep... les paul junior special with a different name. im guilty of owning a LP jr with a HB. for the priced the body and neck (with work) came out to play heavenly! so really, i never tried it stock or out of the box. it was a builders buy... a fixer upper if you will. i needed something to get away from my single coiled strat at the time a few soldering lessons (plus a hand sander for the body and sand paper to shape the neck) paid off. for being a 90's build shes held up and im contstantly experimenting on it. (add this, tweak that etc.) but really.... ive never seen an "invader" plywood? must be light weight....
macjansson Posted March 4, 2009 Posted March 4, 2009 Ahh. The deal is back up, seems they had some technical difficulties with the site. Anyway thanks for talking me out of the Epi Invader, I'm now going for the sweet deal on the Gibson Les Paul Junior Vintage Sunburst that's on sale for 578€ that's about 730USD. That's gotta be a sweet deal even to US standards.
Bluenotebilly Posted March 26, 2010 Posted March 26, 2010 I posted my own query about the Invader and kindly received a reply which pointed me to this thread. The gist of my original post was to ask if anyone knew between what years the Invader was manufactured. As several members have commented, it's really hard to find much information. Key extracts from my first post were as follows and may add a bit of detail for anyone following this thread ... The serial number on my guitar is SI04081331 which leads me to believe that the guitar was built in the Samick factory in Indonesia. That assumption is based on a very similar serial number that I have on another guitar, although that is not an Epiphone. In the case of THAT instrument, the serial number is deciphered as meaning that the first 4 digits denote the month and year (or year and month) and the last 4 digits denote the unit number for that day's production. The body on mine is NOT plywood, but I'm not sure what wood it is. It's a shame that the bridge is a one-piece with no means of individual adjustment for string intonation, although that echoes the type of bridge used on the Gibson LP Junior 'TV' model which seems to be the template for the Invader. By and large it seems to do a good job. The previous info about tuner pegoles being 8mm and not 10mm is useful - I may well look for some alternatives once I've opened and inspected the ones that are fitted. Tuning does occasionally drift but that may be because the previous owner seems to have fitted ultra light strings, so I'll first try a medium thickness set. If anyone has any other info or experience, it would be interesting to hear about it.
Bluenotebilly Posted March 27, 2010 Posted March 27, 2010 maybe the name is 'cause of the whole 'starter-pack' I've done some more digging about my Invader and I found an additional code on the guitar which clearly suggests that it was originally been part of a starter pack. My guitar has just the one pickup and not two. I'm not sure if the original pack consisted of the usual elements such as guitar, amp, lead, DVD, picks, but I'd guess that it did. It was built in August 2004, so it's a very recent product ---- which makes the lack of information even more strange. The current 'edition' is still on sale with the guitar having a more traditional two-humbucker setup. It also does NOT have the one-piece saddle/bridge of the single-pickup 'Invader' model. Eg: http://www.andertons.co.uk/starter-guitar-bass-packs/pid15694/cid562/epiphone-les-paul-special-ii-performance-pack.asp ------------------------------------------- UPDATE ------------------------------------------ Now confirmed that the one-pickup model WAS part of a starter pack. I found this photo via Google ... http://images4.thomann.de/pics/bdb/218428/999870_800.jpg
deflepfan Posted March 27, 2010 Posted March 27, 2010 The current 'edition' is still on sale with the guitar having a more traditional two-humbucker setup. It also does NOT have the one-piece saddle/bridge of the single-pickup 'Invader' model. Eg: http://www.andertons.co.uk/starter-guitar-bass-packs/pid15694/cid562/epiphone-les-paul-special-ii-performance-pack.asp ------------------------------------------- UPDATE ------------------------------------------ Now confirmed that the one-pickup model WAS part of a starter pack. I found this photo via Google ... http://images4.thomann.de/pics/bdb/218428/999870_800.jpg Billy, those are not Juniors but Special II's. Different guitar. Junior's only have the one pup, and are always more desirable, even if it is called an Invader!! Except for those big honking knobs - replace them if you can! Sheila
Bluenotebilly Posted March 29, 2010 Posted March 29, 2010 Billy' date=' those are not Juniors but Special II's. Different guitar. Junior's only have the one pup, and are always more desirable, even if it is called an Invader!! [/quote'] Yes - that's why I put 'edition' in inverted commas. Am curious about why the one-pickup model is '..always more desirable..' bearing in mind the fact that I've seen some fairly negative comments during my searches on Youtube and in other forums. Does anyone know the optimum string gauges for this guitar? Mine tends to suffer from slight tuning drift but I'm unsure whether this is because the previous owner fitted ultra light strings or because the fairly fat frets cause the effect, especially on the top B and E strings.
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