The Electra Forums

Greetings,

I just won an auction for an X260 on eBay. I've been becoming interested in Japanese guitars for a while and when I saw this beauty, I just had to have it. It appears to be in pretty nice shape for a 1980!

I probably overpaid for it ($330), but I KNOW that it will be better than just about any other guitar in that price range. Besides, that's still a small price to pay for a quality instrument.






The seller didn't include a good photo of the back of the neck, but it looks like the side pieces are flamed maple from what little you can see!!!




I've never played an Electra before, so I hope it will meet my expectations. When it comes in, I'll post a follow up with a hands on review. I hope that I love my Electra as much as you guys seem to love yours.

Cheers!
Homebrewer

Very nice! Love the ash body and set neck. The finish on these natural wood guitars is wonderful, it feels just right to the touch and is perfect for a serious player.

I guarantee you'll love it- and I think you did all right, Invictas are not exactly common.

I was looking at that very auction I think. The Invicta is a great guitar, you'll like it. I have the brown one (bought it new 26 years ago) and have been wanting a light one for awhile now. $330 is, oddly, about what they went for new.

I got the guitar in last week and have been spending some time playing around with it. I'm a little disappointed in it - not because of the way it plays, but because it's a little more beat and there are some construction detractions than the auction photos didn't show.

The heel of the set neck has a wedge shaped piece that doesn't match well with the rest of the neck or the body. It's a much lighter piece. That's no biggie, but it's something that I wasn't expecting from the photos. It looked like shadow to me and I didn't pick up on it. The electronics plate is cracked and there are a few more battle scars than I anticipated. However, that's neither here nor there since it's a 26 year old guitar and some wear is to be expected. I'd rate it as a solid "good" condition.

The guitar sounds great! The neck is straight and the frets are fantastic. The guitar has obviously been played quite a bit as there is finish wear along the fretboard, but I can't find any dead spots. There are plenty of light scratches and nicks which don't show up unless you look at it closely due to the natural finish. It had 9s on it when it came in and it buzzed a bit. However, I think it was setup for 10s (my preference) because when I put a new set on, the buzzing went away and it was setup nicely. The volume pot is a bit scratchy so I'll work on cleaning that up and play it for a month or so to see how it fits me.

It plays fast and seems to be a pretty solid guitar. It's not the love at first sight that I was expecting, but this one could definitely grow on me. If it doesn't, I may end up selling it and letting it get into the hands of another Electra affectionado.

Overall, it's a very nice guitar and I'm pretty happy with it. I think it was worth the $330 that I paid for it.

sounds like a pretty good deal overall. and you didn't mention the pickups, but i'll bet they sound great!

About the pickups - they sound pretty good, but I can't give them a fair shakeout until I get them on a real amp. I'm playing them through my Fender solid state bass amp which isn't a great way to evaluate them.

I think I'm going to put it back up on Ebay - it just doesn't match me very well. It's a very nice instrument, and it's pretty cool vintage, but I played it for a couple of hours last night and I'm still not digging it. It should be a great ax for someone looking for one though.

OK, it's up on Ebay if anyone is interested. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0109947317

I don't blame you. Even nice guitars... well, some have that chemistry for you and some don't. Often it comes in surprising places. But it's all taste- it may be the perfect thing for someone.