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Yamaha Pacifica PAC412

 

Review of the Yamaha Pacifica PAC412 by The Man in the Jar

The posher Pacifica is still a very affordable guitar.

Features of the Yamaha Pacifica PAC412

Tuners - Unbranded sealed mini-tuners worked smoothly and accurately.

Headstock - Yamaha's take on the classic six-on-one-side headstock has a nice scalpelled look about it. The truss-rod cover actually sits inside the access opening giving a very sleek and modern finish to the headstock. One string tree guides the first and second strings.

Nut - The black plastic nut abuts the fretboard and is tidily cut.

Neck - The bolt-on maple neck is slim and smooth playing with the satin lacquer finish adding a luxurious feel. 

Fretboard - The medium dark rosewood fingerboard has a nice stripey grain and seems to have been lightly sealed with lacquer giving a visually pleasant sheen and a nicer feel under the fingertips. Traditional abalone dot markers complete the picture.

Frets - The medium profile frets are well polished and the generous radius allows for extreme string bending.

Action - Good and playable from the box, but you could usefully spend a few moments tweaking it down slightly at the bridge.

Body - The Pacifica body is much like a Strat but more lean and rangy. The comfort contouring on the front and back are very Strat-like except the front contour is sharp enough to be visible from a distance. I like the look of this feature. But what makes this guitar really stand out is the alder body faced with a slab of maple. The maple facing is a good 5mm thick and is what gives the lovely golden colour you see in the picture above. The main alder slab has been dyed a lovely chocolate brown and gives the guitar a classy custom-shop look.

Bridge - The vibrato (or trem) bridge pivots on two posts set into the body on the front edge of the bridge plate. Below the bridge is the vibrato block which is secured against the pull of the strings by three stout springs. When the guitar is in tune and "at rest" the bridge should "float" precisely parallel to the body. The Pacifica was perfectly set-up from the box (quite unusual with this type of guitar in this price range. Each string runs over its own saddle block (which is fully adjustable for string height and intonation) before diving down through the bridge plate to be secured in the vibrato block. The vibrato arm is removable.  

Pickups - Two alnico single coils and one open-coil humbucker. 

Controls - The master volume and master tone are rear-mounted in the body, the five-way selector switch sits in the scratchplate.

Scratchplate - The three-ply black/white/black scratchplate is smaller and tidier than a Stratocaster equivalent as it doesn't need to house the rotary controls.

Strap-buttons - Two medium strap buttons, one on the base of the body and one on the upper horn.

Output Jack - Set in the lower edge of the body in a chrome oval plate.

Finish - Very good throughout. The picture does not do justice to this guitar.

 

Sound of the Yamaha Pacifica PAC412

This is essentially a Fat Strat configuration, but crucially the second switch position that engages the bridge humbucker and the middle pickup also taps the humbucker (leaving the coil closest the bridge active). This gives an extra Strat-style tone to the instrument's armoury. The single coil pickups delivered the predictable voices; bluesy at the neck, middley in the middle with the combination of the two producing a glassy, jazzy tone. The combination of the middle and the tapped humbucker put me in mind of a Telecaster, excellent for rock 'n' roll or country rock. Flip to the humbucker alone and the Pacifica 412 becomes a different beast. I was able to overdrive my amp and get heavier classic rock tones with ease. I found the voice of the humbucker slightly harsh at first, but this was soon cured by tweaking down the master tone control to about 7.  

 

Overall Impressions of the Yamaha Pacifica PAC412

This is an extraordinarily well made and attractive guitar for the price (around £200). The two-tone body construction is particularly pretty. It's a perfect guitar for an intermediate player, someone returning to the guitar in middle-age or as a back-up or second guitar for the busy gigging guitarist. The tapped humbucker means it can handle just about any style of music you care to throw at it.  

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