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Yamaha Pacifica Electric Guitar

 

Review of the Yamaha Pacifica PAC 112 by The Man in the Jar

I've seen the Pacifica regularly recommended to beginners on UK guitar forums. I thought it was time I gave one a squiz. 

Features of the Yamaha Pacifica Guitar

Tuners - Sealed mini-tuners that worked perfectly.

Headstock - The whole guitar nods very noticeably towards the Stratocaster camp and the headstock is a sharper cut version of the Strat's flouncy design. First and second strings travel under a string bush, remember to apply a little Vaseline here if you intend using the vibrato (to prevent possible tuning hitches). The truss rod cover actually sits in the routed truss rod hole and is held in by a single screw - more of a plug than a cover. Cool idea!

Nut - Shiny black plastic nut is accurately cut.

Neck - Satin finish maple neck with a nice slim profile. No issues here.

Fretboard - The model I tried had a lovely maple fretboard with a very attractive spotted grain. The maple board makes the guitar look a lot prettier than the rosewood boarded model pictured above. Maple on maple is definitely my favourite combination both for looks and tone. The golden hue that maple acquires over the passing of the years is an added bonus. Traditional black markers complete the picture.

Frets - Medium rounded, well-polished frets with a touch of brass about them compliment the fretboard really well.

Action - Not the lowest action I've ever seen out of the box, but perfectly playable. Some tweaking at the bridge could certainly lower it. Getting a perfectly set-up guitar straight out of the box is as much a rarity as it is a pleasure. But action is very much a personal thing and as long as I can see a guitar has adequate scope for adjustment I'm generally happy.  

Body - The body is made from alder, one of the tone woods so beloved of Fender. The natural finish of this guitar allowed me to see it's actually made up from five pieces of alder. The shape, the horns and the contouring are all the same as on a Strat. Nuff said.   

Bridge - At this price I'm always on the look-out for cost cutting tricks (it's the real world so there must be some). On the Yamaha Pacifica the bridge saddles are made from "J" shaped pieces of formed sheet metal. These have been cleverly designed to afford two height adjustments screws per saddle together with one for intonation. Purists would argue the reduction in metal mass that this represents will affect the tone. I would argue that the through-body stringing increases tension over the saddle which combats any likely loss of tone.
The Pacifica is equipped with a vibrato (commonly and incorrectly called a tremolo or trem). The design is old style, held on by and pivoting against six screws along its front edge. This permits downward (slackening) motion only (originally intended to imitate the trill of the human singing voice). If you use the vibrato regularly remember to tighten these screws periodically as part of your maintenance routine.

Pickups - A nice "fat" combination of bridge humbucker and two single coils. 

Controls - It's here that we deviate from Strat territory. The five way switch is familiar but there's only one volume and one tone control. This has allowed Yamaha to move the volume down and away from the strings making this Strat-a-like less cluttered around the bridge and easier for a novice to play.

Pickguard - Single ply black plastic in classic Strat shape. Not very inspiring but does the job. 

Strap-buttons - Medium sized buttons on the top horn and the bottom edge of the body.

Output Jack - Mounted in a black plastic oval on the lower edge of the body.

Finish - This model has a smooth satin finish that looks and feels lovely. Overall it is let down slightly by the pickguard, but it's easy to get a replacement cut from any one of dozens of materials.

 

Sound of the Yamaha Pacifica 

On a clean amplifier I was much impressed by the voice of the humbucker. It has authority, power and clarity, useful for many different styles of music. Position 2 on the selector adds the middle single-coil. But I got the impression that this also taps the humbucker or maybe there's a resistor engaged or something. The resultant sound is beautifully bright and resonant and some of the humbucker's crunch has been dropped.
The middle position is an oft overlooked bonus that comes free with three pupped guitars. Ok, the sound is middley (what did you expect?) but it's worth experimenting with this because it's a very usable sound.
Engaging the neck pickup alone gave a fruity and complex blues tone that I instantly liked. Strangely, when the neck and middle pickup were engaged together they didn't sound like the sum of their parts. The sound was a more "scooped out" tone with a "honky" resonance. An excellent sound for rock'n'roll and country soloing.
Taking the Pacifica onto a dirty amp channel I found the predominant voice I used was the humbucker alone. The power and clarity was great for rock or metal sounds.   

 

Overall Impressions of the Yamaha Pacifica 

The Pacifica reputation as an excellent choice for first-timers is well deserved. It doesn't sit on the strap with the weight and authority of its far more expensive inspiration, but it still feels and performs like a serious guitar. It is more than enough to take you from your first steps at playing through to your first band. It has a range of voices that will suit any type of music you care to try and when the day comes that you upgrade your guitar you'll look back on your Pacifica days with affection. Until that day comes it doesn't hurt your credibility to have Yamaha on your headstock.

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