The Ciao! Gremlins are really going to town, aren't they? My thanks to the member who wished me luc...
The Ciao! Gremlins are really going to town, aren't they? My thanks to the member who wished me luck with the Toblerone competition - just a shame I haven't entered...you've gotta laugh, eh? :op
Member since:07.01.2006
Reviews:68
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When I first showed an interest in learning to playguitar about nine years ago my parents were keen to get me my own guitar to learn on, (primarily so I'd stop pinching my dad's), without spending an absolute fortune for it. My guitar-playing brother was given instructions to find me a reasonable quality guitar that didn't cost a bomb. The Yamaha Pacifica 112 is the guitar I was given.
The Pacifica is a double-cut away electric, similar in style to the classic Stratocaster. It is solid-bodied and comes with three pick-ups, a five-way selector, volume and tone controls and a floating bridge, (Don't worry non-guitarists, I'll go into these in more detail later in the review). The Pacifica is a common enough guitar that could be found in any major music shop, (Dawson's is a good example), but most smaller shops are also likely to have some in stock. Failing all else, if you were to ask the assistants they could perhaps order one in specifically
for you, or at least guide you in the right direction.
Despite being 'mass-produced', the build quality is excellent. The neck is fixed in place well and there are no gaps between the neck and the body, the finishing of the fretboard is of a high quality with no sharp edges to any of the frets or anything similar. I've not had any technical reconfiguration of my guitar, but I've never found the need to. I know of some Pacifica's that do need to be set-up by a professional, but this varies from guitar to guitar anyway, as well as personal preference. I've never had to adjust the truss-rod (a piece of metal that runs through the guitar The only modification I've ever had to make was to file down a sharp edge on the piece of plastic that holds the string in place at the headstock end. I'd had a problem with my bass E-string snapping, but I'd owned the guitar for a few years when this began happening, so I suspect it occurred because of rubbing from a previous set of strings. I doubt this was actually down to the build of the guitar and also doubt it is a problem across all Pacifica's.
The neck is very comfortable and because of the thickness of the neck beginner guitarists should find it relatively easy to play chords. The neck size is ideal for children of most ages; however for very young children it's perhaps a better idea to invest in a nylon strung acoustic guitar as the metal strings on electrics can be a little too painful to begin with. For more experienced guitarists, the neck size is quite small, but whether this is a good or a bad thing very much depends on your own personal preference. I've played several Pacifica's owned by friends over the years and have always found them easy to play and moving around the neck feels very natural and unforced.
The floating bridge allows you to perform 'dive-bombs' (a favourite of guitarists like Vai and Satriani), or add subtle vibrato to your playing (used often by Hank Marvin, Eric Johnson). I've been able to drop it as far as I possibly can without affecting tuning, though if you do go over-the-top with it you will eventually knock one or two strings out of tune.
The tuning stability is very good, despite the floating bridge. The main issue comes in sudden changes of temperature. If the guitar hasn't been left to acclimatise to where it will be played I have experienced some tuning difficulties. However, once the guitar is at 'room-temperature' and in tune I've rarely had to retune during or after a song.
Restringing the guitar can be a little hit and miss. On the whole it's not a difficult guitar to restring, but I have had a couple of problems when a string breaks and leaves the anchor-end of the string lodged in the bridge. Normally, poking it through with another string is sufficient, but I have occasionally had to remove the back to access the anchor. That aside I've never had any problems restringing my Pacifica and with practise most people would be able to restring and retune the guitar in a matter of minutes, not hours.
Because of the solid body the guitar can be quite weighty at first. Most people will find they eventually get used to this and in my experience, the Pacifica is lighter than, for example, most Gibson Les Paul's I've played. The weight is well distributed by the strap and I've never really found that my shoulder's become sore or tired whilst playing; however, young children, (I would say under tens) would probably struggle because of the weight - though this obviously depends on the size of the child.
The tone is produced by a combination of the solid body and the pick-up(s) used. There is a single-coil pick-up both at the neck and in the middle, with a humbucker at the bridge. When using the middle pick-up, the tone is quite warm, with a reasonable balance between bass and treble, whilst the neck pick-up provides a slightly brighter tone, higher in treble. The humbucker gives you a 'meatier' sound and I normally use the humbucker when playing with distortion. The five-way selector allows you to use either one or two pick-ups at a time, again providing you with different tones. I've found that certain combinations do give quite a lot of hum which is very noticeable when you're not playing; however this is not so much of an issue once you actually start playing a song.
This guitar is a bit of a "Jack Of All Trades, Master Of None". The overall versatility is very impressive and using this guitar I've been in a pop/rock cover band, (doing things such as The Beatles, The Eagles, Green Day, Nirvana) to a metal band to a country band. The Pacifica has a very broad range of tones and, whilst perhaps not perfect for every situation, is certainly able to perform credibly and rarely sounds completely out of place, regardless of the situation you throw at it.
This guitar is a definite workhorse and over the years has been used by me for many gigs. In its time it has be knocked, dropped, rained on, (though only lightly I have to admit) and various other detrimental things you shouldn't do to your guitar, but it's always soldiered on regardless. The only part I've ever had to replace is the plastic piece that holds the jack connection because my strap once failed during a gig and the guitar dropped directly onto the plug, pushing the jack through the plastic fixture. Despite this, my guitar actually still works and no really damage was caused.
I think this guitar has appeal to a wide range of guitarists of all experience. As a first guitar it is relatively inexpensive, being about £170 or so, but has very good longevity. For parents purchasing a guitar for their children, this won't cost them the Earth should their child's interest prove to be a passing phase after, fortunately, unlikely many other products, guitar's tend to hold their value quite well, so you would be able to recover the vast majority of your expenses should your child give up after a while; equally, if they do take up the guitar as a serious hobby it will make an excellent guitar to learn on and will see them through for many years after they've 'mastered' the art of playing. For more experienced guitarists, the Pacifica offers great versatility and as a gigging guitar is ideal for the vast majority of situations. If you have a dedicated style, then perhaps a more expensive guitar is worth investing in, but as something that can turn its hands to most styles, there are few guitars with such scope, especially in the price range.
I for one wouldn't trade my Pacifica for anything. Additional guitars have been and will continue to be added to my collection, but the Pacifica is always a firm favourite and one I always pick up from time to time just to enjoy playing. I'd personally highly recommend this guitar to guitarists of any and all levels.
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Yamaha make great instruments, I've tried their trumpets and they are great, Know what you mean about Les Pauls, at my age I have to be careful not to risk a hernia, fortunately my new toy, a Gibson Les paul Studio is substantially lighter than many I have played in the past.
Good in depth review.
hillwalker678 25.05.2007 17:24
Great review, lots of detail, espeicially liked your opinion about the guitar being suitable for most playing styles. I am thinking of buying an electric guitar, I will definatly try this one at a music shop.
matt_fletcher 04.12.2006 19:52
Great review! Very helpful, and thanks :) I'm considering selling my Stagg Flying V (which I bought because I thought it looked cool about 5 years ago, but now realise looks stupid and is impossible to hold) and buying a new "axe", and this seems like a good choice! Many thanks :) Matt
Yamaha are set to redefine the affordable electric guitar once again with the launch of an ... more
all-new Pacifica 112. When the Pacifica 112 was launched in 1993 it turned the entry-level guitar market on its head. At the time most guitars in its price-range...
Postage & Packaging: £6.50 Availability: See merchant site
Yamaha are set to redefine the affordable electric guitar once again with the launch of an ... more
all-new Pacifica 112. When the Pacifica 112 was launched in 1993 it turned the entry-level guitar market on its head. At the time most guitars in its price-range...
Postage & Packaging: £6.50 Availability: See merchant site
Advantages: Great sound, relatively cheap, nice design, great starter guitar, also comes in left handed model Disadvantages: Wont immediately turn you into Hendrix :)
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very helpful by (92%):
