What do you think, too much or just right for the quality? Yamaha Pacifica Pro at Sweetwater (US 🇺🇸) sweetwater.sjv.io/LXj6zj Yamaha Pacifica Pro at Thomann (EU 🇪🇺) thmn.to/thoprod/584234?offid=1&affid=288 Yamaha Pacifica Pro at Andertons (UK🇬🇧) elkqr.link/ti9ot
I've never played a high-end pacifica that is significantly better than a 112 series. I changed the ceramic pickup for an alnico in mine, and 12 years later, it still does the business.
I always considered the Pacificas as a sleeper guitar. I have an early example, a 512, probably mid 90s. it was inexpensive when I got it and had great specs for it's price, noiseless strat pickups neck and middle, powerful bridge humbucker, two point bridge and locking tuners. This model sounds great and looks amazing with fantastic specs.
Sterling by Music Man fixes that problem for a lot less. I have the same issue with the volume knob and my under 300 dollar sterling does the job just fine. I love it.
All subjective of course, but still... The Pacifica 612 has nicer finishes and a matching headstock, Seymour Duncan pickups (which sound more open / less compressed), a pretty good Wilkinson vibrato and locking tuners for less than half the price, even just half the price if you add a decent case. While it is "only" made in Indonesia, that does not mean much these days - every 611/612 I have tried was flawless. That leaves stainless steel frets as the only real differentiator, and I personally hate them (slippery, and some harshness to harmonics). While SS-frets are a big hype, I can't say I want or need them. I have guitars with nickel/silver frets that I own since the 1970s which still have their original frets and play just fine.
Yup, I'm not a fan of stainless either - they feel a little 'too' slick at times, tend to do something to the tone that I don't like, and they're an absolute pain to work with when they wear, which contrary to hype, they do. Also agreed on the 612, it's an absolutely cracking guitar which feels and sounds like it should be double the price. Yamaha's Indonesian factory really is kicking out some great stuff these days.
I've been a fan of Yamaha since the early 80s. I've owned a Yamaha trumpet, Keyboards, and more guitars than I can count since getting my first Yamaha used around 1987. I'm a huge fan of the old SBG series, the Pacificas, and the Revstar line. The Pacificas are a great value. I love this Pacifica Pro and may get one. This is what I'd call a mature guitar. It's not designed to be the loudest or the fastest, but very well rounded for most styles. I love the clarity of the pickups even with gain. Better than all the overpowered mega metal pickups.
I own a Pacifica Standard Plus and love it, use it in the studio and major shows. I don’t find it far off from the Japanese version. I have the Rev Standard as well, Yamaha has been killing it with quality guitars.
Not really, they literally only took the knobs and fret markers from Revstar. Everything else is different. Which is fine. I wish they kept the Revstar price for the PAC Standard, though.
The bridge Humbucker sounds the best to me. Clean. Obviously, it depends on taste, on the song/mix, etc. But just to my personal taste, I like a more mid, fuller tone over a treble tone. Definitely prefer WITH the compressor. I would need a lot more bottom end to this sort of guitar. It just doesn’t vibe for me without it.
I agree that the truss rod adjuster should be at the bottom of the fretboard on every guitar. Not a fan of the pick guard tho. If I had to choose between that and an Ibanez, I'd choose the latter.
I agree with you about the pricing, it definitely feels on the higher side. $2k USD is well above Fender's MIJ lines and into mid-level American Strat territory. I'm sure this is *the* guitar for some people, but at least on paper that pricing might raise some eyebrows.
I want this guitar because there's really no bottom end and I am a huge fan of Rupert Neve . I don't think it sounds good with drive or distortion. Great review, I have watched a lot of them on this guitar.
** Plug that Yamaha into a Roland JC-120 amp for cleans and be amazed. Pick any Yamaha MIJ professional series guitar, and I'll show you a guitar that will fool 100% of the people 100% of the time that they're listening to a Gibson, Fender usa, or any other "boutique " brand that comes to mind, they're that good ! and also that expensive, but for good reason.
I have a 112 that I think is great. To me, Yamaha has never made a bad product with everything they make or made, but what the hell are they doing with the pickguard? Bring back the standard or just get rid of it already.
I'm sure those pickups are capable of some fairly diverse tones. But I never understood putting a humbucker in an S type, that sounds just like a singlecoil. Kinda defeats the purpose. That's how my Cutlass sounded, before I tore it all out and put my choice of pickups and switching options in it. Now when I switch to full humbucker alone, it rips hard. But when coilsplit, combined with the neck pickup. I can get Tele tones all day. Why anybody would want the middle pickup in 3 out of the 5 switch positions? Much rather have the neck pickup in 3 out of 5. That's a great guitar I'd imagine. Something about the upper horn shape, and arm carve bevel. Along with the headstock. Just don't do it for me. Probably plays like butter. But it looks a bit dated. Anyhow, cool review. More short reviews please. Peace!
I have the Standard Plus (same pickups) and while I love the feel and look of it, the pickups are terrible. Which sucks, because I was hoping they’d be like the best ever. They are very crispy sounding and I can’t get past it. Debating whether I should return it or invest in swapping the pickups to something else
@@orlandocarrillo8730 I don’t own one yet, but this has been my main concern is the pickups. I would be curious to try one out and experiment a lot with a 7-band EQ to shift the sound into sounding a bit more like traditional pickups, hah you tried that yet to see if that works? Because my understanding is that they were trying to create very “clean slate”, neutrally voiced pickups that you could take any direction.
@@TheGuitarGeek I always wonder if it is simply the wood they are sourcing, because they are chambered well, so it has to be the heavy wood weighing them down.
2nd comment: @ 17:45 I wonder if that trem arrangement reducing pull/draw on pickup magnets (yup all three) is a factor in its overall sound output? And agreed - the sound can be made anyway but it cannot be cleaned up. And agreed - it should not be called a Pacifica. It is like Tesla doing a car and calling it Ford Escort
Nasty graunch as you dive-bombed it... could do with some 'Nut-Sauce' liberally applied :) Personally for me, it is a but bright/thin - but it could seriously have a place in the collection for when you need the cut through. Yes, I see why you liken it to a Suhr. Ouch! The price.... ouch again.
The amount of people in the comments dismissing this guitar as “too expensive” but would go out and buy their umpteenth Gibson/ fender American ultra. I can bet I can count on one hand the number of people in the comments who actually went out and bought/rented/played this guitar for a bit to get a good feel for it. Because I did (bought it a few months ago). And I think it can easily stand toe to toe with Fender and Ibanez guitars in the same price range. In fact, I preferred this over the AZ prestige. It’s easy to see Yamaha and think they aren’t worth much purely because of branding.
I was hoping for an evolution of the previous generation Pacifica - contoured neck heel, stainless steel frets, truss rod wheel at the end of the neck ….. but then we got this. The pickups aren’t as nice as the Seymour Duncan’s and the pickguard is ugly 😢
Yamaha makes some great guitars, but 2 grand for that? No thanks. For that price I'd rather have a USA Fender that would hold its value much better for much longer.
Nice guitar, but the price is ridiculous. Even the standard one costs too much, considering what the competition offers (most noticeably Harley Benton ST-Modern Plus at a third of a price). I love Yamaha and own two Revstars, but new Pacificas (both standard and pro) are way overpriced.
Nice enough guitar. But kind of one sided in terms of tones. Also a little pricey (IMO) for what it is. If you mostly do funk or Zulu style guitar it’s all that. But as a Swiss army knife Strat it wouldn’t provide enough tonal variety to suit my needs tastes.
@@Robstafarian What’s wrong with a normal Pacifica neck? I get that it has a little medallion on it and the spoke wheel. But that’s minor concessions I think. eBay has tons of necks sub $100.
@@allenmitchell09 I was referring to the nut width, as this model is what it costs to get a Pacifica with a 42mm nut. A custom neck would be needed because Pacificas, to my knowledge, do not use a Fender neck pocket.
Based on what you play, this may not matter, but the compound radius and carved heel are a huge difference for people who do faster soloing on upper frets. Also, the finish on Pacifica 612’s neck no bueno for me and my hands.
It is ugly and way too pricey. My opinion, sorry yamaha. 2150 € at thomann, wow! Even the big F does really good guitars at this pricepoint. I like the neck adjustment on the ibanezzes more. And smell? Come on. Fender smells like teen spirit. Ask Kurt 🙂
I think they’re fighting an uphill battle with the Neve pickups. Probably they spent $$$ on R&D, raising the MSRP and trusting players will see the Neve name and assume they sound good. I imagine many players will switch them out for their own preferred pickup brand anyway.
Just not worth 2k Andy. first, all of them look like the cheap version. When I picked one up the feel is way better than the cheaper ones no question its professional.....its just not even as good my premium Ibanez let alone the prestige version.....ibanez all day sorry. Some more premium Finnishes, electronics upgrades switches mainly (not a fan of those pickups...but they do a thing and I could live with them) and maybe some flamey necks, then it's a competitor. Also needs a face (high profile up and coming player) to get away from the "cheap stigma".
@@TheGuitarGeek Don't get me wrong Andy it is a really good guitar, it really is. If they had come in at Az premium price (maybe a little higher 1300/1400 as you say) I may have came to a more favourable opinion but at 2k it needs something it doesn't deliver.....a wow factor, the choices available are forgettable at best.
I felt so sad selling my PAC 611... It was a great guitar in every way, and an excellent price when I bought it, but I measured the nut to be a shade under 40mm - all just too cramped for big hands 😢
I know that Yamaha guitars are good, extremly good instruments for what you pay, every time I play one I am very pleased. But... they are just not sexy for some reason. They don't speak to me at all. They don't make me wanna have one for some reason.
It seems wrong footed to upgrade a model, that is renowned for punching its weight, in the low to medium range price point, by increasing the specs and price, in order to compete with the bigger brands/boutique brands. Perhaps, quite unfairly, Yamaha, is an unfashionable brand and, as such, this seems like a fairly precarious business choice; the market is currently saturated by quite expensive guitars competing against each other and, by a higher volume of inexpensive guitars that have great quality. IDK it just doesn't seem to make sense?
What do you think, too much or just right for the quality?
Yamaha Pacifica Pro at Sweetwater (US 🇺🇸) sweetwater.sjv.io/LXj6zj
Yamaha Pacifica Pro at Thomann (EU 🇪🇺) thmn.to/thoprod/584234?offid=1&affid=288
Yamaha Pacifica Pro at Andertons (UK🇬🇧) elkqr.link/ti9ot
I've never played a high-end pacifica that is significantly better than a 112 series. I changed the ceramic pickup for an alnico in mine, and 12 years later, it still does the business.
I always considered the Pacificas as a sleeper guitar. I have an early example, a 512, probably mid 90s. it was inexpensive when I got it and had great specs for it's price, noiseless strat pickups neck and middle, powerful bridge humbucker, two point bridge and locking tuners. This model sounds great and looks amazing with fantastic specs.
Wow - love the clean tnes on this, especially positions 2 and 4.
Give me this in a hardtail or Tele-style format and I’d have a lot of funk and fusion fun. Great review (glad you discovered the tone control!)
Great review! Yamaha makes fantastic guitars at any price point, but £1800 for the Pacifica Pro is a steep road to funky town.
Wondeful axe, would make any guitarrist happy. The craftsmanship is beautiful, sound is great.
Biggest feature, apart from the pickups, is the position of the volume control. I hate its location on a normal strat.
Sterling by Music Man fixes that problem for a lot less. I have the same issue with the volume knob and my under 300 dollar sterling does the job just fine. I love it.
All subjective of course, but still... The Pacifica 612 has nicer finishes and a matching headstock, Seymour Duncan pickups (which sound more open / less compressed), a pretty good Wilkinson vibrato and locking tuners for less than half the price, even just half the price if you add a decent case. While it is "only" made in Indonesia, that does not mean much these days - every 611/612 I have tried was flawless. That leaves stainless steel frets as the only real differentiator, and I personally hate them (slippery, and some harshness to harmonics). While SS-frets are a big hype, I can't say I want or need them. I have guitars with nickel/silver frets that I own since the 1970s which still have their original frets and play just fine.
Yup, I'm not a fan of stainless either - they feel a little 'too' slick at times, tend to do something to the tone that I don't like, and they're an absolute pain to work with when they wear, which contrary to hype, they do. Also agreed on the 612, it's an absolutely cracking guitar which feels and sounds like it should be double the price. Yamaha's Indonesian factory really is kicking out some great stuff these days.
@@FuzzWoof Lost me at ''SS frets do something to the tone''. From the same creators of the tone woods...
I've been a fan of Yamaha since the early 80s. I've owned a Yamaha trumpet, Keyboards, and more guitars than I can count since getting my first Yamaha used around 1987. I'm a huge fan of the old SBG series, the Pacificas, and the Revstar line. The Pacificas are a great value. I love this Pacifica Pro and may get one. This is what I'd call a mature guitar. It's not designed to be the loudest or the fastest, but very well rounded for most styles. I love the clarity of the pickups even with gain. Better than all the overpowered mega metal pickups.
“That Yamaha smell”
Two stroke oil? Delicious that is
😂
All torque all the time
The smell of a 2-stroke piano case :D
instructions unclear, tried to play Money For Nothing on my MT-10
@@TRDarnell created a cross brand paradox
I own a Pacifica Standard Plus and love it, use it in the studio and major shows. I don’t find it far off from the Japanese version. I have the Rev Standard as well, Yamaha has been killing it with quality guitars.
It looks like they've taken some of the best bits of the Revstar and out them in an S type format, really nice
Yes! That’s pretty much it!
Not really, they literally only took the knobs and fret markers from Revstar. Everything else is different. Which is fine. I wish they kept the Revstar price for the PAC Standard, though.
The 90s Pacifica T style ❤
The bridge Humbucker sounds the best to me. Clean. Obviously, it depends on taste, on the song/mix, etc. But just to my personal taste, I like a more mid, fuller tone over a treble tone.
Definitely prefer WITH the compressor.
I would need a lot more bottom end to this sort of guitar. It just doesn’t vibe for me without it.
I agree that the truss rod adjuster should be at the bottom of the fretboard on every guitar. Not a fan of the pick guard tho. If I had to choose between that and an Ibanez, I'd choose the latter.
I agree with you about the pricing, it definitely feels on the higher side. $2k USD is well above Fender's MIJ lines and into mid-level American Strat territory. I'm sure this is *the* guitar for some people, but at least on paper that pricing might raise some eyebrows.
I want this guitar because there's really no bottom end and I am a huge fan of Rupert Neve . I don't think it sounds good with drive or distortion. Great review, I have watched a lot of them on this guitar.
Thanks bro.
Ya ma wan try one a dem! That inlay is cool! Oh that new case smell!
Love that sound!
** Plug that Yamaha into a Roland JC-120 amp for cleans and be amazed.
Pick any Yamaha MIJ professional series guitar, and I'll show you a guitar that will fool 100% of the people 100% of the time that they're listening to a Gibson, Fender usa, or any other "boutique " brand that comes to mind, they're that good ! and also that expensive, but for good reason.
I have never thought of Fender or Gibson as "boutique" brands, rather the exact opposite.
I have a 112 that I think is great. To me, Yamaha has never made a bad product with everything they make or made, but what the hell are they doing with the pickguard? Bring back the standard or just get rid of it already.
I'm sure those pickups are capable of some fairly diverse tones. But I never understood putting a humbucker in an S type, that sounds just like a singlecoil. Kinda defeats the purpose.
That's how my Cutlass sounded, before I tore it all out and put my choice of pickups and switching options in it.
Now when I switch to full humbucker alone, it rips hard. But when coilsplit, combined with the neck pickup. I can get Tele tones all day. Why anybody would want the middle pickup in 3 out of the 5 switch positions? Much rather have the neck pickup in 3 out of 5.
That's a great guitar I'd imagine. Something about the upper horn shape, and arm carve bevel. Along with the headstock. Just don't do it for me. Probably plays like butter. But it looks a bit dated. Anyhow, cool review. More short reviews please. Peace!
I have the Standard Plus (same pickups) and while I love the feel and look of it, the pickups are terrible. Which sucks, because I was hoping they’d be like the best ever. They are very crispy sounding and I can’t get past it. Debating whether I should return it or invest in swapping the pickups to something else
@@orlandocarrillo8730 I don’t own one yet, but this has been my main concern is the pickups. I would be curious to try one out and experiment a lot with a 7-band EQ to shift the sound into sounding a bit more like traditional pickups, hah you tried that yet to see if that works? Because my understanding is that they were trying to create very “clean slate”, neutrally voiced pickups that you could take any direction.
I think I still dig the Revstar more.
I would still take the revstar over this even though they are insanely heavy
@@TheGuitarGeek I always wonder if it is simply the wood they are sourcing, because they are chambered well, so it has to be the heavy wood weighing them down.
Yamaha needs to release a GP colorway to match my bike
If you own a recording studio and need a decent guitar, maybe. You could recoup some of the cost through tax write-off.
2nd comment: @ 17:45 I wonder if that trem arrangement reducing pull/draw on pickup magnets (yup all three) is a factor in its overall sound output?
And agreed - the sound can be made anyway but it cannot be cleaned up.
And agreed - it should not be called a Pacifica. It is like Tesla doing a car and calling it Ford Escort
Grab a pacifica 612, excellent value
I dig the guitar, not the pickups though. The humbucker was fine, but the single coils are not to my liking.
Maybe lf it had P90s!!!
Nasty graunch as you dive-bombed it... could do with some 'Nut-Sauce' liberally applied :) Personally for me, it is a but bright/thin - but it could seriously have a place in the collection for when you need the cut through. Yes, I see why you liken it to a Suhr. Ouch! The price.... ouch again.
I like it. It would go very well with my bike and motorboat, too. And it’s in the colour scheme of my keyboard, too!
/s
They should have called it something else. "Pacifica" brings certain things to mind. This is something else. Seems cool but 2 grand? nah
The amount of people in the comments dismissing this guitar as “too expensive” but would go out and buy their umpteenth Gibson/ fender American ultra.
I can bet I can count on one hand the number of people in the comments who actually went out and bought/rented/played this guitar for a bit to get a good feel for it. Because I did (bought it a few months ago).
And I think it can easily stand toe to toe with Fender and Ibanez guitars in the same price range. In fact, I preferred this over the AZ prestige.
It’s easy to see Yamaha and think they aren’t worth much purely because of branding.
It’s a Yamaha. Of course it’s going to be quality
I don't see no kick stand? :)
Hard meh on that one, maybe it would look snappier in a bold tartan plaid?
I was hoping for an evolution of the previous generation Pacifica - contoured neck heel, stainless steel frets, truss rod wheel at the end of the neck ….. but then we got this. The pickups aren’t as nice as the Seymour Duncan’s and the pickguard is ugly 😢
Yamaha makes some great guitars, but 2 grand for that? No thanks. For that price I'd rather have a USA Fender that would hold its value much better for much longer.
Nice guitar, but the price is ridiculous. Even the standard one costs too much, considering what the competition offers (most noticeably Harley Benton ST-Modern Plus at a third of a price). I love Yamaha and own two Revstars, but new Pacificas (both standard and pro) are way overpriced.
I would be a fan, but this is what it costs to get a Pacifica with a 42mm nut.
I can't find much differences to the “Standard", which is more than 800€ less. Ok the Standard comes with a gigbag😅
Resonant cuts? Come on...
Its worth 2,000 pizzas ! I don´t know if I should go on a pizza diet for so long.
Nice enough guitar. But kind of one sided in terms of tones. Also a little pricey (IMO) for what it is. If you mostly do funk or Zulu style guitar it’s all that. But as a Swiss army knife Strat it wouldn’t provide enough tonal variety to suit my needs tastes.
Only special because your holding it 😊
I'd call the inlays pill shaped.
I am speed 😎
Can I be Knuckles?
I’ll be the bee’s Knees if that role is still available?
damn this guitar looks super fresh despite being (at it's core) a black strat....
I agree! It’s more than just a strat copy
@@TheGuitarGeek It would go from a 3/10 to a 10/10 without the pickguard. It's so off-putting to me.
2k?!?!? Wow.
It needs to be a bit special for £2k. I'm not really seeing or hearing it.
I respect but hate it
Yamaha Pacifica is for sure a best bang for the buck guitar until now . Way too expensive and guaranteed to drop like a lead weight in resale value.
Those pickups are way too ice picky. They sound awful! Especially with distortion.
You could buy a low end Pacifica and take the extra money and upgrade it to be better than this and still have money left over.
You would need a custom neck, which will use up a lot of the difference. It would cost less to assemble a partsocaster.
@@Robstafarian What’s wrong with a normal Pacifica neck? I get that it has a little medallion on it and the spoke wheel. But that’s minor concessions I think. eBay has tons of necks sub $100.
@@allenmitchell09 I was referring to the nut width, as this model is what it costs to get a Pacifica with a 42mm nut. A custom neck would be needed because Pacificas, to my knowledge, do not use a Fender neck pocket.
I guess I just don’t see this model as being too far away from the base model.
Based on what you play, this may not matter, but the compound radius and carved heel are a huge difference for people who do faster soloing on upper frets. Also, the finish on Pacifica 612’s neck no bueno for me and my hands.
It is ugly and way too pricey. My opinion, sorry yamaha. 2150 € at thomann, wow! Even the big F does really good guitars at this pricepoint. I like the neck adjustment on the ibanezzes more. And smell? Come on. Fender smells like teen spirit. Ask Kurt 🙂
@@purplerocket666 also doesn’t sound better than a squier
@@kerrytyk111 👍👍
I think they’re fighting an uphill battle with the Neve pickups. Probably they spent $$$ on R&D, raising the MSRP and trusting players will see the Neve name and assume they sound good. I imagine many players will switch them out for their own preferred pickup brand anyway.
Just not worth 2k Andy. first, all of them look like the cheap version. When I picked one up the feel is way better than the cheaper ones no question its professional.....its just not even as good my premium Ibanez let alone the prestige version.....ibanez all day sorry. Some more premium Finnishes, electronics upgrades switches mainly (not a fan of those pickups...but they do a thing and I could live with them) and maybe some flamey necks, then it's a competitor. Also needs a face (high profile up and coming player) to get away from the "cheap stigma".
Getting away from the cheap stigma IS a problem.
@@TheGuitarGeek Don't get me wrong Andy it is a really good guitar, it really is. If they had come in at Az premium price (maybe a little higher 1300/1400 as you say) I may have came to a more favourable opinion but at 2k it needs something it doesn't deliver.....a wow factor, the choices available are forgettable at best.
I felt so sad selling my PAC 611... It was a great guitar in every way, and an excellent price when I bought it, but I measured the nut to be a shade under 40mm - all just too cramped for big hands 😢
@@mattburdock1734 Yep! This is what it costs to get a Pacifica with a 42mm nut.
I know that Yamaha guitars are good, extremly good instruments for what you pay, every time I play one I am very pleased. But... they are just not sexy for some reason. They don't speak to me at all. They don't make me wanna have one for some reason.
It seems wrong footed to upgrade a model, that is renowned for punching its weight, in the low to medium range price point, by increasing the specs and price, in order to compete with the bigger brands/boutique brands. Perhaps, quite unfairly, Yamaha, is an unfashionable brand and, as such, this seems like a fairly precarious business choice; the market is currently saturated by quite expensive guitars competing against each other and, by a higher volume of inexpensive guitars that have great quality.
IDK it just doesn't seem to make sense?
Gotta jam out some Toshiki Kadomatsu or Casiopea