Yamaha Pacifica 311 Mike Stern

I recently took this in for a customer order- new pickups.

The guitar's an HH to start with (looks like SH, but the bridge pickup is cunningly disguised as a singlecoil).

Simple setup- 3 way switch, volume & tone, hardtail bridge. 6 individual saddles that needed extreme intonation adjustment.

Pretty good tuners for the price- they do the job well, despite slightly wobbly posts.

Alder body, stained a really lovely cream colour with nicely offset cream binding. Good string-through body design.

Put simply, it's a Japanese Fender Telecaster with a few choice mods.

The standard sound is horribly, horribly dull. I can see why the guitar needed a change.

Having replaced the stock pickups (neck pickup is now a Kent Armstrong P90, and the bridge is a DiMarzio Chopper), I can say the guitar now sounds extremely good!!

One thing to seriously watch if you buy this guitar and change the pickups- the bridge pickup is larger than your average Tele design (usefully...) and the neck pickup is, oddly enough, smaller. So you'll need to file the scratchplate. The gap in the bridge isn't really significant.

Stock sounds- generic, bland, generally crap. RATING NORMAL: 5
Modified sounds- excellent, absolutely sublime. Guitar really sings with new mods.

The guitar was actually quite well setup from the factory, it played in a very slinky fashion. Having replaced the strings, this opinion was furthered. I'm embarrassed to say that it outshone my old American Deluxe Telecaster FMT HH as a player.

The only thing that needed real adjustment was the intonation, which was piss-poor from the factory.

Aside from that, you can't really fault it. Very good indeed!!

It's a pretty solid guitar. I gigged with it once the mods were done, and it held tuning very well, sounded excellent and got a lot of comments whence finished.

Fair to say that the Japanese have really got the reliability section sorted. I'd feel confident using it at a gig without a backup.

No idea.

I've been playing a long time, around 10 years. I've been modding guitars for around 5 years, and can honestly say that this one is in the top 3 for responding well to modifications.

It's an excellent guitar to play, sounds brilliant once you've sorted out the pickups problem and it's a good looker too. Once you get over the badge snobbery, you can really enjoy this guitar.

The features are already well covered in previous reviews.

The stock pickups are great for rock, but I wanted something a little more traditionally Tele sounding, so opted for a Wilkinson Broadcaster at the bridge and a GFS P90 at the neck-twangtastic!

It's a Yamaha, so the finish is very, very impressive. Mine has the orange stain finish and is stunning to the eye. I can't stop looking at it!

Built like a brick privvy, so it will outlast me. The saddles needed to be replaced because they were a little nasty and I changed the awful pickup selector for a Fender one.

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I've been playing for over 30 years (badly I might add), and have owned guitars from the top American manufacturers, and in my opinion, you are wasting both your time and money on their overrated products. I would'nt drive an American car, so why would I use an American built guitar? No thanks. I'm not a label snob, I look at things for what they are, and this guitar knocks Fender Teles into a cocked hat.

This is an update from my review in 2003. My 311MS is still going strong, but I recently changed the pickups, replaced the tuners by Schallers, the bridge by a graphtec ferraglide en had it rewired. Bridge-pick was a Dimarzio Fasttrack, which was very nice. To make it really hotrod, I put in a Tonezone T, a real Tele-monster. Original neckpup was a bit dull and replaced by an Dimarzio Vintage Paf. Oh man, now this baby had a pro-sound. Very smooth en sweet sound from the PAF, blistering distortion with heavenly harmonics from the Tonezone. Of course the Fender-type sound was gone, but..... after a friend of me had built in a coiltap (push-pull on the volumeknob) the pickups can be split. In single coil-mode you get all the twang, funk and hollow SRV-neckpup-sound. Now I have SIX sounds on tap. I hear tones from this guitar I never heard before. Extremely versatile now with a bit of extra investment. Owners of a 311 MS, I can recommend this modification. This resonant guitar with fantastic neck really deserves it.

With some extra investment (puppies, bridge, tuners, coiltap) this guitar get so much better and is so much more rewarding. Real pro-sound now.

Vintage Blonde, telecaster shape. fixed bridge strung through body. Mine is Taiwanese probably late 80's 90's. Alder body, ash cap, maple neck and added maple fingerboard. Two Yamaha SD look-alikes, an Alnico V Humbucker at the neck and a Ferrite Hot Rails Humbucker at the bridge. Yamaha's own excellent sprung loaded tuners. 3 position switch, volume and tone. Sadly cheap electronics let the side down slightly - I have had to replace the pots with Japanese CTS ones as the originals became unusable. No great expense though - just irritating.

This guitar sings! It is solid and sustains well which together with the high output pickups means that it's never plinky if lacking a little definition at times. You can achieve a thick tele sound with suitable EQ but this guitar is really more at home with rock , jazz & blues - the Mike Stern influence. Owning the more expensive (and very different PAC1511MS real deal) I can honestly say that soundwise this is a reasonable impersonation of the Mike Stern guitar although the feel is totally different.

I have always found Yamaha to be highly consistent in terms of quality. This guitar is very well made in terms of materials and construction. Regarding finish, the woods, fretting and laquer are 1st class putting Fender to shame with some of their 2nd rate offerings. The only major criticism is the height of the saddle adjusting screws which are way too high. 1/2 hour with a file will put this right - however did Yamaha get this wrong!

This guitar will last - for sure. The quality materials alone will keep it going apart from the pots and maybe the switch - plastic. I use this for gigs without backup with no concerns.

Yamaha customer support are truly excellent be it spares, wiring diagrams, high tech help, etc.

I have played, and taught guitar for 40 years, owned many American, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Indonesian guitars, and can honestly say that this is a good value and interesting guitar. Is it a Mike Stern? No!! it's nothing like it in terms of feel and character - the neck radius is totally different, as are the woods, weight and dimensions. You see the clowns on Ebay trying to tell you it's the same thing - no way!(I've owned several of each) It does however capture the sound of the PAC1511 but adds its own unique character. You have to bear in mind that this guitar features Yamahas albeit very good standard tele body and pac 112 neck unlike the Japanese 1511. It's light , solid sounds great, well made and looks terrific. Don't buy a Fender, buy a PAC311 you'll love it!

While the Yamaha website refers to the Mike Stern model in its listing for this, that (the PAC1511MS Mike Stern Signature) is a different, more expensive model. This is actually the PAC311MS model, the MS referring to Maple (fingerboard) & Single (cutaway), and was made in Taiwan (& unfortunately now discontinued). There was also a PAC311S version with rosewood fingerboard available.

Anyway, take an American Standard Tele, give it a body contour on the back, an ash veneer top with binding, a Yamaha stock neck humbucker and "hot rail" type bridge pu, and there you have it. The Vintage Blonde body is more vanilla than pale white, and the neck is less tinted, with a semi-gloss finish. The maple fingerboard is a separate piece from the neck, the way Warmoth makes them, though for this model it's probably not a Warmoth. The radius is flatter than on a Tele at 13.75 inches. Great workmanship and quality materials throughout. Features at least equivalent to a Tele, so a "10".

The neck pu is jazzy. The bridge pu, as a single coil size humbucker, is a bit of a compromise: it's not quite as twangy as a Tele, and it won't quite shred, but it'll cover everything in between, and it's quiet. Together they do a great "Keef" Richards (etc.) thing.

I got this used, and it was well taken care of. Action and intonation are perfect. The finish is flawless and the fittings like the neck pocket (etc.) are impeccable.

Build like a rock, with little to go wrong.

No experience, but I've heard they're great.

This guitar won't do everything but it'll take care of a lot. Nice to have at least one guitar without a tremelo and the associated hassles. Simple and easy to use. I replaced the string retainer with a graphite one and added a second. The output jack plate could have been metal, but the plastic one will do. A great, solid instrument and value.

Made in Japan Mike Stern Pacifica "Telecaster" signature Guitar.
This is the coolest and hottest (Seymour Duncan Humbuckers) tele i ever played. I replaced the bridge by a Gotho Telecaster bridge which looks nice and has a simular response. The neck is a real winner and i like to thank Mike for the design. Body is a 2-piece ash body with binding on the top side and a smooth engraving for the picking arm, cool 2. Did i say that the inlines on the neck really shine?

Well, it plays very well. The humbuckers give it a fat sound. No noise, not too bright, like a Fender Tele, but more detailed.
I use this guitar for funk, jazz and everything else and it works out fine. What more can i say.
Not a classical Tele sound, but I like it very much.

The setup was done by my local guitar craftsman and they did a good job.
Yamaha did a good job 2; really nice body and neck.

Well this guitar is as solid as any Fenders, what more can i say.

I am playing guitar and bass for 20 years now.
One cannot say that i am a jazz player but who cares when playing this axe.
I tried out many guitars untill now and I find the Mike Stern made by Yamaha is the best electric guitar I had the pleasure to play with. Thanks to Mike for the layout.

I already own 3 guitars , but when I saw this orange beast I had to get it, Not sure were it is made but the pickups are seymore duncan and work great it has one humbucker style pickup and one single coil for a nice mix of sounds the body is ash the neck and fretboard are both maple,the neck feels good in the hand . there is a 3 way switch for the pickups 1 volume 1 tone control.

the reason I bought this guitar was the pickup configuration , I like the mix between the humbucker and single coil,you can go from crisp and clear to raunchy with a flick of a switch and the turn of a knob.I currently use it with a Fender Blues distorton pedal and boss sd1 super overdrive, I am playing through a 30watt marshall

The guitar when played on factory settings was good but I made a small adjustment to the pickups and string hight but it is personal preference .the finish was fine ,I like the matt finish on the neck you hand slides nicely,all hardware and finish was excellent.

Well I have had this one for a month of band rehearsals and nothing has shown sighns of wear ,the hardware seems to be very good quality,not too sure about the finish it seems a little thin but I have never owned a natural wood stained guitar before. I think it would be fine on a gig without a backup.

I have just got back in to playing ,I stopped playing after highschool,and when I got married the wife encouraged me to take it up again,Ive be back at it about 2 months.I own a jay turser jazz box
semi hollowbody , and a BcRich Flying V , And a Washburn Chicago ,I play through a Marshal mx 30 and use a Boss super overdrive and Fender
Blues Master 2 Pedals.If It was Stolen I think I would Definetly buy another one it is great quality for the money. I compared it to a squire telecaster , but I found I liked the sound out of the Yamaha better not as tinney. I like the orange stain but I hate the black pickguard , the more I see it the more it just seems wrong ,im going to change that soon.

Tele style string through body guitar. Maple neck. Superb quality of construction. Good old fashioned workhorse. I'm giving it a 10 because of its quality

The stock nech humbucker and bridge hotrail were loved by my son who likes heavy metal. I replaced them with a Seymour Duncan Jazz pickup at the neck and an alnico pro single coil tele pickup at the bridge. The young fellow in the guitar shop who replaced the pickups must also have liked heavy metal, because they came back set too high and close to the strings - too mushy. I lowered them down and now the guitar plays superbly - every note articulates beautifully. Highly recommended set up for Jazz, Blues, clean stuff and recording.

Superb quality guitar. Bought by me second hand from e-bay and needed a set up, but I bet it came from the factory set up really nice.

I don't gig any more, but this guitar is the perfect workhorse, more robust even than Fender's first.

Contacted the UK agents once for help in understanding the controls on a new RBX760A bass - nice helpful lot.

I've been playing for nearly thirty years. This guitar isbetter than a lot of more expensive guitars. I also have a Pacifica 604W, which is fantastic. You get a lot of quality for very reasonable money from Yamaha.

Short and sweet because it's been reviewed so many times before...
A basic tele copy with a single coil at the bridge and humbucker at the neck. The beauty in Pacifica models are the necks. Very comfy and fast without a ton if spray on them. Even the little plastic truss rod cover is done better than guitars costing $1000 bucks.
No locking nut, coil tap switch, batteries.... this is designed as a no nonsense workhorse. It has what it needs to get the job done.

Play primarily blues and rock on it through Roland amps. It covers the sonic playfield good. Not quite as twangy as a regular tele or
cheaper copies. The pickups are good enough to keep. Though I don't play Jazz you can can some sweet sounds if that's your style. I listened to plenty of Fenders and this sounded better. Years ago I played a Peavey Reactor that's a Tele copy against a wall of Fenders and prefered the Peavey. Listen woth your ears and not your eyes.

The tuners may need to be replaced in the future. Time will tell. All other hardware seems solid. I can find no faults. Yamaha QA seems pretty good with all their products.

I put strap locks on and she was good to go. No problem in over a year.

I always buy used.

Harmony Central is the first place I go when shopping for equipment. I try to pass the reviews from punks and look for old timers on HC that can speak their mind without fear of advertisers dollars going away due to a negative reviews. Listen to the old timers! A broomstick and piece of chickenwire won't cut it. You do need to spend some cash. The sound is in your hands and heart and the equipment is the tool to let others hear your music. Practice, practice, practice! For the price you can't beat this model if you want a Tele copy. Great job Yamaha............

I purchased a new Yamaha 311S, rosewood neck, vintage blond finish. The rest of the features are well stated in the previou review. This is my first electric.

I play jazz and was looking for an inexpensive, non arch-top capable of producing a nice mid-range tone. I do hope to get an arch top but I was afraid that at this price point I wouldn't find anything worthwhile and I can't justify the purchase of a more expensive one, like a Hofner Verythin. The guitar came with light gauge strings, unknown brand. I'm not convinced about the light gauge and have some Thomastik Jazz Swings in 11, 12 and 12 gauge on order to try them out. With the current strings, I use the neck humbucker exclusively. This pickup gives a pretty nice though generic mid-tone, picks up articulations pretty nicely. I think it lacks a little body but I need to replace the strings first to be sure what role the pickup plays. The mixed position and bridge-only add a nice twang but it's not what I'm looking for. If the pickup turns out to be not quite what I'm looking for, I may replace it with a Lollar Charlie Christian but that'll require some luthier work. We'll see.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well the guitar played out of the box. I haven't found a reason to adjust anything with the current strings. The action is pretty good, in combination with the light gauge strings, the neck very nice to play. The neck is perfectly straight. No tuning issues from what I could tell with the current strings. I imagine I will have to make some adjustments when I try out the heavier gauge strings. The fit and finish are excellent. The hardware is good and solid, the neck to body fit is very good, neck shape is very comfortable and the finish feels great in my hand. One thing I feared based on previous reviews was the fret finish. I'm happy to say the frets are fine, I haven't had any issue with the 1st string getting caught. The body finish is quite nice, the binding fine and pretty. The tone and volume knobs are solid but they need adjustment; the cone shaped pickup selector knob is the tackiest thing on the guitar, but seems pretty solidly set which is the only thing I care about. It's a very nice guitar to look at. Weight is pretty good, medium heavy.

I've had it for too short a time period. My gut tells me it will be reliable.

No need so far.

I'm a jazz upright and electric bass player. I've plunged into guitar this past year. Until now I've been playing an Ovation Legend 1867, which I enjoy immensely (except for a grounding noise issue).

It took me quite a while before making my decision to buy this guitar. I was pretty fixed on spending somewhere around 300 Euros for whatever I was going to get. I live in Madrid, Spain and there's not a very wide selection of electrics here for one to try. Among other things, nobody had the Yamaha 311 in stock. I was wary of the price/value relationship of Fenders, though some Squier models seem to have a good reputation. Still the Squiers seem to require some adjustment. I ended up betting on the 311 based on the reviews here and elsewhere and Yamaha's solid reputation for quality. I wanted something that was more likely to play the way I wanted out of the box and so far this baby fits the bill. I feel I've gotten a lot of bang for the buck up to now.

If it were stolen I would immediately replace it with an identical model. What I like best about it is the solid feel it has and how very comfortable it is to play. It was a shot in the dark for me as I hadn't tried it beforehand but the bet was redeemed. It's outstanding for the price.