Yamaha Pacifica 120S

Satin, cream finish.
Body:tele-like but much thinner than ordinary tele.
Bridge fixed, strings thru body.
Tuners: die cast, non locking, not so bad, but could be better
Neck: medium, fender scale, 22 rather thin frets, rosewood, quite flat radius, can't guess which radius exactly 10 or more i guess,
Solid top.
1 volume, 1 tone, 3 way switch...just enough to get the job done. You don't need more than that.
Two passive stock humbuckers, which is the way i like it, and which is one of the reasons i got this axe rather than some squier thing
Body made of 4 piece alder (another reason to opt for this one rather than for squiers which are all agathis-made these days), maple bolt-on neck, rosewood fingerboard.

Hard rock, classic HM, heavy blues, some pop rock and pink floyd too. It suits quite well for most of these. But really needs a pickups change first.
I use it with Marshall JCM 800, 50 watts, through 4x12 1960a half stack, VOX valvetronix AD50 hybrid 50w combo, or with Laney solid state 100w combo, pro session reverb.
Effects: with JCM 800 almost none, Marshall guvnor II, as a driver/booster when i need it,
VOX has its own effects which are quite decent,
Laney goes with Korg AG1500 processor,

The guitar is dead quiet, even at high settings. With pickups change it became even better.
Accoustically it sounds quite decent. Recently, upper 3 strings started to sound a bit muffled. Sounds like aged strings even with a brand new string set. I guess it's the bridge saddles that caught up some dirt.
Despite that, the sound is quite bright accoustically, can be described as BRRANGG, which is not bad. Resonates quite well. Upper position have that wowel sound, which is the one i like. Sustain is not bad for guitar of this price range. The sound is not exceedingly rich but it\s rather tight and powerfull. Not the classical Telecaster sprrrrang.
The guitar is an excellent pickup platform. I changed several sets of pickups on it and each of them showed its real face when on this guitar. Stock pickups were bad, they really needed a replacement.
Duncan Custom SH-5 sounded like a sound invasion, tight and powerfull, not so PAFish as duncan describes it but sharper and more ceramic than PAFs. It had some sort of mid scooped sound with it. Not that the mids were lacking, but the treble and bottom end were all present and dominating. Very good for metallica kind of stuff on this guitar.
Seymor Duncan JB SH-4 with chrome covers was a much more transparent on this guitar. But i think that it is not so good match for this axe since guitar is bit bright and with JB in it (which is also bright) it sounded like lacking mids and bottom end.
Seymor Duncan '59 SH-1 in neck position it was lacking bottom end too, but it had this sparkling, glassy top edge which sounded almost strat/single coil/like. I liked it for Pink Floyd stuff.
Gibson 498 sounded good, but the top end was lacking a bit.

Now, the bid deal...
Di Marzio Super Distorsion is the perfect match for this guitar. With that one it gets that perfect soft high end with raunchy bottom end and sweet mids...It was perfect. That DiMarzio SD travelled from guitar to guitar finding the perfect place to set in. You might not beleive, but the Super Distorsion sounds better in this guitar than it sounded in guitars of much higher price range. (Hamer Standards, Epiphone Explorers, Fat strat, BC Rich Gunslinger etc) This was the real combination. When soloing in upper position it has that sweet wowel that makes it almost like neck pickup but with the clarity of bridge. Excellent. If you have this guitar, and like the the Gary-Moore-like solo, and Iron Maiden creamy riffs, load it with a Dimarzio super distorsion and you'll be gratefull for this advise.
As a perfect match for the SD on bridge i found the Dimarzio PAF pro. But since SD sounded soooo good i rarely used the neck pup for solos anyway. But it prooved to be quite usefull for cleans. Though PAF pro tended to sound a bit booomy on upper strings in clean mode.

Anyway, it's stupid to expect to get the Tele twang from this guitar. Those who say that are ignorant or stupid anyway. What do they thing the twang comes from? Body shape?!? That's the only thing that this guitar has with custom Telecaster. All the other elements are different. Note: Tele has a single coils, this is a humbucker loaded guitar. Tele is ash bodied, this is alder bodied axe. Tele has one piece maple neck & fretboard, this thing has a rosewood fretboard. Tele has brass bridge saddles, this thing has diecasted ones....etc. etc.
To expect a tele twang sound from this guitar is just as same as to expect to get it from a Les Paul.

I disregard the factory settings on any guitar. I do it myself.
The finish was OK. Solders inside decent, but didnt last anyway since they were replaced by my own ones.

It is a workhorse, Light and quite reliable. The finish will last.
The problem is the switch. It is so lightly moved that you swhitch from neck to middle position without noticing it...(except by the sound of course). And the switch started to flick and loose contact when in bridge position after 2 years. But, that is a minor problem.

But the major thing is that this guitars intonation, action and setup can be set to perfect. And that's what counts.

No idea.

I've been playing for 15 years. With major breaks here and there. I own 6 guitars besides this one. I like to buy and sell guitars, and to keep those that I like. Mostly of those korina, mahagony and alder made Hamer and Epiphone Explorers. Plus a pair of alder made strat likes and a baswood Ibanez. So, this is a brightest sounding guitar in my collection. The fact that i still have it and that i didn't sell it, prooves that i kinda like it.
I have a JCM 800, a VOX AD 50 Valvetronix and a Laney 100w session reverb solid state combo. I don't use much effects, just a Marshall Guvnor II overdrive. VOX has the processor on it's own. And with Laney i use KORG processor. But basically only Distorsion.
I don't like delays, flangers, choruses, vibratos and other stupid things. Just PLUG AND PLAY.
If it was stolen i would miss the DiMarzio super distorsion and PAF pro that would go away with it more than the guitar itself. But i guess i wouldn't buy it again. Not because I don't like it, but just that i would like to try something else.
I like the shape and the finish of the guitar. Since i mostly play Explorers (which are heavy weight) this guitar is fether light compared to them. That's what i like about it too.
I like the way it sounds with DiMarzio superdistorsion.
I hate the bridge saddles on this one, and the 3way switch.

When compared to my Explorers it is no match for them, but comes quite close.
When compared to guitars of it's price range...it's way above them. It's much better than several Squiers i had. MUCH better. And i wouldn't exchange it for any cotemporary squier at no price. (Though I would reconsider this if its a mid 80s Made in Japan squier. That's for sure)

See previous reviews

This is an update to my 01/31/2001 review. Since then, I replaced the bridge humbucker with a Seymour Parallel-Axis trembucker and removed everything but the volume pot (no switch, no tone, no neck pickup). After that is became a MONSTER!! The sound is just huge. The Seymour TB-1 pickup has an enormous low-end, which combined with the bright sound of Alder and the absence of treble rolloff (no tone control) creates a very rich sound which is defined and deep at the same time. The setup would probably work on any alder-bodied hardtail-bridged guitar, but for 300-400$ you can build yourself a guitar that gets the best metal tone ever. It totally s**** for clean though...

As said previously, the E string would sometimes slip off the nut when tuned down. I since replaced the nut with a "deeper" one, but the trick actually is to make sure there is as much tension as possible by winding the string from below on the tuner.

Still works

Yamaha 120s is tele-shaped (but not like Fender Telecasters),the body and the neck wood is maple, I think, and the fingerboard is Rosewood.
The neck isn't too fat or two thin, it's just the right size (I have pretty long fingers, and I have no problem playing it at all). It has two humbuckers, 1 volume nad 1 tone knob, and 3-way selector knob - that's as far as I know, and I dobut it that there is sometnig else.

The 120s is suitable for almost any music stile. I play grundge and new-wave (Nirvana stuff) on it and it's really great - it sounds almost like a Mustang. But I somethimes play Hendrix on it or some blues solo, and it sounds alright. I personaly like the sound of it, and as I said, it's suitable for almost any music style.

The down side of my guitar is that the 6th string (E string) when I play it open or when I play 1st, 2nd, and 3rd fret it produces funny, scratching sound. I'm not sure, but I think that there is sometning wrong with the neck (the 2nd or 3rd fret). That's obviously a factory flaw and it pisses me off every time I play it. But I have to admit it - the neck has adjusted a little bit and now the E string doesen't sound that bad.

It's a really solid guitar and it's well-worth for the money. It's really good and not too heavy, so it's pretty easy to play at gigs. It's a reliable and long-lasting guitar and I have to say that I have no complaints on it.

I bought the guitar form the authorised Yamaha dealership from Skopje, Macedonia. The service was O.K., but there was no warranty for the whatsoever?!

All in all, the 120s is a great guitar, though it has some flaws, a guitar suitable for a beginner or a professional. It worth for the money and really easy to play.

Mine was built at the Kaohsung plant. Natural finish with two humbuckers ec, hard tail bridge. Very basic, so I'm giving it 8, but that's how I wanted it anyway.

It's not noisy, it's a shame that there's no coil tap on the humbuckers. But this guitar is a real honey, it sounds really nice for a Guitar in this price range.

Nicely set-up, the frets are well finished and the neck has no flaws whatsoever. Better than the equivalently priced Squier and Ibanez models.

I think it's very tough but I don't like the tuners, for peace of mind i'm gonna stick sperzel or Schaller locking tuners on it.

???

I've been playing bass for while, I own a Warwick thumb BO4string and a couple of other basses, and this Yamaha is pushing me towards Guitar playing in a big way, I think it's really cool. So much so that i'm going for a US Fat Strat or a Parker when I get the chance.

In the meantime i'm going to put Seymour D pups on this Yammy and Sperzel tuners, and a coil tap. I think it's worth spending the money on this axe to customise it, I really think it's better than a Squier but we all have our opinions and tastes and I respect that . Peace

I picked this beauty up in 1999 brand new at the time. I'd seen Anthony Gomes play a Fender Tele model with dual humbuckers and wanted to get one since all I had at the time were strats with single coils. It has dual humbuckers( I don't know what make of pickups Yamaha uses but these sure kick ass!)22 fret rosewood fretboard, hard tail bridge 3 way selector and 1 volume 1 tone

Very versatile for the set up. Your not going to get shimmerimg single coil tones of course, but the pickups cover the whole humbucker spectrum from smooth mellow jazz, to gritty roots rock to all out metal mayhem. Dual coil humbuckers with push pull pots for splitting would make this the complete axe. Super quiet even at high gain settings. I use this guitar mainly for teaching and jamming because of its versatility and rugged construction. It sounds great through nothing more than a practice amp, but I even used it to record our last demo through a Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb reissue, an Ibanez tube screamer and analog chorus,and a dano slap echo. The results were incredible.

This is an extremely well made axe. Fit and construction way beyond it's price point. I slapped a set of 10's on without a single adjustment and it's stayed that way. I don't baby this thing. I work it hard. It takes a beating. Real thin flat finish almost looks likes there's nothing but wood.

This axe will take anything you throw at it and beg for more. A true work horse. If your afraid to take your beloved Les Paul with it's beautiful finish to gigs because of scratches and dings, get one of these and don't look back. Never use any guitar with out a backup. Strings break.

Never had to. I imagine a company that cares this much about quality has the balls to stand behind what they make. I've never ever played a bad Yamaha product. I can't say that for Gibson or Fender.

I've been playing for 20 years and now play and teach professionally. I own a fender strat w/ custom Van Zandt single coils , A new squier M-77 (another kick ass axe) and a Danelectro Hodad as well as a Washburn J-6 jazz box. I play through The 65 Deluxe reissue, a tube screamer, Ibanez stereo chorus and slap echo. I would definitey want to replace this guitar if I had to. I love that it does so much for so little bones. The day I tried this axe it was sitting next to a parker night fly. The fly was $1200. The yamy blew it away. I was sold. I had a 1994 Fender jap 60's reissue strat ($600 new) that I had beaten the shit out of. I offered to trade it in on the Yamaha. The stupid ass sales guy was tripping over himself to do the deal. I ended up getting the Yamaha free and clear plus $80 bucks cash! All because my used piece of shit had Fender on the headstock. Names mean nothing to me. A good axe is a good axe.

This guitar is a tele shaped dual humbucker with a hard tail bridge. It has no special name pickups or hardware. Its just a basic guitar.

This guitar is absolutely incredible. I wish I were wise and technical enough to know what makes it sound so good. I have played other Pacificas and they sounded cheap and tinny. I will just say that I went to the music store to purchase a PRS, and came home with this Yamaha. It has a sound all of its own. The bridge pickup sounds like Yngwie's Icarus Dream Suite, and the neck pickup sounds like that strange sliding chord Jimmy Page uses in the Rain Song. I play through a Fender Princeton reverb and use a Boss GT5 effects pedal.

This guitar has a slight buzz on the high E string, and the plug input loosens up, but that is the only problems I have had with it. I also dont like the tuners because I am spoiled by those Sperzel locking tuners.

This guitar is built very well. Not built as good as my Music Man Axis (which I think is the best built guitar I have ever seen) but way better then a Fender. This guitar has no finish, it is a natural wood, not even any varnish or lacqer.

I have never had to deal with Yamaha, so I cannot comment.

I have been playing for about 25 years. This is my favorite guitar ever. I have owned Fender Strats and Tele's, several Gibson LP's, a custom Schechter, several SG's, and now I currently own this Yamaha and a Music Man Axis. This guitar is irreplacable. I have played other Yamaha Pacificas and they arent the same as this one. As I stated above I went to the store with 2 grand to buy a PRS, and came home with the Yamaha. My favorite feature is this guitars beautiful sound. I may put sperzel locking tuners on it, but only if I dont have to modify it in any way.

1 tone nob
1 volume nob
3 way selecter switch
Pretty good, tho i would like a 5 way switch

I play hardcore stuff Jane's Addiction, Sum 41, ACDC, A little Hendrix...
This guitar suits every sound or style of music I want to play.
Neck is AWESOME, This guitar is'nt noisy at all, sound<s great with distortion too. Sounds rich & full, (of course with thoses humbuckers). The finish is great, and it's still lookin good.
Tons of variety.

All good!
I've had it for a year now, and it still kicks the crap out of every 300$ ax.

Still goin strong, of course i could depend on it.
The strap buttons are solid, butt you've got to buy thoses strap holders, or the strap will "fall" of.

Why would I need their help for this baby, this ax is solid.

Exelent product, if it were stolen, I would buy an other one, for
300$ it's the best of it's kind.

Maybe 4 years old.
Tele shaped, alder body, maple neck, cant remember the name of the fingerboard wood, its like a cheaper rosewood.
Twin humbuckers (standard stock), 1Vol, 1 Tone and 3way switch.
Hard tale.
Natural finish.
Mine has gone through many makeovers I?ve put on Seymour Duncan distortion pickups in it and put on 11s. Then a single coil in the neck, a SD Custom custom in the bride and 9s. But now I?ve settled on Gibson les Paul pickups and flatwound 10s.

This guitar has had a lot of things dome to it and i can say for all the trussrod tweaking, soldering and general bashing it about, the guitar had remained solid as a rock.

I will give this an 8 as it doesn?t have a lot of features, but a lot of people tike that so i cant fought it.

Sorry I am better at guitar electronics than guitar playing so my review is going to be a bit crappy.

Well the original pickups in my taste were awful, but i have been spoilt with nice pickups in the past, so there were probably alright for the price.

Generally the guitars got a nice ring to it, better sounding then every other budget guitar i have played.

When I put on the SD Distortions, things defiantly got better, the alder body does add some treble so the bridge never sounded to dark, But a distortion in the neck? what was i thinking, oh too muddy.

A single coil in the neck did sound very good even though it was placed where a humbucker should be. And the custom custom added a lot of mids for a good rock/blues tone. Placing a coil tap in the tone control meant I could also get some great inbetween sounds too.

Finally I settled on some Les Paul pickups. But the guitar is little trebly by nature, so I solved the problem by using flatwound strings. It keeps the tone, but looses some treble.

I am giving this a 5 because i disliked the original pickups and hence the sound, but once i changed the pickups this guitar deserves a 9

It was perfect when I bought it, and its perfect after i trashed the hell out if it.

It was perfect when I bought it, and its perfect after i trashed the hell out if it.

Never needed them.

A tank of a guitar, and if you put some good pickups in it, it can cut it with a lot more of the expensive guitars around.

I believe its made in japan
22 frets
2 tone and 1 volume and a 5 point multi switch.
I like the gitar butt it is very vast damaged.
The switches are not really good,
And the inplug hole (i don't know the real word) comes lose very vast

The first 10 times it sounds great butt after those 10 times its begin to sound like a vacuumcleaner :-(
I recomment a Fender squayer Stratocaster

The action is typical for a funk/light slow rock gitar, for an allround gitar is that not recommended.
The wood has a nasty habit to twist a lot in differend weather conditions.

Tis is not a gitar that is build to last. It is a beginner gitar en not more
The cabs from the pods are lose very fast and the pluginjector comes lose also fast

That depents from the shop where the gitar is from......

I have played it for about a year and i didn't liked it.
Now i have stratocaster (squier), thats a very good gitar for a low budget! 240 euro/dollar!!!

The guitar was made at kaohsiung plant(Taiwan) , which is famous for it good quality and wood-selecting. It equiped with two no-name humbackers, not excelent, but its normal for people who dont expect perfect sound from 200$ guitar. Bridge is fixed and sparks well:)
1 tone,1 volume,1 pickup knob, nothing to add.

first of all guitar is completely noiseless.Its good, my previous guitar had 3 singles, they were so noisy that I sometimes didnt herd my own playing.PAC120S sounds fat with drive, even with zoom 707II .
I use fender frontman amp. sound is pretty cool for home practice or jamming with friends.
When they gave me Rgx with 3 diMarzio difference was not so big, as i expect.

all is prfect for such cheap guitar. its Yamaha!

all that i can say: tuners are suxx. my isgotoh much better

Its perfect guitar for beginner. Much better than cheap Ibanez, Squier, Aria etc