Yamaha Pacifica 120SD

Nov 97 per the serial number. Not so typical telecaster clone with 2 humbuckers rather than 2 single coil pickups. Master volume and tone with 3 position pickup selector switch. 22 fret bolt-on neck with rosewood fretboard. String thru the body tailpiece and 6 saddle type adjustable bridge. Hardwood body (slightly smaller than the originals) with a nice natural finish. Got it used with a beautiful hardshell case.

I play mostly blues styles and this guitar has what it takes. It does NOT by any stretch of the imagination emulate the original 'tele' tone, except maybe in the center pickup position. It sounds more like an SG or an LP Special than a telecaster. This is a positive thing (to me anyways). The pickups are extra high output 17k ohms and if you don't think that makes a difference, do a side by side with your typical 15k ohm humbucking pickups!!!! It has some good growl and decent sustain. Not the same as a set neck guitar though. This guitar shines when played clean or just slightly muddied. It has some real nice tones in there if you know how to coax them out.

I have had a few Yamaha's over the years and have never been disappointed. Very nice neck after being adjusted to my personal preference (low). Very comfortable body size and weight and balance. Noiseless electronics and powerful pickups. The BEST factory tuners in the business, and a fine adjustable bridge. Neck/body fit is as good as anybody does - nice and tight with no gaps. They even take the time to clean out the neck pocket gook before assembling the guitar (many manufacturers don't - you should check sometime).

Never had any complaints about any Yamaha guitars I've had. They take alot of owner abuse. Being low priced like they are, alot of abusive or uncaring beginners get them, as well as the 'tough' talkers who seem to get great pleasure flinging around guitars and such. Well the Yamaha's can take it.

I have never had to deal with them. Wouldn't know how to, have no yen to. I can probably fix it myself, but at least I know that Yamaha, being one of the largest, most respected musical instrument manufacturers in the world, will probably be around to supply parts for their guitars.

I have been playing for around 35 years. I have had alot of guitars and amps over the years. A few of them have been Yamaha's. I had one of the Yamaha tele clones with single coils and I liked it, because it did the original tele sounds just fine. I like this one with the humbuckers a whole lot more, it has much more character and depth. It is light and comfortable to play, and at a bargain price. Sometimes I think I would like to install a single coil pickup inbetween those 2 humbuckers, but then I pick up this little beauty and play, and forget the reason why I wanted to put that single coil in there in the first place??

Very nice neck-sleek and fast. Nice flat sunburst finish

Very nice rock/hard rock guitar. The pickups are very middy and loud. The guitar is clean and quiet. Nice clean sound also. Sometimes the guitar could use a bit more high end frequency. Overall, a kick ass sound for the price

I've got the strings almost laying on the fretboard, and it is still not fretting out. This guitar is very fast in the right hands. Somewhat poor fretwork, as the frets stick off the edge of the fingerboard somewhat.

Have had guitar for 4 or so years, and have not had one single problem.

None needed.

Been playing for 12 years. This guitar kicks some SERIOUS ass for the money. Has some very good sound, and EXCELLENT playability for the money. Anyone who has played a Yahmaha will tell you that they don't make junk; Yamaha provides SERIOUS value for your money. If you're looking for a good beginner, intermediate, pro-backup guitar:You've found the right place. Fender Squire, and Gibson Ephiphone can't TOUCH a lower line Pacifica like the 120SD!!!! I'd give this guitar an 11 on value if I could.

I bought this one in 1996. Is is made in Japan. 22 frets, alder body, maple+mahogany neck, natural satin finish (beautiful) 1 volume, 1 Tone, 3-way selector. It has two pasive Humbuckers (yamaha). The body style is like a Telecaster. Extremely good tuners, some hardware included with the guitar.
Basic features. If you're style needs whammy bar forget it. I found it really good for blues and rock.
I'd like a 5-way pickup selector and a better bridge.

I'm a classic rock, blues and jazz player. The guitar suits my style perfectly. I'm using a Peavey Audition 110. The guitar is not noisy at al. The sound is pretty nice. Using the tone knob you can achieve mellow tones, or a more rocker sound. The guitar basically can achieve a lead sound with the bridge pick up, and softer tones with the neck pickup. I like the overall sound. I also have a Fender Squire Strat, and I used this guitar for a while for practicing. I picked up the Yamaha and I was blown: powerful sound, high volume, great harmonics. Since the 120SD is a very cheap instrument you can compare it with the Squire Strat, and there is a hughe difference. The Squire sounds like a toy, and the 120SD sounds more like a real guitar.
I only dislike the tone knob, because you could have more control, it basically has two tones: very sharp or very low, but there is almost no difference in the middle. Also I would like a contoured body. Yeah, I know it's like a tele, but after a while playing the edges will be somewhat painful.

The guitar was perfect from factory. Low action without buzzing, good intonation, bridge properly routed, immaculate finish overall, basically I was amazed with the quality of the instrument. It doesn't look like a mass product.

I feel really confident with this axe. The hardware looks perfect after two years. The natural mate finish tends a little to brighten with use. The strap buttons are quite solid. This is a very dependable guitar, really! The sound is more like a gibson, so I also have a Strat around for certain sounds, but If I hada to be ina a desert Island with only one guitar, this one is good for practicing, has pleasant sound and basically I really like it (even being soooooo cheap).

Never dealt with the company.

I've been playing for more than 10 years. I also have a Squire Strat, an X-Pectra electroacoustic, another yamaha classical acoustic, an Ibanez Cimar acoustic and a cheap classical guitar. If stolen or lost, I would run for another Yamaha guitar. On a really tight budget I'd but it again, if I had a little more money, I would bet for a higher Yamaha guitar.
I love the finish, it's beautiful. I hate the tone knob. I choosed this guitar firts because of the beautiful finish, I heard it and I like it. When I knew the price, I just couldn't believe it! I bought it immedately.
I know this is a cheap guitar, but there are a lot of junk in this price range. First of all check the solid body made of ALL 100% SOLID alder (forget the Plywood junk of most cheap guitars) wich stands for good sound and nice sustain. No, you can't compare this one to a Gibson Les Paul Custom, but if you compare it with some other guitars at the same price, you will really notice the difference. Great for practice!!!!!!!!!
Note: The guitar has an overral rating of 8, but that's because a 10 guitar is a much more expensive axe. If you compare this one to similar price junk, the rate is an absolute 10!

Made in Japan (hey that's a great name for an album - nah, it's been done), solid body (alder)shaped a bit like a telecaster, a maple neck, rosewood fingerboard (I think), dot inlay, the one I've got is natural wood finish with a sort of satin varnish that isn't a bugger to keep shiny because it isn't meant to be shiny anyway. As mentioned in a previous review, it's a bottom of the range guitar, and that's reflected in the dodgy fixtures and fittings those inscrutable little yeller fellers put on and in this guitar. I've basically ripped out all the original hardware(except the 3 way selector, the bridge and the tuners), rewired it properly and passively with Seymour Duncan pickup's (Jazz in the neck position and JB at the bridge), fitted an in/out of phase switch to the bridge pickup and replaced the cheap and horrible tone and volume knobs with some nice black aluminium ones. The score I've given for this category is for the guitar as I bought it, not as it is now, and I'll do the same for every category because now it's more custom made than Yamaha.

Originally it sounded thin and without much punch at all. Even though it's well made, the electrics really did let it down. I use a VS100R Marshall with seperate effects pedals, and even these couldn't sort out the sound. Once the new pickups were in and the rewiring was done it sounded very different. The build quality gives good sustain and as for the Seymours, well, their quality and performance is well documented elsewhere.

Once the action was lowered (a lot) and the intonation sorted out, it plays really well. Yamaha make good guitars, you can't deny it, but as I've said before it seems such a shame that they can spoil a potentially great guitar by fitting it with really shitty hardware. The overall finish is lovely, it's a semi-matt finish on natural wood and not a glossy paint job. Good neck - slim with well fitted wirework, nut ok, headstock, etc., tuners surprisingly good at holding tune considering the pile of shit at the other end of the strings. It's not a solid piece of wood, it's 3 blocks joined along the grain, but the example I've got is well matched.

I've gigged this guitar several times now, and it's pretty bombproof. The tuners need to be knocked pretty hard against a bass players head before the go out of tune, and it's light enough to play for hours on end without collapsing under the weight (unlike my beloved old Encore semi-acoustic - see my other review). Now that I've sorted out the electrics I can rely on it totally and I do gig it without a backup, but I'm looking to get a Korina Explorer in the near future, and the Yamaha will then become the backup, it's so light that carrying it to gigs as well won't be a problem. I must be honest, I'm not that bothered if the finish disolves under the onslaught of sweat, blood and beer. I fix a strap permenantly to all of my guitars (after I bounced one when I was 15 years old), but on the subject of the strap buttons I'd recommend that anyone playing a 120SD standing up for periods of time might find it more comfortable to move the front button from the horn of the body to the back of the neck as it stops the guitar swinging around so much, and holds it closer to the players body - but then again I use a long strap and the guitar usually sits somewhere around my knees.

Never needed to - but if their support dept. is anything like it's electronics dept. I wouldn't trust them to know how to answer the phone.

For a real in depth answer to how long I've been playing, what I use, etc, see my review of my Encore ES335 copy.
As for being heartbroken if the Yamaha was lost or stolen, no not really. It's a nice guitar now, but the pleasure was really in taking a dodgy guitar and turning it into a good guitar. If anyone out there is thinking of buying one, I'd say do it, but be prepared to spend some money upgrading the spec. I didn't put S.D.'s in the guitar for some elitist reason, I did it to improve the terrible sound it made, and once the action and intonation were sorted then I ahd a very playable instrument. I think the thing I love about it most is the fact that I'm not too bothered if it gets knocked about or scratched. For the money I spent on it it's no huge investment, and that allows me to be a bit more full on with my playing style, although following in the footsteps of Pete Townsend or Jimi would be taking things just a bit far I think. I chose this guitar because it had potential and it was the right price.

This is a bottom line Yamaha electric guitar. SO WHAT?! For the price you pay you can't beat this thing in terms of quality! It has twenty two frets, anchored bridge, H/H pickup configuration, a alder body (I think) and a maple neck with dot inlays. The neck is bolt so it isn't as sturdy as a set neck but if you break it its a hell of alot easier to fix right? The pick up selector is a three way and it comes set up with nine guage strings. I don't know alot about this guitar I just got it and play. It's pretty basic.

When I got this thing it had cheap Yamaha issue pickups and sounded shitty and fed back alot. No problem I switched the bridge pickup to a Dimarzio Humbucker from Hell, sounds great. I play Hard rock with influences like AC/DC and Vanhalen and it does a pretty good job. My amp is shit so I really can't say how close I could come to the brown sound. With the right settings this thing makes hardly any noise at all. I really don't use the neck pickup much only to do some smoother bluesy stuff so I'm not gonna replace it. Right now I'm using a Peavey Special 212 and I don't particularly like my tone. It's because of the amp though. I'm hoping to change to a 5150 combo and then sparks should fly.

The guitar's action was a little high for my taste but setting that was no problem. Only one of the strings was mis-intonanted. I got mine in straight black and from what I could tell there were no finishing flaws on it. The only thing about it is is that polishing away like the grease of your hands is hard to do. The finish really attracts it. Other than that peachy!

I would say this guitar is suitable for gigging, just make sure you change your pickups. Yamaha traditionally builds quality sound goods for reasonable prices. This thing is one of those. I've bumped and banged it a few times and it stands up fine. Shouldn't be a problem at a live venue.

No experience here.

Good bang for the buck. Excellent guitar for a reasonable price.