Yamaha Pacifica 120SD

made in 1996, has the earlier "3-d" yamaha logo/name across length of headstock. 22 frets made in taiwan with solid body, alder, maple neck and bubinga fretboard! (bubinga is just african rosewood but is a very nice touch on this lower-priced axe) 2 passive humbuckers on tele-style body with 3-way switch.
grover-style tuners, modern fender style bridge, thinnish neck with med-jumbo frets.
Low score on this as there are no great features, but it has all it needs and a perfect fretboard and neck

sounded really good in original form. now it's killin my sg, and blammo, the sg is sold. I put in air classic dimarzio in neck and an older gotoh pickup in bridge and am getting the bloomfield to santana to zappa etc...paf sounds I have never been able to afford. this is more a nod to the pickups but the guitars playability and tight neck pocket add to the joy. went ahead and replaced the electronics which helped a bit too, but overall, just plain and simple without a doubt the best budget guitar I have ever played and have owned/sold more than 50 and prob. played closer to 100...includes kramers/sx/epis/hondos/arias/ibanez...etc...etc....

Great with the new tube crate amps and anything vintage, dont know about ss amps cause i have none.

Fit and finish is just amazing for this orig. lower-end guitar pricepoint. Much like the usa made fender bullets and japanese squires...truly top-notch fit and finish (tight neck pocket) and great neck set angle etc... The fretends were a tiny bit ticky which is a MAJOR pet peeve with me for any guitar, but you find this on guitars from all price ranges...a dremel solves this in 20 mins though. otherwise, impeccable finish.

solid in all ways, great hardware and tuners, electronics OK but nothing great.
gig w/out a backup? why not, but why for any guitar? strings break, not guitars...usually!

mmmmm, yamaha is pretty good on this but you will not need'em for this axe

playing for 30 years and finally found a replacement to my old tokai. to me, this is the perfect combination of price and value, much like the japanese copies were in the 70's and early 80's. have this as my only humbucker guitar and the strat as the single coil. Only thing i have found that matches this value is some early peaveys, godins and early tokais or fernandes or early aria cardinals...just a nice guitar i was very surprised to find myself actually keeping! For good!

I got the satin finish and yes it's a very light finish. Tele body and fixed strat style bridge with strings thru body. Made in 2004.
22 frets, maple neck with mahogany fret board. Sealed diecast tuners. 2 humbuckers with one V and one Tone control.
Low rating for features because it's a basic guitar which is what it's designed to be.

The PUPs in this thing are HOT! Mounted directly into the body. The string thru body helps with good sustain. Fairly quite. Excellent tones from the ax.

Very well assembled. Nice and tight. Outstanding neck for this price. I got my second hand and all I had to do was polish the frets and put new stings on. Plays better than some higher priced guitars.

It's a comfortable guitar and should withstand live playing under normal circumstances.

It's a big company - I don't think I'll need any support.

Well, I got over 30 guitars in my collection and this is a keeper. You're not going to get tele sounds, but you will get great midrange tones that will cover everything from jazz to metal. Yes, the name Yamaha can be a stigma for guitars - if this guitar had Gibson on it -it would easily cost $500. Highly recommend as this guitars plays and sounds better than most Epiphone and Squier entry level guitars.
If you find a decent one - grab it!

Features - this COULD be an EXCELLENT guitar for someone just starting - i have more than a few guitars and i have TWO of these PAC120SD's - one alder wood & one ash and you can REALLY hear the TONE of wood through these instruments - the alder is four piece (lol) body BUT.. probably because the P/UPs ARE MOUNTED TO THE BODY the tone comes through my fender amp - and it sounds GOOD - same for the ash the tone of the wood comes through sounds QUALITY like an old well worn strat - the ash one i have would be a one piece body except for a small add on piece that had to added to accomodate the control cavity - and it just sounds SWEET - they also sound good because the FINISH - ISN"T the thick poly you see on alot of new guitars , which kills the tone of wood of other guitars - the finish is thin (BIG PLUS) - another reason it sounds good - is the neck pocket is TIGHT no stress cracks here - no reason to believe it will ever have one either - both are fitted to the milimeter - the frets near the top of the register are a bit tall for my taste - but can be polished down (as someone before did on the ash one)- and the neck is a bit narrow for my taste, (a plus for small hands) - the saddles are closer together than regular fender - but the tuners look like gotoh to me and are absoloutly FINE -

the neck p/up is better than average - the bridge p/up is weak , no two ways about that.

Guitars need to be setup for your own preferences anyways - put a tusq nut on it - w/ some chap stick - some light gauge GHS boomers - and inexpensive retro-fit p-90 from GFS on ebay in the bridge and ROCK ON WITH YOUR BAD SELF! - at least you'll hear the sound of the wood and thus be able to tell what suits your style of music / alder / ash or something else all together - THE THING IS ... you want to end up some day with the RIGHT GUITAR for you - you may go though a bunch to find what you like - think of it as dating untill you fall in love..... dating is fun but all the time... your learning what turns you on , what fits and how you interact with diferent guitars, this guitar will a least give valuable feedback regarding tone above newer models (some made inferior ) where tone does not come through - AS WITH ALL GIRLFRIENDS/boyfriends THEY ALL NEED SPECIAL ATTENTION AND COAXING TO GET THEM TO PUT OUT/do right ! but when they do it's worth it !! RIGHT? experiment with this one, she can do blues , rock or country and provide you with important TONE knowledge -( you may have to get off your A$$ and do a couple of minor improvments hopefully you wont complain too much )

Reliability/Durability ? -- on the alder one i have it's dinged up - there are chips around the edges - but SO WHAT!! a small price to pay for allowing the true TONE of the wood to come through - the ash one i have someone took care of that one and there are not even any scratches - but its a thin finish also - a very GOOD thing. - you dont want a guitar with a 1/4 inch of poly finish ALL OVER IT - SMOOTHERING IT!! - SERIOUSLY - unless you just want it to look good and not perform... and in that case.... then just buy whatever you think makes you look the coolest and start posing and stop waisting my time -

no opinion

THIS IS A VERY UNDER RATED GUITAR FOR WAHT IT IS - these days you can get a new beginner guitar starting for $170 or so,... OR... get one of these older ones on ebay - - even if you pay the same price - newer isn't always better - if the older GUITAR sounds better - the person playing will most likely play longer and thus BECOME BETTER and ... can get the experience of knowing what alder or ash is SUPPOSED to sound like with these and on those others - i'm not so sure - and you know those other need pickup upgrades and tuner upgrades and hardware upgrades etc... BOTTOM LINE if you can get one a these at a decent price its a rock solid guitar with excellent tone - one of mine weights 7 lbs the other 6.5 lbs - if the neck were a litte wider - i'd play it all day - then again i see pictures of guys playin and their hands look huge compared to their guitar so ??? for the record I'm keepin the two i have now for two children that are coming up - one for each - thanks & good luck

features: - made in tawain dual humbucker / basic tele style -

Sound: - this depends on alot of other things - like your amp - strings (nickel, coated,etc..) but doesn't sound bad - the neck pickup sounds better than the bridge - if it were a keeper probably need to put a little hotter bridge pickup in there -the neck p/u sounds good through my fender low watts tube amp through a 4x12 cab

Action & fit: -THIS IS THE REASON i wanted to submit this review - considering this was made in tawain i don't want to be too critical of the finish - I thought it was actually ok (not Tom Anderson) but very good - but what i wanted to point out is that the neck is VERY narrow, if you have small hands then maybe this is a plus but i've got smaller to average size hands and it feels a TOO narrow - i've got to cram my fingers in there and it tends to make my wrist sore - if your thinkin of gettin one - if you've got big hands i wouldn't choose this model (imho) thats all - i might look to the pacifica 311ms series see if it's any wider

seems well put together solid and all that - looks tough enough

dont know

got this based on some of the other reviews here on harmony central a lot of others seemed to give it fairly high marks - but the one thing that i didn't anticipate is the neck being sooo narrow if this is not a problem for you - then ?

Actually I've owened two of these instruments....the first i bought new Paid 200 us dlls . I used it a few times for recording back in the mid nighties. The style of music i recorded was 80s shred metal and it did a good job for that style. The second guitar i pick up at a pawn shop it was on a dark corner of the shop gathering dust. For this one i paid 60 us dlls. Both guitars are identical exept that the new one had a higher action then i prefered, but still did the job..the sound i needed was right. ultimately i sold it. The second one plays perfect,and sounds great (a little thin on the bridge pickup but i conpensade with a vintage zoom 5000 driver (greatest distortion device ever made). Both guitars are alder body maple necks and rosewood fingerboards. 22 frets..thru the body string holes..good machineheads...the bodies on both are natural finish..the pawnshop bought guitar has a broken tone control that is set to the treble maxed.

I really like the sound of these instruments..i can really say that it covers most music styles fairly well..as i mentioned earlier i use the zoom driver 5000 pedal and i can get almost any sound i need with this guitar...i love the fact that its very light compared to my peavey EXP tiger (my main axe)..the wiring on the 120sd could use some upgrading as there is a bit of noise..mostly noticeble when playing clean. Call me weird but i dont like using knobs on the guitars(looses tone when u use the knobs)..of course this is common to all guitars. Sound wise its not a les paul..but i love using it for gigs the tone is there and its light to carry. For recording i use strats
les pauls teles whatever the song requires...of course i use my peavey tiger too.

its not a fancy instrument, barebones ..pickups are discent..hard ware is fair... intonation (on both guits) very good...thou the action i ,aquired on the pawnshop bought, is great.... switch is fine..the shielding on the wiring is none existing..thus the small amount of noise. Wood work is flawless...thou the pawnshop boufht has scrathess..not from factory. overall a wallflower that kicks ass if the need be.

Its very durable i have drop them and no problem. this things are very durable.

Never delt with yamaha support...havent had to. Hell i never delt with any of the manufactures...and ive owned at least 52 guitars in my lifetime..i take care of them myself.

I have been play for 40 yrs..and now i own a pre cbs strat..and a squire tele ( iloveit) Jay turser jazz guit..a couple obass guits ect..I use a peavey classic 30 amp ..a small marshall vs30r a kick around fender frontman...and my bedside amp , Roland microcube. I also own a wah..chorus ...and 2x zoom 5000 drivers. Over all i love this guitar.and yes i wouls be sad if i parted with it..by the way i teach recording and sound at a fine arts school...and i find myself carring this guitar to work very frequently.

Mid 90's Taiwan production...twin buckers,( V,T & 3 way switch) thru body HT bridge,(individual saddles) Tele shaped body (somewhat smaller than a "real" Tele) rumored to be "solid" (read; not ply) alder;quite light. Medium maple neck with Ping type cast tuners bubunga finger board (similar to rosewood) no acessories.

Mostly classic rock, with a bit of blues and pop (think Quo, T Rex, some Kinks, Who and Beatles.. Does this well..not a "twangy Tele" by any means, but brighter than a Gibson style two bucker. Used with a couple of small budget amps (Marshall MG-10, Dean Markley K-20X) no effects..pretty powerful PU's can easly OD the DM drive channel, backing the guitar volume off a bit yields usefull crunch;a bit too powerful with the Marshall dirty side..everything sounds like a metal band. Good clean sounds on both amps with the ax down 3/4 or so..

This is where Yamaha shines..The quality of this guitar is superior to any other sub 1K instrument that I have played..Excellent action, fine fit and incredible finish.

Well gig worthy; edge mounted jack repays care, I use a angled plug.

Never needed it.. Yamaha has good web presence and excellent deal net.

Playing on and off for over 20 years..also have a Takamine (G) Acoustic, and a older Yamaha Classical. Before this I played a Fender Standard Strat (MIM) for 10 years. I had a interest in a dual humbucker guitar , but had never found one I liked (most are too heavy). Local shop took this in trade, I traded a few old pedals I had stoped using, and soon sold my Strat..

Made in Taiwan, tele shaped guitar, 2 humbuckers, 3 way pickup selector, not sure what type body wood, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard.

I bought this guitar just to do some modification project, replaced the original pickups, not even tried, to a set of dimarzio steve morse model. I'm a great fan of steve morse style of playing and before he also used a telecaster, so these pickups are a good match for this guitar. It have the tele twang, added the rock, blues, country feel of steve morse. So this guitar is very versatile, the middle position is awesome, with the out of phase sound.

No problem with the setup, I just replaced the pickups and adjusted the height of the pickups The action is a litle bit high, but no problem. Finish is very good, and the neck playability is also very good.

Seems to be very solid, I dont play live, but certainly this guitar can withstand live playing, time will tell.

As I said earlier, I just bought, this guitar to replace the pickups and achieve the steve morse tone. These guitars are cheap, and can be upgraded with some mods. I also own a japanese fender telecaster that I replaced the pickups with dimarzio ones. I've been playing for 8 years and I like to tweak guitars. I usually play it through a boss blues driver into a fender blues junior or roland jc120, and the sound is awesome.

Tiawan Made 'bout '96...Basswood one piece body, maple 22 fret neck w/rosewood fretboard......dual humbuckers, three-position switch......Black gloss finish on Tele looking shape......string through bridge w/hardtail type adjustments.......adjustable tuners(seem to be Schaller)....Narrow, thin neck comfortably radiused w/medium jumbo frets

Multitude of sounds available with minor twists on single tone and volume controls and three postion p/u selector. Very strong round neck p/u w/punchy mids. Bridge p/u can be a bit shrill without backing the tone down a bit but Floydian scream and drip are available from a good reverb/delay equipped amp set up like the Trademark 60 with slave unit that I usually use.
The controls and p/u's offer an infinite range of pleasing styles, suffering only at the very extremes of the tone range. Naturally, single coil snappy and Straty out-a-phase are not an option.

Factory set up was very good. A few bridge adjustments yielded perfect intonation and sweet & low action with nary a buzz. The frets could have used a bit more polishing overall and filing at the ends but we are talking a $175.00 (street price) guitar. Hardware quality was absolutely superb--the tuners are velvet smooth jewels. Every piece of this guitar is well planned and executed except for a minor line in the wood grain of the body

I have owned this guitar for about six years and it seems to be one I reach for quite often. It is dependable, durable and Solid as a rock.
I don't quite know how they do it, but Yamaha's corporate philosophy works here just like it does for their pianos, automobile motors, motorcycles,outboard motors, watercraft and electronics. I have used them all----extensively. They only produce products that they can do as well, or better than anyone----and deliver with a very reasonable price.

I have not had to deal with the company on any warranty issues.
Questions to customer service were handled quickly and politely.

Been playing for 35 years.........own three Gibsons.......Older Danelectro, Italian Acoustic. I love this instrument and consider it a rare find. I honestly don't think you can touch the quality of this guitar for equal money even in today's buyer's market.

This is a made in Taiwan model, not sure of the year-probably mid to
late 90's. 22 frets, 2 humbuckers, 3-position switch. The body is
alder with a rosewood fingerboard.

I use this with a Soldano Astroverb head feeding an old Music Man 4X12
cabinet. I play mostly rock but my band sometimes goes out into the
fringes of experimental jazzercise. This guitar handles maybe 95%
of the music without any problems. It does not really do the traditional twangy Tele sound, but you can get close if you turn the
tone knob up and maybe back off the volume a little.

I have the action set fairly high. When I got the guitar, it had .009
guage strings on it, which I immediately changed to .011s. I made a
very small adjustment to the truss rod, and I have had absolutely no
problems with it staying in tune. I was worried that I'd have to change or recut the nut slots, but, miraculously, the strings don't
bind.

I'm what you'd call a "large white man" and I honestly believe that I
could ride this guitar down a flight of stairs and not a damn thing
would happen to it. I have an old Yamaha acoustic as well that's
just about as sturdy as this one. For the money, you can't beat the
durability of Yamaha guitars. The finish is evenly applied and has
a nice unassuming look to it. All the hardware is solid, although I
did replace the stock saddles with String Saver saddles to increase
sustain and reduce string breakages.

I have never dealt with Yamaha. But then again, I've never needed to!

I've been playing for twenty years. I also own about 15 other guitars, most of which are Fenders. I love Fenders, but for normal
practicing, I find myself going back to this one. I just like the
way it sounds and feels. The pickups produce a nice, round tone with
plenty of gain. If it were stolen, I'd definitely try to pick up another one or maybe upgrade to another guitar in the Pacifica series.

Mine is a Pacifica Telecaster-like shaped. Made in taiwan. Natural wood finish (not shiny). Rosewood fingerboard.
Theres nothing fancy. Everything u'd want in a tele is there, (except for the twang). Standard crome tuners. 22 Frets.
Bought it for 170 Canadian second hand.

I play texas blues (SRV, Albert, and others). I mostly play clean. The guitar plays good and sustains decently. Of course not as good as an american-made fender, but what do u expect for a low price? The pickups were not strong enough for my taste, because i really like going for it hard with a huge vibrato and sometimes bends 2 fulltones up. This guitar would be great for any beginner. Sound is average : Not bright, not rich eather. It doesn't have much flavor. The neck pickup gives the bass, but the treble is muffled. The bridge pickup is pure treble and no bass and a little of mid. I have just replaced my pickups for a Seymour Duncan vintage '59 bridge, and a Fender Texas Special neck lipstick. Sounds very sweet and twangy in the bridge position, and rich with lots of mid in the neck.

BTW this guitar uses tapped pickup wiring, if u consider replacing them ;) (i.e. using 3 wires for each pickup, a ground - white , a hot - black, and a tap - red that goes together with the ground)
But the original sound was way too weak for my taste...

I got it second hand. The intonation on the high e string was bad. at the 12th fret, the note was flat, and i had to get a longer screw, because even on the maximum saddle extention it was still flat for that high e. The guitar goes out of tune a lot (prolly because i use 11s and bend every 3rd note or so). If u pull hard on a string the tuner will roll back (not a lot), but its noticeable, especially for the lower 3 strings. This guitar is not meant for heavy gauge strings. I am thinking to replace the tuners with fender shallers.
Overall its fine, because of the simple construction of the guitar.
Rather than that little intonation and the tuning, there are no problems.

This guitar as is WILL NOT withstand live playing. Once when i was playing on a jam night in a bar it went out of tune during the song, and i had to stop to retune it (it was embarassing). U will need to replace the tuners if u use higher gauge strings. I would not use this guitar without a backup. The strap buttons are solid however, (u still need straplocks though). The finish is very thin. I have nicks, marks and dents on this guitar just by accidentally hitting it every day here and there (chairs, table etc...) The good thing is those things u have to really look for in order to notice, because the finish is just plain wood...

like i said this guitar is perfect for beginners who don't gig and don't have to worry about floating bridges or tuning instability...

Havent' dealt with them.

I've been playing guitar for 4 years. I have a fender frontman 15watts practice amp. it has an equalizer and reverb - all that i need... I mostly play clean. I'm hoping to start gigging first before i get myself a Fender Fat Strat Texas Special, and some tube amp...

Overall this guitar is great for beginners. If you want to learn, buy it ( i think the list on it is 300 Canadian ). It is a good deal, for a solid guitar.

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.