Yamaha Pacifica USA 2

It has a flamed top. A Warmoth birdseye neck. Pickup configuration one Seymour Duncan JB in bridge position, and a Seymour Duncan Hotrails at the middle and neck position. A Wilkinson VS100 gold tremolo. Very nice flamed sunburst body. One coiltap switch push/push integrated in the tone control and a volume control.
It is special crafted in de USA. A Yamaha deluxe guitarcase is included.

I was familiar with the sound of a Yamaha Pacifica 604W and that is good. But this one is even better. It sounds awesome. The pickups are almost noiseless. The JB humbucker delivers a very transparant and detailed punchy sound. The hotrails are very versatile. They've got a very good warm and full clean sound. The overall sound of the guitar is very good.

I bought the guitar as "new" with full garanty. But I think that they had it for years and that they where afraid that they couldn't sell it nomore. The intonation wasn't good at all but I've got a tuningjob for free. So that is what I've got too do at first.

I think the guitar is very reliable. The materials en hardware are very good. I think that I also can depend on this one as I have depended on my other Pacifica 604W. But since I have got two Pacifica's, the Pacifica USA 2 Custom has become the main guitar and the Pacifica 604W is the second/backup one. I think that strings are only the issue.

I have only mailed Yamaha once too get some productiondate information. Their reply was immediately the day after. And that is very good if you ask me.

I have been playing guitar since 33 years. At first I wanted an other guitar too buy. But after playing on this one, I was completely sold.

My Pacifica USA2 was probably made 96... not sure. Anyway, it's a strat type guitar with all the cool features one might think of. Wilkison vs100 bridge, seymour duncan pickups, warmoth type/rosewood neck ,22 frets, sperzel locking tuners and so on. Pickups are JB (bridge), vintage rails (middle) and hot rails (neck). It came with the same pickups except the neck pickup was vintage rails too, I believe. So it's a super strat basically, fast playing and very versatile!!! Came with a good Yamaha case. Yeah, and it's beautiful, looks like a violin!

The sound of this guitar is awesome! Like I said VERY versatile and if you're a player there's nothing you can't do with this guitar. Only thing that I changed was the neck pickup because I want that pickup to be FAT! I think the overall clean sound isn't ultimately thick and "space consuming" but it is bright and articulate, some might say thin, but I'll say sophisticated yet thick enough!
I've played this thing through a lot of rigs... too many... ENGL poweramp with TriAxis, ENGL preamps, Sansamp PSA-1, Rocktron Chameleon, different solid state poweramps, Marshall jcm heads, etc. and the guitar always works. Right now I mainly use VOX Valvetronix 120 watt amp, yep, the new modeling trend amp. My music style covers everything from bluegrass to prog metal but mostly blues oriented jazz fusion stuff. What I'm trying to say stylewise is that right now I'm listening to Jim Hall and Pat Metheny and after writing this I'll try to get my Scott Henderson chops down.
The guitar has all the variety one needs for playing music. There's coil taps and an infinite number of pickup possibilities because of the good electronics. That's the good thing about humbuckers that you can split them and experiment with different sounds and they work for boosting things up as well. I think right now I might like the frets to be jumbo size since they are medium now but that's not an issue. Everything came up perfect with my Pacifica USA2 and to put this in a nutshell: This is a perfect instrument for creating music. People often seem to forget the music which is the whole idea when they are speaking about equipments. They're talking about music as it would be an equipment sport... I wonder if those people ever play and learn music at all and do they love music or is the whole thing just an "ego thing" for them?!?! That justifies me to say that this is a perfect instrument for creating music!

Everything was cool when I first got this guitar, but I believe that an experienced player always makes some minor adjustments for his or her instrument before it's ready to rock. Everything was fine and I didn't have to make any major adjustments which is good. No problems at all.

I've had this guitar for 2 years now I believe and it works! One problem I do have which has to do with the Wilkinson bridge: The screws that hold or lock the saddles on their places are too small and fragile. They need to be replaced. Other than that everything's fine.

I was emailed Yamaha because I wanted to know when my guitar was made and they replied the next day which was a surprise. Good work. And actually how I got this guitar was that a music shop in Utah called Yamaha and asked if they had anything "on sale" and they had my Pacifica because it had a blem in it! So I got the guitar but we never noticed anything in it! Now, a guy who takes care of my guitars these days (I'm not living in Utah anymore) noticed that there was a little flaw in the finish but it's basically something you need to look with a telescope!

I've been playing for 9 years and I have 3 more strat type guitars right now. This Pacifica is my number one guitar and it would be a damn shame if something happened to it, this guitar made a forever Yamaha fan because they have the best value for money thing going compared to big brand instruments. The best feature is that it does EVERYTHING!

Mine is a 1997 model I picked up from the original owner. To call it used would be silly since he hardly touched it. 22 perfectly set and sized frets. The neck is one that I love so dearly (Warmoth neck & body)just fat enough to feel some mass behind your playing and as smooth as silk. The body is AAA quilted maple on basswood. Absolutley flawless in appearance. The USA-2 has the Strat' body style to it. Controls are simply a volume and a tone. The tone is a push/pull arrangement to split the bridge pickup, a Duncan JB Model. The neck and middle pu's are Duncan Classic Stacks. 5 way toggle completes the electronic's package. You have Sperzel locking tuners (all gold hardware on this one) and a Wilkinson Vintage Trem'. Mine also came with a Deluxe Yamaha hardshell case. Very plush and roomy compartment for 10,000 picks which I'll lose in one week.

I play all styles of guitar, and there's a lot of versatility in this guitar. I may end up putting a stacked humbucker in the neck position, because I hunger for a fatter sound in that position. However I own a Yamaha Weddington and there's no hurry. The single coils shimmer with delite and I can twang with best, or create the single coil blues tones that Fender guys flaunt in our faces. n I play through a Fender Blues DeVille 2x12 and I have plenty of punch with this combination. The Fender amp reveals how on the money the tones of this guitar really amp. The maple top makes them all just that more crisp and distint. I do have to watch the high end of my effects and teeking. The second position (meck & mid') brings a nice soft tone which I'll use for laid back rhythmns and jazzier stuff. No noise problems. The JB will make this guitar scream for you and you can become a metal maniac if you want to. This guitar makes it a joy to play clean - sans effects. The single coils can make a kind of chorus sound all their own. I've watched the guys on Prime Time Country play these and have heard countless sounds from their fingers for me to work toward.

The action was a hair too low for me, but the first owner had put 9's on the guitar. I play with XL-110's and everything is fine now. The top is perfectly bookmatched. A custom guitar maker I know was overwhelmed by it. If I had the chance to choose, I'd probably prefer the alder back to the basswood but I bought it "used" so I had no option. This guitar came with no flaws - NONE and I'm a loyal Yamaha man forever. We kid ourselves if we think only Americans make the best. However, this is all American stuff = the model name,USA-2. As far as the finish goes - it may be a tad bit sensitive to scratching. I've never owned a PRS to compare that too, but if you finally have a high dollar guitar - you tend to be sensitive about lil' marks that no one else can see.

I use this guitar as my main electric with my Weddington Classic as my "Les Paul". Both guitars are well built, solid and road worthy. I'll depend on both of them to deliver for years.

Yamaha people are very supportive and friendly. I haven't needed them for these guitars, but I have ordered small parts for past refurbishing projects and they are # 1 in my book. I've played for 35 years and know when I'm happy. I'M HAPPY!

This one I plan to hang on to forever. If it disappears I'll get another Pacifica USA model for sure.

1999 USA Custom Shop electric guitar, 22 medium frets, flame maple top, basswood body, birdseye maple neck with figured rosewood fretboard. Volume, tone is a push-push coil tap, 5-way selector, Seymour Duncan Vintage Rails in neck and middle, Duncan JB in bridge. Wilkinson trem and Sperzel locking tuners. Single coils float in a crushed pearl pickguard, humbucker mounted into the wood. Comes with a really nice case and allen wrenches.

I play a large variety of sounds--from clean blues or jazz to heavy metal, so I needed an instrument that could handle both. I took it to practice the first time, and my drummer kept saying over and over how good it sounded. The Vintage Rail pickups sound beautiful clean, and turning up the overdrive, they sing sweet blues. They are very quiet. The JB in the bridge gets tons of crunch and sounds great without having to tweak the amp, so it complements the rails very well. I play through a Crate Vintage Club amp which is sort of a Fender Deville wannabe. The humbucker is EQed to match the rails, so it sounds great with my amp. The coil tap makes the bridge into a true SC, so it buzzes only in that position.

Came with 10 gauge strings, good action, great intonation. Pickup levels are great with the humbucker just a little hotter than the rest. Flamed top is very well matched, all the routing is flawless. The cap on the pickup switch came off the first time I played it, I suspect that it is not as high quality as the rest of the electronics and may go bad after being used alot. Also the violin sunburst finish seems to obscure the wood grain a little bit instead of bringing it out like the finish on a PRS or Hamer. Those are the reasons I give it a 9 instead of 10.

The guitar seems to be solid, but I have't gigged with it yet. The finish is thick, and the strap buttons are nice and big.

I have played guitar for 10 years, gigged, done some recording, and teaching. I also have an Ibanez RG570, a Godin LG, a BC Rich, and an Epiphone acoustic/electric. I play through my 50 watt 212 Crate VC amp with an assortment of pedals. I like this guitar better than any I have ever owned, and I think it compares to the higher end Tom Anderson type guitars but at a lower price. Yamaha has a reputation for putting out well made intermediate guitars, and the ones I have played sound good and play well. But this new line of guitars has the potential to compete with the real high quality instruments and I feel like I got a whole lot for my money. I'd do it again.