Yamaha Pacifica PAC120SD

The Yamaha Pacifica 120SD is another winner from the Pacifica series. It's based on a Telecaster design, but is loaded with dual humbuckers to offer a nice taste of that thicker Gibson esque sound. Specs wise, it features an alder body, a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard and 22 frets, standard sealed tuners and a six saddle hardtail bridge. Pickup wise its loaded with a pair of Yamaha humbuckers wired to a single volume and tone along with a 3 way pickup selector. It's a great ax for getting the Fender feel and the Gibson tone on the cheaper side of the spectrum.

UTILIZATION

The design of this guitar is reasonably ergonomic. It's a bit heavier than some of the other Pacificas I've tried and there's not really the same amount of contouring. It owes more to the plank style Tele than the sleek and smooth Strat, and this yields in a thicker and more biting tone due to the extra wood mass that's left. The upper fret access is great on these guitars considering they're basically Teles - you can get up to the 22nd fret fairly easily. Getting a good sound out of this guitar is pretty easy. It doesn't have a ton of switching options, but it's versatile enough I find for many styles of music.

SOUNDS

This guitar sounds pretty cool for a variety of styles. Whether playing clean or distorted, the tones are thick and punchy, much like a Gibson. Incidently, my guitar was loaded with a pair of Gibson ceramic humbuckers when I purchased it, so it had a much better tone to it, very Les Paul esque. I later bought a second one with Yamaha pickups in it, and there is a marked improvement for sure. The stock pickups don't have the same girth to them I find. However the core tones of the guitar are great for anything from jazz to blues to rock and whether you're playing clean or distorted this guitar is quite responsive and offers a nice balance between Gibson thickness and Fender brightness.

OVERALL OPINION

All in all I think the Yamaha Pacifica 120SD is a great buy for anyone looking for a nice Tele style guitar with great humbucker tones within. It is a quality instrument that has a nice stripped down look, great natural feel and excellent tones all around. These can be had for under $200 used if you look, and if you can get one and swap out the pickups for some Gibson, Duncan or DiMarzio, you've got a guitar that can hang with a USA Fender!