Yamaha Pacifica 312H Reviews 
5 / 5 based on 1 reviewsHi guys,
At the moment I'm working in Japan and having had to sell my Gordon Smith @GS-1 while at Uni, I was anxious to get something quick but not too crappy. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that a rand new Jap Strat in Japan costs \38,000, or 210 pounds! So I tried a Standard Fender Japan and it was pretty nice, maybe lacking in character a bit but the real deal. I was just about to buy it when I noticed an earthing problem and the guys in the shop
1- Didn't speak much English (I've no Japanese)
2- Seemed fazed by a simple earthing problem.
So I looked to see if there was another strat around with a rosewood fretboard and noticed this Pacifica for the same price, with gold hardware and a quilted maple top.
As soon as I played the Pacifica I felt at home, as the neck is very like a "62 re-issue strat my mate had which I loved. The body is also made of alder and so lighter than the strat. I thought this meant cheaper until I logged onto the Klein site-its not. The tone is much firmer and meatier than the individual strat I played, and overall it had more stratiness than the Fender. The back pickup is a humbucker which I was a little dissapointed with, liking the purity of single coils, but when I got it in a live situation I really appreciated the extra guts to gee up the Fender amp!
I called around as I'd assumed the Pacifica would be the same price in the UK as the strat, but I was told by Yamaha UK that the quilted maple is actually a photo-finish. This was dissapointing, especially as the wood you can see is nice- there was no need for it.
Nothing wrong with it. The neck is lovely, the finish is good, the body's fine
I discovered that this guitar, which is better than a strat and the same price in Japan, is 350pounds in Britain. I stopped feeling dissapointed at not getting a killer deal when I realised that in fact Fender are ripping everyone off in the UK. A Japanese made Fender Strat is at least...what? 550 pounds? I wil never buy a Fender guitar again. Stick with Yamaha guys.
Steve from Glasgow rated this unit
on
2004-01-14.
