GEAR REVIEW
YAMAHA PACIFICA PROFESSIONAL ELECTRIC GUITAR | Eric Dahl
KEY FEATURES
• Alder contoured body
• Bolt on neck
• Sim C neck shape
• HSS Pickup configuration
• 25.5 ” scale length
• 1.65 ” neck width
Yamaha ’ s Pacifica line of guitars first hit the music scene in 1990 ( 34 years ago ) in collaboration with their Los Angeles , CA custom shop and Japanese headquarters . The company has had a lot of success with their Pacifica guitars and now they are updating them for today ’ s players with the Yamaha Pacifica Professional and the Standard Plus .
For our review purposes Yamaha sent Worship Musician the Japanese built Pacifica Professional in Beach Blue Burst to test out .
Right out of the case the Alder body has some weight to it and the Maple neck in custom satin tint finish looks and feels great . Yamaha put some time and effort into the new body by 3-D modeling it to determine the best places to route the body for pickup and electronics and to increase resonance .
You ’ ll also notice that the heel to body joint is now beveled so it is easier to reach the higher register of notes when playing up the neck . A collaboration with Rupert Neve Designs developed the new Reflectone HH7B Humbucker , and two HS7N Single Coil pickups in middle and neck position . The electronic controls are straight forward with tone , volume and 5-way selector plus push-pull capability to split the pickups . The contoured body bevels are more pronounced on the top of the body where your arm rests and the back bevel too . The 10-14 ” compound-radius fingerboard makes bending notes and chords in the higher register much easier . Having the truss rod wheel adjustment at the bottom of the neck makes neck adjustments much simpler .
The Yamaha Pacifica Professional is loaded with locking Gotoh tuners on the headstock and a TUSQ nut . The tremolo is a 2-point Gotoh trem with the spring access cavity in the back of the guitar . The fret markers on top of the neck are dots and elongated lines on the top of the fretboard . It also includes a signed made in Japan certificate and the Pacifica Professional has the metal Yamaha logo at the end of the headstock .
Yamaha is using Initial Response Acceleration ( IRA ) technology to achieve more sustain and resonance from the instruments . Plugged in the Pacifica Pro is a very versatile instrument . The HH7B humbucker pickup is full and warm but when you split the pickup with the coil tap it sounds like a totally different guitar . All of the pickup combinations are usable for rhythm or lead playing in a Praise team or Youth ministry situation .
68 January 2025 Subscribe for Free ...