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Pros:
- Great Sound
- Understated Look
Cons:
- Not for those who love heavier genres and distortion
Yamaha is one of my favorite musical instrument manufacturers. They produce a lot of things, ranging from instruments to motorcycles, but they have also produced some of the most impressive guitars out there. Looking at their portfolio, it is not hard to imagine how proud the manufacturer must be of its work. Especially ever since they started producing the Pacifica series. Let us take a look at one of the guitar, the Yamaha Pacifica PAC611HFM LAB and see what makes the manufacturer so happy to have worked on it.
Body Quality
The first thing you will notice about the guitar is its design. While indeed eye catching, the design is masterfully constructed to feel understated. A combination of colors often seen and yet rarely appreciated in the guitar world make this instrument feel comfortable and homely, yet not ordinary. The design the is reminiscent of the Stratocaster is familiar, and yet remains unique on its own. In the end you get a guitar that has all of the inviting qualities of an instrument you have owned before, and yet possesses its own, unique character.
The body of the guitar is constructed out of Alder. This tonewood is well known as the wood used in the 60s and the 70s to produce some of the more legendary Stratocasters of the time. The hardwood has a lot of qualities that make it so desirable. First and foremost is its recognizable, bright tone. The slight flatness of the tone when compared to maple means that the tonewood is easy to identify and grants more character to the sound. Alder is not the hardest or sturdiest tonewood out there, and yet it is not soft enough to be easily damaged by impacts and scratching. The light weight of The tonewood means that you will never be tired holding the instrument in your hand.
The neck of the guitar is constructed out of maple. This sturdy piece of hardwood is the favorite go to material for the neck of the guitar for so many guitar manufacturers. And who could blame them? The extra hardiness added to the guitar by using this wood is highly appreciated by the musicians. The neck of the guitar is set into the body, allowing for superior resonance, durability and playability. The fretboard of the guitar is made of rosewood, a prime material for this purpose.
Hardware
The bridge of the guitar is a hardtail. This means that the guitar has a superior string stability and a great rise for some amazing action. It is also rather fast and easy to restring.
The nut of the guitar is built out of Graphtec. This material is known to be a high quality piece of synthetics that pays off well for most guitars. There is no string buzz to speak of with this instrument.
The tuning machine of the guitar is of great quality, preserving the tuning of the instrument for long periods of time without issue.
Electronics
The guitar has a very interesting arrangement of pickups, directed at maximum expressivity in sound. At the bridge of the guitar, we have the Seymour Duncan Trembucker while at the neck we have the vintage appropriate SP90-1. This combination of the trembucker and the Single Coil creates an interesting tonality and a powerful expressivity for the instrument.
The controls are fairly simple, with the guitar having just a couple of knobs: master volume and master tone. Additionally, the tone knob has a coil-split functionality if you push/pull the encoder. On the side of the guitar you will find a three-way lever that allows you to configure the pickups.
Yamaha Pacifica 611 Sound
The sound is where the guitar takes all of the understatement done by the body and blows it out of the world. The guitar sounds beautiful, powerful, strong and expressive. It is incredibly versatile, with the ability to produce heavy and soft sound equally well. Powerful and full in tone, this instrument makes for great sound.
Conclusion
I’d say that this is one of the best guitars you can get for price that you are paying. It is an incredible instrument with a lot of character and enough class to not show off too much of it in looks. Highly recommended.
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