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Overall: 3.2/5

The Yamaha Pacifica was the first electric guitar that I owned and in review, it treated me very well. For a beginning guitar, the Yamaha Pacifica gave me more power and tone than I expected, but this review will tell you that keeping it as a permanent addition to your guitar collection may not be the best decision to make.

Features: 5/5

Most guitars these days are born (manufactured...whatever) with a volume and tone knob corresponding to how many pickups there are. The Yamaha Pacifica has one pick up and it works very well.

I don't like to give away all of the good stuff, but the Pacifica's body has a slot for a whammy bar. I'm not going to trash Yamaha's guitar in the features sections only because this set up is what I'm used to and I don't require anything else to play the darn thing.

Ease of Use: 3/5

The strings on the guitar are a little high for adequate playing action. The tailpiece has always looked to me like it's incapable of being adjusted (I'm sure I don't know what I'm talking about) so I've never had it looked at.

In other reviews on the Yamaha Pacifica you'll find similar claims how the strings are not easy to press down to the frets and that means more work to learn licks.

Tone: 3/5

Now, I'm not going to lie and say that the Pacifica by Yamaha has a completely terrible tone, but it's nothing to throw a party over either. Personally (just my opinion) I'm more convinced that most of the tone comes from your electric amplifier.

However, I can tell a definite difference between the Pacifica and my Epiphone Les Paul Custom. But, the Yamah's tone is decent enough for any beginner to appreciate.

Sustain: 2/5

The Yamaha Pacifica doesn't have the best sustain. I've noticed there to be gaps in between the neck and body that could substantially alter the length of sustain on the instrument.

Dependability: 4/5

I've had this guitar for seven years now and the only thing I've had to replace on the Yamaha Pacifica was the guitar input jack. I'm happy to announce that it's very dependable on and off stage otherwise.

Conclusion:

The Yamaha Pacifica is a pretty nice thing to start with for awhile. It can really get you excited about playing and hearing an adequate tone from your amplifier that will motivate you to keep going.

However, the difficulty of pressing down on the strings and some minor craftsmanship issues coerces me to recommend this guitar for beginner use only. By the time you figure out all the subtitles of the guitar, you should recognize it's time to get another one anyway.