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Which Yamaha Pacifica: PAC012 or PAC112?


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My 14-year old daughter wants to learn electric :thu: and I want to get her off to a solid start with a good trouble-free guitar (which will eventually become her reliable beater when she upgrades). One of my local shops gives me excellent deals on Yamaha and he can offer me the Pacifica PAC012, the PAC012DLX or the PAC112.

 

Are there any substantial differences between these three models besides material and looks?

:confused:

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Disclosure first: I'm selling both of these in the Spam Thread.

 

Now...

I have, both the 012DLX and an older PAC312. From what I understand, the 312 is comparable to the 112, that Yamaha has been steadily upgrading the 112 so that it meets what used to be he 312's specs.

 

The 012DLX is a gorgeous guitar in my opinion. I think the tuners and the pickups are better on the 312. The tuners on the 012 have a little bit of play. The pickups on the 012 aren't quite as crisp as the 312's, but they're plenty good, really. (I have a soundclip below).

Also, again, from what I understand, the 312 is alder and the 012DLX is agathis. Does this matter? I really don't think so, but there will be many people here who might argue that point.

Both guitars would be excellent for your daughter, I believe. The necks on both (which might be the same) are excellent, and are perfect for someone with smaller hands or who merely likes strings closer together than on, for example, a Fender.

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I absolutely love my 012DLX. :idk: It was a cheapie that I picked up off of CL to get me through when I didn't have a guitar at all, but I've completely fallen in love with it. The humbucker in the bridge leaves a bit to be desired, but I don't really use it much anyway. the singles are pretty nice for what it is. The pickups are really the only things I'll ever look to upgrade.

 

YMMV. :idk:

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I have a 112v and tried out a 012 while looking for guitars. However, I am not an expert guitarist.

 

Both felt nice to me when I tried them out. I still find the 112v nice to play. With the disclaimer of my lack of experience, I think that either would be a good guitar for your daughter. I went for the 112v because it has more expensive wood (alder versus agathis) and better pickups (alnico versus ... I dunno), and particularly with the wood I thought it more future proof. But the 012 is a lot cheaper, and if you thought you would be more likely to simply replace the whole guitar if/when she needs a better one, perhaps the 012 is the better option.

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112: alder body, better tuners, better pups, more choices of finish, etc. I don't know if you want to go ultra cheap but in that price range, the 112 seems like a better deal and one that might go a little longer way. The 112 is also a better known guitar that has an enviable reputation so selling it down the road might be a little easier.

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112: alder body, better tuners, better pups, more choices of finish, etc. I don't know if you want to go ultra cheap but in that price range, the 112 seems like a better deal and one that might go a little longer way. The 112 is also a better known guitar that has an enviable reputation so selling it down the road might be a little easier.

 

 

All true, but, at the same time, I don't know that I would base a purchase of either Pacifica on what reselling might be down the pike. Truth of the matter is that you'll have to practically give away either one if you decide to resell because the masses are not hip to the quality of Yamahas.

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Thanks all for the advice! :thu: Also appreciate the MP3 which gave me a good idea of the guitar's abilities.

 

269389.jpg

 

It looks like the 112J on MF doesn't have the Alnico pickups. Those seem to be only on the 112V. But the 112J might have better tuners which would be more important to me than the better body wood. I think the 012, the 012DLX and the 112J all use modular/laminate bodies rather than solid bodies.

 

419941.jpg

 

The 012DLX sure looks great though! :love: I wonder if it has upgraded tuners. Maybe I should call Yamaha tech support.

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Thanks all for the advice!
:thu:
Also appreciate the MP3 which gave me a good idea of the guitar's abilities.






419941.jpg

The 012DLX sure looks great though!
:love:
I wonder if it has upgraded tuners.

 

At least on mine, I can say the tuners are not upgraded. (Mine is exactly like the one in the picture.) In fact, if I don't sell mine, I probably will upgrade the tuners myself.

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At least on mine, I can say the tuners are not upgraded. (Mine is exactly like the one in the picture.) In fact, if I don't sell mine, I probably will upgrade the tuners myself.

 

 

Just to make sure I understand, you mean that the tuners on the 012DLX are the same as those on the 012. Is that correct?

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I think the 012, the 012DLX and the 112J all use modular/laminate bodies rather than solid bodies.

.

 

 

I don't know about the 012 but the 112 has a "multipiece" body which still qualifies as solid body. Some MIA Fender strats have three piece body and they sure sound good as hell. The quality of the pieces rather than the number of them is what makes a guitar sound good.

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All Pacificas have solid wood bodies. 012 has agathis, rather than the alder of the 112 and 112v. The humbucker is different from the 012(slug poles) and 112(adjustable poles), while the 112v is upgraded to their alnico magnet model with added coil splitting feature. 112v has cast block saddles instead of stamped. 012 and 012 dlx have crap tuners. 112 and 112v have better die cast ones. All of the above are made in Indonesia.

 

Bottom line, ANY of them would be good starters. They are pretty consistent, and have a limited lifetime warranty against defects in materials and workmanship. Yamaha is super easy to deal with if you do end up with a problem. In my opinion, I would skip the 012 in favor of either of the others just for the tuner upgrade.

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If you want a higher quality guitar, with a SLIGHTLY smaller body and easier to use neck, lower price, as well as, imo, all around better woods but no coil tap, I'd recommend checking out the Yamaha EG112C.

 

 

 

I was under the impression that EGs were identical to the PACs in the same way Yamaha markets its "non-studio" keyboards with two different names (combinations of letters and numbers).

The same, exact keyboard will have a different model number when it's on the shelf at BestBuy than it will have in the catalogs of MusiciansFriend.

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I was under the impression that EGs were identical to the PACs in the same way Yamaha markets its "non-studio" keyboards with two different names (combinations of letters and numbers).

The
same, exact
keyboard will have a different model number when it's on the shelf at BestBuy than it will have in the catalogs of MusiciansFriend.

 

 

EG's were sold at Costcos, etc, with a crap Yamaha Amp. The overall quality of the two I've owned has been better than the Pacs I've owned, aside from of course the pups.

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EG's were sold at Costcos, etc, with a crap Yamaha Amp. The overall quality of the two I've owned has been better than the Pacs I've owned, aside from of course the pups.

 

 

 

Your reply, though, really makes me think that I'm correct about the EG and PAC thing.

I'll do some research and get back to you.

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Does anyone know how many awards the PAC112 has won from different guitar magazines and other organisations? Recently, the 112 is starting to have some serious competition (Xaviere, for example) but at one point it was the only really well made, gigable cheapo on the market. I believe that is why Yamaha has upgraded it with better pups, electronics, etc. to make it still "the best entry level guitar" on the market like it was for a good while.

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