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Yamaha Pacifica 611 HFM in US?


BeanoBoy

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I finally ended up finding one in Ottawa, Canada from a place called Simply Guitars. He shipped it down to Florida and really worked with me on the price (under $650 shipped). After he shipped it, he found out that it violates his agreement with Yamaha to ship them to the US. Whoops.

The guitar was well worth the trouble! It's got the 13 3/4 radius but a fatter neck, like an early 60's Strat. The sound is KILLER. You can dial in pretty much any tone that you want bewtween the Duncan 'bucker in the bridge (with a coil-tap) and the P90 in the neck. I'm really surprised that they're not selling these in the states because I think it could compete with US made Fenders & Gibsons.

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Quote Originally Posted by Justwippet View Post
I finally ended up finding one in Ottawa, Canada from a place called Simply Guitars. He shipped it down to Florida and really worked with me on the price (under $650 shipped). After he shipped it, he found out that it violates his agreement with Yamaha to ship them to the US. Whoops.

The guitar was well worth the trouble! It's got the 13 3/4 radius but a fatter neck, like an early 60's Strat. The sound is KILLER. You can dial in pretty much any tone that you want bewtween the Duncan 'bucker in the bridge (with a coil-tap) and the P90 in the neck. I'm really surprised that they're not selling these in the states because I think it could compete with US made Fenders & Gibsons.
Educate me, WHY aren't they selling them here? It's a cool guitar both soundwise and colors-wise.
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Quote Originally Posted by BeanoBoy

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Educate me, WHY aren't they selling them here? It's a cool guitar both soundwise and colors-wise.

 

My guess--my complete and utter guess--is that they have determined that it is too difficult to break through the perception held by US consumers that Yamaha instruments are geared towards beginners only.
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Quote Originally Posted by Cobalt Blue

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My guess--my complete and utter guess--is that they have determined that it is too difficult to break through the perception held by US consumers that Yamaha instruments are geared towards beginners only.

 

Regardless of the hi quality both the places i worked at that sold them had a hard time getting them out the door.
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You're absolutely right, Cobalt. Yamaha said that they don't want to compete with Gibson and Fender and the likes at that price point. I've gotten hooked on the Yammies now. The build quality is amazing on these guitars and the necks are perfect for someone with smaller hands.

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They don't have to compete directly, but they should at least make them available to the people who want to buy them and will go out of their way to do so. They're actually blocking customers from getting 'em! confused.gif

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Quote Originally Posted by Justwippet View Post
I finally ended up finding one in Ottawa, Canada from a place called Simply Guitars. He shipped it down to Florida and really worked with me on the price (under $650 shipped). After he shipped it, he found out that it violates his agreement with Yamaha to ship them to the US. Whoops.

The guitar was well worth the trouble! It's got the 13 3/4 radius but a fatter neck, like an early 60's Strat. The sound is KILLER. You can dial in pretty much any tone that you want bewtween the Duncan 'bucker in the bridge (with a coil-tap) and the P90 in the neck. I'm really surprised that they're not selling these in the states because I think it could compete with US made Fenders & Gibsons.
Cool. Thinking of pulling the trigger on this one, and I've been looking at some of the Canadian music store websites, like you did.
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Quote Originally Posted by Justwippet View Post

The guitar was well worth the trouble! It's got the 13 3/4 radius but a fatter neck, like an early 60's Strat. The sound is KILLER. You can dial in pretty much any tone that you want bewtween the Duncan 'bucker in the bridge (with a coil-tap) and the P90 in the neck. I'm really surprised that they're not selling these in the states because I think it could compete with US made Fenders & Gibsons.
That is EXACTLY what I wanted to hear, especially about the neck. I've been playing my 60's strat alot lately but want a more versatile shreddier counterpart.. that Custom 5 pickup seems really good too..
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Quote Originally Posted by Cobalt Blue View Post
My guess--my complete and utter guess--is that they have determined that it is too difficult to break through the perception held by US consumers that Yamaha instruments are geared towards beginners only.
Yeah. I actually called Yamaha USA about 6 months ago, specifically regarding these new higher-end Pacificas. The fellow told me that Yamaha USA is literally a "different" division/company, etc. from any other Yamaha divisions, and that they have no intention of ever releasing these new, higher-end guitars in the states. Europe is simply a different market and (apparently) a different company. Whodathunkit? Boo.

The guy also told me that the USA division was (in so many words) happy enough with their lower-end Pacificas and their educational sales, and also that higher sales of the better Pacificas never seemed to follow the higher quality (and Yamaha name recognition) of the better models, thereby essentially leading them to (finally) give up on the higher-end USA market. So, yeah, what you said.

What I really don't get is the fact they we USA customers are actually somehow prohibited from even buying them from, say, a UK site. WHY?! confused.gif

My, we've fallen SO far from the days of those wonderful Pacifica USA models back in the '90s!

(Sorry to bring an old thread back to life, but... ah, what the hey!) smile.gif
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I had originally ordered my 611 from Thomann in Germany before I stumbled across the one I bought in Ottawa. Thomann's price and shipping were both more but they were definitely willing to sell.

I can say that I still love this guitar and find myself reaching for it more and more over my other guitars because the tone is just killer for classic rock & bluesy stuff. The neck is DEFINITELY not your standard thin profile neck so it takes a little getting used to but it's worth it.

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Quote Originally Posted by Justwippet View Post
I had originally ordered my 611 from Thomann in Germany before I stumbled across the one I bought in Ottawa. Thomann's price and shipping were both more but they were definitely willing to sell.

I can say that I still love this guitar and find myself reaching for it more and more over my other guitars because the tone is just killer for classic rock & bluesy stuff. The neck is DEFINITELY not your standard thin profile neck so it takes a little getting used to but it's worth it.
Do you mean the neck is chunky? That would be a plus for me.
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It's the guitar I least play.. but it's a fine guitar.. a great guitar even. It's more just my style and taste.. I prefer more super strats.. or a tremolo bar.. even a vintage one (doesn't need to be floyd)..

But for what it is.. Yamaha really nailed it with this one.

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