Members kr236rk Posted June 21, 2011 Members Share Posted June 21, 2011 OMG what's with this guitar!? The pickups sound like they've got tubes built into them - amazing sound! What is the secret - anyone know? http://www.professional-equipment.com/images/product_images/info_images/Yamaha%20pacifica311s_mediumneu.jpg Thanks, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ozzeh Posted June 21, 2011 Members Share Posted June 21, 2011 sweet lookin axe, I've been meaning to pick up a nice Yamaha. Acoustic, electric, I don't care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scott944 Posted June 22, 2011 Members Share Posted June 22, 2011 They made a Mike Stern sig at one point that looked like that. The one I played was nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fusion1 Posted June 22, 2011 Members Share Posted June 22, 2011 The 311MS is the import version of the Mike Stern Signature. I own an orange stain model. It is very nice once you upgrade to Duncans like the real deal. 59 zebra in the neck and a Hot Rails in the bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zenbu Posted June 22, 2011 Members Share Posted June 22, 2011 The 311MS was listed in Japanese Yamaha catalogs, it was sold over here as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Reignman Posted June 22, 2011 Members Share Posted June 22, 2011 OMG what's with this guitar!? The pickups sound like they've got tubes built into them - amazing sound!What is the secret - anyone know?http://www.professional-equipment.com/images/product_images/info_images/Yamaha%20pacifica311s_mediumneu.jpgThanks, Could be dimarzio's. Some of those models ended up with Dimarzio's with no rhyme or reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kr236rk Posted June 22, 2011 Author Members Share Posted June 22, 2011 put it through a tube Muff'n - blew my ears off! The 311 is a tube amp on its own! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jkater Posted June 22, 2011 Members Share Posted June 22, 2011 I love the Pacifica's take on the tele style. Nice lines and a belly cut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members garthman Posted June 22, 2011 Members Share Posted June 22, 2011 The Yamaha Pacifica series is the best, value-for-money range of guitars on the market. I really don't understand why people pay lots of $$$$$$$$$$$ more for other brands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JTEES4 Posted June 24, 2011 Members Share Posted June 24, 2011 I owned two of these, and they are very nice guitars...generally the bridge pickup was considered weak for a hotrail type. There was always a lot of controversy over this and the later Mike Stern model 1511. The 311MS WAS IN FACT the first Mike Stern Telecaster. It's also a fact that the MS in the name does not stand for Mike Stern....it stands for Maple fingerboard. I used to have a copy of the original ad with Mike Stern stating that the 311MS was designed by him...and I remember an interview with him talking about it's development. The 1511 came a few years later, and was obviously a higher end guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OldGuitarPlayer Posted June 24, 2011 Members Share Posted June 24, 2011 The 311MS is the import version of the Mike Stern Signature. I own an orange stain model. It is very nice once you upgrade to Duncans like the real deal. 59 zebra in the neck and a Hot Rails in the bridge. No. The Mike Stern model is the Yamaha Pacifica 1511MS. http://en.euroguitar.com/guitar/yamaha/pacifica/1511-ms-mike-stern/114481.html The 311ms has nothing to do with Mike Stern. The "M" stand for "maple" fretboard . Yamaha also made the Pacifica 311s which has a rosewood fretboard. There is a Pacifica 311s hanging in the local pawnshop for $150. It tried it and it was....meh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LaXu Posted June 24, 2011 Members Share Posted June 24, 2011 The 311 probably has just stock Yamaha pickups, which range from decent to very nice depending on the model. I've got the 1511, it's a very nice tele. I changed the pickups to a tele single coil and humbucker sized P90 because I wanted a more traditional sound and already had several humbucker guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zenbu Posted June 25, 2011 Members Share Posted June 25, 2011 Listed in the 1999 catalog as having GH-A1B alnico and GRH-F1B pick-ups. It was also listed with capital MS...not lower case ms...and there is a short paragraph mentioning both the 311MS and 1511MS but I`ll need my wife to read what it says. Was listed as a new model that year. Also had the 302S model on the opposite page with two single coil p`ups. My 1511 is waiting for me in Canada, nice guitar and I got it in the local Yamaha shop when they had a huge 90% off sale when they were getting ready to remodel the shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Schtang Posted June 25, 2011 Members Share Posted June 25, 2011 Any guitar not American Made in Australia usually get's nothing when it comes to resale. Seem the same in the USA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JTEES4 Posted June 25, 2011 Members Share Posted June 25, 2011 No. The Mike Stern model is the Yamaha Pacifica 1511MS. http://en.euroguitar.com/guitar/yamaha/pacifica/1511-ms-mike-stern/114481.htmlThe 311ms has nothing to do with Mike Stern. The "M" stand for "maple" fretboard . Yamaha also made the Pacifica 311s which has a rosewood fretboard. There is a Pacifica 311s hanging in the local pawnshop for $150. It tried it and it was....meh You are wrong...the 311MS was indeed the original Mike Stern Tele...I owned two and used to have this fight all the time. You are correct that the MS does not stand for Mike Stern, it stands for Maple like you said. You don't have to believe me: maybe you'll believe Yamaha?http://tinyurl.com/6fzzgtrAlso, there was an article years ago with Mike Stern explaining how he designed the original 311MS and a picture of him with it. You'll have to take my word on that one, although I am going to look for it and will post if found. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zenbu Posted June 26, 2011 Members Share Posted June 26, 2011 `K...heres the poop from the Japanese Yamaha catalog from 1999 according to my Japanese wife...the 311MS was listed as a new model that year...the 1511 had been in production, not sure for how long I`d have to check my other catalogs but thats not really the point...in the catalog they say the 311 was modeled after the 1511 and they say they copied the design of the guitar and pick-up configuration from the 1511...thats why both the 311 and 1511 are mentioned a few times together in the paragraph. As far as he catalog goes it seems the MS on the 311 was connected with the MS for the 1511 in that they made the 311 after the 1511 had been in production. The reason they came up with the 311?...not sure...maybe they just wanted a less expensive version, or they liked the design so much they made two...they don`t say why they introduced the 311 in 1999. Right...wrong...indifferent...I`ll leave it to others to fight it out about that, I`m juts relaying what Yamaha said in their catalog in `99. Haven`t followed the provided links in the other posts, I have the Japanese catalogs, it`s their guitar I figure if anybody knows, it`s them.Believe it.....or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jkater Posted June 26, 2011 Members Share Posted June 26, 2011 `K...heres the poop from the Japanese Yamaha catalog from 1999 according to my Japanese wife...the 311MS was listed as a new model that year...the 1511 had been in production, not sure for how long I`d have to check my other catalogs but thats not really the point...in the catalog they say the 311 was modeled after the 1511 and they say they copied the design of the guitar and pick-up configuration from the 1511...thats why both the 311 and 1511 are mentioned a few times together in the paragraph. As far as he catalog goes it seems the MS on the 311 was connected with the MS for the 1511 in that they made the 311 after the 1511 had been in production. The reason they came up with the 311?...not sure...maybe they just wanted a less expensive version, or they liked the design so much they made two...they don`t say why they introduced the 311 in 1999. Right...wrong...indifferent...I`ll leave it to others to fight it out about that, I`m juts relaying what Yamaha said in their catalog in `99. Haven`t followed the provided links in the other posts, I have the Japanese catalogs, it`s their guitar I figure if anybody knows, it`s them.Believe it.....or not. This settles the matter, I would think. It sure didn't make sense that the 311 would have been the first "Mike Stern" sig. Why would he have designed a lower end model and put his name on it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zenbu Posted June 26, 2011 Members Share Posted June 26, 2011 This settles the matter, I would think. I doubt it...this is Harmony Central...I`ll probably get called some names `n stuff. I`m ready. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fusion1 Posted June 26, 2011 Members Share Posted June 26, 2011 I bought my 311MS a year after it was introduced. I remember back then Mike Stern already has an ash Pacifica which may have been a custom model which was the basis for the 1511. In any event the 1511 was out before the 311 as I knew I wanted to have the 59n and Hot Rails bridge like the high end model 1511 and so I purchased the pickups in the same order I bought my 311MS from M123 or MF back then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BoneNut Posted June 26, 2011 Members Share Posted June 26, 2011 Any guitar not American Made in Australia usually get's nothing when it comes to resale. Seem the same in the USA. Agree 1000% and of course, the first most important consideration when buying a guitar should be its resale vale. Where the hell is that facepalm smiley? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OldGuitarPlayer Posted June 26, 2011 Members Share Posted June 26, 2011 `K...heres the poop from the Japanese Yamaha catalog from 1999 according to my Japanese wife...the 311MS was listed as a new model that year...the 1511 had been in production, not sure for how long I`d have to check my other catalogs but thats not really the point...in the catalog they say the 311 was modeled after the 1511 and they say they copied the design of the guitar and pick-up configuration from the 1511...thats why both the 311 and 1511 are mentioned a few times together in the paragraph. As far as he catalog goes it seems the MS on the 311 was connected with the MS for the 1511 in that they made the 311 after the 1511 had been in production. The reason they came up with the 311?...not sure...maybe they just wanted a less expensive version, or they liked the design so much they made two...they don`t say why they introduced the 311 in 1999. Right...wrong...indifferent...I`ll leave it to others to fight it out about that, I`m juts relaying what Yamaha said in their catalog in `99. Haven`t followed the provided links in the other posts, I have the Japanese catalogs, it`s their guitar I figure if anybody knows, it`s them. Believe it.....or not. Thank you for the correct info on this matter. Also the 1511 model has a 7.25 fingerboard radius just like the old telecaster that Mike Stern used to own. Some people don't like that and prefer a a flatter fingerboard. I personally would love to try a 1511. It looks like the perfect solid body guitar for me. I was hoping that the 311s model I tried at the pawnshop would give a similar vibe but I don't like how the controls are placed and it didn't really feel or play any different from any other $150 guitar so I passed on it. That combined with the fact that the previous owner had done a terrible job replacing the stock neck humbucker with one that was too big causing the pickguard to buckle. He didn't make the hole bigger...just wedged the thing in there. Also it buzzed like a S.O.B probably because the same idiot who installed the neck pup wired it wrong... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JTEES4 Posted June 26, 2011 Members Share Posted June 26, 2011 `K...heres the poop from the Japanese Yamaha catalog from 1999 according to my Japanese wife...the 311MS was listed as a new model that year...the 1511 had been in production, not sure for how long I`d have to check my other catalogs but thats not really the point...in the catalog they say the 311 was modeled after the 1511 and they say they copied the design of the guitar and pick-up configuration from the 1511...thats why both the 311 and 1511 are mentioned a few times together in the paragraph. As far as he catalog goes it seems the MS on the 311 was connected with the MS for the 1511 in that they made the 311 after the 1511 had been in production. The reason they came up with the 311?...not sure...maybe they just wanted a less expensive version, or they liked the design so much they made two...they don`t say why they introduced the 311 in 1999. Right...wrong...indifferent...I`ll leave it to others to fight it out about that, I`m juts relaying what Yamaha said in their catalog in `99. Haven`t followed the provided links in the other posts, I have the Japanese catalogs, it`s their guitar I figure if anybody knows, it`s them.Believe it.....or not. I'm wondering if maybe the 1511 was indeed the original Mike Stern, but possibly it wasn't offered first in the USA. I'm not looking to fight anyone, I just know the 311MS was indeed a Mike Stern guitar which many people refuse to believe. Like I said we had all these fights years ago...it's been probably 5 years since I owned mine. But I like to know the history of things. If the Japanese catalog says it, then I accept it as fact. I'm truly curious if it was different in the US because many models that get discontinued here (US) get offered overseas for many years. I bought a Yamaha PAC612V from Germany after they were discontinued in the states. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zenbu Posted June 27, 2011 Members Share Posted June 27, 2011 Not sure...you`d have to look at Yamaha USA catalogs I guess...I`m in Japan so those are the catalogs I have. I got my 1511 because it was at a huge discount, I did see the 311s when they were around this city but had the 1511 so saw no point in having both...plus in this city, I have access to used MIJs for the same price those 311s were selling for new, was an easy choice to make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dirty South Al Posted June 27, 2011 Members Share Posted June 27, 2011 If I remember correctly the early US Stern models were really made by Warmoth. Assembled by Yamaha's US Custom Shop. I think that was the story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zenbu Posted June 27, 2011 Members Share Posted June 27, 2011 Coulda been for the American versions...I have a USA II and it is listed in the same catalogs as having both a Warmoth neck and body, like the Pacifica Custom with a pic of Bill Leverty holding one...they don`t say that about the 1511 from 1999...same for the Cornell Dupree 1512 listed as new as well for that that year. Not unusual for them to have different names for models or completely different models for the US, they have a history of doing that...and you know it makes sense...different markets with different tastes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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