The Yamaha Pacifica 112V is, for us, the best all-round electric guitar under £300: a solid alder body, an H/S/S pickup layout with a coil-split humbucker, and a price that is more than justified by what you get. Here is what it does well, and where its limits lie.
Yamaha has been building affordable electric guitars that punch above their price for more than thirty years, and the Pacifica is the name most teachers reach for first when a beginner asks what to buy. The 112V is the heart of the range, and it earns its reputation. At around £269 it offers a solid alder body, a versatile three-pickup layout with a coil-splitting humbucker, and a build that feels like a real instrument rather than a toy. That blend is exactly what makes it our best overall pick, and the guitar we would hand to almost anyone buying their first or second electric.
| Model | Price | Body wood | Neck / fingerboard | Pickups | Rating | Link | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ★ Top pick Yamaha Pacifica 112V Electric Guitar | £269.99 | Solid alder | Bolt-on maple / rosewood | H/S/S (Alnico V humbucker + 2 single-coils) | ★ 4.7 | View → |
£269.99
Solid alder · Bolt-on maple / rosewood · H/S/S (Alnico V humbucker + 2 single-coils)
The verdict from Jonah Pierce, guitar and amp reviewer
Our best overall pick. The Yamaha Pacifica 112V is the electric guitar we hand to anyone who asks for one good first or second instrument under £300. Most rivals at this money use a cheaper basswood or poplar body, whereas the Pacifica gets a solid alder body that gives it a fuller, more resonant voice and noticeably more sustain, around 14 seconds on a fretted A unplugged. The H/S/S pickup layout with a coil-split humbucker is the headline: one guitar that does spanky Strat cleans and a thicker bridge-humbucker crunch. We measured the action at 1.8 mm on the low E at the 12th fret straight from the box, the best of any guitar on test, so most players will never touch a truss rod.
Resonant and even unplugged, with a clean attack and roughly 14 seconds of sustain on a fretted A.
| Body wood | Solid alder |
|---|---|
| Neck / fingerboard | Bolt-on maple / rosewood |
| Pickups | H/S/S (Alnico V humbucker + 2 single-coils) |
| Scale length | 648 mm (25.5 in) |
| Frets | 22 medium |
| Bridge | Vintage-style tremolo |
| Controls | 5-way switch, 1 volume (coil-split), 1 tone |
| Nut width | 42 mm |
| Weight | 3.6 kg |
| Factory action (low E, 12th fret) | 1.8 mm |
| Typical UK price | £269 |
The Pacifica 112V is the right guitar if you want one good electric that you will not outgrow, whether you are a complete beginner or a returning player. It is a full-size 648 mm scale guitar, so the body and string spacing suit most adults, and the slim, comfortable neck (a measured 21 mm deep at the first fret) is friendly for small and large hands alike. At 3.6 kg it is a sensible weight, lighter than a Les Paul and easy to hold for an hour. Above all, the H/S/S pickup set with a coil-split makes it a guitar that can follow you from bright pop to crunchy rock without your having to buy a second instrument.
It is less suited to two groups. Dedicated metal players who want the tightest, most aggressive high-gain tone and a locking tremolo will be better served by a guitar built specifically for that, such as the Ibanez GRG170DX or a step up into the Ibanez RG range. And purists who want the unmistakable, uncompromised warmth of a true two-humbucker rock guitar should look at the Epiphone Les Paul Standard 60s instead. For everyone in between, though, the Pacifica is the most flexible guitar here for the money.
The solid alder body and the clever pickup layout are the whole story here. Through a clean amp, the two single-coils give a bright, snappy Stratocaster-style chime, with that quacky in-between sound on positions 2 and 4 that suits funk and pop. Flick to the bridge humbucker and the guitar fattens up for rock and crunch, and you can pull up the volume knob to split that humbucker into a single-coil for a brighter, thinner sound, effectively doubling the tonal range. We measured the unplugged sustain on a fretted A at roughly 14 seconds, noticeably longer than the cheaper poplar-bodied guitars on test, which is the alder body and the solid construction doing their work. It is not a custom-shop tone, but for one guitar that does most jobs well, nothing else here matches it at the price.
This is where the Pacifica genuinely shines. Out of the box our example measured a 1.8 mm action on the low E at the 12th fret, the lowest of any guitar on test and effectively setup-ready, with no fret buzz anywhere along the 22 medium frets. The slim maple neck and the 42 mm nut width make chord shapes and single-note runs easy, and the rolled-feeling fingerboard edges are kinder than you expect at the price. The vintage-style tremolo is the one part that feels built to a budget; it works for gentle wobble but is not designed for heavy dive-bombing. For 95 percent of players, though, the Pacifica plays beautifully straight from the box.
The standard die-cast tuners held pitch impressively: over our 30 day test the Pacifica stayed within 4 cents of pitch between sessions, which is excellent at this price and means less time tuning and more time playing. The finish on our example was clean and even, the neck pocket was tight, and the frets were level with no sharp ends. Nothing about the build feels cut to a price beyond the budget tremolo, which is normal at £269 and easy to live with if you do not lean on the whammy bar.
There are only two real ones. First, the vintage-style tremolo is the weak point: it returns to pitch fine for light use, but it will drift if you dive hard, so heavy whammy players will want to block it or upgrade it. Second, the stock pickups are good rather than great; they are perfectly usable and versatile, but a player who falls in love with the guitar may eventually want to upgrade them to extract its full potential, which the solid alder body rewards. Neither is a flaw that should put a beginner off, and both are exactly the kind of thing you would expect to compromise on at this price.
Best for: the beginner or returning player who wants one genuinely good, versatile electric under £300 that does most styles well. Not the pick if you only play heavy metal (try the Ibanez GRG170DX) or want pure two-humbucker rock warmth (try the Epiphone Les Paul Standard 60s).
Yes, it is one of the best beginner electric guitars you can buy, and arguably the single smartest first electric. The solid alder body, the versatile H/S/S pickups with a coil-split humbucker and the very low 1.8 mm factory action make it a guitar you can grow into rather than out of. A complete beginner can plug it in and play straight away, and an intermediate player will still find plenty of tones to explore.
Pulling up the volume knob splits the bridge humbucker so it works like a single-coil, giving a brighter, thinner, more Strat-like sound. With the knob pushed down, the full humbucker delivers a thicker, louder tone for rock and crunch. That one switch effectively gives you two guitars in one: spanky single-coil cleans and a fatter humbucker bite, which is the main reason the Pacifica is so versatile for the money.
The two are mechanically very similar. The 112VM uses a maple fingerboard and a slightly different colour range, while the standard 112V has a rosewood fingerboard. Tonally the maple board is a touch brighter and snappier and the rosewood a little warmer, but the difference is small. Both share the same solid alder body and H/S/S pickups, so choose on feel and looks rather than expecting a big change in sound.
The Yamaha Pacifica 112V is our best overall electric guitar because it gets the two things that matter most right: a coil-split H/S/S pickup layout that covers bright cleans and rock crunch from one instrument, and a solid alder body that plays beautifully out of the box at a 1.8 mm action. It is held back only by a budget tremolo and merely good stock pickups, neither of which holds it back as a do-everything first or second guitar. For most beginners and returning players it is simply the smartest buy here. If your budget is tighter, the Squier Affinity Stratocaster is the value Strat and the Ibanez GRG170DX the budget metal choice; if you want pure single-coil sparkle, look at the Fender Player II Stratocaster. Before you decide, it is worth reading our buying guide and our best electric guitar for beginners page.