Well it’s NGD, although it’s taken a while to get it sorted. As wall space and time to play guitar(s) is too limited, I have decided on a “one in - one out” policy regarding guitars.
So I sold my beautiful Squier Classic Vibe Starcaster. Why? It was a very good guitar, sounded great and looked lovely (Walnut finish, cream binding). But it ended up as a wall decoration (which my wife really liked) as I didn’t play it much. I can’t put my finger on it (no pun intended) but the neck just didn’t feel as good to play as either my Affinity Telecaster or my home built Strat. I’m not a big fan of the feel of lacquered necks and fretboards, especially since I sanded and oiled the neck of my Strat and my Tele, and I just don’t like the look of shiny fretboards. Since it wasn’t getting much use, I sold it (and got slightly more than I paid for it).
I had been yearning after a Yamaha Revstar standard with P90’s. It’s a very different guitar to what I have and I love the looks. I ordered it from Thomman in Germany. It looks lovely (subjective, I know) and the P90’s have some real kick. Yamaha definitely deliver on the quality. The build quality and the fretwork is extremely high. You can believe all the rave reviews on that. But I played it and played it and I just didn’t enjoy the feel that much. In the end, I thought it’s going to end up as another decoration as I will always reach for my Strat or Tele first. So I have returned it to Thomman.
But I was so impressed with Yamaha build quality, the tonal qualities, and had heard about the new-ish Pacifica Standard Plus. This is a recent higher-end model of their well known S-type guitar. Unfortunately, more expensive than a Revstar. My own-built Strat is SSS, with Tonerider Classic Blues pickups, which sound very nice clean and really shine with a bit of overdrive. They are warm sounding pickups. The neck on my Strat build is just fantastic (modest though I am!! 
). So I ordered the Pacifica standard, which is HSS, with the hope of getting a familiar comfortable feel but with some quite different tones. I am not disappointed. The neck feels very familiar but not quite as good as my own built Strat but the pickups are very different and I would say it has a considerably wider range of tones but is not as warm sounding. The humbucker adds a lot. The pickups are really good.
I think the thing with the Pacifica Standards is that the colour choices are not exciting and it definitely doesn’t look as cool as a Revstar. Very reserved. I think they have gone heavily for quality but kept the looks very tame. That’s OK for me. I got black, but I will probably put on a cream or parchment pickguard or perhaps a coloured one to make it look a bit more interesting. They are only just becoming available from third party suppliers.
The Revstar had arrived perfectly set up and with perfectly polished frets. The Pacifica arrived with no set up - heavy neck curve and string action extremely high. Had to do the whole thing - truss rod, action, intonation, pickup height. Truss rod is adjusted by a wheel at the base of the neck - why don’t all guitars have this ??? It’s so easy to adjust. Also the frets are not well polished but are level. At the first string change the frets will be polished. Rosewood fretboard on the Pacifica is much nicer than the Revstar and the satin neck is also much better for me than on the Revstar. Tremolo is floating (that was well set up) and incredibly stable. Tuning in general very stable.
A long post but I think I made the right choice. It won’t just be a decoration on the wall.
Here are some photos with my home built Strat in the background (but not forgotten!).
