Yamaha Pacifica Standard Plus PACS+12 Ice Blue Electric guitar

Yamaha Pacifica Standard Plus PACS+12 Ice Blue: A Premium ST-Style Electric Guitar

The Yamaha Pacifica Standard Plus PACS+12 Ice Blue is a premium ST-style electric guitar engineered for working musicians who need a single instrument that can cover clean rhythm, articulate lead, and aggressive humbucker-driven tones. Built around an alder body with a gloss polyurethane finish, this model marks a clear step above the entry-level Pacifica line. The result is a guitar that feels at home on stage, in the studio, and on long practice sessions.

Reflectone Pickups and Rupert Neve Designs Collaboration

What sets this model apart from other ST-style guitars in its tier is the Reflectone pickup set, developed in partnership with Rupert Neve Designs. The HSS layout pairs an HH7b humbucker at the bridge with HS7m (middle) and HS7n (neck) single-coils, giving players a wide tonal palette from chimey neck-position cleans to thick, snarling bridge leads.

Body, Neck, and Fingerboard Specifications

The body is built from alder, a tonewood long favored for its balanced response across the frequency range. A bolt-on maple neck in a slim C-shape profile is finished in smooth satin polyurethane, allowing the player's hand to glide freely along the fingerboard. The 350 mm fingerboard radius and medium stainless-steel frets are designed to retain their smoothness over years of heavy playing, while the rosewood fingerboard surface adds warmth and a natural feel under the fingers.

• Body Material: Alder — balanced response across the frequency range
• Neck Material: Maple — slim C-shape bolt-on profile with satin polyurethane finish
• Fingerboard: Rosewood — 350 mm radius with medium stainless-steel frets that resist wear
• Finish: Gloss Polyurethane — durable and resistant to playing wear

Pickups, Electronics, and Hardware

The HSS pickup configuration is wired through a five-way selector that moves from the bridge humbucker's thick snarl to the chime of the neck and middle single-coils, while a push-pull coil split on the tone control unlocks additional single-coil voicings. A Master Volume with a highpass capacitor keeps the top end intact as the player rolls back the volume. Downstream, a Gotoh 2-point vibrato bridge anchors the strings, Gotoh locking tuners hold pitch through heavy tremolo work, and a Graph Tech TUSQ nut ensures consistent tone and smooth string travel.

• Pickup Configuration: HSS — HH7b humbucker at bridge, HS7m middle and HS7n neck single-coils
• Pickup Brand: Reflectone by Rupert Neve Designs — co-developed with Rupert Neve Designs
• Controls: Master Volume (with highpass capacitor), Master Tone (with push-pull coil split), 5-way selector
• Hardware: Gotoh locking tuners, Gotoh 2-point vibrato bridge, Graph Tech TUSQ nut

Who the PACS+12 Ice Blue Is Built For

The Yamaha Pacifica Standard Plus PACS+12 Ice Blue is the right choice for working guitarists and advancing players who need a versatile ST-style instrument with premium appointments at a price below flagship custom-shop territory. Session players benefit from the Reflectone pickups' dynamic tracking and the broad tonal range delivered by the HSS layout with coil split, while gigging musicians will appreciate the tuning stability of the Gotoh locking tuners and the durability of stainless-steel frets. The Ice Blue finish offers a distinctive look on stage, and the included gig bag makes transport between home, studio, and venue straightforward for players on the move.