"THIS GUITAR IS A LITERAL TOY, IT'S A JOKE"

Fifty Five years ago I started learning to play on a $5 garage sale Stella strung with heavy flat wounds. My second guitar was a $20 pawn shop special, and the quality of guitar, or the lack thereof, never discouraged me from learning to play. Give a kid a $5000 guitar, they may or may not have the burning desire to play. A determined beginner will play anything they can get their hands on.

Sometimes we just forget that way back in first grade, out of 20 kids only 2 or 3 were smart. That ratio never changes.

Never underestimate the ability of people to get upset over almost everything for no good reason

My first guitar was a barely used Squier Strat. A $75 Craig-List special. I played it literally every day for years. I think it's the only one ever made that was played so much the finish wore off the neck. After about five years I bought a used MIM Fender Stratocaster, and I think I can appreciate the 'upgrade' even more having learned on a perfectly reasonable entry level guitar.

Rock and roll came from blues and blues guys made amplifiers from radios and wound their own pick ups and built their own guitars. A Pacifica would look like a dream come true to those guys.

Mike Rutherford from Genesis played Squier Bullet Strats on the latest tour. Admittedly he would've had his tech set them up, but the fact that they're good enough for him says something.

That dude that made that comment is living 15-20 years in the past. Things have changed. He was right back then but wrong now.

Any guitar is better than no guitar.

Back in the day people used to laugh at Toyota's, Nissan's, and Hyundai . There are still cheap guitars out there you can buy but there are many inexpensive guitars you can buy that are perfectly fine. Gear snobs are usually not great players when they're more focused on the brand than the setup.

Seasick Steve plays a home made three-string guitar made out a Morris Minor hubcap and a broom handle, on stage at festivals in front of thousands of people. He is a class act.

You seem like an honest guy. Sincere and soft spoken. When I was 9 years old in 1965 I go a Tiger Guitar by Emenee. So if you want to talk "toy" that was positively one. But it was tunable, playable, and even had a little battery powered amp. I learned how to tune it and play a couple of tunes on it and was happy to have it. My next one was an acoustic with horrific action but I played it and it toughened up my fingers and strengthened my left hand. When I broke a string, I wasn't above splicing a piece on between the nut and tuner just to keep it running so I could keep playing. I can't remember what happened to either of those guitars but I never gave up because they were toys or crappy. If a kid has the desire, he'll play what he can get his hands on and strive to improve his playing and quality of instrument. Don't let idiots with bad attitudes discourage you.

The funniest part of that comment is that you know that person doesn't own either of the guitars he mentioned. They just heard the Pacifica is "a good buy."

I've played guitar for over 30 years I'm 43 now back in the 90's cheap guitars sucked and were trash but today there's really not a bad guitar brand

As someone who's owned several Pacificas of different calibers, I can say that the "bones" of the low-end ones are similar now to some some other budget guitars, but the quality control is better. A PAC112 has absolute crap for hardware, but will be playable, and if you decide to upgrade the bridge, tuners, etc down the road the neck will still be straight and the guitar will be there with you on your journey through the years. Japanese companies have pride in their brand name, but you simply can't make perfection for $220 OR $120. Difference is, years later I still have a PAC112 that I've put hours of work and hardware upgrades into and it's a great guitar. I tried doing similar things with a Chinese guitar and 2 years later the neck won't stay straight, the frets constantly corrode, and I won't play it. Just like with cars: "Rated #1 in JD Power INITIAL owner satisfaction" doesn't mean you'll still like it 3 years down the road when it's in the shop all the time.. Anyway Sir, I like your honesty about how YouTube works and the "flavor of the week" mentality out there. Scar My Guitar and Darrell Braun are still trying to keep it real, and your honesty is appreciated as well.

Regardless, I think we can all confirm that "pacifica" is the coolest name for a guitar ever.

One thing I noticed is that it literally IS in the same universe...in fact, it is in the same room!

Cheap gears is a make or brake deal for me as a Craftsman/Luthier. I've tossed bad gears for years and I know when a parent asks how to keep the costs down because they don't know if after a few lessons whether or not they still will practice or give it up. So one time I didn't have the right size gear for an Ibanez and I suggested to give me a week to order the right size gear and they just wanted a fast fix, so I installed a good working gear that wasn't right! But, for them it was a done deal and I told them to bring it back if (or when they wanted this fix to be right) and I would reverse the work to make it right. They never came back. I'm OK with that. That's what makes the world crazy. Everyone has there way of how things should be. Don't let the cheapness bring you down. Learn to know where limits are set and either do it or don't. I like the Fender Telecaster by Squire and because it was cheap I learned to rewire several ways to make that guitar do more then what it was intended to do. Now I'm making 2 by hand, thanks to learning from that guitar and playing and teaching for 50 years. I wish I started sooner. I wish I owned a CNC. I need to sell more stuff first! Cheers.

I've heard nothing but excellent things about the Pacifica line. Having said that, after setting up my buddy's Debut I can say that for the price, the Debut is nearly perfect as a beginner guitar.

Thank you for your commitment. I think it's great that you are willing to confront people who don't do these comparison tests themselves but who eagerly comment on them.

I helped my nephew buy his first guitar a few years ago. Found a gold fender on sale a GC for $99. I was surprise at the quality of the guitar at that price. Now, I play a PRS America made, does it compare to that? Noooo .... but it was a lot for the money. He could definitely learn on that Fender. I wanted him to step up to a Schecter, but he loved the gold color. Kids, right 🙂