i used to play a pacifica tele pretty often, but i'm not sure what model it was. standard stuff, really - slanted single coil bridge, the tele neck pickup, 3 way switch, felt like it had an alder body, maple neck but it had a rosewood fretboard.
it played well and sounded good, actually. played extremely well, in fact, and in this respect i'm comparing it to all the guitars i've played, not just the cheap ones. i'd say its playability was almost equal to that of my more expensive guitars.
one thing to note though, is that the neck is very different in characteristic and feel from a fender neck. fender tends to have smaller radius necks (i,e, the fretboards are more curved). yamaha's pacifica tele necks have larger radius necks (i.e. the fretboards are pretty flat). also, the pacifica necks are fairly thin, while fender tends to make slightly fatter necks. i would say the pacifica necks are more similar to Ibanez necks than they are to Fender ones.
generally speaking, i'd pick between a pacifica tele and a fender tele based on neck preference. electronics-wise, they could both use nicer pickups. workmanship-wise, the yamaha may have an edge. if you go with fender MIM, try out as many as possible before you pick one, and pick the one with the best workmanship and feel, because yamaha's quality control is higher than fender corona/mexico's quality control. Fender mexico makes mostly mediocre guitars, some horrible ones, and on occasion a super sweet one that plays even better than MIJ or MIA ones. generally speaking, yamaha consistently makes guitars that are a bit above average for the price level that they're at.
merry christmas.
