I have one Yamaha, one of those AES 820 drop-six guitars.  This model has been discontinued.  Although they say you can drop tune these guitars to A-to-A, I find this to result in a sound that's too mushy.  Perhaps that would be OK for metal or total thrash, but, I don't do that kind of music.  I tune the instrument B-to-B and play it through a Musicman effects box.  It sounds really awesome, really powerful.  Tremendous timbre and presence.  So, my rating is based solely on that model.  I can't speak about the manufacturer's other products.

The Yamaha Pacifica is the best of the Fender clones. It is a relatively good guitar, but all the same, it is nowhere near as good as the real thing...