for this worship night i picked up this affinity jazz bass v just a few hours before we started, didn’t even got to do a set up or anything, from the store to playing it ...
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for this worship night i picked up this affinity jazz bass v just a few hours before we started, didn’t even got to do a set up or anything, from the store to playing it ...
Big Hoss
Up note, down note, blue note, brown note...
- Sep 5, 2014
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The pic is a blurry, is that a 5 string? If so when did they go 4+1 on the 5 string Affinity?
Not me, but next week I'll be appearing in a play with a bassist who has an Affinity Jazz that she won at a raffle. She let me play it and I was impressed with how good it played and sounded.
I'm certainly no stranger to cheap instruments and own many along with a few handbuilt customs. For the play I'm using an Adam Levine signature First Act guitar that I got for $75 on Ebay. After spending a few hours working on it, I concluded it's comparable to $300-$500 imports in terms of workmanship, playability, and sound. The band will be onstage with the actors, so the audience will get to see my classy Walmart guitar and Peavey modeling amp along with the bassist's Squier.
I'm certainly no stranger to cheap instruments and own many along with a few handbuilt customs. For the play I'm using an Adam Levine signature First Act guitar that I got for $75 on Ebay. After spending a few hours working on it, I concluded it's comparable to $300-$500 imports in terms of workmanship, playability, and sound. The band will be onstage with the actors, so the audience will get to see my classy Walmart guitar and Peavey modeling amp along with the bassist's Squier.
Played this bad boy tonight for my weekly Sat eve service. It’s a paid gig with approx 350 attendees, so I would think it qualifies. Replaced the bridge with a Wilkinson, pickguard and strings. Rest is stock, including all the electronics. Sounded great, played great.
I have two of the First Act M950 series of guitars. Looks like a cheap bolt-on doublecut LP Junior. I bought my first one at WalMart. Was not expensive put mildly. Did a bit of fretwork on it and I still have it 15 years later. Phenomenal axes. That was a seriously underrated company that I wish had done a few basses.
My first bass was a late 90's Squier Affinity P but I never gigged with it.
The bridge was junk and eventually the nut broke.
Unless the quality is better these days it'd need a few upgrades in hardware before I would gig with it on the reg. YMMV
The bridge was junk and eventually the nut broke.
Unless the quality is better these days it'd need a few upgrades in hardware before I would gig with it on the reg. YMMV
I worked on a 90's Squier Affinity that a buddy bought for $100. I dropped in an old American Standard pickup I had sitting around, shielded the cavity, grounded it proper and put a vintage style bridge on it I had sitting around, cleaned it up, set it up and slapped on a new pickguard and some GHS Precision Flats and it sounds like an American Standard with flats. The neck is super chunky.
And the bridge is actually aligned just fine. No idea why it looks off in the picture.
And the bridge is actually aligned just fine. No idea why it looks off in the picture.
In his videos on YouTube, M. Schnitt, who’s also a member of TB here, uses three basses ... a 70s Fender P bass, a 70s Fender jazz bass and a Squier CV60s P bass with black tapewound strings (AFAIR) ... the best sounding one, to me, is the Squier ... I’d buy one tomorrow if I could find a fiesta red one like his own ...
Sort of...
My #1 solidbody started as a Squier Affinity Bronco but now it's just the Bronco body modded to be lighter and part of the original pickguard.
I modded it some over the last few years with a ~$17 humbucking pickup, Hofner bridge, DIY maple tailpiece, Mustang control plate, DIY narrowed and reprofiled SX short scale neck (most comfortable neck I've ever played) and Gotoh GB350 tuners. The heel of the now undersized SX neck is shimmed on the sides of the neck pocket and I have medium scale D'Addario nylon tapewound strings on it so they reach the tailpiece.
It's really a mess but it plays and sounds great.
Yes, I could have modded the original Bronco neck but I wanted a rosewood fingerboard and the SX neck was on sale.
My #1 solidbody started as a Squier Affinity Bronco but now it's just the Bronco body modded to be lighter and part of the original pickguard.
I modded it some over the last few years with a ~$17 humbucking pickup, Hofner bridge, DIY maple tailpiece, Mustang control plate, DIY narrowed and reprofiled SX short scale neck (most comfortable neck I've ever played) and Gotoh GB350 tuners. The heel of the now undersized SX neck is shimmed on the sides of the neck pocket and I have medium scale D'Addario nylon tapewound strings on it so they reach the tailpiece.
It's really a mess but it plays and sounds great.
Yes, I could have modded the original Bronco neck but I wanted a rosewood fingerboard and the SX neck was on sale.
I haven’t owned an squier affinity bass. But I have several times over the years used a Squier VM Jaguar on a few large gigs.
At the church I go to, the youth band has a house Squier affinity and the regular service guy plays a full tilt $3000 5 string Jazz bass. For the life of me, I cannot tell a real difference... and our sound system is top shelf. The main sound guy does it for a living so he knows what he’s doing too. I’m sure if you played both back to back in a small room the difference would be more apparent but in the setting where there’s an audience in a large room? No diff at all. It was one of the main reasons I decided on a CV 60’s when I bought mine. If you can’t hear/feel $3000 worth of real world difference, why pay for it? I’m sure I’ll feel different 5 years from now when I’ll (hopefully) be a much better bassist, but for now? I’m good, thanks.
PS: all that being said, I also realize that I’m the guy who is swapping out the bridge, harness and pickup on his CV 60’s bass too, lol!! I’m happy enough with the sound as it sits but there’s just something in me that can’t leave well enough alone...
PS: all that being said, I also realize that I’m the guy who is swapping out the bridge, harness and pickup on his CV 60’s bass too, lol!! I’m happy enough with the sound as it sits but there’s just something in me that can’t leave well enough alone...
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Neither were my vintage P's. My VM P felt better and sounded better. I honestly dont know how Fender keep selling anything...Squire basses are perfectly good and very reasonably priced
This. It kind of reminds me of that scene in National Lampoon’s European Vacation when the fam was in France... the restaurant was microwaving frozen food, sticking it on a plate with a little garnish and a French flag on it, while charging a fortune for “gourmet” food...
