Before and After....Jazz 5

[Dark Horse]

One of my guilty pleasures is that I really love the necks on the Squier Affinity V string basses. Yeah, they typically need some fretwork done, but they just have a feel that works for my hand. Plus they're cheap....I paid $100 even for this one!

Anyway, the body and neck are good, and the tuners are pretty good as well. Certainly good enough to not need immediate replacing. But the pickups and electronics suck. And the bridge, while serviceable, isn't the greatest. Plus the overall "look" is pretty "Plain Jane". So that said, I set about upgrading and transforming this one.

The functional upgrades:

Hipshot Kickass bridge
Audere preamp
Alnico pickups
Hipshot string retainer
GHS Roundcores Boomers

The cosmetic upgrades:

Black pickguard
Vinyl block inlay
Binding
Matching headstock


I'll change/upgrade the nut when I get a chance ....but for about $300 total (including initial bass purchase), I'll put this thing up against "most any" J5 in the $800-1500 range. I don't say that lightly ...I've owned hundreds of basses. It's honestly a great bass now.

I stripped and reshot the neck...I shot the headstock black. Used a silver logo I already had here. I clear coated over the binding for comfort and durability. New pickups and electronics went in, and a new black pickguard topped it off. Pickguard is a 99% fit...all screw holes are correct, there's just a small gap between the end of the neck and the guard. I ordered the Hipshot Kickass bridge for Squiers, but I should have ordered the regular one. The Squier Affinity 5 has a 5 screw bridge, unlike most Squiers. The Kickass bridge for Squier has 6 screws. I shouldn't order parts late at night ...duh. Anyway, I went ahead and measured and mounted it instead of returning/exchanging it. Nice bridge, some good upgrades over a Badass. Wired it up, set it up, and yum ....

Anyway, here are some pics ....

It makes a nice companion to the Squier Active J5 I modded a couple weeks back with Dingwall pickups, pickguard, blocks, etc ....

 

[Moving Pictures]

Nice! Definitely has me inspired

 

[garp]

WOW. Nice work!

 

[Dark Horse]

Thanks !

 

[Callused Finger]

Be-u-tiful.

The bridge is huge and not my thing but otherwise wow. And so glad you went with a black pg.

 

[Dark Horse]

Be-u-tiful.

The bridge is huge and not my thing but otherwise wow. And so glad you went with a black pg.

Yeah, the bridge is larger than I expected, but oh well. It's functionally very cool, so I'm gonna leave it.

 

[Dark Horse]

Nice! Definitely has me inspired

Nice .... well if you decide to do some modding, be sure to post a thread about it !!!

 

[bound'n'blocked]

Sweet. Cheap basses can become nice basses with a little attention.

BnB

 

[Malak the Mad]

So, let me see if I got this straight. You basically turned this…

…into this!

I can dig that!

 

[TheGreatSealof]

Very nice! I am inspired to learn modification skills as you have mastered.

 

[two fingers]

Man, you're like a one man bass hotrod shop.

Both of those turned out great.

 

[Spidey2112]

The HipShot Kickass' are pretty nice, aren't they, @Dark Horse ? I just installed one in my kit build. Nice work, as usual!

 

[Dark Horse]

The HipShot Kickass' are pretty nice, aren't they, @Dark Horse ? I just installed one in my kit build. Nice work, as usual!

It's huge, but a really good re-design

And thanks !

 

[Spidey2112]

It's huge, but a really good re-design

And thanks !

Huge is correct... as in maybe, too tall. I tuned mine up, and played around with it a bit, find the action a bit high, for me... noticed the saddles were already flat, in their channels... granted, they have 3 different (fixed) height saddle pieces to dial in action... I may have to find the right combination of saddle placement for my action... or, maybe a shim under the neck... as well as filing down the nut slots, slightly...

... I'm telling you, I don't work this hard, at work...

 

[lbbc]

Awesome looking bass....

 

[Keyser Soze]

What's the story with the binding you applied? How does that work? Can you feel it? Isn't it a snag waiting to happen? (I saw that you over-sprayed it.)

Anyway, another great job of modding. Who says you can't polish a turd?

 

[74hc]

I love it. Our grandkids are going to be on here replying to the thread of whether this vintage Fender is real or not after the estate sale some years down the road (hopefully many, many years). Intentional or not, it's likely to happen.

Hopefully, our grandkids will love these real or not threads, and sleuthing for clues as I much as I do.

Fender has a serious problem brewing down the road. The vintage 50s, 60s, and much of the 70s don't have overseas made basses with the exact dimensions compared to these past decades. The amount of overseas basses that can be rebadged with Fender logo and look real are growing exponentally. This can, and probably will, harm their brand image. My conclusion is that I don't believe their strategy works in the long term of Fender MIA, MIM, and Squier for the above reason. It works now, in the short term.

 

[aproud1]

Good bones are good bones regardless of price. If you find something that works for you and has good bones some fretwork can make a hell of a difference. I've have basses of all price range benefit from a professional fret touch up.

Good looking bass for sure.

 

[craigie]

Subscribed. I want to know how you did this especially the neck binding and how you shot the headstock.

 

[dave64o]

Really nice work!