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Help me with a P!

autodidact

autodidact

Mar 13, 2011
2,054
101
#1
Alright I have a little money to burn and a few options. I like to tinker with basses but I know when to leave a good one alone, that being said here are my options:

A used Squier Affinity P: Cheap and gives me extra money for mods like pickups, new pots, covers, fun moddy stuff.

New Squier CV Precision: Love the neck, love the color, only thing I would probably do is add pup and bridge covers to it, MAYBE swap the p'up.

Used Fender P Deluxe [MIM]: Very flexible, only P/J in the bunch, active electronics and I feel like my Carvin already covers my hi-fi active sound.


Anyway, I like all 3 basses and while I'd like to do a million mods and just have fun I feel like if I get something a little more high quality I might appreciate it for what it is.


Anyone want to give me some opinions?
 
#7
Some of those Affinity P's are not bad at all if you just want a body and neck out of it. Maybe pick up a used one for $50 to $75 and play it for a few weeks to make sure its good enough (neck feel) to put money into.

Body wood is nothing fancy, but its really light which can be nice and I'm a skeptic about how much tone difference woods make on an electric anyhow.

Nothing like natural ash, but with a painted finish, light is nice.

My Affinity P has a great neck and its a lot less subject to humidity changes compared to my VM J.
 
#9
Doner Designs said:
Some of those Affinity P's are not bad at all if you just want a body and neck out of it. Maybe pick up a used one for $50 to $75 and play it for a few weeks to make sure its good enough (neck feel) to put money into.

Body wood is nothing fancy, but its really light which can be nice and I'm a skeptic about how much tone difference woods make on an electric anyhow.

Nothing like natural ash, but with a painted finish, light is nice.

My Affinity P has a great neck and its a lot less subject to humidity changes compared to my VM J.
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I like the Affinity Ps, had one for my first bass actually. The cheapest one I found so far that in good aesthetic condition is $100. I'm just debating if the sexy neck and color is enough to justify the extra money on the CV.
 
#10
autodidact said:
I'm just debating if the sexy neck and color is enough to justify the extra money on the CV.
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Maybe it's just me, but I think a neck is always the most important thing. If it doesn't feel right in your hands after playing it for a while, chances are it won't ever. Especially considering this is a mod-platform idea, I'd want the neck that feels best. Like you, I'm also skeptical of how much a difference the body wood really makes in tone
 
#11
autodidact said:
I like the Affinity Ps, had one for my first bass actually. The cheapest one I found so far that in good aesthetic condition is $100. I'm just debating if the sexy neck and color is enough to justify the extra money on the CV.
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Probably depends on your market. In Chicagoland there are so many affinity P's and Strats on the market that you can find bargains, esp if you dont need it to be perfect (fenders are cooler hacked up anyway, right)?

If you intend to, ahem, change the look of the headstock, the VM or CV is easier to refinish. The CV is glossy.
 
#12
sloppy_phil said:
Maybe it's just me, but I think a neck is always the most important thing. If it doesn't feel right in your hands after playing it for a while, chances are it won't ever. Especially considering this is a mod-platform idea, I'd want the neck that feels best. Like you, I'm also skeptical of how much a difference the body wood really makes in tone
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I'm not concerned with the body wood, there were a lot of posts by Dan Atkinson on here with soundclips where people couldn't tell the difference between ask, maple, mahogany etc. and plywood.

When I say body I'm just talking about that sweet Sonic Blue paint job. I'm terrible at refins so I want something that looks cool to me.

I dig P necks but I'm going to have to try it out since its glossy. The vintage tint just oozes class though.
 
#13
Doner Designs said:
Probably depends on your market. In Chicagoland there are so many affinity P's and Strats on the market that you can find bargains, esp if you dont need it to be perfect (fenders are cooler hacked up anyway, right)?

If you intend to, ahem, change the look of the headstock, the VM or CV is easier to refinish. The CV is glossy.
Click to expand...

I fly my Squier flag high and proud on my heavily modified BroncoJag SS sir lol

However, If I got the Affinity I'd probably remove the logo and do something custom. On the CVs I would just leave it, it doesn't look as cheap somehow on a glossed up tinted neck :smug:
 
#16
autodidact said:
They have a brand new Sonic Blue one at a store near my house for just a hair over $250 after tax, I think that might be the winner. Neck is great, love the color.
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And you didn't grab it?

I have that bass, and it is one very sweet bass the color is awesome and it plays like butter.
 
#19
Go to eBay and search "Hartke XL-4 bass. An auction will pop up and say 2 available. They have $750 and make an offer. I"m sure you can get one for probably $400-$500.

These are EMG active P/J systems and great basses for the money.


Another option is Guild Pilots. also come with EMG active P/Js, and there are a few of the original pickguard models out there, which are the best of the bunch. For about $500-$600.

That is what I would do.
 

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