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Jazz bass: Squier Affinity vs Squier Classic Vibe

#61
SonnyBassPlayer said:
I own a 2019 CV 70s Jazz (which is indeed soft maple), a 2019 CV 60s P bass and a 2015 CV 50s Telecaster. They are all amazing instruments for the price and I would highly suggest them to anyone searching for a great instrument at under 400€ new.
Both my 2019 basses have a few defects but the sound and playability outnumber anything.
If you want to stay on the cheaper spectrum and have the chance, Harley Benton is better IMHO that entry level (affinity) Squiers.
Click to expand...

Those were great clips, they all sound pretty representative of their type. My concern with the CV's is that they simply appear to be rebadged VM's: there's no hi-mass bridges or MJ frets, and priced just to get them out the door before whatever Fender has cooked up for the Squire range comes in. Having said that, I've bought Indonesian-made guitars and basses and while the QC can vary, there's no question they can be absolutely good quality. My G&L's were no doubt made in the same Cort factory as the Squires and they're excellent. We'll see, I'm going to order a CV70's Jazz next week.
 
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#62
99bf87ecca0e26448e80b9d60d73bf14.jpg
99bf87ecca0e26448e80b9d60d73bf14.jpg
 
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#64
I realize this is a necro thread, and bassbourne bought his Affinity months ago, but I wanted to join it because I have a lot to say about the Affinity J-Bass.

I have written quite a bit in other threads ( Squier Affinity Club , Squier Affinity Club ) about my experience, but to summarize, I used to have a 1983 Fender Precision Bass that was excellent. I had it customized with a Jazz bridge pickup, and people that heard it and tried it were quite impressed. Shortly after I bought that bass I tried a Jazz, and I preferred the balance and feel. However I stuck with the Precision for over 30 years even though I thought it was neck-heavy, and I didn't like the body contours.

Recently I was getting back into bass playing after drums and flute, and I decided to try the Jazz again. The Jazz design still felt better to me, so since I am not currently in a band, I bought the cheapest Fender I could, the $200 Affinity (see avatar) and sold my beloved Precision for $800.

Accepting I had downgraded, I was nonetheless quite surprised at the workmanship, sound, and especially the feel of my new Affinity. I wish I had been able to buy it 30 years ago. I’m not saying it’s better than the Fender, but I would say it’s equal or close to, and to be honest, I would feel rather foolish paying six times the price for new Fender Jazz over this instrument. If I were a professional, I might change the pickups, but actually, I don’t seem to need to. I’m fully content for now with the sound of the stock ones. By the way, I tried both the CV and VM. I didn’t like the feel of the CV much, but the VM was pretty good. But to tell the truth, I like the feel of the Affinity over both.

I feel that some of the people that have criticized the Affinity haven’t actually tried one, or perhaps they tried a bad example. I agree that they may be inconsistent in quality. They are, after all, made in two different countries. Also, make sure you try a newer one. I believe they have improved in quality over the years. Mine is a Taiwanese (Yako CY) 2018.

What a satisfying purchase!
 
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#65
Kijekuyo said:
I realize this is a necro thread, and bassbourne bought his Affinity months ago, but I wanted to join it because I have a lot to say about the Affinity J-Bass.

I have written quite a bit in other threads ( Squier Affinity Club , Squier Affinity Club ) about my experience, but to summarize, I used to have a 1983 Fender Precision Bass that was excellent. I had it customized with a Jazz bridge pickup, and people that heard it and tried it were quite impressed. Shortly after I bought that bass I tried a Jazz, and I preferred the balance and feel. However I stuck with the Precision for over 30 years even though I thought it was neck-heavy, and I didn't like the body contours.

Recently I was getting back into bass playing after drums and flute, and I decided to try the Jazz again. The Jazz design still felt better to me, so since I am not currently in a band, I bought the cheapest Fender I could, the $200 Affinity (see avatar) and sold my beloved Precision for $800.

Accepting I had downgraded, I was nonetheless quite surprised at the workmanship, sound, and especially the feel of my new Affinity. I wish I had been able to buy it 30 years ago. I’m not saying it’s better than the Fender, but I would say it’s equal or close to, and to be honest, I would feel rather foolish paying six times the price for new Fender Jazz over this instrument. If I were a professional, I might change the pickups, but actually, I don’t seem to need to. I’m fully content for now with the sound of the stock ones. By the way, I tried both the CV and VM. I didn’t like the feel of the CV much, but the VM was pretty good. But to tell the truth, I like the feel of the Affinity over both.

I feel that some of the people that have criticized the Affinity haven’t actually tried one, or perhaps they tried a bad example. I agree that they may be inconsistent in quality. They are, after all, made in two different countries. Also, make sure you try a newer one. I believe they have improved in quality over the years. Mine is a Taiwanese (Yako CY) 2018.

What a satisfying purchase!
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more. Really not a lot of difference between my Fender Player Jazz bass and my Affinity. Slightly more attention to detail on the Fender here and there, but both very good and both sound great. I owned an older Affinity in the past and it felt like a toy, but the new one weighs about the same as my Fender and feels equally solid. An alder body as well, not basswood like some of the other more expensive Squier models.

Ps Mine is Chinese made.
 
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#67
Here is a thread I found researching Alder, where there is a visual comparison of Alder to Poplar.
Looking at the photos, my Affinity bodies do not look like alder, as I have mentioned on the first page of this thread.
The G&L Discussion Page - View topic - Let's talk Wood!!! Mucho Pictorage from a Gabe post-1/07/07

Here is a photo of my Black affinity with a larger pickup routing that exposes bare wood, and you can see the wood in the neck pocket- not that brownish color of true American Alder. This body wood looks more like pine (probably Agathis, a species of evergreen, which grows in SE Asia). The older VM fretless with ebanol fingerboard was Agathis, I believe. The neck pocket wood seems a little more yellow than the freshly routed pickup cavity, perhaps due to being exposed to the atmosphere for a few years by not being painted, only another piece of wood screwed to it (the neck).
2E5D44D0-8FD7-420D-A4CD-D7E88723159F.jpeg


agathis sample:
agathis.jpg
 
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#68
Other than fret size, are the necks from the new CV, and Affinity the same in regards to the shape and width of the neck?
Also, is there any difference between the new 60's and 70's CV basses other than the fretboard material and the color?
 
#70
Greenman72 said:
I’m very much a rookie when it comes to basses. I’m about 6 months into my bass journey. So…..

….how does a bass “fall apart”? (Not being a smartass. Genuine question.).
Click to expand...
Cheap hardware bending/breaking through normal use (not abuse), neck wood eventually twisting/warping because it hasn’t been dried/treated properly before being shaped into a neck, frets eventually lifting out because of neck wood issues…
 
#71
I just found this online. Agree 100%? Disagree 100%? or somewhere in the middle? (Note - it discusses the differences between the cheapest Squier and the most expensive Fender, but hopefully it's still relevant to the discussion.)

 

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