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NBD - again! Squier Affinity Jaguar Bass H

BassyBill

BassyBill

Gold Supporting Member
In Memoriam
Mar 12, 2005
18,174
4,621
West Midlands UK
#1
Just waiting for the van to bring this one. I couldn’t resist it because a) I’ve been very pleased with some recent Squier instruments b) I’m a sucker for Lake Placid Blue c) the price makes it a steal and d) I’m interested to compare the 32” scale with my 30” Mustang and my 34” regular long scale basses. Interestingly, the Fender Jaguar is listed on the website as 34” scale, whereas this Squier is 32”. Not really sure what’s going on with that?
17642E1E-25C8-463F-B981-2829FB5875EE.jpeg

Anyway, will update here later when I’ve had chance to give it a test drive.
 
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#6
First impressions - this is a nice bass! Not plugged it in yet, but acoustically it sounds great. Slaps well, too. Very solid indeed, excellent fit and finish all round. Doesn’t feel noticeably smaller than standard, despite the 2” scale length difference. Looking forward to playing through an amp later on.

How do they make, ship and retail these instruments at such low prices?
 
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#7
VincentGrim said:
I just tried one of these downstate. This bass was one of the most impressive in the store. Felt solid as a rock and the pickup was actually really good. The 32 inch scale is really comfortable on this bass. I suspect you will be pleased!
Click to expand...

I felt the same when I tried one. The fretwork was great, balance good, sounded good. Some ultralite tuners and maybe a pickup swap and I think I'd be very happy with it, and even that would only bring it to the Classic Vibe price range.

Wish budget instruments were this good when I was young and broke!
 
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#12
I have one. Modded:
1) Hipshot Ultralite tuners;
2) 18mm bridge (all my basses have narrowed string spacing - my right hand thanks me for it)
3) 250 Kohm audio taper pots;
4) Flatwound strings.
5) 1-inch extension to the upper horn strap button to solve neck dive.
It rocks.
 
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#15
I loved mine but sold it because I didn’t need it as much as I needed the cash. Only downside was the neck dive. I got a crazy discount on mine because it arrived with a big ding in the paint.
 
#16
iiipopes said:
I have one. Modded:
1) Hipshot Ultralite tuners;
2) 18mm bridge (all my basses have narrowed string spacing - my right hand thanks me for it)
3) 250 Kohm audio taper pots;
4) Flatwound strings.
5) 1-inch extension to the upper horn strap button to solve neck dive.
It rocks.
Click to expand...

I tried one out last night, and I really liked it. I'll probably get one, and put a new pickup in it. I'm curious about the effect on swapping out the pots. I read that these come with 500 Kohm pots, and I was curious on how that changed the tone.
 
#17
jlm00013 said:
I tried one out last night, and I really liked it. I'll probably get one, and put a new pickup in it. I'm curious about the effect on swapping out the pots. I read that these come with 500 Kohm pots, and I was curious on how that changed the tone.
Click to expand...
When you swap out the 500 kohm pots with good 250 kohm pots (Bourns small frame push-pulls work well), the tone is good and you don't have to change pickups. Let's see: found the pots on sale for less than $10 per incl. shipping: $20. New name brand pickup: ranging from $100 to the cost of the bass; no brainer. Depending on what was in the parts bin that day, you may also need to change the capacitor from the .022 guitar cap that seem to come on everything at the low price point: $5.00 incl. shipping. Having the appropriate tone capacitor will make more difference to the tone than any pickup. Any cap will do. No need to get expensive caps because capacitance is capacitance, especially on inexpensive instruments. Stay away from paper-and-oil caps, as eventually the oil will dry out causing the capacitor to shift in value.

Since I got such a great deal on push-pull pots, I added a couple more mods: .0068 "baritone" cap inline to the volume push-pull; re-purposed the .022 cap that was stock to add in parallel on the switch to the .047 so I have a tone switch to have either .047 typical or .069 which can make for a different character, including a good dub tone.
 
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