Played a Squier Affinity P Today...

[jmattbassplaya]

...and dang, it was actually pretty nice!

I found the bass in the used section of my local GC, and, being a P guy, I decided to give it a test run. To say the least, the bass felt very good in my hands and the tone was (surprisingly) to die for! The tuners weren't too great as I noticed the bass coming slightly out of tune after 30 minutes of playing, and the bass did have some buzz in the upper register that I don't think could be fixed without raising the action to unreasonable levels, but for $100 I wouldn't complain!

I'm considering going back and picking it up as a beater bass. It's kinda sad to say, but comparing it to my MIA the Squier is a huge deal. It doesn't feel as good as my P and its setup will never be able to match mine, but, again, for the price it was fantastic. I think if you were to just upgrade the tuners and the bridge you'd have a real keeper

So yeah! Does anyone here play an Affinity bass and like it?

 

[A-Step-Towards]

I did for awhile and after Lubing the nut and a proper set up I was able to get it into fantastic playing condition and the tuners kept tune great. It had a super nice neck to that eventually went to a parts bass. It was a 50$ craigslist find I should have held onto.

 

[TJBass]

Invalid Link Removed

Squier I acquired in trade, swapped the E string tuner for a Hipshot Dtuner, installed Alpha large volume and tone pots, Orange drop capacitor and a switchcraft jack.

Yes......She rocks....... and is now my man bass

 

[TJBass]

Invalid Link Removed

Oh yeah, put Strat knobs on it and sanded off squire decal and refinished the headstock.

 

[BluesOnBass]

Yeah, my first bass was an Affinity P and I still have it and really do like the feel and playability of it. Only change I made along the way was to change the pups to the '62 Original Fender P's, and I really like the sound of those. I keep flats on it and play it often.

 

[TJBass]

not to hijack his thread, but SR505, do you have sound clips of those 62 originals?

 

[etechstan]

I picked up an Affinity P Bass Special with the P & J pups replaced with BassLines. I added a denser SX bridge, J ash tray and with all the scrapes and rash, it has some serious mojo. Will it ever replace my Peavey or LTD, no, but it's still a fun bass.

 

[electracoyote]

Congrats, you lucked out.

As a teacher with around 20 weekly students for the past 10 years, my experience is the Affinity series (both guitar and bass) are very hit or miss, mostly miss. After seeing so many Affinitys that required heroic measures from an experienced tech, I finally started advising my new students who had not yet acquired an instrument to avoid them.

Which is not to say they are all bad. Again, congrats on beating the odds.

And of course, the whole Squier line QC changes from year to year, especially the Affinity. I think the closer you get to the present, the better the odds of getting a decent bass.

 

[Marko 1]

I guess I got lucky (genuine comment, not being contradictory)… a Jazz V, though, bought on line, and did nothing to it but put a tort pickguard on it (only because it was $30 and I was getting one for my MIM, so I just ordered two).

I don’t even recall adjusting the action, but it was a few years ago. The intonation is about where my other basses were new, not perfect but close enough to get away with.

It’s a great music-room beater and backup, but I bar-gigged it a few times, and what a deal for ~$200.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

I actually just played a Jazz 5 yesterday and a different music shop in town. Yuck. The neck's ergonomics were funky, the tone was less than stellar, and it weighed as much as a boat anchor. Still, I can't help but keep thinking about that Precision that I tried lol.

 

[TJBass]

If it feels and sounds good, go back and get it, its always cool to have some new bass candy to chew on