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Squier Affinity P Bass years and tonewoods

#21
The Great Genius said:
I prefer a short scale for playability, but precious few of them sound good. Also, Jags are nice except for their unusually large body that makes playing while sitting awkward and difficult.
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I tried one of the new Mustangs and thought it was very nice. I also liked the Squier SS Jag, and Player Jag, but have heard those complaints about the bodies.

But I’m not too picky about pickups, both my squiers are still stock. I will still always pick feel over sound, since it’s so easy to change pickups. I’d say get the right scale, a neck you like and go from there.

Have you looked at the Ibanez tmb30? Same price point as the affinity, SS PJ
 
#22
Deleted member 271037 said:
I've got a year 2000 Affinity P-bass with the all black logo. I'm 99% sure it's alder. I could be wrong but it's definitely not basswood or agathis, very different grain. The bass is made by Yako, Taiwan (CY serial number). It's very nice bass and I actually use it more than my US P-basses.

The neck is absolutely flawless. It has a typical "modern P" nut width but not quite the same as US Fenders. Probably metric. Slightly above 1.6". But it's slimmer front to back than most P-basses. Excellent fretwork. Excellent stability. Beautiful rosewood fretboard.

The finish is 2-tone sunburst and the wood (whatever it is) is a very nice looking one piece. Very impressive for such a cheap instrument.

The pickups weren't that great though so I replaced them with Fender Originals. The tuning machines are the closed back ones that everyone hates but they still work fine so I've had no reason to replace them.

Still, even with these shortcomings it's the best Affinity I've ever tried. Which is the reason I still own it.
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I have a 2005 Affinity P. Probably one of the first years they put the open back tuners on em. It’s an amazing bass, my main player in fact. I modded the crap out of it, but that was all fun, not out of necessity. Stock pickup stayed in it!

But circling back to OP, that bass is the heaviest Affinity I’ve ever picked up. Never did find out what the wood is though.
 
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#23
The Great Genius said:
So now it is down to an Affinity PJ, or a Mustang PJ.
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Ok, so I just came out of my local store, and they had both of these. Played both through an ampeg ba112.
Mustang: excellent fit and finish. Very well made. Sound was good, but a little too bright and crunchy for my taste. Didn’t spend a ton of time with it, wasn’t really feeling the SS (I never do), or the 3 way switch.
Affinity: great fret ends. Neck back finish was almost non existent, and wood was rough. (which is true of all affinities I’ve tried in the past few years) easily sanded and refinished; but not exactly ready to go for my liking. The sound though, was excellent- phat and full, a little bite dialed in with that J

If it were me, I’d pick the Affinity, cause I’d have no problem refinishing the neck, and I prefer long scale. But you have your own criteria. Hope that helps a little, and you get to try em both yourself. Good luck.
 
#24
I no longer have it, but I bought a $50 Chinese-made affinity jazz off of CL that was definitely alder. Something like a 4-piece body and pretty heavy. It's not a 100% guarantee, but I think you could go by weight and guess if an affinity were basswood/agathis or alder.
 
#30
Deleted member 271037 said:
I've got a year 2000 Affinity P-bass with the all black logo. I'm 99% sure it's alder. I could be wrong but it's definitely not basswood or agathis, very different grain. The bass is made by Yako, Taiwan (CY serial number). It's very nice bass and I actually use it more than my US P-basses.

The neck is absolutely flawless. It has a typical "modern P" nut width but not quite the same as US Fenders. Probably metric. Slightly above 1.6". But it's slimmer front to back than most P-basses. Excellent fretwork. Excellent stability. Beautiful rosewood fretboard.

The finish is 2-tone sunburst and the wood (whatever it is) is a very nice looking one piece. Very impressive for such a cheap instrument.

The pickups weren't that great though so I replaced them with Fender Originals. The tuning machines are the closed back ones that everyone hates but they still work fine so I've had no reason to replace them.

Still, even with these shortcomings it's the best Affinity I've ever tried. Which is the reason I still own it.
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#31
I have a ‘97 (I believe)20 fret affinity p bass had same closed tuners / alder body / awesome neck. It also only has 13 screws on the pick guard versus the 14 commonly seen. Was just curious if yours was a short scale with 13 screws as well?
 
#32
Mark Lin said:
I have a ‘97 (I believe)20 fret affinity p bass had same closed tuners / alder body / awesome neck. It also only has 13 screws on the pick guard versus the 14 commonly seen. Was just curious if yours was a short scale with 13 screws as well?
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Short scale? No, regular long scale. I don't think they made these in short scale? Or did they?

20 frets? Yes, like every Fender P-bass I own (but some of my "other brand" P-style basses have more).

13 screws? Yes, although I'm not sure if 14 is most "commonly seen" on Fenders? Looking at the Fender P-basses I've got in front of me right now (AVRI 57, American Original 60s, American Pro, Player and American Ultra) I see 10, 11, 12 and 13 screws but not 14.

Anyway, I love this bass. Even with all the far more expensive P-basses I own (Fenders and others) this particular Squier is one of my favourites. The only negative is an INSANE deadspot on the G-string 7th fret (so a bit higher up the neck than usual for a P-bass). It's probably the worst deadspot I've heard on ANY bass EVER.

I still love it because the tone is amazing and the neck is absolutely superb. In fact, with my setup this cheap Squier with a relatively cheap Fender Original pickup absolutely NAILS the classic P-bass tone that many recent Fender basses/pickups (including certain "vintage reissue" models) simply don't. I use Pyramid Pure Nickels on mine btw, their mellow tone is perfect for the slightly aggressive, upper-mid forward Original pickup.

Just to be clear, when I say "Original" pickup I'm not referring to the pickup in the American Original P-bass which is the ultra-dark and bass heavy Pure Vintage 63. The "Original" pickup is the one that used to be called the "Original 62" and therefore often confused with the slightly different sounding (less upper mids) "Custom Shop 62". Yeah, Fender can be confusing....

To be fair I've replaced the pickup in mine and made a bone nut for it but these are things I often do with FAR more expensive basses too. The bass itself is great. The neck is AMAZING and surprisingly stable for such a slim neck.

The closed tuners have a poor reputation and for a while I thought mine were shot but a quick spray of WD40 and they were as good as new. 20 years and still going strong, no tuning stability issues whatsoever. Not bad for tuners that most people seem to think of as rubbish. They are certainly better than the junk Fender use on the current MIM Player series.

I've never played another one of these Squiers so I have no idea if they were consistently good or if I won the lottery. All I can say is that after a pickup upgrade I regularly choose it for recording over basses that cost 10 times as much. Touring? No more, it's far too precious to me so this one stays in my studio.
 
#33
Deleted member 271037 said:
Short scale? No, regular long scale. I don't think they made these in short scale? Or did they?

20 frets? Yes, like every Fender P-bass I own (but some of my "other brand" P-style basses have more).

13 screws? Yes, although I'm not sure if 14 is most "commonly seen" on Fenders? Looking at the Fender P-basses I've got in front of me right now (AVRI 57, American Original 60s, American Pro, Player and American Ultra) I see 10, 11, 12 and 13 screws but not 14.

Anyway, I love this bass. Even with all the far more expensive P-basses I own (Fenders and others) this particular Squier is one of my favourites. The only negative is an INSANE deadspot on the G-string 7th fret (so a bit higher up the neck than usual for a P-bass). It's probably the worst deadspot I've heard on ANY bass EVER.

I still love it because the tone is amazing and the neck is absolutely superb. In fact, with my setup this cheap Squier with a relatively cheap Fender Original pickup absolutely NAILS the classic P-bass tone that many recent Fender basses/pickups (including certain "vintage reissue" models) simply don't. I use Pyramid Pure Nickels on mine btw, their mellow tone is perfect for the slightly aggressive, upper-mid forward Original pickup.

Just to be clear, when I say "Original" pickup I'm not referring to the pickup in the American Original P-bass which is the ultra-dark and bass heavy Pure Vintage 63. The "Original" pickup is the one that used to be called the "Original 62" and therefore often confused with the slightly different sounding (less upper mids) "Custom Shop 62". Yeah, Fender can be confusing....

To be fair I've replaced the pickup in mine and made a bone nut for it but these are things I often do with FAR more expensive basses too. The bass itself is great. The neck is AMAZING and surprisingly stable for such a slim neck.

The closed tuners have a poor reputation and for a while I thought mine were shot but a quick spray of WD40 and they were as good as new. 20 years and still going strong, no tuning stability issues whatsoever. Not bad for tuners that most people seem to think of as rubbish. They are certainly better than the junk Fender use on the current MIM Player series.

I've never played another one of these Squiers so I have no idea if they were consistently good or if I won the lottery. All I can say is that after a pickup upgrade I regularly choose it for recording over basses that cost 10 times as much. Touring? No more, it's far too precious to me so this one stays in my studio.
Click to expand...
This was the first bass I bought. It was blue and white. I’d had a few others handed down to me before I bought it. It is definitely the most comfortable and easy playing bass I have, with great tone and sustain. I had one tuner came apart that’s when I changed to the open geared currently on it. I use GHS pressurewound med lts. I fist installed SD quater lb then went to the EMG gezzers. Pretty much my idol growing up. Him and Phil lynot
 

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