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Surprising NBD Squier Affinity content

#22
BassHole1 said:
That looks killer! Love the rosewood!

My vintage '79 PJ sits in a case. I gig two to three Squires that I have modified with upgraded US pickups, pots, tuners, and bridges and they are awesome, all sub $500.00 and blow away MIM's! So long as you like the body and weight, and the neck is straight....
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I’ve done this quite a bit. Duplicated Fenders and Gibsons with Squiers and Epiphones which are more easily replaced. Mine play very well and I take a bit of reverse pride or something playing something that does the job well while my so called good instruments stay home safe.

I’ve had an instance of a smash and grab after loading in or out and stuff getting damaged. The older and more sentimental stuff can stay home.
 
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#23
sunburst79 said:
I’ve done this quite a bit. Duplicated Fenders and Gibsons with Squiers and Epiphones which are more easily replaced. Mine play very well and I take a bit of reverse pride or something playing something that does the job well while my so called good instruments stay home safe.

I’ve had an instance of a smash and grab after loading in or out and stuff getting damaged. The older and more sentimental stuff can stay home.
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My 1960 Precision bass sits comfortably in its case enjoying a well-deserved retirement. Just like me. Except I'm not inside of a case. Well I guess I am because the human body is just a case after all. In a way it's really sad that these old instruments have become so expensive that we can no longer enjoy them except in the privacy of our own home or possibly in a studio.

It's often been said that a quality musician can sound the same on any instrument they play because it's all in who they are and how they play rather than what they are playing. There is some truth in that. I sometimes buy those $80 Chinese glarry bass guitars. Then I put them on my workbench here at home and I go through them from one end to the other correct everything that needs to be fixed up and put a new set of strings on him do a full Pro setup. When I get done with them they actually play beautifully and they honestly don't sound that bad. I can sound just the same on one of those as I do on any of my other bass guitars.
 
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#24
I have a habit of buying Squiers (first Classic Vibes, now even just Affinity), so long as they feel good and the neck is straight, then I will relic/refinish them, upgrade tuners, maybe the bridge, the pickups and the pots/jack/wiring. I have learned basis soldering, too, but I do have a guy that sets them up and fixes my occasional bad solder jobs. I have quite a few sweet basses now:

Here is my latest 1966 tribute P-bass in aged Olympic white (it was totally white before) with an aftermarket neck from here as I broke the headstock drilling the smaller 1999 Chinese tuner holes to accommodate USA 70's ones). Original Precision '63 USA p/u, CTS pots, cloth wire, Switchcraft jack. I used a 60's Classic vibe neck with threaded saddles, and I added the bridge cover, which I am really digging recently, too. The neck was very relic-ed when I got it and I botched adding the Fender logo, but it's fine. I really dig the block inlays, too.



Here is my prior project - a 1972 tribute P-bass. It was a red Squier but I bought it stripped to natural. It would not take stain to go walnut color, so I added gold sparkle paint, then amber shellac (all by hand) to give it an "authentic" relic look/feel. I aged all chrome parts (all were shiny before) and the P/U is an Aguilar, which is okay but quiet. I much rather prefer the Original Precisions. This one is interesting in the light due to the gold sparkle. I also aged the headstock and the Fender logo turned out perfectly. This was the first build in which I was successful in really aging the chrome to look old, battered and vintage.


My next build is a Squier P-bass in black with tort PG and rosewood neck. It's going to have a MIJ Fender P-bass PU in it and the same CTS harness as the above two. The neck is already aged and logo turned out perfectly. I will relic the body and new tort PG a little to take off the poly shine. I also have Schaller tuners for it. I will keep all hardware shiny chrome.


I also have a Squier PJ bass in antique burst I just bought last weekend used. I am on the fence about making it a PJ or just keep it a P with a dummy J PU.
I like the clean look of just the solo P PU. I scored an insanely good deal on it sold as a "Fake Fender" and the owner had aged the neck, sprayed it with nitro and the 60's P bass logo is perfect (although I prefer the 70's logos for J & P basses). I'm having some difficulty figuring out wiring the harness for PJ, though, so this one may take some time....
 
#25
I can't figure out how to edit my prior posting but here are a few pictures. The 66 tribute than the 72:
Screenshot_20260324_081201.jpg
Screenshot_20260326_200415.jpg
 
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#26
60bass said:
Squier has really stepped up their game. I also have a medium scale Jaguar H Affinity series. I've modded that one a bit too and it's a great player. Added a Delano MM pickup with 4 wire options. Series, single coil (bridge coil), parallel. With new tuners, new bridge. Amber vintage tinted neck. It's a solid bass that hits way above it's price point.

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Thinking about pickup up one of these. What tuners did you use?
 
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#27
60bass said:
I recently saw Guitar Center was having a sale on what they called a Guitar Center exclusive. It was 3T sunburst Squier Affinity Series P/J. At $259.00 the Price was too good to pass up. Since I didn't have a P/J nor a 3T sunburst currently in my collection I thought, well what have I got to lose. So I ordered it. I figured if it wasn't any good I could always return it.

When it arrived I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. The fit and finish was surprisingly good. The fretwork was very good with no sharp fret ends and just some minor levelling needed way up high. There's a very minor amount of buzzing on the A string around the 17th - 19th fret. Hardly Noticeable when playing through my amp so I'm probably just going to leave it and see if it levels itself out after a little bit of playing and if not I've got everything needed to level and re-crown it so it's no biggie. TBH I was expecting it to be a lot worse based on the amount Squier instruments that come across my bench here at home which need quite a bit of fretwork. The Indian Laurel board has a very nice grain pattern. The nut was very nicely done And it was nice for a change not to have to go in and correct something. The slots were the correct width and depth. I almost always have to cut the slots deeper to get it where it should be.

The finish on the body is really good as well. There are a couple of very small little pin head sized dings on the face of the body where they could have sanded it a little bit more and used a bit of filler but they are hardly noticeable unless you are way up close and you know where to look to find them. They did an excellent job of matching the wood grain on the Poplar body and the sunburst finish is very well done. The satin finish on the back of the neck is smooth and it plays fast. I also like the gloss finished face on the headstock. Weight is right in my sweet spot at 8.6 lbs.

I was expecting to be disappointed in the sound and had already planned that if I kept it I would have to plan on swapping out the pickups. I have never been a fan of ceramic magnet pickups especially the ones used in the lower tier instruments like this. They're usually way too hot and harsh sounding. I have often felt it's done that way on purpose. It's like they want to impress the newbies when they hit that first note and it sounds so loud and powerful. I've always favored alnico5 magnets for their warmer tone. But I have to admit I actually liked the sound of these pickups and yes they are pretty loud. But they're punchy without any harshness. In fact I like them so much that for now at least I'm not going to change them.

The black PG had to go. IMO if it's 3TSB it's gotta be a tort guard. Luckily I have plenty of those sitting around. While I was digging those out I also found a KLUSON Fender branded high mass bridge so I put that on there too. I also have a set of tension adjustable tuners (Grover copies) that will fit and I might just put those on there eventually. If so, I'll wait till I decide to roll the fretboard edges. For the final change I have been sitting on a set of LaBella LTF strings so I put those on there. It sounds huge with flats on it and plays great. I'd feel fine gigging with this bass. Of course it's not on the same level as my vintage Precision or my 2008 P but it's a good instrument and it's solid.

As a bassist since 1969 it's hard for me to believe that nowadays you can get a bass that has the quality that this has in an entry level bass. Even at the normal selling price of $379.99 it is a great instrument and ready to take on stage and play with a minimal amount of work. If only we would have had these when I was first starting out. I shudder to think about my first bass. All I can remember is it was some kind of Japanese import like a Teisco bass or something to that effect. It was barely OK and fell apart rather quickly LOL It did sound pretty decent.

View attachment 7440686View attachment 7440687View attachment 7440688View attachment 7440689View attachment 7440690View attachment 7440691View attachment 7440692

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The tort definitely makes it special.
Squier Affinity basses are much nicer than they were five or six years ago, too. It's a shame some people still consider them junk.
 
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#28
StringJazzX said:
Thinking about pickup up one of these. What tuners did you use?
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The tuners that I used came from allparts. They have a tension adjustable screw on the gears. They're copies of Grover bass tuners. Now Leo Quan also makes sets with their name on them. I've also seen the same exact tuners for sale from Stewmac as well as No name brands on eBay and Reverb. They're actually pretty decent tuners and sometimes it's almost a direct bolt-on for a Squire tuner and sometimes you have to drill new holes it all depends. TBH I've used these for years as replacement tuners and when I first bought a set they were $29 now they're up to sometimes $69 a set. The last set I bought I found on Reverb for 49 bucks. It's gotten to the point where it's almost too expensive to use them. There's still a really good deal though if you can find a set for under 50 bucks.
 
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#29
60bass said:
The tuners that I used came from allparts. They have a tension adjustable screw on the gears. They're copies of Grover bass tuners. Now Leo Quan also makes sets with their name on them. I've also seen the same exact tuners for sale from Stewmac as well as No name brands on eBay and Reverb. They're actually pretty decent tuners and sometimes it's almost a direct bolt-on for a Squire tuner and sometimes you have to drill new holes it all depends. TBH I've used these for years as replacement tuners and when I first bought a set they were $29 now they're up to sometimes $69 a set. The last set I bought I found on Reverb for 49 bucks. It's gotten to the point where it's almost too expensive to use them. There's still a really good deal though if you can find a set for under 50 bucks.
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Thanks!
 
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