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Tailoring a Squier Affinity Jazz Bass... My build thread.

#81
Tone and both volume controls are pretty consistent on the Affinity. No jumps at all, just smooth increase / decrease like you'd expect a pot to actually work... That's why I didn't see the need for the pot upgrade. That may vary between Squier model lines, but my 2003 PJ bass, and now my Jazz not a single complaint about the pots. My PJ my complaint was with the basswood body letting screws pull out of the strap buttons. I did the drill & fill plugging with oak trick and ended that problem real fast. Wish I still had that bass...

Only complaint with the Affinity Jazz is one minor flaw in the finish on the back side that is going to get scratched up anyway, so no worries at all, the shielding problem. The rest is all cosmetics... Part of the reason for doing the DD pickups is to be able to do the pickup shielding and still have my OE pickups untouched if I need to go back... The bridge upgrade is simply cosmetic, I want the brass saddles so bad I can taste them, and the pick guard. The white is okay, but far too plain...
 
#82
Since my lovely bride is so crazy about the maple headstock, I am not needing the burgundy mist paint, and as such, I am now, with the delivery today of the decals, I am now in possession of all the materials needed to do the mods...

20150416_200220.jpg


And while I am 100% certain I would love to swap that entire decal over, I am debating keeping the original "Squier by Fender" part, and just losing the J BASS part and putting on the Jazz Bass part... Decisions decisions...

I'm not sure what magic JuJu The MusiciansGear people are putting in their tweed cables, but ever since throwing the MG 20 foot straight x right angle cable into the mix, the hum is gone... Still going to shield as, well I am this far already...

After watching the Elixir videos on setup, it is so painfully easy looking and totally not intimidating, that I am going to take on my own setups from now on, however that leaves one issue... Where to get the right nut files?
 
#88
Big Hoss said:
I am NOT, and I repeat loudly NOT trying to pass off my Squier as a full priced Fender, I simply despise the truncated J-Bass decal, it looks all kinds of wrong to me... I would even be perfectly happy to affix the little Affinity Series decal in the round part of the end of the headstock. I am NOT trying to pass anything off as something it isn't. Like I mentioned before, I am simply trying to make MY bass, fit and play the way I want it to, sonically, ergonomically, and cosmetically.
Click to expand...
I love the concept of modding a reasonably priced instrument to fit personal needs. I also is a firm believer in labeling stuff as what they are. I applaud you for keeping a Squier logo. Just a thought: You could put an Affinity-decal on the back of the headstock if you want to keep the front clean.
 
#92
Doing some digging around, I *might* be able to remove it with acetone based nail polish remover (which my wife has...)

I have ZERO concern over damaging the matte clear as I was planning on applying a matte clear back over the new decal anyway.

I have a multifunction tool with sanding pads, possibly on low speed with fairly high grit paper and a very careful touch I can sand it off...

I am planning on keeping the Affinity Series decal right where it is. I didn't think about it when I had considered painting the stock, but the point isn't that I am ashamed of my Squier in the slightest. It's a good instrument particularly for modding. The basics are there and are quite good, it's the refinement that is missing, and that can be added / polished into it...

I haven't considered a brass nut. Interesting thought...

Part of my brain wants to try to figure out how to make an actual bone, or in the case of the material at hand, shed antler nut, but I haven't the slightest idea how to machine that stuff...
 
#95
Had very little shop time this weekend due to work, and honestly, wanted to play the Jazz more than work on it this weekend. I am going to be unable to work on it at all until at least late next week, like around Thursday or Friday... By the time this is all done, I am going to be a twitchy mess and need to play, play, play just to get my brain right... Maybe dive into all of this mess on the weekend of the first...
 
#96
Getting anxious to get this done, but my day job is sucking up all my time. I did run an experiment on my headstock trying to get the J BASS decal portion off using Acetone with no success. That stuff didn't even budge at all...

While I am still concerned about the hum coming back, and I am still committed to doing the shielding, the behavior of the bass since I tossed the new cable into the mix has me FAR less motivated to actually get it done than I was previously...

Once I get the free time to tackle it, again most likely next weekend sometime, I will...

#1. Remove the strings.
#2. Pull the pick guard and trim the pickup opening just a hair to make the fit around the pickup less snug.
#3. Remove the bridge.
#4. Mask off as described before.
#5. Spray the shielding, and using a pipe cleaner, shield the wire routes.
#6. Apply shielding to the bottom of the pick guard, insure full connectivity from end to end across the full sheilding job.
#7. Install the DD pickups.
#8. Install the bridge.
#9. Install the pick guard.
#10. Polish the fret ends.
#11. Install, if they have arrived yet, the block inlay decals.
#12. Remove J BASS decal, apply Jazz Bass decal.
#13. Mask off and re-clear the headstock.
#14. Polish nut string grooves.
#15. Install strings.
#16. Perform full setup.

I am actually honestly looking forward to the finished product of this labor. It is driving me nuts that I can't take the time to acxtually do it...
 
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#97
Okay, for those that may be following my build thread. I am back from a business trip, and doing some catch up at the office. Apparently my team and I leave the home office and everything flies apart...

I have some auto related problems to attend to this weekend (plugged Catalytic Converters, and sadly I live in an Emissions test county...), but assuming I can get enough time to start work on the bass, I am planning on at the very least, stripping it down, masking it off, and getting the shielding done.

I took a look at a couple of Classic Vibe 60s Squiers at my local shop, and assessed whether or not the tail of the bridge bows up away from the body like was shown in and earlier post here. Nada, not even with the thinnest feeler gauge...

The luthier did mention that he never heard of, or had seen what was shown here, but would like to have a chance to disassemble that instrument and check the bottom of the bridge, and the mounting surface for flatness. The bridge itself, like mine is, he said should be somewhat convex, ever so slight, but it IS there.

Still, seeing that one bowed up, even though it is ever so slight, does give me a tiny bit of pause on mine... I am considering sticking with the bent plate for now.

As they say, God willing and the creeks don't rise, it'll get done perhaps by mid week next week... I need to get the project done, and photographed, so I can update my build thread here and on my blog...

Sadly, I haven't held a single bass since last Monday due to work, I think I am going into withdrawl...
 
#98
Due to vehicular vomiting, my attention has been on the truck rather than modding my bass this weekend, HOWEVER, I did spend some time learning how to set the intonation on my bass... It took a while, but I finally got it. I was starting to think I'd never get that E string quite right...
 
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#99
Not much to update on this today, other than to say that the dumb thing is kind of muting my modding desires. Ever since I swapped in that Musicians Gear straight x right angle cable, the noise is gone, period.

I'll get there, I but I am just so happy just PLAYING it my motivation to MOD it is less and less...

The intonation thing kind of hit me funny. According to my Digitech, it was smooth on, but according to my ear, and 2 different Korg Handheld tuners, it was off, by quite a bit...

So I decided to try my hand at setting it following the Elixir strings video on Youtube on How to Set Up Your Bass Guitar. There is a series of 4 of these videos, I believe the first was on adjusting the truss rod, the second on setting the bridge action height, the third setting the nut action height, and then the last one, setting the intonation.
 
#100
Intonation can be tricky. I always change to my favourite strings and tuning when buying a bass, and setup is a challenge. It is often a 3 stage process: 1) Put on the new strings, tune, play a bit.
2) Discover that string height and intonation is off. Adjust truss rod, bridge height and intonation. Check that everything is perfect. Play a bit. 3) Discover that string height and intonation is off, and that you turned too far in stage 2. Adjust truss rod, bridge height and intonation back towards the original setting. Check that everything is perfect. Play.

I also do a setup check at least each spring and fall. It seems like the instrument changes with the seasons. And changing string types and/or tuning also means that the bass needs to "adapt" to the new.
 

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