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

[Big Hoss]

Oddly enough, that E string that took so long to intonate, well it seems to be going dull / dead now... It just doesn't sound "right". I mean it does the notes and they are in correct pitch, but the sound is off. It seems awfully fast to me for a set of new strings for the E string to go dead.

Of course, with the exception of the time I was out on business travel, I have spent an average of 45 minutes a day playing that bass since it came in less than a month and a half ago... So figure probably 30 days straight with 45 min / day play time on those strings...

Seems quick to go dead, but it is starting to sound dead to me...

 

[Big Hoss]

The project is going full force. The teardown is complete...

Then the masking...

The first coat is on.... I did a cheat with the wire passages. I simply loaded up a Q-tip and shoved it through the holes painting them...

Waiting for the first coat to dry....

 

[Big Hoss]

Okay, got 3 coats on it, and here it is...

Foil taped the back side of my pick guard too...

I got it reassembled, set the string height, set the intonation, and trying to set the pickup heights, but I managed to lose a couple of the springs. Ugh...

Not sure what the deal is, but the bridge pickup is not making any noise at all... I need to test the wires for conductivity and see if I am getting anything out of them, maybe I damaged a pot soldering it back together, but something is NOT right in bassville...

The neck pickup is in, and mostly adjusted in, not perfect, but close enough, and it sounds awesome...

 

[Big Hoss]

I should mention my smallest feeler gauge is .0015" and I could not get it under the new bridge...

 

[marko138]

I'm surprised you don't have a wide open route from the neck pup to the control cavity. My VM is one big channel.

 

[Big Hoss]

Okay I have sorted the shorted out. Had to remove some of the shielding from the pickups as it was making contact with pole pieces. Got that all cleared up, and put back together, got the pickup heights set, and tested it out.

First things first, these Duncan Designed pickups are WAY louder, fuller sounding than either the stock Fender pickups, or the Fender pickups in the new model Vintage Modified Jazz basses I tried out. I am no Geddy Lee by any means, but I can achieve a Geddy like tone with this thing into my Rumble...

There is absolutely zero hum, none, bupkis, nada zilch...

There are ongoing issues with the finish, and I am giving serious consideration to a full strip and refinish to the body, but I just love playing it so much, I might just let it get a mojo of its own going... It is painfully obvious though that the Squier factory in China did a terrible job of prepping the stock before spraying it...

All that's left is the waterslide decal, and I am not even sure I am going to do that soon... I am enjoying playing it too much to want to fuss with it...