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Upgrading an Affinity Jbass

Conman

Conman

Guest
Nov 10, 2013
46
5
#1
Hey guys recently I posted about getting a new bass however after further consideration I think I am going to stick with the bass I have for now. When I buy my next bass I want it to be a good one for around a thousand dollars I dont need another bass That I am just going to upgrade to later.

when It comes to upgrading a squier people like to say your polishing a pice of S**t just get a new bass. Well that POS was the my first bass and I fell in love with the bass as an instrument after that so this is sentamental value in it and this is out of love for the bass.

I dont know how to go about upgrading it though. What do I need to do first?
 
#5
Conman said:
If I were to replace the pick ups what should I get?
Click to expand...

A lot of people stand by Seymour Duncan as a solid replacement pickup that won't break the bank.

One thing though, measure both your pickup widths. It's possible they may be the exact same size. There was a time when certain Squier Jazzes, along with Fender Standard Jazzes, used the exact same size pickup for both positions. You don't want to buy a pair of pickups just to find the bridge pickup won't fit without some extra routing-out. (I speak from personal experience here! :facepalm:) If they are the same, you'll have to buy a pair of neck pickups instead.
 
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#6
+1, you'd be amazed what new/different/better strings and a professional set up can do. Seriously, I've had my local luthier transform my instruments before from something that was pretty good to something that was amazing and didn't even feel like the same bass as before.

spanndrew said:
Well, in your other thread you mentioned bad fret buzz. I'd say take it to a tech and see if that can't get worked out.
Click to expand...
 
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#7
if you have sentimental value for the bass, personally i wouldnt do to much to it, and if i did i would do something i can easily reverse


or maby not, maby doing tons of mods and stuff would make it more unique,

the best thing i can think of is upgrade the pick up



+ on^ if your instrument needs a set up that would be the first thing to do, new strings are great too depending on the sound you want ot get out of it, but strings can only be new for so long
 
#8
Juanchioo said:
new strings are great too depending on the sound you want ot get out of it, but strings can only be new for so long
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Amen to that, Juan! I cannot overstate how much an impact different strings can make on your sound.

To make a long story short, I once upgraded the pickups on a Squier Standard Jazz, but it didn't sound all that great. But when I changed to another type of string, the difference was incredible.
 
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#9
I recently took my Affinity J5 out of mothballs, and I had forgotten how noisy it is. I will go by a repair shop tomorrow to see if they have any copper tape so I can shield it from so much noise. Frankly, it sounds good and plays nicely, I can cut out the noise it will be very close to a Mexican Fender Jazz V.
 
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#10
I remember going from having D'Addario XLs on a bass that I had to DR Hi-Beams. The difference in sound and feel was stunning. Add in the excellent set-up I had done, and I would have sworn it was a different/new/"higher-end" bass.

Nice thing about strings and set-up too is that it is the lowest cost "upgrade" you can do, it is easy to play around with to try and get different results.

Malak the Mad said:
Amen to that, Juan! I cannot overstate how much an impact different strings can make on your sound.

To make a long story short, I once upgraded the pickups on a Squier Standard Jazz, but it didn't sound all that great. But when I changed to another type of string, the difference was incredible.
Click to expand...
 
#12
Make sure you get the fretbuzz and other stuff lined out first. After that, I'd look at changing the strings. If that's not doing the trick, there are PLENTY of options for J-style pickups out there. DiMarzio, EMG, Fender Custom Shop, Bartolini, Nordstrand, etc etc etc...After the string and pickup change, I can't think of much else you can do that wouldn't be based on aesthetics or just mild personal touches, not much else will change the tone of the bass that dramatically.
 
#15
Dr. Cheese said:
I recently took my Affinity J5 out of mothballs, and I had forgotten how noisy it is. I will go by a repair shop tomorrow to see if they have any copper tape so I can shield it from so much noise. Frankly, it sounds good and plays nicely, I can cut out the noise it will be very close to a Mexican Fender Jazz V.
Click to expand...
Are you sure it is the bass making the noise? I once spent weeks chasing a buzz problem I thought was the bass. It was a G&L SB-2. I resoldered every joint, checked shielding, etc, but no joy. So I worked the amp over and it wasn't the problem. Turns out some knucklehead in a music store had sold me a speaker cable as a guitar cord. I did learn to tie a hangman's noose using a speaker cable, but he was no longer working at the store. <ratz>
 
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#16
Gravedigger Dav said:
Are you sure it is the bass making the noise? I once spent weeks chasing a buzz problem I thought was the bass. It was a G&L SB-2. I resoldered every joint, checked shielding, etc, but no joy. So I worked the amp over and it wasn't the problem. Turns out some knucklehead in a music store had sold me a speaker cable as a guitar cord. I did learn to tie a hangman's noose using a speaker cable, but he was no longer working at the store. <ratz>
Click to expand...

I use Monster Cable bass cables. The noise could be in my room which has a computer, modem, cable box, and television.

Shielding can only help my bass. Besides the hum, I really like it.
 
#17
Dr. Cheese said:
I use Monster Cable bass cables. The noise could be in my room which has a computer, modem, cable box, and television.

Shielding can only help my bass. Besides the hum, I really like it.
Click to expand...
I had an Affinity about 8 years ago. I bought it because I was out of bass and found some guys to play with. They had an amp, but not a bass, so the only thing I could pay cash for was an Affinity. It really wasn't a bad bass at all. Once I got enough money together to get an AM Jazz, I traded it for a Takamine Acoustic/Electric.
I would try different cables, where I plug my amp in, and if you have florescent lights around. And you may be on to something with the electronics in the room. Have you tried turning them all off to see what happens? (but not the amp, of course.) Do you have or can you borrow another instument to plug into using the same chord and amp, etc?
 
#18
Advice here is good... go to the strings forum and read up what people like and why. When you take the bass in to have it the frets looked at, you may as well buy a set of strings and do a proper setup, because it's more or less needed to address the fret problem anyways. Altogether an investment of maybe $60-100, depending where you are and what you buy - but a good step to take if you're trying to leave room for an amp purchase (as per the other thread).

Before you upgrade pickups, check out the classifieds here. Sometimes you can try out different string sets on the cheap, as many will only have been used for a couple of hours, days, etc... You can buy 3 different sent for the price of one good new set, for example, and experiment a little to figure out what gets you closer to that perfect sound you hear in your head.

If you're still not there, then try a pickup and/or control upgrade. That's another $50-100 if buying used on the TB classifieds, and is something that you can probably do yourself. These upgrades can start to cost almost as much as a next-step upgrade bass, so it is strongly recommended you buy these items used as you'll never really get the value back for any upgrades you make when you go to sell. This is your learning tool, so you want the best bang for your buck and cover as much territory as possible.
 
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#20
Malak the Mad said:
A lot of people stand by Seymour Duncan as a solid replacement pickup that won't break the bank.

One thing though, measure both your pickup widths. It's possible they may be the exact same size. There was a time when certain Squier Jazzes, along with Fender Standard Jazzes, used the exact same size pickup for both positions. You don't want to buy a pair of pickups just to find the bridge pickup won't fit without some extra routing-out. (I speak from personal experience here! :facepalm:) If they are the same, you'll have to buy a pair of neck pickups instead.
Click to expand...

My Mexican jazz bass unfortunately has this problem....BLEHHHHH..I bought a set of Custom Shop 60s for nothing.

OP, measure your pickups, not the pickup cavities to make sure the bridge one is longer than the neck pickup by a bit.

Strings. Strings. Strings. They will always be a constant money spender if you're serious on playing bass. You cannot get a good sound without good strings (not expensive ones), just fresh strings. I recommend standard Fender strings if you're not sure about what strings to get: good default ones. I also use Rotosound 66 Swing bass strings but those are notorious of eating away at frets...so watch out for that.

SET IT UP!!! If you don't know how, get it done by a pro. You'll thank us later for it.
 

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