Not all Affinites are good or bad. It's not so much a crapshoot as it is a choice when given the opportunity to play one for yourself.
I found - quite by accident - that I have one of the better Affinity Ps (ca: 1998) - in that it had great tuners on it and they never failed, fell off or lost the ability to hold the strings in tune as is the case for every ring and worm gear no matter who makes it. Gears do not slip.
The pickups after a longish time however died - well the E/A half of the split pair did - and I just put a set of Peavey Furies in it and they are super sweet.
The bridge - although I've never seen it's twin - is heavy and certainly would be an upgrade for any Fenderesque bass, bar none were an upgrade even to be needed.
The body is just fine and it hasn't failed to hold a screw, hasn't bent, bagged nor sagged in the knee and certainly has a fine finish on it to this day.
The neck is right up there with a true Fender in that it is solid, hasn't bent either and has never needed even a tweak in the three different and totally nasty changes of climate in which it has lived in my care since the bass was new. The only time I move the truss rod is if I change strings and I only then do so as insurance that frankly, is just me being adventuresome and not necessary at all.
The neck may just be the crowing and most majestic part of this bass though.
From: Huntington Beach where the 60 degree air is so humid one gurgles when one breathes and one's sinuses are a useless accessory......
To: Anza CA's higher temps in the lower 100s and where your nose hairs petrify from single digit, lack of moisture.......
To: The Bitterroot Valley in Montana where humidity/temperature change on a daily basis --- I cannot ask a neck to be more stable nor would I ever expect one to be so inclined. The Affinity stays put as adjusted and hasn't so much as moved an iota due to atmospheric, tidal or mutating stray gamma ray influences.
Just for aesthetics, I put some very much older and again, for personal reasons alone, I changed out the tuning machines. It was not from any mechanical failure or necessity; it was for want, personally so, and totally just for looks.
Say or believe what you want about their tuning machine mechanical reliability , but those Affinities with the toy tuners are out there --- the totally enclosed ones - and these I would not place a bet on for reliability.
But they are a total adjunct to the truth about an Affinity, what with the open gear types being as stout and predictable as any other Fender/Squier tuner. Just stay away from the smaller, enclosed tuners on some Affinities --- and all will be well.
I still have - even after all these years - the original pots and wiring, and although they are the small diameter pots, they are quiet, the knobs haven't fallen off and they don't wiggle.
The jack, however sadly, did fail or so I thought. I just re-bent the tension on the connector spring after trying an unorthodox cable in it, and resized the thing and all is well there again too. (Can you say: 'Monster'?) Yet even after that abuse, the part hasn't failed to hold and it still does so in a quiet manner as a good female receptacle should.
What's not to love?
Some ROTO 66s, a .100uF Radio Shack cap (6 for 99 cents), the Peavey Furies (almost free) and a set of Dunlop Duals on the stock Squier nylon strap and it is an enigma to many: a sweet singing, reliable, good-looking bass.
