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Worth re-necking an Affinity J-bass?

bitterminnows

bitterminnows

Oct 17, 2024
266
278
#1
So I recently got a Squier Affinity Jazz bass in a trade. It sounds and plays pretty nice!

However, my issue with it is that aesthetically, not really into the pale necks the Affinities come with.

I thought about just sanding and staining the neck it's got, as it does have a rather awesome flame going on.

But then, I remembered that you can also just swap necks since it's a Squier.

I'm a big fan of block & binding necks, particularly the 70s maple ones with black markers.

But, a lot of the necks I'm finding cost about as much as a new bass!

I thought this bass might make a cool mod platform, but, might it be a better idea to just wait for one with the neck I like to come around?
 
#4
If it already sounds good, you probably don't have to mod much except to make it fit your aesthetics. Find a neck you like and rock it. Or find another bass with a neck you like and swap the necks. Then you'll have two basses, one you're over the moon about and a cheap backup you don't mind loaning out or sticking in the studio, etc.

One of my favorite basses is a cheap squier body with an 80s fender Japan neck. Kept the squier pickup and bridge and everything, just the neck swap. Looks great, sounds great, no regrets.
 
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#6
Bikeguy57 said:
People seem to have had good luck with the Chinese necks on Ebay. They are a bargain, but may require a little fitting work. Someone will chime in with personal experience.
Click to expand...
👍

i've purchased 9 necks from ebay. all fretless. they've been superb pieces: only one of them was a little too chunky (all have been 1.5" at the nut), so i gave it to a friend (fellow TB member).

the side dots on every neck i've purchased were in the 'fretted' position, i had to re-do those, so there's that. but the feel of some of these necks (2019 to 2024) is outstanding. i can't vouch for any of the fretted ebay/chinese necks.

i play these things all the time:

black HH iphone copy.png Green PJ pic.png p-basses copy.png pink champagne.png two J bodies2 copy.jpg

affordable necks that play great. win/win. my take, YMMV.
 
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#7
I have refinished Squier necks to darken them using pre-mixed amber shellac from H.Depot. Mix in a 75% shellac/25% rubbing alcohol (70% isopropyl), so it's easier to apply. Sand lightly your neck and then do a few coats. It will age the neck away from the bare white wood.

I've not used the chinese Fender necks but I recently picked one up here. Someone had refretted it and added a bone nut. It fit my Squier project nicely and is with my tech to be set up. It seems fine, but it was already tweaked to fit.

Is your neck maple or rosewood? I have a virtually new neck off a Squier classic vibe 70's jazz bass with black inlays and hardware. It's not the yellowed kind one, though. It's more a natural color like this one and with clear gloss. If rosewood, I may be down for trading.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...itZSdifbHMwZNgnsbwDAm7eKcuwxVmMUaAkyQEALw_wcB
 
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#11
Kubicki Fan said:
I hate to separate a good sounding bass for any reason.
Especially, when the good sounding bass is made of nice wood, too.

Perhaps, you could use some rub-on finish darkened by some stain, if you like it enough.
Click to expand...

I did think about going this route, yes, since the figuring on the stock neck is pretty nice.

I only wonder if the frets would have to be removed to apply it.
 
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#15
I bought this Squier Affinity jazz bass because it sounded magical.

Got it for $ 300.00 CDN because the neck wasn't perfect.

I played it again and again, tried it with friends in jams and rehearsals and everyone agreed it sounded awesome. But, the neck had a bump making some buzz and fret leveling wasn't doable as the neck was twisted.

So, I bought a $ 600.00 CDN Fender MIM roasted maple jazz neck and here it is singing and rumbling.

Money wise, this is not the perfect deal, especially if I was to sell it. Satisfaction wise though, it's 100% and this funky lady is now my number one jazz bass.

1769605089483.jpeg
 
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#16
I bought a cheap Chinese fretless neck. no issues whatsoever, It is nicer than expected.
If you like the bass. I think that it's a worthwhile project.
Staining the neck could be a disaster. That would be a lot of hours of work, and maple doesn't always take stain evenly.
 
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#17
I've darkened many pale necks with a few light coats of amber nitro. I mask the frets with blue masking tape. When I achieve the tone I want, I topcoat with Clear, Rust-Oleum American Accents 2X Ultra Cover Satin Spray Paint. I used this finish to topcoat a guitar I later refinished, and found it to be incredibly hard. It has been compatible with lacquer or poly and dries fast. It's been my go-to neck clear cover.

Masking the frets...I put tape over a fret, use my fingernail or a thin guitar pick to snug it up to the fret, score the tape along the bottom edge of the fret with a fresh x-acto knife or razor blade, and peel off the excess. This works well for me. It's pretty easy and saves a lot of work cleaning amber spray from the frets.

I use Mohawk or StewMac amber. I have no preference.

I've also used many Chinese necks and finish with the same amber/clear.
 
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#18
I bought a Sonic Squier Precision bass in Graffiti yellow specifically to get the body.

I had planned to replace all of the parts.
I swapped the neck for a Fender 50s Classic Pbass neck that I had purchased for a project that never happened.
I haven't swapped the pickups or pots or bridge, but the neck fits perfectly, and the bass plays great. It totally changed the character of the bass.

It was totally worth it to me. I had priced a poplar graffiti yellow pbass body at $400-450 so getting the whole bass for under $200 felt like a good deal.

If you like the bass, and the body is decent, swapping necks is easy. It's also totally reversible, so if you end up not liking it, you can switch back and sell the bass and/or the neck, or even use the neck for a different bass project if you end up liking that neck.

1769619948609.jpeg
 
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#19
Just added my story with a new thread :)

Cliff_Lightyear

Thread 'NBD! …after 15 years, a cracked headstock and zero self-control 😅'

So I guess this has slowly turned into the longest-running accidental project bass I've ever owned — here's the full story 🙂

I bought this black Squier Affinity P Bass around 2009. For years it was just "the cheap one", but I always remembered it as a surprisingly great-sounding instrument. The weak point for me were the stock tuners, so I upgraded to Hipshots plus a D-Tuner… which immediately made the hardware worth about as much as the bass itself 😄

And of course, once I started, I couldn't stop:
  • Hipshot tuners + D-Tuner (yes… they even had to be filed down slightly to fit in...
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