NUBD - Squier Affinity PJ, Race Red + Dimarzio PJ Pickups

el_Bajo_Verde

el_Bajo_Verde

May 18, 2016
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Minneapolis, Minnesota
#1
Update!! New Upgraded Bass Day! Fully Shielded the bass and added creme Dimarzio PJ pickups. Why don't they make this color anymore? Plays like a dream!!

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----------ORIGINAL POST-----------
Unloaded a couple of beater basses at GC today. Was on my way out when a shock of bright red caught my eye...

Brand new, fresh out the box, no one had broken the knobs and input jack yet!

Sat down with her...she spoke to me...asked me to take her home. How could I say no? :D

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Waiting on Kalium set so I can string it CGDA. Plays great! This bass plays like a champ! Already set up great, fret edges smooth as silk, love the tone options. I don't even need to swap these pickups.

No problems from the wife since it cost mere pennies and it's the only bass I have at the moment. ;)

Almost brought home a Fender FSR P-bass but turns out some doofus took out a chunk of the finish near the input jack :mad:
 
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#4
Update: I'm quickly realizing that this is no ordinary Affinity. The overall tone, playability, and quality of the bass is much better than the Affinitys I'm used to. I flip the headstock and see that it's made in CHINA! Aren't Affinitys usually made in Indonesia?

I had planned to swap out the pickups and maybe the tuners, but I have no reason to.
 
#7
el_Bajo_Verde said:
That's why I was just saying I'm amazed at the quality of this one! But it's a 2016 Made in China maybe that's why.

I returned a used no-name 5-string bass and returned an Ibanez TMB100.
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Not sure where they are made these days but you lucked out I guess. All of the MIC Squires Ive ever played have been junk, bass or guitar. The Chinese made are usually the worst of the bunch. It typically goes Japan, Korea, Mexico, Indonesia and then China. If you like it, thats all that matters really!
 
#9
I recently picked up an Affinity P Bass, Made in China, 2004. Great bass. Sounds good, plays good.
They have made Affinitys in China since the beginning of the line. They have always been made in Indonesia as well.
Generally, the pack Affinitys are Indo, and the "individual" ones MIC. Not saying this was always a hard and fast rule, but seems to be the past few years.
The MIC Affinitys are alder, the Indo ones, agathis.

Nothing wrong with MIC Squiers. The whole Classic Vibe line is made in China.

Nice looking bass btw! :thumbsup:
 
#11
tim68 said:
Nothing wrong with MIC Squiers. The whole Classic Vibe line is made in China.

Nice looking bass btw! :thumbsup:
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mbell75 said:
Probably 4-5 years ago. The only Squier I ever played I thought was really good and tempted to buy was a classic vibe 50s Telecaster that was out last year, which ironically was MIC I think ha.
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Indeed! I almost walked out with a Classic Vibe 70's P-bass (the black one with the yellow neck), but I decided to wait because I wanted to give the 50s a try.

I don't want to ruffle any feathers but I will say the Classic Vibe's I've tried have been better (imo) than certain similar basses made in Mexico. ;)
 
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#12
I have a newer MIM Standard Precision that I absolutely love. That said, though, I can't disagree on the CVs, they are really remarkable instruments.
I just wish that they had a little more variety with the P basses in that line.
They killed the Matt Freeman Precision ( a CV, for all intents and purposes)... One of the best Precisions that Fender sold, at any price.
Still scratching my head on that one. :rollno:
 
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#13
I got a Chinese Affinity in a trade a few years back. I was actually quite surpised at the tone and playability. Sure, it was no MIA, or MIM for that matter, but definitiely had gig potential. I wound up selling it to a neighbor and when I tried it out at his house a couple years later, I offered to buy it back. He said no.
 
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#18
Alright! Updates. I'm STILL WAITING for the Kaliums. Can you believe it?

Fully shielded the bass and added creme Dimarzio PJs. The whole thing was more of a pain than I expected it to be. I have a new-found respect for the techs out there!

  1. I shielded the input jack cavity. Everyone said, you MUST shield the input jack cavity. So I did. Little did I know that one of the lugs from the input jack was touching the shielding, so NOTHING WORKED. Took me forever to find that short :banghead:
  2. After I fixed the short, there was a problem with the pots. The bridge volume pot taper was all wonky, and the neck volume pot was also being controlled by the bridge volume pot?? Long story short another wire was touching something it shouldn't have been touching, so I fixed it.
I opened and closed this bass so many times I never want another bass that has a pickguard! So...many...screws...
Also ran a ground wire from the J cavity to the main cavity shielding.

Thanks to the many threads on Talkbass, I learned how to shield a bass and how to troubleshoot any wiring problems! :D

Behold! it has been upgraded to an MIM Fender

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