NBD - Squier Affinity PJ - £100!

[BrunoBass]

Well, New Bass Day was actually last week but I’ve not had an opportunity to do this until now. 

I’ve been after a cheap Precision for a while now, just something low value for sweaty pub gigs. I fell in love with a Roadworn Precision that I recently tried but it was way out of budget and the neck probably a bit fatter than I find comfortable. Then a few weeks later I tried a Squier Affinity and was blown away by how good it felt and sounded, for £200. I liked the fact that the J pickup gave me a thumb anchor point, as I’m comfortable playing back there after several years with Jazzs and Stingrays. I tried to buy it there and then but the shop’s system had gone down and they couldn’t accept payment! Very frustrating, so I left it and said I’d pop back another time.

A couple of weeks later I’d kind of forgotten about it but last week whilst in lovely Loughborough I walked past one of those modern day pawn shops and saw the exactly same model in the window for £100. Went in, had a look, it’s immaculate, virtually ‘as new’ ! They chucked in a decent padded gig bag and she is now mine! Very pleased.

The previous owner has put a naughty Fender decal on, which looks ok, but have left the Squier serial number intact. 

Build quality and finish is excellent. The stock pickups are very good, rich and meaty sounding and may well stay. The bridge is adequate but will probably be replaced by a better one soon. The tuners are poor and will be replaced immediately. 

I’ve already gigged it, two days after getting it and I’ll gig it again this weekend. It’s light and very manageable over a full length set. It looks the part too, nice Paul Simonon / Dee Dee Ramone aesthetic. I’m very pleased with it and further cements my opinion that you can buy a quality giggable bass for very little money! 

[christhammer666]

Great find....I bought one of the butterscotch ones that used to come as a package. Whacked a SD quarter pounder in it and haven't looked back since.

[BrunoBass]

2 hours ago, christhammer666 said:

Great find....I bought one of the butterscotch ones that used to come as a package. Whacked a SD quarter pounder in it and haven't looked back since.

I’m thinking about the Quarter Pounder as a replacement pickup. It obviously does the job for you as a metal player? My band is alt rock / indie / punk so I need an aggressive tone. I’m also impressed with the ceramic Wilkinson set I used on my P bass self build, I might pop a set of those in.

[JohnDaBass]

7 minutes ago, BrunoBass said:

I’m thinking about the Quarter Pounder as a replacement pickup. It obviously does the job for you as a metal player? My band is alt rock / indie / punk so I need an aggressive tone. I’m also impressed with the ceramic Wilkinson set I used on my P bass self build, I might pop a set of those in.

Why not try a DiMazio Split P lots of power with a huge range of tones, and maybe add a ZiOgon loom. 

Job done!!

[tommorichards]

The quarter pounders, in my experience, sound darker than most pickups, which are good for an agressive tone. But wilkinson do very good mid range pickups too, i've been impressed by the ones i've used, and you can always sell them on for similar money if they don't work. Id also recommend the KiOgon loom if you're not great with electrics as his work is always top notch.

[bigsmokebass]

1 hour ago, tommorichards said:

The quarter pounders, in my experience, sound darker than most pickups, which are good for an agressive tone. But wilkinson do very good mid range pickups too, i've been impressed by the ones i've used, and you can always sell them on for similar money if they don't work. Id also recommend the KiOgon loom if you're not great with electrics as his work is always top notch.

Some good words from Tom. Just to add on: Here's a good video to check out SD P bass pickups. I'm sure there's likewise for Jbass pickups too but id say stick with one of the Pbass ones, a new ("hi-mass") bridge, wiring and this will be a bass to last you and within an amazing budget! 😁🙌🏻

Jealous to say the least.