clashcityrocker Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Am looking for a cheap jazz,to mod abit. Anyway,after looking online iv noticed that Squier's 'entry level' affinity series is made from Adler,whereas the Vintage Modified 77 bass is made from agathis (pine I think). Now I always thought Adler was a far better wood for basses than agathis,kinda makes me think if the vm 77s are over priced just a tad,especially as squier have dropped the 'duncan design' pick ups. apart from the nice maple necks I can't see a benefit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apa Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Of the couple of Affinity basses Ive played I'd describe them as a bit 'fisher price'. Nowhere near the standard of the VM or CV range. I certainly wouldnt describe the VM's a over priced. sub £300 of damn good bass. The Duncan Designed pickups are ok but are probably the weak point on them. I swapped mine for Wizards. Dont know what the new ones are like. Personally I dont hold much store in body woods apart from the weight factor. I bought a VM to mod just like you intend to and ended up leaving it as it is since it was just so nice a construction body and neck wise. Of course if your going to mod the hell out of it then there may not be much point in splashing out on a VM but you will always have the basic good construction to work with A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clashcityrocker Posted August 30, 2013 Author Share Posted August 30, 2013 I actualy forgot that I owned a vm 5 string for 2 weeks, that was a brilliant bass. Im gunna do it, now for the 3 weeks of deciding which colour..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martthebass Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Just off loaded my Affinity P bass in favour of a VM Jazz 77. Chalk and cheese really. The Affinity was a decent bass to mod in fact in the end the body was all that was left of the original bass, the rest was pretty utilitarian and budget. The VM is much more grown up and finished to a much higher standard, mines got the new pickups, they aren't as good as the vintage CS ones that were in my 75 RI ( now gone) but they are more than reasonable. I Wouldn't worry too much about the body woods, the Affinity was very lightweight whereas the VM is more substantial; the VM comes in at about 9.75lbs overall about the same as most of the MM Stingrays I've had. I'm unlikely to do any mods on this bass so at £246 new not a bad deal for a decent backup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 The necks seem a bit nicer on the VM Squiers, in terms of shaping, finishing and how the wood looks. If you're buying to upgrade, a neck you get on with is half the battle IMO. Some of the new colours on the Affinity are cool though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theyellowcar Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 My VM precision arrives tomorrow! I spent about 40 minutes A/B'ing the VM and an Affinity last weekend and the VM just felt that bit more polished. There was a noticeable difference in the quality of the neck and the electronics (serious hum from the Affinity) and the tone from the DD pickup was a world apart from the standard Squier job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lfalex v1.1 Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 I thought the general opinion to be CV > VMJ > Affinity. I have a VMJ. Currently has a Badass II and Black Schaller knobs. I'd regard the electrics as the weak point. The woodwork and construction matches or betters my MIA Jazz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grassie Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 Need to replace the pups on my VM P-bass, low output on the g string which no amount of adjusting seems to solve. Rest of the bass is quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theyellowcar Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/215995-nbd-squier-vm-precision-updated-with-audio-samples/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/215995-nbd-squier-vm-precision-updated-with-audio-samples/ I[/url]'ve just uploaded some audio samples of my VM P-bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JwK94 Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 After going through 3 different fender jazzes that I wasn't particularly happy with, I decided to get a natural VM jazz and mod it. All black hardware including a badass and new electrics (duncan quater pounders and cts pots), it looks, plays and sounds better than any of the fenders I had. Well worth it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donkelley Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 (edited) just pointing out my alternate opinion - I've personally played one VM jazz, one USA jazz and one affinity jazz side by side, all 5 strings. I prefer the affinity in playability and amplified tone. unamplified it sounds worse, but through an amp I prefer the affinity pickups to the duncan designed pickups in the VM, at least the ones in the affinity jazz 5 are really good but might be different from the 4 string ones. I bought one, used, for a few bucks (pretty literally). had to do a huge setup on it including neck shim, foam under pickups, bridge setup, truss rod adjustment, and new strings. but the frets were great, sound was AMAZING with d'addario XLs. I kept it for a long time without intending to. Now I'm flipping it, but it's still one hell of a bass. If I wanted a passive jazz tone I'd keep it, but I'm all about active and specialty basses right now. Edited September 5, 2013 by donkelley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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