Squier Jaguar H (Affinity) Medium Scale With Mods - *SOLD* £170 Fakenham, Norfolk

[Obrienp]

Update: In case you want to do your own mods, I am offering this bass but with most of the mods described below removed for £150, or you can have it with the mods for £170. Just to clarify, I would put the original bridge, control plate and electrics back in it. That will necessitate wiring the pickup in serial but it will still have the 4 conductor lead (in case you want to rewire in the future, or do your own mods). I would leave the shielding in this option, so it should still be a lot quieter than stock. The unmodified version would save you 25% over the cheapest street price I can find online.

 

I bought this Squier Jaguar H late last year, as a proof of concept, to see if my arthritic left hand could cope with a 32". It seems that it can and in a rush of blood to the head I bought a Maruszczyk medium scale Elwood off fleaBay. I now have to sell a few things to contribute to the cost of that purchase.

 

This Jaguar is actually a very nice bass for the money. I really like the neck: very Jazz like with a matte finish (no high or sprouting frets) and the bass is not too heavy at 3.9 Kg (8.6lbs). It comes with the hot MM style ceramic humbucker wired in series, which gives a hefty dark tone. Good to my ears but a bit of a one trick pony and noisy too. I got my local friendly luthier to open the pickup up, split the coils to give me a 4 conductor lead (plus shield) and wax pot the pickup. It proved quite tricky, so that cost £45. I have rewired it with 250K Alpha mini pots (cavity too small for full size), orange drop 0.047 capacitor and a 3 position DPDT switch to give series/single coil/parallel options. This has really opened up the tonal pallet to my ears. The single (front) coil position sounds quite Jazz bass like and the parallel much more Stingray. It is also very quiet now, as I shielded all the cavities with copper tape. I used micro connector blocks on the harness, so you can change pickup without having to solder (see pic) but I can't promise the wiring colours will match up on an alternative pickup. The pole pieces are covered so you don't get that irritating buzzing from touching them; e.g. with your thumb but they are not rails underneath, in case you are thinking of narrower string spacing than the standard 19mm.

 

To complete the modifications, I put on a Fender high mass bridge with brass saddles and Ernie Ball Slinky strings. The OEM machine heads seem fine to me, so I left them alone. If they do start to wear, they are a very standard vintage design, so easily and cheaply replaced (Northwest Guitars do an identical own brand unit for very little). It is now a very nice and versatile bass IMO. Very easy to play with some good tonal variations on offer. The Jag body design does lend itself to neck dive, so a good grippy strap is recommended.

 

The cheapest I can see these basses online is £199, so save yourself a chunk of cash with £100 worth of mods thrown in for free. Condition wise I would say it is extremely clean. There is a slight pin prick in the finish on the back where I started to install a screw in the cavity for the earth wire and realised it was going through (there is very little wood the other side of the route). Fortunately I stopped before it did real damage. The earth screw is now in the side of the control cavity. Otherwise there are a few micro handling scratches in the top lacquer that have not gone through: inevitable with a gloss black finish and some light marks by the pickup on the pick guard, probably from my thumb nail where I anchor it.

 

You can try and buy in Fakenham, Norfolk. I have the original box, so can post/courier at buyers expense. I will travel to meet/deliver within about 50 miles of Fakenham. I am sorry, I need the money, so I am not open to trades and as a result of some bad experiences, I don't want to send it outside the UK.

 

Edited April 17, 2023 by Obrienp
Photos didn't upload first time round!

[Kyndainverse]

If this was nearer to me I would bite your hand off.
GLWTS.

[dmc79]

This looks like a great buy with the upgrades. GLWTS

[Obrienp]

17 hours ago, Kyndainverse said:

If this was nearer to me I would bite your hand off.
GLWTS.

Happy to post/courier but I appreciate that puts the cost up.

[Kyndainverse]

Thanks. Costs and risk is a concern. Tempting as it is. 

[Obrienp]

Just as an indication of post/courier costs: I just sent a fiend's Precision bass off to Northern Ireland by Parcel Force Express 48 and it cost £12. This will have a slightly higher insured value but I reckon it would be around the same money.