Squier Jazz Affinity Series

[retroman]

OK, here goes with my first review!

Recently popped into the dangerous place, that is Electro Music Services in Doncaster. Having heard all the good reports lately of the Squier basses, I thought why not give one of their Jazzes a go? I have to admit, I was impressed enough to buy it!
I played it back to back against a Tokai Jazz sound, and through an Ashdown Combo. I played a mixture of finger style, or with a pick. I don't do slap!! I didn't do a back to back with a USA Jazz, as I wanted a "cheapie" for use in our rehearsal room.

Fit and Finish.

Really impressed. the Metallic Red finish has a lovely shine too it, and you have to look very hard to fault it. The wood grain shows through VERY slightly. The neck pocket is tighter than a gnats chuff. The rosewood fretboard, and frets are nicely finished. The neck itself is lovely and smooth, with a satin finish, and the truss rod was very well set up, making the bass easy to play straight away. The edges of the finger board are very slightly rounded off as well, so the edges don't feel "sharp", like some other budget basses. 9/10

Playability.

The bass was very well set up, and very easy to play from the start. Once I had the bass at home, I carried out a few little tweaks to suite my own playing style, but they were very minor. The intonation with the factory set up was spot on for the A,D, and G, but very slightly out on the E. The bass holds its tuning really well, and after playing for 2 hours straight, had only gone so slightly flat, it was only the tuner that gave the game away. Access to the upper frets is maybe a little restricted, but this is no different to any other Jazz, be it Mex, or USA. The bridge saddles were nicely set height wise, so there were no nasty grub screws protuding to rip the side of your hand open when playing with a pick. This bass also has great sustain for it's price tage 9/10

Hardware.

The bridge is the usual piece of Fender bent tin, and the chrome plating is of a nice standard. The chrome on the switch plate is also well finished, and the pots feel of reasonable quality. The neck plate is also nicely chromed, and engraved. The only slight failing for me, is the tuners. Again, nicely chromed, but they do feel quite cheap in operation, with a slightly gritty feel, and a very slight tendancy to stick when fine tuning. I have seen worse on other basses at this price though 7/10

Sounds.

This Jazz has the familiar two volume, and master tone, that we are all familiar with. This bass sounds just like a Jazz should, and it is possible to get a wide variety of tones. It has even managed to produce some serious low end, using the neck pick up, and the tone rolled right off, then using the bridge pickup, with the tone full on, it becomes very bright. Very easy to get a pleasing tone quickly. The pickups are nice and quiet, and free of any nasty buzzing. Being critical, I have found that the E, and G strings are VERY slightly louder than the A, and the D, but some of this maybe down to my playing style, although I haven't had this problem with any of my other basses 8/10

Conclusion.

This bass punches well above the £200 I paid for it. To be honest, I really cannot see why the USA Jazz is worth a £1000 extra! I think at some point in the future, I will be fitting some better tuners, and if you so wished, fitting some top notch pickups, and maybe a J-retro style preamp would turn this into a real USA Fender killer. I had recently had a quick sniff at a USA Jazz, and although the fittings on the USA model were of higher quality, the Squier I have bought is in some areas a better built bass. The USA model I tried had a small gap between the scratch plate, and the control plate, and you could see the routing, and the wiring through it!

Somebody on this Forum recently posted a comment along the lines of "I don't know how much longer Fender can allow Squier to keep making basses of this level". I have to admit, I have drawn the same conclusion.

[OutToPlayJazz]

Quite true on all counts. Squier quality control is up there with the best at the moment. And well spotted with the American Standard. Yes, they are amazing instruments, but you still have to pick carefully in order to get one of the lovely ones.

Nice review & I hope Dave made you some coffee while you were there! Enjoy your new bass

Rich.

Edited November 1, 2009 by OutToPlayJazz

[gary mac]

Nice review.

I hate the saddle screw issue on some basses, being mostly a pick player I've had a few incidents. Mind you it looks so rock and roll with blood dripping from the palm onto the bass.







Best bit of the review?





You can spell Squier ^_^

[retroman]

Thanks Chaps

Saddle screw heights is something that I too have found annoying - especially with Fender style bridges, where the screws are that tiny they are bound to be sharp.

I have to admit, I have already modified it!! I had a Gotoh style bridge kicking about, which is a much nicer piece of kit, and has the Fender screw spacing. so I thought "why not"! Has improved the sustain a small amount over the original bent tin jobbie.


Rich, Dave and the gang offered me a coffee several times, bless 'em. They're a top bunch, and I have been going in there for years. I had to decline the coffee, as there aren't many places to stop to answer the call of nature between Donny, and Chesterfield!

Electro's really doesn't do my GAS any good at all, hence my calling the place "dangerous"

I have to admit, the Tokai was very tempting, as I know they are one of the best budget manufacturers out there, IMHO. But, I asked myself the same question as the USA Fender...........Is it really worth the extra money over the Squier? The answer was no.

[retroman]

Thought I would do a bit of a "progress report" on this bass

The tuners are now much improved after a strip down, and reassembly with some nice thin grease.

I have also carried out a pretty serious upgrade on it today.....It's now active! I have fitted the EMG J Set, which comes as a complete kit, with matched pickups, replacement pots, jack socket, and hardware. A nice touch is the pots and socket are pre wired, so it's only the pickup wires that required any soldering. Fairly easy to install, and the battery fits into the standard routing.

The kit has vastly improved the tonal range of the bass, which now gives a really fat bottom end, and crisp, bright highs. OK, maybe not as much range as my 3EQ MM Stingray, but still quite impressive IMHO.

This bass has become my main bass at practice sessions. It now stands me at around £350, which is still less than a MIM, and it would certainly now give a USA Jazz a serious kicking

[erisu]

Great report and review! I'm about to pull the trigger on a black Affinity bass. Going to mod it with new mighty mite neck, 3-ply black pickguard, new bridge, tuners, pickups and electronics... still thinking if i should put an active pre-amp in it or not.

You got any pictures of your new baby?

[retroman]

Cheers

I am also thinking of going the black pick guard route on mine. I'll see if I can post up some pictures of it later

[erisu]

[quote name='retroman' post='657792' date='Nov 18 2009, 08:01 AM']Cheers

I am also thinking of going the black pick guard route on mine. I'll see if I can post up some pictures of it later [/quote]

Brilliant! I've been searching for direct replacement pickguards for the Affinity and apprently nothing fits? The only options are to either:

1 - Order from WD music where you send them your old pickguard and they will make you a custom one? Think this could be expensive if it's a custom?

2 - Take down the Squier pickguard part number you want and go order from a Squier/Fender dealer? (do they put a 3-ply black pickguard on any other Squier basses?)