So I got a new bass! 😁
It's a Squier Affinity P Bass, made in Indonesia back in 2006 judging from the serial number. All stock components however I have since upgraded most things, and have plans to upgrade the rest.
Overall, I am really pleased with the bass. The fretwork is really good...well crowned frets and nicely rounded over. I'm sure they are soft and probably bad quality but you can't fault the workmanship...I've seen worse frets on Gibsons honestly.
The nut is an interesting plastic thing. It had a slot in the bottom of the nut, so it wasn't even a solid piece. I'm not sure why it was manufactured that way, maybe it was easier. It has since been replaced with a Graphtech Tusq nut.
Interesting tip - don't assume that these imports have the same spec as other Fenders or even other Squiers. This stock nut was meant to have a curved bottom to match the fretboard radius. When I removed the plastic nut, it was flat bottomed. Out came the files and the sandpaper...luckily there was enough material on the nut to shape it to fit.
Next I swapped out the bridge. I used a Wilkinson brass saddled bridge because it was cheap and it was a drop in replacement.
The electronics were also swapped out...CTS pots, Orange Drop cap and Switchcraft jack was put in. Standard stuff really. Had to get some new knobs to fit on the american sized pot shaft so I got these tele flat top nickel knobs from WD music for very cheap.
I did not shield the cavity with copper tape because it already had shielding paint in it. I will think about doing it next time I open it up though, because I am getting some buzzing that goes away when I touch the strings (especially with the tone pot wide open).
On the aesthetics side I installed a Tort Shell pickguard that I got off ebay. Now that did involve some elbow grease because it wouldn't fit properly over the pickups (strangely, it fit perfectly over the screw holes). So I used a router and the old pickguard as a template, to sort out that mess. While I was there I used a homemade jig to widen the bevel of the pickguard to be around 30 degrees. It is subtle, only noticeable by comparison I think...but I like the look.
Gave it a setup and managed to get some good numbers out of it - action is where I want it to be, neck is straight enough, and intonation is spot on.
All that's left to do is to change the pickups on it...still researching that but in the meantime I am really enjoying messing around on bass. There's obviously a lot more to it than guitarists give bassists credit for!
