Cost: $199.99 new, buy from Sweetwater or Reverb.
This bass was purchased new from American Musical Supply for review and modifications!
Overview and Final Score: 6.5
The Squier Affinity Series Precision PJ bass packs a variety of tonal options in a simple and familiar package. Within the streamlined, P Bass body and pick guard, players have access to both a split coil P bass pickup and a single coil J Bass pickup. All that comes paired with a gorgeous, Olympic White finish and solid tuning stability for the ever affordable price of $199.99.
Sound: 6
The PJ pickup combination provides a ton of tonal options with a dedicated volume control for each pickup, and a master tone knob rounding out the pick guard. While tonal options are a plenty, most people will still find that the Squier pickups still lack some of the dimension and warmness of their Fender counterparts. They sound fine, a little muddy and bass heavy, but still good enough to cut through the mix.
Playability: 6
While the neck and fingerboard are fairly rough and poorly finished, the tuning stability is superb. Basses usually hold tune better anyway thanks to thicker strings, and less of the bending and stretching normally performed on guitars. Even so, I have rarely had to tune this bass up at all over the last few months, it is definitely a set it and forget it instrument. The Indian Laurel fingerboard looks great, and plays better after some breaking in, but generally could use some finishing oil as it feels raw and rough. The frets are similarly not sharp, but a bit on the rougher side and could use a sanding.
Finish & Construction: 6
The Olympic White finish with black pick guard is certainly an eye catcher and mine came flawless out of the box. Despite only recently getting a gig bag for, it has also been very scratch and chip resistant. Construction loses a few points though for the poorly finished neck, headstock, and rough frets, which is not unexpected at this price range.
Value: 8
When you buy an affordable instrument from a large company like Fender, Epiphone, or ESP you can have huge confidence in the name and reputation behind it. Furthermore, Fender’s vast resources and mass production plants help churn out guitars that are actually higher in quality than the price would indicate. Overall, this guitar compares favorably to the Eastwood Airline Jetsons JR bass I previously reviewed, but comes in at a fraction of the price. It’s nothing special or crazy, but it’s a great bass for an affordable price and would make a great beginner instrument or mod project.
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