A guitar question....

OK... let's see if this gets moved to the Gear forum....

Can someone here explain the difference between the "Squier by Fender Affinity Series" and the regular Fender Squier line? Are all Affinity models Squier? I know that Squier is the lower end Fender line, but it seems that Affinity is the lower end Squier. Or is it the other way around?

I'm thinking of getting a bass guitar, exclusively for writing/arranging and recording -- prolly a Precision variation -- and that price range is about right, but I can't figure out the different lines.... and I don't know much about guitar manufacture and so on... as far as the preferred woods, etc. I just know that I really want a bass!

So for example... what's the practical diff between these two (other than the second PU on the first one):

Squier by Fender Standard P Bass Special 4-String Bass Guitar : $249 USD
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Squier-by-Fender-Standard-P-Bass-Special-4-String-Bass-Guitar-510569-i1146467.gc

Squier by Fender Affinity Series P Bass : $179 USD
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Squier-by-Fender-Standard-P-Bass-Special-4-String-Bass-Guitar-510569-i1146467.gc

Marah,

I did some internet browsing and didn't come up with much on the affinity line. They seem to be made in China but other than that I couldn't find anything that spoke to what sets them apart from the other Squires. The Fender site had little to no information on the subject. For the amount of money you want to spend you could look into used instruments.

Last year I was on a serious bass hunt. I had a '60s Danelectro, a mid '70s Fender Musicmaster, and an early '80's Squire Bullet and all of them had issues that made them unsuitable for recording. I sold off the lot and went to every music store in my area testing. I was almost sold on the Fender Highway 1 Jazz bass but for a couple dollars more I could get the American standard. Indecision, so I decided to look at used gear.

I looked at a lot of eBay stuff and narrowed my search down by deciding what my price point would be. Since I really wanted a good J bass I figured that I would keep it on the cheap and save up my pennies for a dream bass. I set my price at $200. With that in mind I looked at basses on eBay to get a feel for what I could get. Back in the 80s I played bass in a couple rock bands, I had a few favorites back then so I started looking at those first. Turned out that two of my personal favorites, the Peavey Foundation and Yamaha BB300 were both readily available at my price point.

Next I checked back with the music stores, Daddy's Junky was in my area but they didn't have what I was looking for. Next came the pawnshops. I didn't find a BB300 but I did find a nice BB450, a more recent version of my old fave. The guy was asking $300, I offered $200 and I walked away with a pretty nice bass. Yamaha uses great sounding pickups that are the same size as Fender units so a swap in the future will be easy. The bridge is good but the tuners suck. Other than that I'm pretty happy and getting sounds that I like from a comfortable to play instrument.

I guess the gist of all this is if you order a cheap bass from a online store you may or may not be happy with the results. If you go where you can look at a bass first hand, you’re better off. I feel it's always best to buy a guitar that I can try first, especially in that price range as there is a lot of variation in quality, even in that same instrument line. Well, that was a long story but the point is: look around at your options. You may be surprised at what you can find in your price range.

Personal basses to look for:

Ibanez Roadstar II series early to mid ‘80s
Yamaha BB series If you find a BB2000 for $200 please call me first with all the contact information
Peavey Foundation, this was a very extensive line but any one of them is a good bass and they sell cheap

Bet you can’t tell when I started playing bass.

Marah, last October I was in the market for my first bass. Because it was my first I didn't want to make a huge expenditure. I played several Squiers, most of which I rather liked. I ended up getting an Ibanez GSR200 for $200. It plays nice and the various knobs offer a wide selection of tones. I'm very happy with it, and as an added feature, I'm actually having a blast playing bass. FWIW. Happy hunting!
Mark

Hi again Marah

I faced the same dilemma twenty-odd years ago.

I ended up getting a Japanese series Fender P-Bass which I still use exclusively today for jamming and recording.

However, although it's [probably??] a better piece of kit than the Squires, as Herb alludes to, it's still not a real pro guitar - I wouldn't use it if I was a gigging bass player, it's just not built for the job. If I was, I'd bite the bullet and get a USA model.

But for what I need it to do, it's ideal - it plays like an absolute dream all over the neck and it's easy enough to add some balls back into it's thinnish sound in the mix.

For me it's the best of both worlds, the build quality is good enough to trust it's in tune everywhere but it cost me considerably less than the 'genuine' article.

My advice would be to get whatever instrument is appropriate for what you want to use it for - as others have said though, I firmly believe that you do get what you pay for. Especially at the lower end of the market, I'd make sure you get to play the very instrument you end up buying, the quality across the range of any one cheaper model can vary enormously - that's why the playability of the bass I ended up buying was worth the extra outlay over the Squire models I tried alone.

Steve

Hey all thinks for the replies and ideas and sharing your experiences.

I like the idea of getting one used, which is what I'd been hoping to do all along. That makes it a little more difficult because I also like the idea of not getting anything unless I can sit down and play it myself. So I'm limited to local. But that's OK. There are a number of used (plus new) instrument and equipment shops in the area that seem to get regular turnover and that update their inventory on their web site. (Plus I've got some old stuff that I'd like to get rid of so hopefully I can work out a trade.) So if I'm patient I should end up with something pretty decent. I'll let you know what I eventually end up with.

In the meantime, I've been using my guitar to do bass. It's funny... the result isn't what you'd call a "great bass sound" -- you know, phat and phull and all that pstuff -- but it's curiously effective when I use the right settings and processing. It certainly makes it easier to get the kind of parts I like and the articulations right, playing an actual guitar, than using a kb bass. It's an adventure, at least.

Thanks again! I appreciate the input!

Ya I'm actually using a patch from my X3. Some variation of the "Tube Base" patch. I tried the pitch shift and "octaver" patches but I wasn't crazy about them, though I will give them another go.

Hi dwardzala.

I recently bought a bass for direct recording through a POD X3 -- an Ibanez SRX2EX1 -- and am so far very happy with it. I was able to find a used one in excellent condition in a music store, but even new it's till in your price range.

It's not short scale, but I actually like the full scale, coming at it from guitar. It's not terribly difficult to get used to the longer neck and wider spacing (I only rarely played actual bass before getting this)... it's quite natural actually... and now that I think about it, in some ways, the scale differences probably make a positive difference in my approach to the instrument and the kind of parts I play -- the increased scale seems appropriate for the "bigger" sound of the bass and the role it plays in arrangements... for whatever that's worth.

This is a related thread that might be some interest to you. http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.asp?m=1459590

Good luck in your search! You'll love having a bass!!

ORIGINAL: SteveStrummerUK
....a better option is to get a bass with a narrower neck radius....

Good idea. That's one of the things I liked about the Ibanez I eventually got. The neck is narrower than the Fenders I tried.

ORIGINAL: Doc_Hollingsworth

The longer scale also has a tendency to make you approach the instrument differently. If anything it has me also playing solo runs and embellishments on the guitar a bit differently than I used to.

I agree, Doc. After playing bass for a year, I find that I have a different perspective on playing guitar

Thanks for all the ideas on buying a bass. I guess the best thing for me to do is play both a standard and a short scale and see which one feels right.

I tend to like Ibanez gear (my electric is an Ibanez) probably because of the shape of the neck, so they are definitely on my list to try.

CJ, That's an interesting observation. But now that I think about (physics) that would stand to reason. Longer string length allows for better wave propagation as well as more active string length for sympathetic harmonics.

ORIGINAL: mcourter

It's not quite in the same league as my Carvin.

Hey Mark, I was going to ask how you were getting on with that little beaut

ORIGINAL: Doc_Hollingsworth
Longer string length allows for better wave propagation as well as more active string length for sympathetic harmonics.

I've heard that poor old Pete suffers from the very opposite of this on his micro-scale one string banjo

ORIGINAL: SteveStrummerUK

ORIGINAL: mcourter

It's not quite in the same league as my Carvin.

Hey Mark, I was going to ask how you were getting on with that little beaut

Steve, I'm in love with that thing. I have a hard time putting it down, it feels so good in my hands, and sounds so sweet. What a tone it generates! Just beautiful. This is one of those instruments you never want to part with.

Strummy, congratulations on acquiring a thoroughly modern instrument. I've heard nothing but good things about Yamaha guitars and basses, which is pretty remarkable for a company that also makes stereos and jet-skis.

How are the active electronics treating you? People talk a lot about tone being in the fingers, but when it comes to basses, there's nothing like active pickups to shake things up a bit.

Can't wait to hear some tunes on it.

Cheeers,

Jessie

Steve,

You'e been busy at the checkout counter lately. You might remember that I'm a big fan of Yamaha basses, mine has passives though. For some reason they just plain know how to get a great sound out of their pickups. The Variaxe looks fun too! Did you use it on the Reggae tune?