Is This $329 Active Jazz Bass Worth It?
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- Опубліковано 6 лют 2025
- Can a budget-friendly bass really deliver the tone and feel that players crave? Let’s take a closer look at this Squier Affinity Series Active Jazz Bass and see if it holds up at an affordable price!!
Just bought this bass after watching your review. Everything arrived perfectly. Perfect setup, frets really smooth with no sprout. The neck on mine is super dark ( not rubbing it in or anything). I am super impressed. Admittedly this is my first bass but it exceeds my expectations by a long way. The only thing I would change is the neck dive. Thanks for the great review.
Glad you enjoy it! Still loving mine 🤙🏾
Honestly, this looks and sounds way above its price. Squier has been on a roll with quality/value for the budget bassists in mind.
@@AJett35 I agree! A lot more quality as of recent. Squier is hitting home runs!
@@sonojon0Hello @sonojon0 Question :
Would you prefer this Squier active Jazz Bass or the Sire V3 2nd gen with the double knob Mids boost and Mids Frequency comtrol + the switch Active/ Passive.
ALSO, NECK QUESTION:
I dont like the brown color neck, if i buy fender jazz bass neck mapple neck, would that fit this Squier bass?
Now this made me want to purchase this beautiful bass!
@@Kurisu3004 Worth every penny
There is nothing better than waking up to a Sonojono video. Great job! Such a beautiful bass.
@@frankkiethebassplayer Thank you! It’s a wonderful bass
The golden age of Fender/Squier! Good playing brother! Love that you used all the right hand techniques!
Thank you! I really appreciate the kind words 🤙🏾
Nice review. This bass sounds really, really good. Definitely punching above its weight/price category.
Agreed!
I Got The 5 string active Affinity Jazz Awesome Bass Going Back 2 Get that 4 String In That Mystic Green is Beautiful indeed Great Demo as Always Sonojono😊
I bought the Squire Active Jazz Bass as a back up to my Fender Deluxe Active PJ Bass when the Fender was getting a set up and a bit of fret levelling after 8 years of work. My Squire Active Jazz Bass was set up fine out of the box (don't know if Fender Australia do any work but the shop didn't and I don't need them to. I just played a bunch of basses in a similar price range and the Squire won hands down! I lucked out with a nice dark Indian Laural fretboard. My experience with active basses that switch to passive is you still need the battery for some strange reason so switching to passive won't save the situation if the bass dies mid gig. Maybe that's just Fender. Nice tip on the tone controls to emulate passive.🙂
I have a Yamaha TRBX504 which has a passive/active switch. If you take out the battery, it still works as a passive bass.
Again Sono Jono to the rescue! I have a BEAST of a Yamaha! 7. 5 pounds BEAST? These single coils are as good as it gets. This is a perfect reveal! They actually appear to be noiseless!
Amazing review thank you!
My hot take: a soloed jazz bass bridge pickup is one of the worst sounds in the world of bass lol
@@KyleConnors413 I agree! At least with the added EQ, a soloed bridge pickup doesn’t sound all that bad!
I just got 5string active jazz bass V, metallic black and the tone is worth more tgen what the cost, can't wait to hook it up sunday at church, i love it
Not a bad bass at all for that price. It sounded good, and I dig the color. Congratulations on the new bass!
@@scottm7720 Thank you!
Oop, i forget to thank you 😅. And Happy New Years 🎉
My aria 313 Detroit was an NOS bass and was left in a dry warehouse. The laurel fretboard had a dry pale sheen to it. It drank 2 healthy coats of mineral oil and now looks much better. They aren’t bad fretboards but def need more attention to dryness.
i knew that you had that bass sat behind you in your sire z3 video, been waiting for this review since then.
@ Finally got around to it! Thank you for your patience
In regarding to the pickguard, I really like the aged white pearloid but think red tort would look even better ! :)
Already gigged with it, sounds and plays way better than an old 2021 affinity i had.
@@alienvolt7741 Hell yeah! Glad to hear 🎉
Pretty good. Squier upped the game a lot in the past few years. I wonder how comparable this is to the Player Plus models. I still kind of prefer passive jazz basses. But this does have that "modern" tone if that's what you're looking for. Nice review. New sub here! BTW, black pick guard against the blue
@@wren23_bass-synths I too also prefer the passive jazz bass tone. Thanks for stopping by!
# 1 It also comes in a 5 string and # 2 @ 9:20 🎶 Just A Touch Of Love 🎶- Mark Adams ( Slave )👍🏽🎸🔥
Sweet bass playing and great review! Thank you
@@thecoloredblob Any time. Thanks for stopping by! 🤙🏾
I've been playing for 40 years, and I'll tell you, the newer mid and upper level Squiers have been some of the best instruments I've owned, all the way around, for the money. If you get a good one, it's a keeper.
@@SigmaStoicGemini 💯 Spot on!
Might pick up one of these bad boys as a backup to my main American Elite.
I'm thinking about getting one of these, but the first thing I would do is trade out the preamp for a passive tone control.
Im waiting to hear the 5 string, might be a good purchase.
I wouldn't mind looking into the 5 string some time soon 🤔
Does the five string have the pan knob also?
@@edbnutsYea it does
Great review ! I also quite liked the tone with the EQ turned all the way down, but when doing so did you have a big drop in volume ?
@@dmbrooksonbass The volume drop wasn’t as significant. You just lose a bit of bottom end presence that can be easily adjusted from your amps EQ settings
I love the look of this bass... but you nailed exactly why I don't want an active bass (at least, without a passive switch). How can anyone think it's a good idea to build an active-only bass and require a screwdriver to access the battery compartment? Pretty much guarantees I'd never trust it to play live. I ended up returning a Schecter bass that I otherwise loved, almost exclusively for this reason.
@2:16 the best strap on the planet. the beautiful stained glass roses.
I have the five string of this. Gonna get the four string in white soon.
Probably going to replace the bridge on both of them with the badass bridge but that's probably going to be the only change I'll make to it
@@robertf1309 Great choice. I’d do the same!
Nice guitar, but, maybe at this price, Harley Benton Enhanced MJ-4EB is a better choice. Alder or swamp ash body, maple neck, ebony or Canadian hard rock maple fingerboard, stainless steel frets, active/passive 2-band EQ, volume control with push-pull function, balance, treble, bass controls, humbucker/single coil split switch: massive bridge with through body or top string load, simple truss rod adjusting from body side not a headstock, six screws bold neck and no screwdriver needed for battery change (even it bass works with or without battery). That HB is so close to Sandberg that is scary (for just a fraction of price)! I don't have feeling that I play low price guitar, not a single moment! I like it much better than any Sire (HB even have nicer headstock 😊).
This bass sounds way better to me than the Fender Jazz Green top from Guitar Center that you reviewed a few weeks back. What do you think? Heard about the fretboard color this. You are right. It’s way too light.
I agree. The Squier Affinity sounds snappier to me than the Fender. I’m very much enjoying this Squier
Great demo, I am excited to try it! Also, what bass is that pink Squier in the background? Looks cool.
@cowabunga7831 That bass is also a Squier Affinity Jazz bass
Hello @sonojon0 Question :
Would you prefer this Squier active Jazz Bass or the Sire V3 2nd gen with the double knob Mids boost and Mids Frequency comtrol + the switch Active/ Passive.
ALSO, NECK QUESTION:
I dont like the brown color neck, if i buy fender jazz bass neck mapple neck, would that fit this Squier bass?
Squier when in doubt or for money purposes and rosewood is out of the question.
Go for Maple fretboards in this case with black block inlays that would contrast beautifully against that seafoam green.
That’d be an interesting mod if I ever come across a maple neck!
Nice review..you convince me to get my own
Thank you! Definitely go for it
I just bought the 5 string version in metallic black and other than needing a screwdriver to change the battery I can't find anything wrong with it.
Mine has a way better looking neck! but you're right about it needing a setup, after spending sometime on the frets, it feels like any other more expensive fender basses
@@DuetoRomanceyCompania I’ve seen other vids and photos of how the neck looks and am jealous of some of them lol. I’ll just learn to love it or keep applying some lemon oil to darken the board some more 😅
@@sonojon0 It'll darken as you use it. I have a pau ferro 335 epi that's so dark now because I spent many hours playing it.
Call me crazy, but this seems like an attempt to try and get market share back that was taken by Sire. 🤷
@@JCtheGeek2187 Mayhaps 🤔
*If Squier is successful, Sire will have to come up with a new headstock design that looks less Gumby.*
@@TenFalconsMusic meh, the headstock doesn't really bother me on the Sires. Is it the best looking headstock out there? No. Definitely not. However, it isn't the worst I have ever seen, either. 🤷
It was between this bass and the squier paranormal rascal hh. Glad I went with the paranormal.
@@marksanders8066 Honestly a good choice 🫡
Did you plan to review the passive 6 string that just came out last month?
Yes, I plan to hopefully soon!
I'm kind of new to upgrading electronics. Could an On/Off switch for the preamp be added, making it active/passive?
I have a MIJ Marcus Miller with this option and holy heck does this Squier sound %89.9 like it!
This seems like the ultimate bass to mod on...
Also. I have been waiting for a professional review of this bass for MONTHS... thank you! 🙏
@@JonnyGesundheit Thank you kindly! I believe you can add a push pull pot (preferably on the volume knob) to bypass the preamp but I’m not sure as I haven’t really messed around with that idea. It’s an option though and would have to source through the internet to find out how one can do that.
how about battery life?
Super random question but were you at a drain show not that my ago??
@@DanielGarcia-tl6lj I was recently 👀
Nice,but I’d buy a sire over a Squier anytime,I have both and I’m selling the Squier to get another Sire,much better quality feel and sound.
Dear Sonojono, thank you for your thorough review! It takes a few hours of work to create such a demo video. Great job!
In mid-August 2024 I ordered this exact model, but the delivery time to Switzerland is delayed, which is why your video can only sweeten my anticipation of my new baby.
In 2016 I purchased the passive predecessor of this model in Lake Placid Blue, which became my primary performance bass.
I also had to file off the fret ends because they were a bit sharp. And also the notches on the nut to achieve a preferred low string position.
If you are interested and would like to compare, here is a small sound demo (slap style) of the passive Affinity Jazz Bass with two different string brands. All controls were set to the maximum on the bass:
m.ua-cam.com/video/VIhdMfPZj2A/v-deo.html
PS: MODIFICATIONS
- Pickguard: Mother Of Pearl White (Original: Plain White)
- Inlays: Jockomo Stickers, Block Fret Markers (Original: Dot Position Inlays)
Hi everyone, I recently got this bass, when connected in amp there is a huming sound louder than my humbucker on strat. Is this usual on noiseless pickup ?
@@Switcherag Do you have the treble setting turned all the way up?
@@sonojon0 Yup, but even at the lowest it does not sound better than humbucker. This is my first bass and i don't know if this is usual. Thanks for the reply :)
Its passive/active?
@@professortiagolicariao1362 Active only
How does it compare vs the Sterling MM sub 4?
Sub 4 is more mid forward than the Jazz bass
Not played the jazz, but I can vouch for the stingray! Most of it comes down to which sound you are after, both with do 'the job' just fine, but the tone which speaks to you is more important.
How does it compare to Sire V3 2nd Gen? In terms of sound quality, in terms of mids boost etc@@sonojon0
Tortoise pick guard would look even nicer, imho.
I thought about a Tort guard too but it looked kinda distracting lmao
Worth it?
@@3rddude Absolutely!
Got some bite to it!
All thanks to the spacing of the Jazz bass for that bite!
Waiting for the 6 strings to show up….
well i'm early to this
@@firecatanimated2525 Wooo!!! 🥳🎉
Pickup spacing looks 70s
That’s cause it is 👌🏽
@sonojon0 excellant
70s pickup position makes it better for slapping
The best growl too!
Sounds nothing like a Jazz 😱
Intonation is way out!
@@adamcarter699 That’s insane!
Bet that neck is bowed like a s though
@@David-kg1hc Close!
Oof get it before trumps 600% china tarrifs😅😂 hard times comming.
@@BigSunn0 🤣🤣🤣
Thanks for bringing politics into a jolly bass review. We all needed that.
Something just doesn't sound right on that bass. I imagine it's the active circuitry, which is surprising that it's always on and can't be set to passive. I think a Sire would be a better choice.
Good point! I also believe a Sire would be a better choice if one is not willing to commit to go fully active just yet.