I got a white one off of eBay because it checks off a lot of my modding lists.
Alder body.
White.
Dual Humbuckers.
No Rhythm Section.
Hardtail Bridge.
String Through Body.
My plans are to put a white pickguard on this guitar and add a Super Distortion pickup and a Santa Ana pickup in the neck. Also going to put tele knobs on it and 1meg pots. It has no brand saddles on the bridge. The body seems to be a bit over 1.5". Here are some pictures.
Just got to play around with it and I really like the stock pickups. I will likely keep them after all. I do want to get a white guard made for it and some telecaster knobs, but it is solid.
I have a demo uploading. It should be live soon.
[youtube][/youtube]
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 1:57 am
by HNB
By the way, it is less bassy than my phone makes it sound. It is just a cell microphone. It sounds beautiful in person even with my playing which is saying a lot.
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 2:18 am
by HNB
Some more info on at least this one. The pots feel nice and solid, not sloppy or loose like I expected. The toggle has no static between switching which I figured it might with a $200 guitar. The fret ends are nice and free of sharp ends. There doesn't seem to be any issue with frets being level. With open chords, I experienced no buzzing. Tuners feel solid and not sloppy. Really impressed with the build quality. I found no flaws in the paint either. In my VM Jaguar, there were little black flecks in the finish where black dust or something had fallen in the clear coat and been buffed over. Not on this guitar. I am pretty shocked. (In a good way.)
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 3:08 am
by PV-1955
That looks excellent! Thanks for sharing your feedback and the great pics. Happy new JM Day!
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 3:19 am
by Nick
That's pretty cool for $200. Good to know they don't suck, look forward to your finished project.
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 3:29 am
by HNB
Thanks! I am waiting to hear back from the guy on pickguard costs. Can't wait to get the guard off and get better looks at the inside.
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 4:31 am
by PV-1955
HNB wrote:Thanks! I am waiting to hear back from the guy on pickguard costs. Can't wait to get the guard off and get better looks at the inside.
I'm interested to know how much these new Affinity JM's weigh. Have you weighed it yet?
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 4:46 am
by HNB
No, but with a swimming pool rout and thinner body, probably less than a normal Jazzy.
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 7:42 am
by speedfish
Congrats! Nice score.
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 8:46 am
by Darth Stang
Dude we need to stage an intervention. You sold a hiflier for six hundry and bought this piece of crap for 2 hundry? You have to stop buying these landfill guitars. Consolidate man.
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 2:37 pm
by SAVEStheDAY
I love the idea of this guitar, and now that I've seen your review I think I'd love the actual guitar too. I might have to get one of these. About a week ago I was actually close to clicking the buy button online, but I got a VMJM to mod instead.
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 3:15 pm
by HNB
Darth Stang wrote:Dude we need to stage an intervention. You sold a hiflier for six hundry and bought this piece of crap for 2 hundry? You have to stop buying these landfill guitars. Consolidate man.
I sold four guitars, so I am consolidating. I didn't sell the hi-flier to get this guitar. I sold the four guitars to pay for several hundred dollars worth of dentist bills for my daughter, wife, and myself and to get something nice for my wife's birthday/valentine's day. I had enough leftover after the bills and shipping costs to grab this and my new amp.
By the way, this isn't a landfill guitar. Owning as many guitars as I have over the years has helped me spot crap guitars and this one is not crap. The cost of a guitar doesn't always equate to how nice a guitar plays and works for the person playing it. The newer Squiers are great values. They are usually $1,000 less than the US ones and often built very well.
The truth is, I don't feel comfortable playing a $2,000-3000+ guitar. I worry about damaging it or something so I just let them sit in the case to be safe. That has just felt wrong to me, so I have sold a lot of my vintage guitars and more expensive ones for guitars like this that I can sand up, bump in to things, and just have fun with and not worry that I am going to wreck something that is very expensive.
Don't worry though, I still have plenty of expensive guitars in my guitar room upstairs......
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 10:33 pm
by theshadowofseattle
Darth Stang wrote:You sold a hiflier for six hundry and bought this piece of crap for 2 hundry? You have to stop buying these landfill guitars. Consolidate man.
YOU SOLD A HI FLIER
STOP BUYIND LANDFILL GUITARS
THIS DUDE
Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2017 1:04 am
by HNB
I don't get why people are upset I sold my hi-flier. I still have my custom one and I like it enough I don't feel like I needed the Univox one. I still have the Univox Les Paul style one with the exact same pickups the hi-flier had.
Whatever. I sold a Rickenbacker and play a Chinese Gretsch now. WTR's been through a bazillion guitars. It's just fucking stuff, you win some you lose some. You don't take it with you so just have fun with it. Not like there's a prize for having the most expensive guitar.
Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2017 3:53 am
by PV-1955
I'm pretty close to pulling the trigger on a white one. It really looks like a fun modding platform. I have this 2011 Vintage Modified JM Special in BSB that has an absolutely killer neck but that I wish they had made the body like this new Affinity (as far as having string through body, regular hardtail bridge and output jack on pickguard) If I do get the white Affinty JM, I'll probably swap necks for a bit.
Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2017 3:18 pm
by HNB
Nice! I like the neck on mine. I will likely just stain it and put some tung oil on it.
Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2017 5:52 pm
by dezb1
HNB wrote:I don't get why people are upset I sold my hi-flier. I still have my custom one and I like it enough I don't feel like I needed the Univox one. I still have the Univox Les Paul style one with the exact same pickups the hi-flier had.
I like the LP more than the high flyer well done on keeping the correct one...
Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2017 1:43 am
by HNB
Got the guitar taken apart. (I want to get a white pickguard made.) I also wanted to stain the neck so it was less pale. Here are pictures. I know some people wanted more gut shots.
20170220_164829 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr
20170220_164835_HDR by Christopher Louck, on Flickr
20170220_164847 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr
20170220_164904 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr
20170220_165030 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr
20170220_165019 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr
20170220_165201_HDR by Christopher Louck, on Flickr
20170220_165211 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr
20170220_165218 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr
