Squier Affinity P Bass MN PJ OW

What's there to complain about when you get a bass guitar of this quality for this price? Maybe the appearance of wood grain, or the laminated wood body? Maybe the pickups/wiring/switches? Maybe the fret dressing?

I would argue that at this price point we're aware that Squier need to make some sorts of comprises to get a highly playable and well constructed instrument in our hands, and I as a consumer are willing to let these things go. At the end of the day you get a highly playable and usable P-Bass for a fraction of the price of Fender compatriots, and once you play it you don't find yourself looking at the logo on the headstock anyway.

Ignore the nay-sayers, and do yourself a favour by grabbing one.

I've owned and played this bass guitar for 2 months and thought it was a great time to publish a rating and a small review alongside.

For it's price of slightly less than 300€, you get a good bass guitar. Personally, I am satisfied, even to the point of impressed actually. I expected it to have tonnes of issues, which cheaper guitars have a tendency to have, but so far, I haven't encountered any. Only small problem I can think of is the pick ups and electronics not being top notch, but that's bound to be expected and I don't mind it really. As long as it does what it is intended for, I am happy :).

So if you want a PJ bass, but can't afford a real Fender, I'd highly recommend this Squier one. It's also pretty good if you're a beginner as it is cheap and very simple to use.

June 2025 update: Since I've owned and played this bass for a almost a year as of writing (bought it during July last year), I thought it was a great idea to mention some upgrades/changes I've made to it and some general thoughts I've gotten.
First upgrade was a replacement of the stock pickups and electronics to a P-J kit from EMG (Geezer Butler signature kit, which I highly recommend to use). Shortly after that, I changed the stock round wound strings to a set of flat wound strings (LaBella 760FS, which I also recommend if you want some good flat wound strings). The latest upgrade was installing a Fender Hi-mass bridge since I thought it looked cooler and much more sturdy than the stock one (which it was).

As for thoughts that has been coming up under the time I've owned this bass, I realise more and more how much of a bang for a buck this bass is. Out of the box, it's maybe not perfect (bound to be expected since it literally costs slightly less then 300€), but it's playable. Thanks to it's simple design which allows for upgrades to be easily made and good quality parts being easily available for pretty good prices as well, it's really easy to make it sound and feel like a real Fender. Heck, you can probably make it sound and feel better than a real one.

I could probably go on, but I think I'll end it here. So, do I still recommend buying this? Of course! If you can't afford a real Fender PJ and don't mind having to do some eventual upgrades (like the ones I did, which I recommend doing), this Squier bass is a perfect cheap alternative. A Good hecking bang for a buck.

Value for the money.
The only unexpected thing was that I had to set it up from scratch, as it sounded awkward from the box.
I heard instruments come with factory setup so you can plug them and play.... naaaah.
Luckily, the Web is generous when it comes to tutorials and, guess what? I found one really nice explaining how to easily set up your bass in five steps.
That's what I did. And, man, now it sounds like a dream bass!