BB434 vs Jaguar

Never tried a MiM Player, but I can say that Yamaha necks definitely feel finished to me, with a satin feel to the finish.

Like I said, the 734A’s neck is actually finished black and then satined. The 434 is transparent satin poly, like my TRBX. Feels great to me anyway.

Interestingly, my mid-2000’s Made in Taiwan Yamaha SBV also has the same finished satin neck feel (though with a roasted-looking neck). I love that feel.

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Looking at my affinity jazz, player precision and yamaha trbx174 they all feel pretty similar. The affinity might have started out feeling a bit more unfinished but after playing it a fair amount it’s pretty smooth now.

Squier MIC finishes I prefer to the Player series neck finishes. Very smooth satin finish. MII, they can be heavy handed on the finish. IME

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Squier Affinity series are MIC. I like this finish on the neck as I’ve said

If you don’t like the strings tension you can go with shorter scale strings. You’ll get better tension but it would probably cost you the short scale low thumpy vibe.

If you don’t like the affinity pickup you can just change them to another. I’m an emg fan so I’d say too many good choices to choose and a breeze to install. You can always add the preamp so spice up the to as well.

As for the 2 choices, I like my short scale Jaguar. It’s really fun an I put the passive Emg on that one.


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Mine is Indonesian made Affinity.

Already got Mustang, and I wouldn’t buy short scale again. I learned that my fingers dont like short neck or low string tension.

It’s not just the pickup, it’s feel of the neck finish, I barely succeeded getting playable action without shim, and fret job could be way better. So it’s not just pick up swap could solve my issues. However I like wider neck at nut (this is my first p bass neck), seems it makes me play cleaner, and only other thing I like about it is color. It’s really a beauty.

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Jags aren’t short scale, the Squier are 32" scale or medium, so it’s not so bad. And the Fenders are the full 34"

I hear you. My ESPs have a 40mm neck which I find more pleasant than a 38mm Jazz neck but more playable than the 42mm P neck.

I didn’t mention it because you had asked abiut Jaguars or BBs, but if I were in the market for a PJ, an ESP LTD AP 204 checks a lot of boxes

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There are short scale Squier Jags, they were just the limited run. Named " Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass Special SS".

As he was refering to.

I cant find those anywhere in my region, except ordering them blindly from Thomann. But I think I wouldnt like it because of active part. However if I had a way to check it out locally I’d surely check it out. I learned from my past mistakes, try before buy, especially bit pricier basses.

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I generally prefer passive, and having EQ on a pedal, but a two band EQ is okay by me, but ymmv and that’s great

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Well that the difference between fender and Squier in the nutshell, fit and finish. The good news is you can put in TLC and it would be just the lighter weight version on Fender. A couple of my squiers I put in some love and it plays like a dream. It’s my test bed basses.

As for the Mustang, well the reason I love it is the same but opposite with you. I love the loose tension feel on the E and A strings. The short scale is a welcome change of pace I feel Ike I can reach everything, lol. Mind you I’m a short Asian guy.

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I still think this particular model is MIC because the Squier logo on the headtock is in gold lettering instead of black like most Indonesian Affinity’s. Still, I could be completely wrong.

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Doesn’t it say somewhere on the bass? Or does Fender try and hide that?

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It does on the back of the headstock but the pictures I looked at of that model were too blurry to tell

Heres mine


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Good to know. There was a discussion here some months back that Affinity series had black lettering while Classic Vibe had gold lettering on the headstock. I of course posted a picture of my Jaguar headstock which was gold lettering and Affinity.

But it was made in a different factory. So like I said, good to know

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Well I’ve decided, I’m gonna wait a bit more and accumulate more greenies and go for BB734A probably.

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Nice choice @Growl :+1:

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Might be the full shipping weight with packaging etc.

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Excellent plan, one of the best production basses currently made. A lot of people consider it the actual top of the Yamaha BB line (since the BBP34 is passive-only).

Loved mine, just didn’t quite work for me due to the reasons I mentioned above, both of which were “me” issues, and not problems with the bass. The bass itself was fantastic.

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Good choice but then again as one who only owns Yamaha basses I might be a bit prejudice :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

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