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Post subject: 1996 Squire Affinity Strat
Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:18 pm
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Today I bought another guitar, a 1996 Affinity Strat (China)in all white, stock and near mint. Not that I really needed one, but I have a thing for guitars. So here is the story;
I went to my favorite pawn shop here in town, and saw that the owner put out about 5 Squire Strats from his inventory. 4 were Affinity series, and 1 was a Bullet. As I checked them over I noticed a few things;
1. the newer Made in Indonesia Squire Affinity Strats are very light. As I picked them all up, I noticed the 1996 MIC Strat weighed a LOT more than the newer ones. The '96 has a full thickness body, and is solid wood, maybe basswood or agathis, not sure.
2. The '96 has 22 frets, all the newer ones have 21. Why would you remove something as a model ages?
3. the '96 has a smaller 60s size headstock, the newer ones have the 70s style headstock. I like them both, so no matter there.
4. the neck on the '96 is MUCH thicker and chunky compared to the thin little neck of the 2005 and 2004 I saw there.
The Made in China guitar just seems to be a little more solid, substantial. I just finished setting it up, and it plays and sounds nice. One last weird thing. When I took off the neck, it read OCT 1996 on the neck in what look like burned in letters/numbers. Maybe it is ink, but it is pressed into the wood. Also, a small shim was in place. It was made out of the heavy duty plastic shipping stuff used to hold crates and skids together. Just some random stuff for you Fender fans.Image
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Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 11:07 pm
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Looks good!! you never know what ull find at a pawnshop
:) u going to do any mods to it? or leave it stock?


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Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2009 4:44 am
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That's one great looking guitar. :D

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Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2009 5:59 am
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Those photos were taken when I brought it home. I just spent last night taking it completely apart, and going over it carefully. It looks a lot better today than in those photos. The paint is flawless, the chrome is shiny, and the electronics are quiet and sound good. It is as if someone bought it in 1996, played it once, put it away for 13 years, and then pawned it. Heck, I even had to peel off some pickguard plastic under the knobs!!
I wanted to put an Allparts neck on it that I have, but the neck pocket is too wide, so there is space on either side of the neck. Too much space to live with. I also have a set of Fender Vintage noiseless pickups that I may install, but not sure yet.
I find that I like the Made in China models much better than the Made in Indonesia models. They just seem to be more solid, heavy, thicker, with better tone. Now remember, I only paid $90 + tax, so it is all relative to inexpensive guitars. It does not match my MIM or MIA Strats, but hey, it was $90!!!!!! It is definitely worth it.
Besides, I always wanted a white Strat like Jimi!!


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Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 2:57 pm
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paisley strat wrote:
Those photos were taken when I brought it home. I just spent last night taking it completely apart, and going over it carefully. It looks a lot better today than in those photos. The paint is flawless, the chrome is shiny, and the electronics are quiet and sound good. It is as if someone bought it in 1996, played it once, put it away for 13 years, and then pawned it. Heck, I even had to peel off some pickguard plastic under the knobs!!
I wanted to put an Allparts neck on it that I have, but the neck pocket is too wide, so there is space on either side of the neck. Too much space to live with. I also have a set of Fender Vintage noiseless pickups that I may install, but not sure yet.
I find that I like the Made in China models much better than the Made in Indonesia models. They just seem to be more solid, heavy, thicker, with better tone. Now remember, I only paid $90 + tax, so it is all relative to inexpensive guitars. It does not match my MIM or MIA Strats, but hey, it was $90!!!!!! It is definitely worth it.
Besides, I always wanted a white Strat like Jimi!!


I have a '96 and a '97 Affinity Strat - they're both black w/rosew'd necks. I'm going to repaint one and replace one neck with maple. I can't decide whether to put the maple on the repainted one (maybe a cream color) or on the better of the two, my original. The one I bought recently ($25 eBay) is a mess but salvageable and the one I'm going to paint, and has a neck that can't take any more relief adjustment. So maybe I swap necks and throw the maple on the better of the two, but I like maple necks on light colored guitars. I'm also considering painting it an "eggplant" color with the rosew'd neck. Ah, no music, all cosmetics, good thing there's USA Custom Guitars.


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Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 6:53 pm
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Paisley - I've always found the IC Affinities to be lighter, even some of the more current issues. I'm willing to bet that MIC is either Alder or Agathis, I'm leaning toward the latter. The IC (Indonesian Cort) Standards are a different breed. The only problem I've ever had was a loose jackplate. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the affinity width/specs were a bit different than the Standards? I think they were Alder with diff specs. The necks on my 2 Standards are to die for. Maybe they were leftovers from the previous plant, I do know that they are perfect, both are 1 piece Mapled.

Either way, looks like you got a good deal. It seems that your purchases are made with a good deal of thought, which is a good thing.

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Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 11:31 am
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I've got a Squier Stratocaster that was made in 96'. It's a Squier Fender 50 year anneversary guitar, my serialnumber starts with YNC6.
I've read around on the internet and found out that theese guitars is special with a heavy body and 22 frets, quite thick neck, on the headstock it says "Squier STRAT(R) By Fender" in stead of Stratocaster like on the other Squiers and some other details i don't remember. But many of them (Or mayby all?) starts with the serialcode YNC6, YNC7 and some other number.

Mine is really nice, sound excellent and feels the same way. But i am though thinking of changing the pickups for Tonerider CityLimits, it might give the guitar an extra touch. I love it!


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Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 9:48 pm
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that sure is a nice looking guitar. i've always loved white guitars.

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Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 12:37 am
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Supreme wrote:
I've got a Squier Stratocaster that was made in 96'. It's a Squier Fender 50 year anneversary guitar, my serialnumber starts with YNC6.
I've read around on the internet and found out that theese guitars is special with a heavy body and 22 frets, quite thick neck, on the headstock it says "Squier STRAT(R) By Fender" in stead of Stratocaster like on the other Squiers and some other details i don't remember. But many of them (Or mayby all?) starts with the serialcode YNC6, YNC7 and some other number.

Mine is really nice, sound excellent and feels the same way. But i am though thinking of changing the pickups for Tonerider CityLimits, it might give the guitar an extra touch. I love it!


Hey guy, I have an identical one from the same factory think mines sept 1996 in red stampted on the neck. Probably sat in the factory side by side before making the trip out to us.

its a 1.75 full thick body with a 22 fret 42mm nut made as you know in the Yako facotry in Taiwan

can someone here say for sure what the yako squires from taiwan (ROC) were made from and how close they were to the standards, I would like to try out a 241mm c neck and see how it goes :idea:


Last edited by phatpharm on Wed Aug 05, 2009 10:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 3:42 pm
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From scanning the web the made in china squires(Yako plant Taiwan ROC) from the 1996 period were produced with similar specs to the MIA standard sharing the same spec body, slightly thinner or smaller string spacing / tremelo as well as a smaller headstock.

My question lies in the neck replacment dept, whether or not a geniune fender 22 jumbo fret 241mm c neck can be transplanted sucessfully, naturally the tremelo and string widths would need to looked at or replaced I believe?

Anyone out there tried to build a frankenstein using an 96 MIC affinity body?

any comment welcome


Last edited by phatpharm on Wed Aug 05, 2009 5:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 4:19 pm
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I've personally never tried something like that, but I would tend to think that if you went with the fender neck it would be ok as long as it fits in the neck pocket of the guitar. I have a 22 fret Westone neck in one of my Affinity bodies and it intonated just fine. I'm not even so sure changing the bridge and/or saddles would be all the necessary either. The Westone I used came off a Floyd Rose equipped guitar.

At the top of the headstock, the spacing is what it is, and if it fits in the neck pocket, then what's the difference?. I'm not so sure about the thickness of the neck at the pocket concerning the neck you're talking about, but a while back, I was checking the specs of my 1992 Strat, and they were identical to the Westone specs in that area. It could actually fit on my Affinity and work fine.

I can't give you any answer for sure on that. But in my case with my Strat neck and Affinity body, I'd be cool.

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Post subject: Re: 1996 Squire Affinity Strat
Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 5:39 pm
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got the same guitar as you friend, color date of manufacture (YN6 sept 1996 stamped in red ink on mine) the shim is needed because these necks warp easily so your action would require a re adjust yeah?

The truss rod needed an ajustment when I first bought this squire second hand about two years back and it seemed to work with the exception of a nearly sorta dead D on the 14 15 fret, Adjusting the d's saddle sorta worked in combo with a shim made from a some hard cardboard cut from a volcom board short swing tag and on the second adjust the hex head on mine was weak and sadly I stripped it so no more room for adjustment for me!

I have read and heard of guys selling on ebay replacement shims to fender spec to give the truss rod a second life, but Im going to reopen the laboratory and try a different approach using a MIA 22 fret jumbo 241mm modern C neck contour body, its going to be expensive but it will keep the strat looking the same and hopefully playing the same.

I think the guitar plays great! seriously, the pickups all work without issue and I hope to have this guitar for many years to come. will keep you all posted on the outcome.
Image[/img]


Last edited by phatpharm on Sat Sep 05, 2009 2:34 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 6:09 pm
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Supreme wrote:
I've got a Squier Stratocaster that was made in 96'. It's a Squier Fender 50 year anneversary guitar, my serialnumber starts with YNC6.
I've read around on the internet and found out that theese guitars is special with a heavy body and 22 frets, quite thick neck, on the headstock it says "Squier STRAT(R) By Fender" in stead of Stratocaster like on the other Squiers and some other details i don't remember. But many of them (Or mayby all?) starts with the serialcode YNC6, YNC7 and some other number.

Mine is really nice, sound excellent and feels the same way. But i am though thinking of changing the pickups for Tonerider CityLimits, it might give the guitar an extra touch. I love it!


got the same guitar serial begins with Y=Yako Taiwan N=Ninetees 6=1996
Body thickness is 48mm is heavier than a IC or the modern squires for sure the neck width at the base above the screw plate measures 54mm hoping to learmn more about its specs from others in the forum


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Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 6:50 am
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it worked out wonderfully, no wonder its called an affinity because it really has some affinity to the big bro in more ways than I can see and hear

:P see thread body thickness affinty strats for the low down on da way down low .. ..where I laid it down :P


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