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Post subject: Thoughts on Squier Affinity Teles
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 2:51 pm
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I want a Tele in my guitar arsenal. I'm a recreational player so I really don't wanna fork out $400 on a real Fender. The Squier Affinity Tele(along w/ the $179 tag) really caught my eye & I like the 2 color Sunbutrst finish. I'd like some opinions from anyone whose played it or heard it played. What'd ya think about it?

Thanks for any input.

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Post subject: Re: Thoughts on Squier Affinity Teles
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 3:40 pm
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I have a Butterscotch Blond one.

The stock pickups are harsh and brittle. Since I have an AVRI 52 Telecaster, I decided to convert the Affinity into an Esquire. I used locking tuners from GFS, and a Dimarzio Area-T bridge pickup. I replaced the stock pots with CTS pots and installed a CRL switch in place of the stock import switch. The neck is really nice, though I do have one high fret. I also converted it from a top load bridge to a string thru.

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Post subject: Re: Thoughts on Squier Affinity Teles
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 4:48 pm
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bluesky636 wrote:
I have a Butterscotch Blond one.

The stock pickups are harsh and brittle. Since I have an AVRI 52 Telecaster, I decided to convert the Affinity into an Esquire. I used locking tuners from GFS, and a Dimarzio Area-T bridge pickup. I replaced the stock pots with CTS pots and installed a CRL switch in place of the stock import switch. The neck is really nice, though I do have one high fret. I also converted it from a top load bridge to a string thru.

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That's a sharp lookin' Tele, Blue! 8) I'm tryin' to decide between the Butterscotch & the Sunburst, I keep goin' back & forth. I really lke the black pickguard on the Butterscotch.

Wow, you did a lot of modiying. I don't really want a guitar I gotta modify right outta the box. Besides the brittle pickups you mentioned how was it stock, was it playable or did it need modifying first?

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Post subject: Re: Thoughts on Squier Affinity Teles
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 5:22 pm
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Well, like I said, the stock pickups were overly bright in combination with 500K ohm pots. Plus they were noisy with lots of 60 Hz hum. Some people can tolerate that, but not me. I tried some GFS Neovin Noiseless pickups with 250K ohm CTS pots at first. It sounded much better. I prefer locking tuners so I changed those. The bridge was an experiment. Like I said, after I bought the AVRI 52 Tele, I didn't need two Teles so converted this one to an Esquire.

Bottom line, the Affinity is a decent guitar. It plays well and has a really nice neck. I got mine on sale and with the trade of 3 stompboxes I was no longer using, got it for $85 new at Guitar Center. If you recognize that it won't play or sound like an American Standard, you should be happy with it. In my case, I just like to mod everything. :D

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Post subject: Re: Thoughts on Squier Affinity Teles
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 5:25 pm
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Hi , 20_G - hi Bill!
I actually have got the same tele - butterscotch. It played fine , immediately. And the neck is super ! I don't remember the measures , but the neck is a bit thinner than on my Fenders ( by the nut) I like it a lot, but maybe not everyone....? After a short time the pickup- switch went bad. I replaced it with one from Fender. No big deal. Later I carried on - changed the neck pup w one vintage- style from Fender, which I had laying around. That pup made it sound terrific! I've kept the one in the bridge- I like it !
I suspect that if you put in a couple of more $$ you can buy a Squier Standard, and the quality is better. I made a set- up for a friend on one he has got. It was really nice !

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Post subject: Re: Thoughts on Squier Affinity Teles
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 5:35 pm
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asgeirman wrote:
Hi , 20_G - hi Bill!
I actually have got the same tele - butterscotch. It played fine , immediately. And the neck is super ! I don't remember the measures , but the neck is a bit thinner than on my Fenders ( by the nut) I like it a lot, but maybe not everyone....? After a short time the pickup- switch went bad. I replaced it with one from Fender. No big deal. Later I carried on - changed the neck pup w one vintage- style from Fender, which I had laying around. That pup made it sound terrific! I've kept the one in the bridge- I like it !
I suspect that if you put in a couple of more $$ you can buy a Squier Standard, and the quality is better. I made a set- up for a friend on one he has got. It was really nice !


I just have a thing for cheap guitars. My AVRI cost $1500 and my MIM Standard Strat was $500. My other four were either free or less than $100. I suffer from mod-it-itis. Its a serious illness that I can't cure. I just love the smell of rosin core solder. :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Post subject: Re: Thoughts on Squier Affinity Teles
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 5:47 pm
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bluesky636 wrote:
Well, like I said, the stock pickups were overly bright in combination with 500K ohm pots. Plus they were noisy with lots of 60 Hz hum. Some people can tolerate that, but not me. I tried some GFS Neovin Noiseless pickups with 250K ohm CTS pots at first. It sounded much better. I prefer locking tuners so I changed those. The bridge was an experiment. Like I said, after I bought the AVRI 52 Tele, I didn't need two Teles so converted this one to an Esquire.

Bottom line, the Affinity is a decent guitar. It plays well and has a really nice neck. I got mine on sale and with the trade of 3 stompboxes I was no longer using, got it for $85 new at Guitar Center. If you recognize that it won't play or sound like an American Standard, you should be happy with it. In my case, I just like to mod everything. :D


I've only been playing(if ya can call what I do playin' haha) for a couple months & I'm tryin to learn the technical speak, ya sent my head spinnin' w/ that 1st paragraph. :lol:

Well, that's basically all I'm lookin' for is a decent Tele to start with(have a feelin' this will be the 1st of many) that won't break the bank(will spend more as I advance). I don't know what an American Standard sounds like so I wouldn't know the difference. :lol:

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Post subject: Re: Thoughts on Squier Affinity Teles
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 5:53 pm
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asgeirman wrote:
Hi , 20_G - hi Bill!
I actually have got the same tele - butterscotch. It played fine , immediately. And the neck is super ! I don't remember the measures , but the neck is a bit thinner than on my Fenders ( by the nut) I like it a lot, but maybe not everyone....? After a short time the pickup- switch went bad. I replaced it with one from Fender. No big deal. Later I carried on - changed the neck pup w one vintage- style from Fender, which I had laying around. That pup made it sound terrific! I've kept the one in the bridge- I like it !
I suspect that if you put in a couple of more $$ you can buy a Squier Standard, and the quality is better. I made a set- up for a friend on one he has got. It was really nice !


Thanks for the input, asg.

I looked at the Standard, it's on my list but I don't really wanna pay over $200 on my first(will spend more later) Tele.

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Post subject: Re: Thoughts on Squier Affinity Teles
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 5:59 pm
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bluesky636 wrote:
asgeirman wrote:
Hi , 20_G - hi Bill!
I actually have got the same tele - butterscotch. It played fine , immediately. And the neck is super ! I don't remember the measures , but the neck is a bit thinner than on my Fenders ( by the nut) I like it a lot, but maybe not everyone....? After a short time the pickup- switch went bad. I replaced it with one from Fender. No big deal. Later I carried on - changed the neck pup w one vintage- style from Fender, which I had laying around. That pup made it sound terrific! I've kept the one in the bridge- I like it !
I suspect that if you put in a couple of more $$ you can buy a Squier Standard, and the quality is better. I made a set- up for a friend on one he has got. It was really nice !


I just have a thing for cheap guitars. My AVRI cost $1500 and my MIM Standard Strat was $500. My other four were either free or less than $100. I suffer from mod-it-itis. Its a serious illness that I can't cure. I just love the smell of rosin core solder. :lol: :lol: :lol:


Same here, Blue. I'm into the cheap guitars. I have a Epi Jumbo Acoustic that was $199 & a Epi Les Paul Jr that was $129. I love'em both & the only mod'ing I've done to each is changing the strings. Gotta love a quality guitar that's cheap.

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Post subject: Re: Thoughts on Squier Affinity Teles
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 6:15 pm
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20_Gauge wrote:

I've only been playing(if ya can call what I do playin' haha) for a couple months & I'm tryin to learn the technical speak, ya sent my head spinnin' w/ that 1st paragraph. :lol:

Well, that's basically all I'm lookin' for is a decent Tele to start with(have a feelin' this will be the 1st of many) that won't break the bank(will spend more as I advance). I don't know what an American Standard sounds like so I wouldn't know the difference. :lol:

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Then you will be very happy with the Affinity :D

bluesky636 wrote:
I suffer from mod-it-itis. Its a serious illness that I can't cure. I just love the smell of rosin core solder. :lol: :lol: :lol:

I think I have noticed by now :lol:

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Post subject: Re: Thoughts on Squier Affinity Teles
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 6:32 pm
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Just peeked at this thread...I feel badly I looked all over for a Hallmark card for Blue for his "Mod-it-itis" and there were none..and the rosin sniffing part...Did I mention guitar people are a little bit "different" lol

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Post subject: Re: Thoughts on Squier Affinity Teles
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 9:02 pm
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20_Gauge wrote:
bluesky636 wrote:
Well, like I said, the stock pickups were overly bright in combination with 500K ohm pots. Plus they were noisy with lots of 60 Hz hum. Some people can tolerate that, but not me. I tried some GFS Neovin Noiseless pickups with 250K ohm CTS pots at first. It sounded much better. I prefer locking tuners so I changed those. The bridge was an experiment. Like I said, after I bought the AVRI 52 Tele, I didn't need two Teles so converted this one to an Esquire.

Bottom line, the Affinity is a decent guitar. It plays well and has a really nice neck. I got mine on sale and with the trade of 3 stompboxes I was no longer using, got it for $85 new at Guitar Center. If you recognize that it won't play or sound like an American Standard, you should be happy with it. In my case, I just like to mod everything. :D


I've only been playing(if ya can call what I do playin' haha) for a couple months & I'm tryin to learn the technical speak, ya sent my head spinnin' w/ that 1st paragraph. :lol:

Well, that's basically all I'm lookin' for is a decent Tele to start with(have a feelin' this will be the 1st of many) that won't break the bank(will spend more as I advance). I don't know what an American Standard sounds like so I wouldn't know the difference. :lol:

20


Sorry about that. I'm an electrical engineer by degree and a systems engineer by profession. :oops: :lol:

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Post subject: Re: Thoughts on Squier Affinity Teles
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 9:02 pm
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asgeirman wrote:
20_Gauge wrote:

I've only been playing(if ya can call what I do playin' haha) for a couple months & I'm tryin to learn the technical speak, ya sent my head spinnin' w/ that 1st paragraph. :lol:

Well, that's basically all I'm lookin' for is a decent Tele to start with(have a feelin' this will be the 1st of many) that won't break the bank(will spend more as I advance). I don't know what an American Standard sounds like so I wouldn't know the difference. :lol:

20

Then you will be very happy with the Affinity :D

bluesky636 wrote:
I suffer from mod-it-itis. Its a serious illness that I can't cure. I just love the smell of rosin core solder. :lol: :lol: :lol:

I think I have noticed by now :lol:


+1 to both comments. :D

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Post subject: Re: Thoughts on Squier Affinity Teles
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 9:06 pm
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Monalst wrote:
Just peeked at this thread...I feel badly I looked all over for a Hallmark card for Blue for his "Mod-it-itis" and there were none..and the rosin sniffing part...Did I mention guitar people are a little bit "different" lol


The disease is so rare, the greeting card companies haven't caught up with it. :D

"Different"? Admit it. You were thinking "weird". :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Post subject: Re: Thoughts on Squier Affinity Teles
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 9:44 pm
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I bought a butterscotch Affinity Tele several years ago for $139 on sale (list then $169). You have a tone control and amp controls, so the treble won't kill you. :) After a while I installed a MIM Tele pickup in the bridge, broke the neck pickup, so it's still original. :( I never found anything wrong with it. Good feel, good wood, nothing has ever broke. I like it a lot. In my opinion, you can't go wrong with it. Good luck!


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