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Comments
If you're after budget pickups you could do worse than IronGear or ToneRider- both make good cheap pickups in a variety of flavours.
The pots in an Affinity are likely to be a bit cheap and nasty (a sure indicator is that they respond in an all or nothing way, good pots gradually increase and decrease as you turn them)...
The issue once you start is where do you stop? Pots, wires, jack socket, capacitors, pickups... All can be upgraded.
I hardly touch them (I play rock/metal with multiple channel amps which offer all the tonal versatility I need), so I wouldn't ever bother changing anything other than the pickup switch.
I dial my crunchiest tone into the amp with my guitar controls at 10, then I know that by rolling off/ using picking dynamics I can get my clean etc. It drives me mad if a guitar doesn't have a good taper on the pots.
I only use one pedal (a Bad Monkey) for an extra boost if I'm playing a lead.
Each to their own I guess.
The neck pickups are probably much of a muchness tbh, you might just be better off removing the cover on the one that's in there.
A tenner's worth of decent quality 250k log pots is critical to how some of the world's best Tele players interact with their guitars, and is a far more crucial difference IMO than that between a couple of pairs of cheap ceramic pickups.
My point was that for someone expecting an instant tonal quality boost from upgrading them would be disappointed. Someone who wants a smoother taper or better durability wouldn't though.
If it's got 500k and you find the pickups too shrill, going down to 250k, however, would be a tonal improvement.
However, unless you are especially keen to tinker, putting money into an Affinity Strat is something to be wary of; the guitar is maybe worth £50-100, so don't go mad!