A Squier Affinity ??? Sounded Mega At Rehearsal Tonight....

thegummy

p90fool said:

thegummy said:

Was thinking about this thread earlier while philosophising during a late night nappy run and I think that on some level when I read that a low end Squier was good, it's not even that I doubted it but somehow had a subconscious dislike for it.

As if something inside me wouldn't want it to be true that a guitar so much cheaper than the one I bought could be good.

It's hard to put into words what I mean but I wonder if some of the brand snobbery is to do with us being subconsciously defensive about how much we've spent previously.

Partly, but there are genuine quality differences between the cheapest Squiers and more expensive Telecasters, like crappy switches and pots, a flimsy bridge, a dull neck pickup and soft, quick-wear frets. 

As a grab and go cheapy for rough gigs or whatever they're great sounding guitars, but I still wouldn't want one as my only guitar without doing the kind of work on it which would bring it into a midrange price bracket anyway. 

I'll take your word for it that the other things you mention are poor on cheap teles but the switches and pots aren't even worth mentioning since it costs about 20 quid to swap them for the best available.

I read it mentioned a lot and always think the same.

darthed1981

thegummy said:

p90fool said:

thegummy said:

Was thinking about this thread earlier while philosophising during a late night nappy run and I think that on some level when I read that a low end Squier was good, it's not even that I doubted it but somehow had a subconscious dislike for it.

As if something inside me wouldn't want it to be true that a guitar so much cheaper than the one I bought could be good.

It's hard to put into words what I mean but I wonder if some of the brand snobbery is to do with us being subconsciously defensive about how much we've spent previously.

Partly, but there are genuine quality differences between the cheapest Squiers and more expensive Telecasters, like crappy switches and pots, a flimsy bridge, a dull neck pickup and soft, quick-wear frets. 

As a grab and go cheapy for rough gigs or whatever they're great sounding guitars, but I still wouldn't want one as my only guitar without doing the kind of work on it which would bring it into a midrange price bracket anyway. 

I'll take your word for it that the other things you mention are poor on cheap teles but the switches and pots aren't even worth mentioning since it costs about 20 quid to swap them for the best available.

I read it mentioned a lot and always think the same.

There is a huge element of Rolex-factor in it as well, you can get a perfectly nice looking functional watch for £100 (or less) but people spend thousands on them.

They make my wrist itch personally, but I think a lot of that goes into high-end guitar buying as well.

thegummy

darthed1981 said:

thegummy said:

p90fool said:

thegummy said:

Was thinking about this thread earlier while philosophising during a late night nappy run and I think that on some level when I read that a low end Squier was good, it's not even that I doubted it but somehow had a subconscious dislike for it.

As if something inside me wouldn't want it to be true that a guitar so much cheaper than the one I bought could be good.

It's hard to put into words what I mean but I wonder if some of the brand snobbery is to do with us being subconsciously defensive about how much we've spent previously.

Partly, but there are genuine quality differences between the cheapest Squiers and more expensive Telecasters, like crappy switches and pots, a flimsy bridge, a dull neck pickup and soft, quick-wear frets. 

As a grab and go cheapy for rough gigs or whatever they're great sounding guitars, but I still wouldn't want one as my only guitar without doing the kind of work on it which would bring it into a midrange price bracket anyway. 

I'll take your word for it that the other things you mention are poor on cheap teles but the switches and pots aren't even worth mentioning since it costs about 20 quid to swap them for the best available.

I read it mentioned a lot and always think the same.

There is a huge element of Rolex-factor in it as well, you can get a perfectly nice looking functional watch for £100 (or less) but people spend thousands on them.

They make my wrist itch personally, but I think a lot of that goes into high-end guitar buying as well.

See, personally I find expensive watches ridiculous but everyone has their own tastes.

The question is, are people who are really buying expensive guitars for the "Rolex factor" then convincing themselves (and subsequently, other people) that there are more functional benefits than there are?

TheMarlin

Had a Classic Vibe butterscotch tele.  Loved it.  Neck was skinny, and the finish was incredibly thick, but otherwise an excellent guitar.  Sold it when I was broke, tried to buy it back but was broken for parts. Made me very sad.  Really miss it. 

Wazmeister

lonestar said:

I think this is a good thread for that “lightbulb moment”. When you look at your £4K guitar and wonder how it’s possible that a £130 guitar put a smile on your face. It makes me wonder why I lust after a CS 335 when I know I’d be happy spending a lot less on a different guitar 

I’ve got to agree here... 

You see, for me, it’s the context here too; I’m rehearsing in a room with a sumptuous Redplate amp (which helps !) with the Squier, Masterbuilt Strat and my Ricky 360/12...

The Masterbuilt is an awesome guitar and a joy to play and own - this band is a bit more raucous though !

I played the Ricky for all the songs as that’s what I’ll use during the gig (only 4/5 songs).

But the Squier is the one that was simply fun to play. Rough ready.

Also has shown me how much I love Teles !!

GoldenEraGuitars

@Wazmeister I wonder if the thought process and outcome would have been different had your MB been a Telecaster too? For example, you’d have been able to directly compare the guitars and evaluate it more easily?

Do you think this is a sign that you actually want a tele? Maybe if it had been a Pro Series US Tele the conversation would have been different?

Nunogilberto

Affinity Teles are great workhorse guitars. I moved mine on recently for want of funds but I had it for about a year and gigged it a few times - solid, playable and sounded fine. My only issue with the Affinity series is that the nut width is narrower than the Standard, so it can be tough if you have big hands/long fingers.

kin

So, in peoples opinion, if you were to buy a £100 guitar with a decent neck then spent £500 on upgrades ans set up ( taking it into mid-range price  guitar territory ) would it be better than a mid range guitar straight off the shelf?

  I think anybody can find a good excuse for a bit of luxury in their lives ( watches,guitars ,cars etc ) but whether a stock mid range guitar can be justified is another matter.
   

impmann

kin said:

So, in peoples opinion, if you were to buy a £100 guitar with a decent neck then spent £500 on upgrades ans set up ( taking it into mid-range price  guitar territory ) would it be better than a mid range guitar straight off the shelf?

  I think anybody can find a good excuse for a bit of luxury in their lives ( watches,guitars ,cars etc ) but whether a stock mid range guitar can be justified is another matter.
   

Define "better".

Plus £500 in upgrades???

A good set of tele pickups is new around £100, s/h about £75 (you can get cheaper).
A replacement upgrade bridge is about £25.
A set of machine heads is about £25-30
A set of pots and a switch is £30.
Throw in a new pickguard if you want for £20.

At worst that is £205.

A good set up varies in price massively, plus a lot of the work can be done yourself (its not rocket science). If you want someone to really blitz it for you, call it £150 (and I'm being generous there - plus you'd spend the same making a mid price guitar 100% to your tastes).

So thats £355 at worst...

After spending that much it would be "better" for you but not necessarily better for anyone else.

FWIW, I've replaced pickups etc in guitars costing £1000+ to suit my tastes, but such 'upgrades' may not suit other players.

In short - no wrong or right.

steer

A couple of years ago I did some maintenance on a affinity strat, which belonged to a friends son. It sounded and played great, but within a year of getting it new, one of the tuning pegs broke, the volume pot knob fell off and there was an issue with one of the bridge pins.

Nothing major of course, just a series of niggles I suppose. Not sure if this was down to a lack of care by it's teeneage owner (who seemed to spend every minute of the day playing it), or does it point to quality issues with some of the hardware? 

Wazmeister

lonestar said:

@Wazmeister I wonder if the thought process and outcome would have been different had your MB been a Telecaster too? For example, you’d have been able to directly compare the guitars and evaluate it more easily?

Do you think this is a sign that you actually want a tele? Maybe if it had been a Pro Series US Tele the conversation would have been different?

Good points.

I am quite experienced with Tele though, having owned and played them for 35 years (I'm 50 !)... I do miss owning a Tele, which is why Ive just regrettably had to sell my Jag (one in, one out).

I played the Squier again last night, and it is quite simply, a very good guitar.

True enough, the pick ups are harsh and not subtle, but more than suitable for our post-punk band

I'll probably have to a/b a CS with the Squier to really evaluate it I guess...

mikem8634

I think a case can be made for the notion that at least an element of our guitar choice relates to how we perceive ourselves and our abilities and how we want others to perceive them. It is all probably, mostly subconscious, but there can be a tendency to tie some element or our personality into our chosen guitar and to identify with the 'statement' it makes, whatever that may be.

For what it's worth, this thread has made me very likely to pick up a super cheap Affinity.

impmann

Wazmeister said:

lonestar said:

@Wazmeister I wonder if the thought process and outcome would have been different had your MB been a Telecaster too? For example, you’d have been able to directly compare the guitars and evaluate it more easily?

Do you think this is a sign that you actually want a tele? Maybe if it had been a Pro Series US Tele the conversation would have been different?

Good points.

I am quite experienced with Tele though, having owned and played them for 35 years (I'm 50 !)... I do miss owning a Tele, which is why Ive just regrettably had to sell my Jag (one in, one out).

I played the Squier again last night, and it is quite simply, a very good guitar.

True enough, the pick ups are harsh and not subtle, but more than suitable for our post-punk band

I'll probably have to a/b a CS with the Squier to really evaluate it I guess...

True story...

Back in the 90s we had a delivery of 25 Squier Strats from Arbiter. These were the cheap Korean things with the anaemic, pale maple necks and the thick pickguards etc. The 26th guitar - which should have been a Strat but they ballsed up - was a Tele.

I unpacked each, tested and checked them. All the Strats were much of a muchness and they were pretty good for cheap guitars (£179, IIRC). However, then I unboxed the Tele. After a chorus of "fucking Arbiter" from all of us for getting the order wrong - again - I tuned it up and checked it over, before we made the decision whether to return it or not.

In short, this guitar was insanely good. Head and shoulders better than any of the other instruments. It resonated like there was some kind of vibrator built into it and the neck was perfect (shape, fretting, fingerboard edge etc). I spent way too long playing that guitar. In short, this was a great guitar... at any price.

Later that morning, one of the local guitar teachers came in to have a look for a guitar for a pupil of his. I don't think he'd be offended if I said he was more than a little OCD about guitars and could be a total snob about brands. I pointed to the Squier Tele and said that it was the best from the batch by a long way. He harumphed and picked it up... about 45mins later, he slapped his credit card on the counter and bought it. For himself. From what I understand, he still gigs it. Oh and the student ended up with one of the Strats - which were OK, don't get me wrong.

The point is, having dealt with volume guitar set up and QC checking for many years, quite often there will be one or two guitars that stand out in a batch. These are  just greater than the sum of its parts. Before anyone says its all about set up - that can't be so, as when you do volume set up you do it to a spec (ie string height of "x" mm, relief of "y") so all are set the same.

Perhaps this particular Squier is one of these.

Good luck in your quest!

kin

@impmann ;

 no wrong or right...absolutely.

 Define better? I can't, as you rightly say what feels right for some is not the same for others.

 I have no idea about the quality of components fitted to mid priced instruments and what i was trying to get at was , if you were to fit the quality components below, would people consider the finished instrument as better quality than a stock mid priced instrument?

Oil city pick ups £ 110
Locking tuners £70
Hipshot bridge £110
New knobs ,switches etc  possible rewire if needed £?
Set up/fitting of above items £?

That may not come to £500 worth of upgrades but would the component parts be better than a stock mid priced guitar?
My point being that i think it's relatively easy to justify the cost of a masterbuilt or whatever, perhaps less easy to justify the cost of a stock mid priced guitar. if you could mod a cheaper one to be a better quality instrument for the same price .




 
 

midlifecrisis

as i mentioned earlier, i bought a used affinity tele on a whim, really liked and gigged it and it inspired me to seek out a "proper" fender tele. I bought off a fellow fretboarder a really nice fender baja tele, which i still have and enjoy still. but it did give me the opportunity to compare them both over an extended period at home and come up with these observations. the build quality was just as good in some things the squier was superior, the switch seemed more positive, the jack plate was more secure and les likely to come loose. the pots, i couldnt tell, both lots seemed ok. the control plate was slightly better designed on the squier, ie the knobs were closer together making the switch easier to use as it didnt get too close to the knobs when in bridge position. The pickups in the squier , i found a bit bland, the neck pickup very mushy and soft but the bridge one not too bad. Now all those things are easily changeable if desired but otherwise it was a very playable guitar. the fender baja has a nice chunkier neck (i know this is a personal preference)   and the pickups have much more character, the neck one has a nice full tone and the bridge has that tele twang and percusiveness. the squier affinity body is about 1/4 inch thinner but i dint find this a plus or minus either way.  I did prefer the baja but there wasnt really that much in it, certainly not five times the price much.  im happy to keep my baja but wouldnt hesitate getting anothe affinity as backup. I have had affinity strats as well but never found them to be as good.

Three-ColourSunburst

Maynehead said:

The problem with some cheap guitars is that they can't all be set up well (uneven neck curve, wrong neck angle, loose frets etc), so you'd have to rely on luck to find a good sample.

And some expensive guitars as well, just look at the chronic neck angle problem with this Gibson.

midlifecrisis

wow, thats diabolical

darthed1981

midlifecrisis said:

wow, thats diabolical

I hope to God he sent that back.

Wazmeister

Yep, here’s my recent thread and some good insights from fellow forumites;

http://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/122087/a-squier-affinity-sounded-mega-at-rehearsal-tonight#latest

rossi

i bought an Affinty strat to part out and sell .I always set a guitar just to see how it plays and was surprised at how nice the Aff played  so I did a modest fret level and shoved in a set of the more upmarket Wilkingson pickups i with CTS pots   and its plays and sound s great .It also stays in tune  despite all my attempts .I have just installed an old nut I found in a tin and that widened the string spacing just a bit .I  it cost me 40 quid  off Gumtree plus the pickups so say 120 the lot .The original pickups needed some yuk  dialling out but sounded OK once the initial brightness was gone .