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

Wazmeister

Man, how about this then...?

Had a rehearsal with the band tonight, and our singer lent a Squier Affinity Telecaster off his mate. 
Im there with a Johnny Marr Jag, and I decide to tune the Tele for him...

It sounded and played superbly. Kept into tune all night, as I shelved the Jag and played the Tele. Now, I am a huge Tele fan but havent owned one in a while...

But man, this was a good guitar. i mean REALLY good... now ok, it was thru a Redplate but still...

A Squier Bloody Infinity. It cost the owner £129 NEW !!!

Completely messed with my head.

And I was gonna gig with my Masterbuilt...

Anyone else played a good un ? Is this usual for Chinese made Affinity .?.?

meltedbuzzbox

I've got a pink affinity strat that rings like a bell. I grabbed it for £50 and is one of the most resonate guitars I own. Everyone is really surprised when they pick it up

Sadly the wiring is absolutely garbage and needs replacing.

Branshen

What I am getting from the thread is that I need to buy a Red plate amp. 

Neill

Have a look at Dave Simpson's vids on youtube.  Especially the one featuring the Squier he bought for £80.

Electric guitar just needs to be playable. It's all about the amp.  

Andyjr1515

There's nothing wrong with Squiers......unbelievable bang for the buck!  

streethawk

Have a 2013 affinity strat. That was the year they uprated the specs a bit.

Pretty nice. 

slacker

I had an affinity strat years ago amazing guitar with a long boring story why I had to move it on.

There are cheap guitars that simply have no right to be that good.

JezWynd

Loved my Affinity Tele, preferred the neck over the MIM version. The only issue I experienced was the bridge saddle screws coming loose and causing vibration noises but it was soon cured once I located the source.

It's the living proof of Leo fender's great design skills.

DulcetJones

I take my Affinity Tele to gigs instead of my Les Paul now, it just works, like you described.  I keep the LP for recording projects these days though.

Wazmeister

I really dunno anymore...

We’ve got a wedding/pub gig where Id use a Masterbuilt Strat and a Ricky 360/12. I took the JM Jag last night to try....

I mean, a new £179 Affinity is less than almost every individual pedal on my board.

Big Waz sale coming up maybe...

fields5069

A lot of the TDPRI guys love the Affinity Tele. I think I remember reading about how they reckoned that the slightly thinner body helped the sound, made it a bit more lively than a standard thickness body. Something like that.

HAL9000

I used to own an Affinity Tele. One of the best necks of any guitar I've ever owned, and the bridge pickup had that proper Tele 'bark'. The neck pickup wasn't so good, but still an excellent guitar for the £140 I paid for it. I sold it when I bought an American Standard (thinking that through-body stringing, skunk stripe, and Fender on the headstock would make it a 'proper' Tele). 

The American Std, though a great instrument, is definitely less 'Tele' and more generic than the Squier ever was.

Certainly the electrics weren't that great and the fret wire seemed to be on the soft side, but it is still the only guitar that I've ever regretted selling.

Teetonetal

Well, this doesn't surprise me at all. I think the budget guitars we can get these days are far removed from the 80's horror shows. Set them up nicely and you have a very solid, decent guitar. For the last band, I was regularly playing with a cheaper MIM Tele and a Laney cub 12. Sounded great,.

In the guitar world, I think we tend to think that more expensive = better, I really don't think it does.

dindude

The voice of reason here:

I wouldn't do anything rash with your current collection.

Yes budget guitars can be outstanding these days, and I can imagine in a band situation the Affinity will have cut like a knife and been very usable.

In the comfort of your own home, for other guitar enjoyment, it's still a rare budget instrument for me that I don't go through the normal curve of "this is amazing (for the money)", followed by me rarely picking it up afterwards.

Wazmeister

dindude said:

The voice of reason here:

I wouldn't do anything rash with your current collection.

Yes budget guitars can be outstanding these days, and I can imagine in a band situation the Affinity will have cut like a knife and been very usable.

In the comfort of your own home, for other guitar enjoyment, it's still a rare budget instrument for me that I don't go through the normal curve of "this is amazing (for the money)", followed by me rarely picking it up afterwards.

Mate, there might be some wisdom here...

mistercharlie

I recently bought a 1996 Affinity Strat off eBay, because it had a pickguard and CS69 pickups from a Classic Player. I wanted the pickups for a build I'm doing. I planned to sell off the rest as parts, but I'm still playing it (the body for my build isn't painted yet).

The pickups help of course, but the guitar plays really well. The nut could be a little lower, but the trem stays rock solid, tuning-wise, and the whole thing feels like a proper guitar. A previous owner replaced the tuners, and this is an older version with a full-thickness body.

I'll still sell it, but it seems a shame to let it going considering how little I'll get for it. 

menamestom

I like the lower end Squier's I've played, I think the top loading pridge helps, gives more of a snappy vibe about it.
Just looking at Affinity's now, first thing I noticed is how bad is the Fender website? All the links from Squier go back to the first page on the Fender website as do all external links, so finding what you want is a faff.

I've always wanted an artic white tele, but they only do it with a maple neck, would be ideal with Rosewood for me.  Think of the rosewood options silver looks okay. 

koss59

I have an Affiity Strat that @Panama_Jack666 lent me for my students to use. It’s a great guitar and I’d happily gig it if I had to. 
Check out videos of Nashville player “Jack Pearson” He uses Squier Strats all the time and is unbelievable.

impmann

I happily gigged "Pea Soup" (the guitar's nickname - the singer called it that, after its murky greeny-grey-beige "blonde" colour) for ages - it was superb, comfortable and sounded ace. It was a 2001 Squire Standard Tele made in Indonesia. I have to be honest, the pickups were replaced with a pair of Kent Armstrong 'Sky' pickups (bought for £20) and the volume pot eventually crapped out.
As has been said, there's no shame in a Squier - and yes a high-end guitar may be a few %age points 'better' when played in isolation. However, in a band mix they hold their own - and assuming you can find one with a neck you feel comfy with, there's no reason it shouldn't be gigged.

UnclePsychosis

I for one am shocked that a bit of wood with some wires nailed onto it can be made to a decent quality with a low cost after 65 years of mass production.

:-D:-D:-D

Jez6345789

It has to be said that Strats and Tele's were designed for mass production or what mass production was at the time. CNC now means production is less dependent on a skilled handcraft workforce. 

I think we all get into the massive avalanche of Gibson & Fender PR and brand strategy at times. Plus a bit of personal snobbery and the feeling that when we can afford it we should have better but if I take off the rose-tinted glasses and the PR hype of what is better the fact is I have met some amazing low-end guitars that go way beyond.