Hello Bobby ,
OK, here are a few areas where the Squier Affinity Tele's and Strat's are different from the more higher priced models ...
These differences account for some of the cost cutting things .
Both the Affinity Tele and the Affinity Strat have a little bit thinner body' s ...it 's not by much yet it is noticeable if you have a number of Fender Guitars ( as I do ) ...
The necks on these models of guitar have satin finishes , not a heavy poly type finish ...I happen to prefer that myself since I like to sand the down and put an oil finish on most of my Squiers anyway ...
FWIW , The tuning machines seem to be OK on both models ...( I have a few of them guits and left them stock for now )
In the case of the Affinity Tele , the bridge is usually a top load bridge . What that means is the strings do not go through the body like they would on most of the typical Fender Tele guitars .If you were to look at the back of the guitar there would be no holes for the string ferrules...
I have heard that the Affinity Tele that comes with the amp and accessory package may have string loading from the back ..yet I have never seen one in person ...
I happen to prefer the way a top loader bridge feels , it is a little slinkier feeling as far as how the strings feel on the finger board. Even the Tele's I have owned that were much more costly had bridges that would do string through and top load ...BTW Pages Tele was set up to be a top loader
The Affinity Strat's bridges that I have on my guitars are like the traditional old style Strat bridge ....
They screw in multiple places on the top of the guitar under the bridge saddles as opposed to the American Standard style of a 2 stud bridge fulcrum mounting point on the guitars top ...
Once again I happen to prefer the way that bridge sounds over the 2 stud mount ...I do have a vintage American Standard and I also have a Squier Standard Strat that has the 2 stud mount
On The Affinity Strat Fender cut costs by using an alloy trem block ( cheap Zinc ) which is mounted to the bridge and holds the springs that are screwed into the guitars body ....
Many people that buy these guitars have found that their guitar sounds better when they go out and purchase an after market heavy duty trem block ...the only issue some folks have found is getting one that will line up with the bridge and other than that they may have a little bit of the trem block sticking out of the guitars body since the Affinity's body is a little thinner than the higher priced guitars ...
Once again , in my case I have left my guitars bone stock in that regard ....
One of the areas where Fender skimped to cut costs in both the Affinity Tele and Strat are the electronics ...
The 3 way switch ( Tele ) and the 5 way switch ( Strat ) are marginal at best ..they feel cheap and they are pretty light weight .In addition to that the potentiometers are also marginal at best ...
I'm handy enough with a soldering iron so I changed those out ..if you happen to get one of the models I've been talking about I would suggest that you would consider swapping those parts out first before you even consider doing any mods such as changing the pick ups ...
The Pick ups in both the Affinity Tele and the Affinity Strats are ceramic and they actually do sound very good once the potentiometers have been upgraded ....
Here is an audio example I did a few years back where I'm playing a bone stock Squier Affinity Strat ..
I bought it new for less than $ 150 and there is not even a mod done to it other than me setting it up
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=7514290 OK , I'm starting to run out of typing steam here ...heh he
Before I go may I suggest a few things to you ?
I would suggest that you try to hit a local music store and try to get a vibe on how these guitars feel to you in your hand ...
I've had guitars I thought I wanted to buy and once I coped a feel they were no longer on my Radar ..
For example I had an old Gretsch Country Gentleman that I regretted selling when I was young ..
Every time I have walked in a music store and played the new stuff ( imports ) my dream of getting another Gretsch got crushed ....
One the other side of the coin ,
It has been my experience that guitars will talk to you and jump off the rack just like a puppy at an animal shelter
Guitars want to be Loved and adopted too
On the used market I have noticed that for every Tele for sale I see there are a least 20 + used Strats that are for sale ...
The area where I live in Geo wise , I could walk out of my house right now and in about an hour or two I could be be back here with a used Affinity or the next model up Squier Start for any-where's between 60 / 75 dollars to around 150 tops for one with a pick up change already done ...
the most I have ever payed for a used Strat or Tele in this quality tier has been 130 dollars US ...
What I'm saying is you may have to pick up a Tele new unless you get lucky ....not as many for sale and people seem to hold on to them ..
I kid you not when I say this I see Strats going for less than a hundred bucks every day ...
it may not be a bad idea to consider it ..if you see one for 60 to 80bucks in a pawn shop or on Craig's list to consider picking one up ....
A lot of people get rid of them because they think they need something better , I'm telling you right now that a couple of the Squier guitars that I got cheap I eventually threw a couple of lite bucks into them for pickups and small low budget mods .
As far as I'm concerned they are keepers .
That guitar you liked in my song Good Tele Gone Bad was something that some kid probably thought just wasn't good enough . Yep I love my 69 Tele ....not the year ...the price ....
Oh , I also dig they way it plays and sounds ...Hope you find yours ...
all the best ,
Kenny
post edited by kennywtelejazz - 2016/07/20 13:10:55