Fender Squier Affinity Series Telecaster

Thhe standard specs of this Chinese Tele have been covered in previous reviews. This guitar has an agathis body but European/US ones are made of ash or alderI think. Nice butterscotch finish, with white pickguard. Thought about changing it for black, but the colour of the body is darker than the old blonde Teles so stuck with white.
Looks very nice and clean and just, well, that Tele retro look.

Having been a Gibson player for years, I got sick of all the Gary Moore hard stuff and then heard Will Ray. I wanted, no I needed, a Tele after years of thinking they were as thin as p..s. Also I have noticed that the fat humbucker sound can get a bit lost tonewise when everyone cranks up and the Tele cuts through it. I am of the opinion that a great guitar and a crap amp is far worse than a damn good copy and a good amp. My cunning plan to turn a US$250 guitar into something much beter for a little more cash involved simply removing the Chinese pups and installing new Fender American Vintage pups - cost US$100 the pair - and yes they fit in the cavity. (The Chinese pups have a bar magnet glued underneath) Before I did this I borrowed a new Highway 61 US Tele from the store (they trust people here in New Zealand)and played it and the Affinity through the same amp (Vox ADVT 30 Valvetronix on Fender Bassman and Black Face 2x12 settings. The Highway 61 was a bit richer with a little more sustain - but not much, considering it cost US$1300 as opposed to US$250. After changing the pups, the guitars sounded pretty identical to me and I could not see the top-loaded strings made much difference, compared to the differences in tone a change in amp settings made. Anyway, no two guitarists will ever get the same sound out of one. My main problem is now that I so like the Tele, my wife is asking me why the hell I shelled out all that money for my top-shelf stuff.

The neck was the thing Im liked. Beautiful action, even way low. Frets were OK too. The top hat switch was crap - made out of a baked bean can probably. The guy in the shop swapped it for a US Fender one for free as a condition of sale. The agathis (kauri) body is light and I needed it, as I have developed Les Paul shoulder from those long underpaid pub gigs. The weird thing was that the tone pot did not work because there was an extra wire added - my local luthier just removed it and that was a simple fix. Can't blame the Chinese too much as they get paid FA and work until they can hardly see. The screws on bridge saddle on the low E rotated a bit, but a drop of shellac in the hole fixed that too. Even though I bend a lot, I do not often break strings on my other guitars. However, I broke the top E twice in two weeks at practices and got my luthier to smooth out the notch at the bridge (broke there both times) So far so good now. Mind you, compared to the bloody hassle I have had recently with a brand new Nashville-made Dobro, this is peanuts. If it was not for the beautiful action, I would rate this a 6

I use this live when I am in the Texas country blues mood. Hey, I even have a picture of John Mayall playing a Squier Strat, so if it's good enough for him... I always use straplocks - having seen Les Pauls dropped on the floor. I normally gig with both humbucker and singles, and use a Heritage 555 and a Les Paul Standard for the BB King, Peter Green stuff, and a 92 MIM Stratocaster and the Affinity Tele for the twangier stuff. The tele has held up well. I don't have to keep watching it like a hawk either as I do with my other axes.

Fender, Gibson - you've got to be joking. If you want service buy a Heritage!

Playing 40 years, starting in a 60's psychedelic and blues rock band in the UK. Now play in General Z's Blues Band here in NZ. I also play in a jazz duo and trio. I have a Gibson LP Standard, Heritage 555, Gibson L6-S (highly underated and lightning fast), MIM Strat, Dobro, 1961 Levin 335, 1936 Gibson L-50, Burns Marquee, 1963 Teisco M2 (bought on whim), 1973 Epiphone Bard acoustic and an old Kay bass.
This Tele is the best deal I have ever made (Dobro worst). All my band love it too. I guess if I had lots of spare cash I may consider a US one, but I really think the amp can change everything. If nicked, I would probably cry like a baby and my sympathetic wife would let me buy a real Tele with the insurance money (are you reading this babe?)

Not sure of the year, most likely 2004.
Made in China, seems to be a solid piece of wood because you can see the grain through the finish. It is a gloss Butterscotch Blonde finish with all your regular Tele options.

All parts are Chinese clone type of parts. I'm not going to go into much detail on this because everyone else has already gone over the basic features.

As far as the sound, it actually sounds pretty good. The neck pickup is a bit low on output and they adjusted the pickup really low, so I raised it up quite a bit. On Strats, I like them low, but on some Tele?s they sound better up high to me.

It has a nice warm sound and a good amount of twang on the bridge pickup. The middle setting gives a distinct sound like it should. I was surprised the generic ceramic pickups sounded as good as they do. I?m going to leave them in for now.

As far as factory setup? Forget it. You can NEVER trust the factory setup on ANY guitar. Especially if you get them mail order.

With that said, and after a set of new strings and a good setup. It played great, except for the fret end problem. I?ll go into more detail later.

The finish on the body is fabulous. You can see the wood grain and it is smooth, glossy and consistent. The neck has a nice feel to it, as far as profile. Routing is well done and all the controls worked fine. The neck had a nice tint to it so I did not have to artificially ?age? it.

Now the fretwork. The frets are a bit rough, but that is to be expected on low-end guitars. Still decent as it goes. It did suffer from the well know Squier sharp fret end problem.
They were almost sharp enough to cut your fingers on. No way, I could play it out of the box like that.

I don?t own any fret finishing tools, so I got an emery board from my daughter and after I took the strings off I placed the emery board on the edge of the frets so it spanned about three frets. Put it at about a 45-degree angle and ran it up and down the edge of the fret board. It cleaned them up so it is now in a playable condition.

This is a common thing, but if you don?t work on guitars, this could be a big problem.

It seems to be a well-made guitar. I?ve had Squire?s before and they all hold up very well. This one is no exception. I would use this one as a backup, but I don?t know if I would use it as my main guitar. Not that it can?t be used that way, I just have other guitars I would use first.

NAA

This is a decent guitar, once you get past the fret end problem. It looks great and plays well. The stock pickups sound very good for ceramic pickups. With a good setup, it?s really nice to play.

It?s fairly light and won?t give you too many shoulder problems.

I was pretty surprised to find full size pots inside. Usually they put those mini pots on import models. In my opinion, the only thing lacking is the switch. It?s your standard, cheap clone switch with an ugly switch tip. Not that it does not work, its just thin and cheap feeling and the switch shaft comes out of the body too far and makes the switch knob stick up way too high. Very common on import clones.

I, of course leave nothing stock when I can improve on it. I?m going to leave the stock pickups in, but I?m going to change the pots to CTS, put a better switch in it and shield the guitar. Its actually pretty quiet now, but I shield all single coil guitars anyway.

This guitar was made in 1998 or 1999. It is made in Indonesia. 21 frets, laminated top, one volume, one tone, 3 way selector switch and stock - 2 single coil pickups, which are made by Fender I suppose. I made a lot of modifications to this guitar over the years, so I will just talk stock right now and go into the modifications later. Body is Agathis supposedly, neck is maple, this one is called arctic white, but looks more like the vintage blonde, typical tele style body, except much thinner than a Fender or Squier Standard Tele. Very light which is why I bought it, I wanted a light guitar because I am getting old and since I jumped out of airplanes for 20 years, my back ain't what it used to be. Tele style bridge, stock string through bridge, not string through body. Shitty chrome covered tuners stock, but stayed in tune "ok". Medium neck, medium frets and maple fretboard, which is very nice. Came with a cord and I bought a gig bag at the local music store. I give this guitar a 7 on the score sheet here as it came stock. Since I bought the guitar, I had it converted to string through body, changted the electrics to all Fender made in USA stuff, put a Fender vintage noiseless stacked humbucker at the bridge and a Chrome Covered Humbucker from a 72 Tele Custom at the neck and change the tuners to Grover 18:1. I also changed the white pickguard for one of those red tortoise shell pickguards, did a fretjob and had the neck varnished like a 52 tele. All the difference in the world in looks, playability and sound. I give it a 7 stock, but it is definitely a 10 now and it costed me less than two hundred bucks to make the changes. Still says Squier on the headstock, but it is a Fender by all means now. It looks, plays and sounds awesome.

Actually this little guitar sounded really good before I made the changes so I will still give it a 9 on sound. Suited my music style fine, which is crunchy classic rock, much like the Stones and dirty blues or blues rock. The stock pickups had the nice Fender twang at the bridge and sounded great for classic rock in the middle position and the neck pickup had a very nice bluesy sound. I never considered changing the pickups, but a friend of mine gave me the Fender Vintage Noiseless pickup for the bridge and I bought the body of a wrecked Fender 72 Custom which still had the neck pickup on it at a garage sale for 7 bucks, so I said what the fuck, I will play around with this tele. I convereted it to string through body for sustain and had the frets redone and neck varnished like a 52 tele, so that it would be faster, as the stock style of the neck was nice, but just a little bit "sticky" feeling. Of course the stock pickups were a little weak, but that just required turning up the amp. The change in pickups and string through body gave this little fucker balls and sustain like you wouldn't believe. I'm using a Fender Blues Jr, with a boss distortion pedal and it sounds awesome and I also have a small Marshall Valvestate 15 that sounds excellent with this guitar, especially on the distortion. Nice bluesy sound or crunch without the distortion and killer distortion when you stomp on the box on the boss pedal with the Blues Jr. or crank the gain up on the Valvestate 15. Very versatile sound wise (I always thought tele's even though they are simple to be the most versatile sounding guitar on the market). You can have a rich, full sound at the neck pickup or a bright twangy sound at the bridge and the middle position is in between the two. You can play anything from country to heavy metal and everything in between on this amp. I give it a 9 stock, but a 10 after the changes.

Well, I've had this thing going on 5 years now and other than some belt buckle rash on the backside, still looks as new as the day I bought it. No flaws at all that I could see when I bought it. Some light scratches now from playing it and a very small chip on the bottom right by the input because my 4 year old thought it would be cool to see what a screwdriver would do to the guitar. Other than that, perfect.

Although I have not gigged for years (kids - wife died), I have no doubt that this guitar would withstand live playing. Yes to all the questions except one. No one would gig without a backup.

Bought this from Musician's friend. They've been good to me over the years.

Been playing around 30 years. I also have an Epiphone Les Paul Standard and several acoustic guitars of various makes and models aside from what I mentioned above. I love this guitar, I actually bought it to tinker with and use as a project guitar. I love everything about it now, but now that they are made in China, don't know if I would get another one if this one were lost or stolen. I would if I could find a used one made in Indonesia.

usual specs, made in china; mine is a "butterscotch blonde" one,but don't think it's the vintage 50's yellow finish (more a transparent honey in my opinion....). Nevertheless the look is astounding and it has a cool vintage vibe (more 70's spirit). So basically an 8 for features, since this axe doesn't have much;but hey, it's a tele!!Simple but wonderfull...and cool-looking!

First of all, I didn't knew anything about teles a few weeks ago...then I jammed with a guy who had the squier (in a quite ugly red finish).I tried it a bit and thought "hey, cool little guitar..."when I heard the price, I was amazed! Tried it in a store whith a fender tube amp: wonderfull!!!A lot of personnality, very bright, classy sound. To my mind, very good for blues and rock, and definitely FUCKING PERFECT for old Rn'b ("steve cropper sound" welcome...). I like to play funk and this guitar really gives you vintage feel and punch. Of course the p.ups are quite weak; actually the neck one lacks a bit of presence (too bassy); Anyway I plan on changing them...but for the price, very cool little sound!By the way, the sustain is quite decent, despite the top-loader bridge (come on guys...Les Pauls don't have strings-thru-body and yet hold notes for days...)

Nothing to say about the set-up, absolutely no problem.The neck is really comfortable;very clean fretwork and overall crafstmanship.But of course it's a 200$ instrument, so they had to cut somewhere....so let me say that SOME of the hardware is CRAP!!!!that is to say a poor nut, lousy selector, cheap pickguard and strange-reacting knobs....but hey you can fix all that for less than 50$!squier really managed not to sacrifice sound and sturdiness.and oh yes the finish is VERY thin...which is perfect for me since I want this tele to look worn!!

Just bought it but it seems pretty solid to me...the basics of guitar!I think I would gig whith it, but after the p.ups change (they're quite noisy with distortion on).

Absolutely no idea, but it came with a 5-years warranty!!!!so no worries for the future....

Been playing for 8 years; I also own an epiphone les paul with Duncans (very good axe for the price...), a Cry baby and a marshall tube amp( tsl 601). This "little" tele is quite a bargain!!! it is cheap, simple, and very very good looking...but also quite good sounding. for less than 200$ you have a nice vintage twang, and a perfect base for future upgrading. Hey, it's not because it says Squier that it's a beginner guitar....to sum up, a very expressive instrument, perfect for blues, Rn'b, funk and cool stuff( play Buckley's "halleluia" with it...pure heaven!). Buy a tele, a Les Paul, and you have the best of both worlds....

Mine was made in 1999 when they were still made in Indonesia. 21 frets. Laminated top I am sure. Standard Tele setup with two single coil pickups (originally, as I replaced the stock ones with a Vintage Noiseless Pickups which are stacked humbuckers), 3 way selector switch and one tone and one volume knob. Body I believe is alder, neck is maple. Baltic Blue finish, came with a single ply pick guard, which I later changed to a white mother of pearl 3 ply pick guard. Tele body style, except it is thinner than a standard telecaster, and much much lighter, which is why I bought it, to have mercy on my back. Tele style bridge, which was NOT string through body, but I had it converted to string through body. Tuners were these terrible closed in chrome thingys that fuckin sucked and it would not stay in tune. I ordered some grover tuners, put them on and this thing stays in tune for days now. Neck scale is medium and it has medium frets. Came with a cord. This was a good little guitar before I made my modifications. I kept it and upgraded it because I just liked it. With the modifications I have made, I would give it a 10 for sure, but as it came originally, I will have to go with a 7 because of the non string through body and crappy tuners.

I play everything from classic rock to country and blues. Suits my music styles great. I have several amps at home and one that I gig with. I have a VOX AD-15VT Valvetronix Amp, a VOX Pathfinder 15R and one of those little Squier SP10 Amps I bought in a pawn shop for like 5 bucks that I take on the road with me. I gig with a Peavey Studio Pro 112. It was kind of noisy, normal single coil humm before I switched to Vintage Noiseless Pickups, and now it is quiet as a church mouse. With the stock pickups it was "ok", nice twang at the bridge but not as twangy as a real telecaster. Middle position was good and the neck nice and bluesy, but the pickups were just kind of weak, so I tweaked this fucker with the vintage noiseless pickups and converted the body to string through body. Now if FUCKIN kicks ass. I also replaced all the electronics with those out of a Fender Deluxe Telecaster so basically this is Fender all around. With the Vintage Noiseless pickups it is extremely versatile and I love everything about it. With modifications a 10, no doubt. Have to give it an 8 though as it came stock.

Got if off ebay years ago, came setup just fine. Everything was flawless.

I do gig with this guitar and have been doing so several nights a week since 1999. So the answer to all the above it "YES".

Never dealt with Squier before. The guy I bought it from off of ebay was very nice though.

Been playing for 35 or 40 years. I also have a Squier Standard Strat which has been upgraded to Texas Special Pickups, a Washburn X-21 and a Yamaha Studio Pro Les Paul Copy. I've also got an SX SST 57 Vintage Style Strat clone, which is absolutely one of my favorite guitars. I have several Epiphone Acoustic guitars. I'd get another one if it were stolen or lost. Great little guitar for the beginner or even an experienced player like myself who likes to tinker and modify things. I bought this guitar as a project guitar and it ended up being one of the best I've ever had with the modifications.

2003 Butterscoth special edition with the maple neck. Specs are mentioned in other reviews and a matter of record.

I bought it just for the color of the body with intentions of doing substantial mods to it.

I was pretty happy with the sound from this guitar playing it through my small amps that I use. I use a Carvin AG100, Fender Vibro Champ and Pro Junior and a small Marshall practice amp. It sounds differently through each one, but sounds good through each one too.

In general, I was pretty amazed that such an inexpensive guitar sounded so good... (chalk it up to my poor boy mentality)

I had a set of Lindy Fralin Telecaster pickups that were installed in it and THEY DON'T SOUND ANY BETTER THAN THE STOCK AFFINITY PICKUPS!

The factory setup was actually very good. The action and pickup heights matched up well.

I changed out the pickups and neck, (for something with a wider nut width), put it back together and had a ball with it. I also put better tuners on it along with the neck change, (to a Mighty Mite birdseye maple)...

The finish seems to chip pretty easily and I have a few dings in mine, but it doesn't seem to upset me. A butterscotch Tele is supposed to be old and relic looking, isn't it? It would kill me if my ORS got a scratch in it, but this little cheap Tele doesn't bother me if it got dragged through gravel. It's like the Timex of guitars!

I don't gig, so I can't say whether it would hold up, but I would never gig without a backup anyway.

No experience. If it was a warranty issue, I'd go to the store or Fender, but otherwise, I'd probably just go to a second market supplier for a part.

Even if you don't do the mods I did, it's still a good little guitar for almost no money. It is definately Telecaster sounding.

This is a older ('99) CIC model, with the RW board, on a VERY nice neck and American Standard style bridge..have no idea about the body wood..typical Tele apointments..hardware is lowgrade but usable..tuners are covered and VERY poor..even compared to most coverd tuners!, also cheap plastic jack plate..come on Fender! Teles have jack cups, get with the program. Used but dealer included a nice bag..no other goodies.(previous owner did set me up with some nice vintage flat top knobs) The tuners and jack really pull this down..too bad.

The stock pick ups give resonable Tele sounds, although the neck can be a bit muddy, and the bridge a bit thin..the tone controlls work well, I play mostly clean(country, jazz a bit of blues) thru a old MIM Frontman 15. I found a set of used CS "texas tele" PUs at a local swap..probably not the best set for my style,(pretty agressive when dimed) but they were cheeeap..the guitar sounds much fatter now with better blend in the "both" position..a nice upgrade. 6 stock 8 with upgrade.

Very nice neck on this(thats why I bought it )excelent finish..came well set up..but its used... so....the body finish was a mess, but was probably nice when new. Assembly was good.

Seems OK for the ocassional fun gig..jamming ect..probaby wouldn't survive a heavy schdule..factory fininsh seems easy to chip.

30 days from shop....

Been playing for years (primarly bass)I wanted a cheap electric "project" for ocassional use..this was the best I found for my limited $$. I have had a good bit of fun with it (pick ups..refin to red) and it's turning in to a nice guitar..jack cup and tuners will be next, I'm looking forward to upgrading the remaining parts as I find them onsale..probaly not the best out of the box, but it will get you started, and you can improve it as funds allow.

I own a 2003 Buttersctoch Special. 21 fret solid top with vintage volume and tone knobs.

I replaced the orignal pickups with Vintage Noiseles Tele pickups and it sounds better than ever. The alder body and maple neck are the best I've ever seen fron Squier and the tunres are better than expected. If the bridge was string through the body it would be a better guitar but its a top loader. Soon I'll drill the holes and get the parts i need to make it string thru body. I do my own custom work.

I say buy it but replace the pick ups and if you can get a Standard Squier Tele get that instead so you get the better sustain of string thru body. THe body may be agathis but that can be made up for with new pickups and a good amp modler.

I play springsteen style rock\country and jazz. I replaced the pickups with vintage noiseless. The pickups that come with it are good but I use only vintage noiseless tele from fender.

Action Fit and Finish are a total ten. Fender American made quality

I've played about every other night with mine so you can use it for year and it will only get better.

Haven't had a problem i couldn't fix myself yet but the company is dependable and the waranty isnt as bad as my cars.

Ten Ten Ten Ten Ten Ten Ten. I'm playing squier's for the rest of my life. I'll dazzel them up yes but I'd rather work to make it better than pay out the rear end for something standard that every one else has. Be unique and it'll pay off on stage and in the studio.

Email if you have questions on bulking up your squier tele.

I bought this guitar new from Elderly Instruments about a two months ago (Dec. 2003). It has a maple neck, maple fretboard, adler body, two single-coil pickups, and a top loader bridge. The finish is butterscotch. An not a bad deal for the price, $184.

I play mainly for myself--I've played since the early 70s. I dabble in blues, country, and country rock. The pickups are interesting. They are a little thin unless you experiment with your amp's settings. By finding the right mix you can get a suprisingly good sound from the bridge pickup, neck pickup, and the combination of the two. If you play through an amp modler you get even better sound. I toying with the idea of changing the pickups but am unconvinced that I need to do this because I like the sound of the pickups as they are now. The tone tends to be in the high to mid range.

I was somewhat apprehensive about buying a Squier but it exceeded my wildest dreams as to action, fit, and finish. The neck plays incredible well--fast and smooth. I've bought a MIM replacement but am torn over whether or not to change it out. Why mess with (near) perfection? No problems with the frets. The neck to body fit is really good, actually clearer than my 50s Telecaster RI. I had an extra vintage style 5 hole pickguard and traded it out for the gloss plactic one that come on it. I also put Kluson style tuners on it just because I whated a more vintage look. The butterscoth finish is really nice, although I do have a few spots where it looks like the finish didn't adhere well to the body. I guess I'll get even more of that "relic" look when that happens. I'm not wild about the top loader bridge and wish it has the more traditional string-through-body set up. It appears that it would be difficult to switch out bridges. The top loader bridge plays fine but you can't put a bidgecover on it. Elderly Instruments checked the setup before they sent it out and its was wonderful. I tuned it up and it noted and chorded perfectly.

I plan to keep this guitar for life--it is too good not to! I've had no problem with the electronics and maybe upgrading those anyway. The basic instrument is very sound. I would not hesitate to take this to a gig without a backup.

Any problems I have will be taken care of you a local music shop.

This guitar is great because it gives you the basic material to turn it into whatever you what it to be. I would be a great guitar for either a beginner or a veteran. It is inexpensive enough that you can make some serious upgrades to it and still be under the price of more expensive instruments. I have several high end acoustics and several low to mid-range electrics. In its own way, this Squier is as good as my 50s RI Telecaster. I would buy another Squier without hesitation. I had wanted a butterscotch telecaster and just couldn't bring myself to pay $1200 for one. This is like having you cake and eating it, too.

Standard Tele features, IE beautiful in their simplicity and functionaliy, but the parts are CHEAP!. The first thing that had to go were the tuners. The only things I could find that the screw holes matched up on were Allparts. They're terrible, but they're ten times better than what came with it. I hate the bridge. After two years it's still a pain in the ass to change strings, and the tonality's nothing to brag about. Teles should have through the body bridges. The tone knob covers the whole range of tone in about a quarter of a turn. The input plate is plastic rather than metal. The body is about 1/4 inch thinner than a regular Tele, which probably cuts down on the sustian. Most of these things can be fixed, though, and you still would have a great bargain. They had to cut corners somewhere to produce a guitar at this price, And it was done in a manner that had a minimal effect on sound and playability. A lot of people complain about the pickups, but I've seen worse for a lot more money. If you buy one of these, figure on at least changing the tuners. The rest I've managed to live with.

I was quite surprised that a $99 guitar could sound like this. If you'rew looking for something that sounds like a Tele, this is it. I play it through an '88 Fender Twin and a Peavey Delta Blues 115. I got a decent tone initially, but thought I could probably change pickups and do a lot better. However, when I hooked it up to a Boss CS 3 compressor/sustainer, this guitar came alive! The pedal seemed to make up for any defiencies from the pickups, body mass or cheap bridge. There was a vintage Tele trapped inside this guitar, and this pedal brought it out. The pedals list for $89 , I got mine for $69, I think. This is cheaper than putting high end pickups in it, and considerably easier. I play in a trio, with a bass, an acoustic guitar and me. We play what could loosely be called Americana, a blend of country rock, folk, blues and jazz. I have a '69 Thinline Tele RI that, because it is semi-hollow fits in better with what we do, but I have gigged extensively with this guitar and found it to work for anything I need a vintage Tele tone for. With the compressor, it's a 10, without it, an 8, so I' splitting the difference.

This guitar was a display model so that may account for the set up, which was excellent. The frets had rough edges, but have held up well. The action was about as good as it gets. I use .10s and have not have to change the action. Per Fender literature, the wood is either poplar or alder, whic you get across the Fender line until you reach the Swamp Ash price range. The neck has remained good after about three years playing. The neck pocket is still tight. Workmanship does not seem to be an area where they scrimped. Who'd of thought Chinese people could make guitars? The finish has a few dings, but the guitar's been out and around some. I haven't abused it, but I haven't babied it either and it's doing ok. I don't like the color (Torino Red)but It's what was there for the price. No complaints in the fit & finish department. It would be a ten if not for the fret edges.

I've played this guitar quite a bit over the last 3 years, and gigged with it often without a back up. It's been reliable. Of all the things I thought were of inferior quality, only the tuners have required replacement. (I would suggest doing this immediately, figure it in with the price) A lot of things are on my "someday list", but just haven't bothered me enought to mess with.

No idea, never dealt with them. I usually either buy used equipment, or void the warranty real soon by working on it.

I've been playing for over 35 years, oftem semiprofessionaly. Im no expert, but I've played LOTS of guitars. I currently own an 89 Strat, a 69 Thinline Tele reissue, acouple of acoustics, and the Squier. I can't think of a guitar that was a better value than this. Look at what you'll find for $99. Plywood,with a picture of wood pasted on it. Even on higher end guitars you get crap. Martin uses plywood, they call it hpl or something. What the Hell is Nato, anyway? I've never heard of a Nato tree, but people are making guitars of it now days. Most people posting here payed $120-150 for their guitars new. If you can find a better guitar for the price, I want ten of them! Take away the price, add a compressor, and this guitar will hold it's own tone-wise with the best of them. And the action and playability are excellent at any price. I may buy another one just to take it apart and play with it.