Fender Squier Affinity Series Telecaster

Purchased second-hand. Made in China, 2001 model, Affinity series. 21 frets, full-scale, 1 tone, 1 volume, 3-way pickup selector (all missing their covers). Guitar looks like it is pretty much stock. Seems to have light strings, but they are black, and high E is missing. Maple neck and fretboard, probably an alder body (guitar is VERY heavy). Body is 3 pieces of wood. Stock features, no accessories. 7 for what it is, but in the condition I bought it, more like a 4.

I have been playing for about 9 years on and off, and I am awful. I specialize in rythym chord work. I want ultimately to play like David Byrne. This guitar has a beautiful tone. I have yet to play it thru an amp, but so far I have played it through a small portable CD player/tape deck/radio (you know the kind), and even through that the Tele sounds marvelous. The neck pickup gives a fat, slightly muddy sound (which I like), in between gives a bit more sparkle and would be great for soloing and lush, open chord work, and the bridge position ALMOST gives me The Telecaster Sound, even through a radio. Bridge pup sounds like it has a premanent echo effect on it. Slight hum on both pups alone, eliminated when using both.

I don't know how much variety can be achieved as I mostly play clean, but I suspect the guitar would give a pretty good range.

I like the trebly bridge sound and the difference in sound between pickup positions. One thing I don't like is that I think the pups could stand to be a little louder.

This is where we run into the good and the bad, remembering however, that this is a second-hand guitar.

Pups were well positioned, although I will make them a bit higher when I change the strings. Wirings seem to be fine, and even the notoriously bad pickup selector seemed quite solid. I had a look to see if it was the original, and although I am no expert, I think it was.

The finish looks great. Although it is not the color I would have chosen - black body, white scratchplate - I cannot fault the smooth shine, even for a 7 year old second-hand guitar. A couple of chips near the rear strap button, but that's fine by me; I like a guitar to have a 'lived in' look.

The number one thing that drew me to this axe was the neck. Beautifully smooth, slight gloss finish, and amazingly smooth fret edges that don't look like they have been home filed. The fretboard was quite grubby (I don't think the previous owner loved this guitar like I will) but that was easily cleaned.

Action wasn't so great. Lots of fret buzz, partucularly on the A string, probably not helped by the missing string. Tuners also are hard to keep at a good tension.

I will reserve my rating on this category, because it is a second-hand axe, and I bought it in quite poor condition (not the fault of Fender).

I suspect that once it has been restored, this guitar would certainly hold up to live playing. The main aspects of the hardware seem quite durable, but the tuning pegs might have to be replaced to achieve a bit more reliability. The finish seems thick and strong and I don't think it will be wearing away in a hurry. Strap buttons seem solid enough, but I haven't used the axe with a strap yet. I think the guitar could be counted on for a gig, and I'm confident that with some good d'Addario 10's on it, it would survive a gig quite comfortably. While I personally would not be gigging with it, I have a friend who might like to used it. I would let him, but I would suggest he keep a backup handy (he's a metaller).

As said before, I have been playing on and off for nine years, and am little more than a novice. I have been wanting to start playing more seriously, but felt I needed a nice guitar for motivation. So I but a Squier Jagmaster on layby, then decided I wanted more of a single-coil sound. I spotted the Telecaster at a second hand shop for AUD$249 (about US$255 right now) and I was given the guitar for $200 because they didn't have a lead handy for me to test it. I bought the guitar unplayed and in poor condition and I couldn't be happier so far.

I will probably still buy the Jagmaster for variety, but I suspect the Tele will be my number one guitar. I don't have an amp at the moment, but I will be getting one soon enough. I will be looking to spend about $200 on my amp.

As for the Tele, my favourite thing is that I think I will be able to pluck The Telecaster Sound from it with a minimum of fuss. My least favourite thing is that the guitar is in such poor shape right now. But it is inspiring to know that even as it is now, the guitar still sounds wonderful when plugged in.

Mine was purchased at Guitar Center around Thanksgiving 2007. I got the red one with white pick guard and maple neck. Standard features for this guitar.

First off, I had been playing Squier Tele's (affinity series) on and off for a few months at Guitar Center before deciding to buy one. I really wanted the butterscotch blonde one cause it looked so nice. But they didnt have one when I decided to buy it. So I settled for the red one. The stock pickups are ABSOLUTE CRAP!!! Especially the neck pickup! The sound was UNUSEABLE. Muddy, undefined sound. BUT....when I replaced those ****** pickups with REAL Fender Vintage Noiseless........what a difference!!! Now this guitar shines! The neck position is what I mainly use on solo's now cause it sounds so good....here is PROOF!!! Go to my music site and listen to the song "Tele Blues" to hear what Vintage Noiseless pickups can do for a Squire!!

http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=81665

I paid $160 for this guitar and some of these cheap guitars can be made to sound nice. I got it all set up with new pickups and I love it.

The action is good, after setup. Pickups were all adjusted and the finish is a beautiful candy apple red. Tuners are a little boogity woogity but stay in tune pretty much.

I just gigged last weekend and played a set with my Tele and it performed well. It seems durable, hardware is mediocre at best but holds up. Strap buttons ok for now.

No use for it

Overall, for a $160 guitar you can't expect much but after investing $99 for new pickups and $40 for a set up, all totalling $300 it is a fine intstrument now that looks good and feels good to play.

Its a 2007 squire affinity telecaster crafted in China. It has a nice black gloss finish with a white pickguard and silver volume and tone knobs. The finish is exellent. It didnt come with anything special such as a gigbag. For the finish i will give it an 7 because it didnt come with any accessries.

I tend to play indie/rock music with some blues as well. At the moment because it is my first electric i have no effects but do have a orange crush 10 watt amp. Wen i turn the gain on alot and put the overdrive up the pickups start to get noisy. Generally it is good and i dnt tend 2 play with that high gain so for wt i am after it has a nice telecaster sound that can be compared to fender but im sure with some new pickups it will be a 10/10 guitar.

Im nt big into all the electronics of guitars but i fink the pickups were set a bit to high but it hasn't caused a problem. The action is good and i will not change it. I think the finish is excellent and the neck is great to play all styles of music.

Everythink seems like it will last but i havnt had it long so we will see. At the moment i cant complain but if i played live alot i would hange the pickups so there is less of a risk of noise from them but i have played it with gain up and often it is fine so for wt i use it for i will give it a 9

Never had 2 use them.

Im 15 and have been playin since i was 13 i have had a cuple of acoustics but have always prefered electrics. I own a orange crush amp as well. If were stolen i would probably get another one after killing the person who stole mine. My fav part of it is the nice warm sound you get from it that is good but not as nice as a real fender but for the money it cost you cant argue. I will get the pickups changed if i decide to keep this guitar for a while. After some modifications i can see myself having a sentimental attachment to the tele. I really like it and would recomend it for any beginner.It is a great value for money becuase i have always wanted a telecaster.

Not really many features to speak about...but it's a Telecaster, not a Robot Les Paul. If it wasn't simple and classic it wouldn't be a Telecaster :-)

So that being said, it has just what I need.

Made at the Yoko plant, China in 1997 (dated using Serial number), Affinity Series...Candy Apple Red finish, aged pickguard (?? very interesting), 21 fret Rosewood freboard with maple neck, two pickups, volume, tone, 3-way...you know.

Here's the skinny. For the longest time I had a hard time making single coils sound good through my set-up, but I can't be bothered to play much else but Fenders...I just love how they feel and sound. The Tele Deluxe and Toronado are nice choices, and dropping rails in a Strat or Tele is also a decent option...but I want that single coil definition.

At the store I tried this guitar through a solid-state Marshall DFX100 junker...it only worked half the time but I could tell there was something different about this telecaster. I loved the way it felt and the action was teriffic. I took it home, plugged it in, and was instantly blown away.


CLEANS - amazing, sparkling, twangy cleans. I love it. I don't think I've heard better cleans on a Mexi Standard or even a Hwy 1.

DIRT - this thing will put a hole in your wall if you really want it to. The bridge pickup on this particular guitar averages the same output as a Les Paul humbucker. But here's the thing - it still has the definition and clarity of a single coil pickup. I don't know how, and I don't know why. I don't even care. It just rocks hardcore.

Action is a bit stiff, but you know for $100 I've played TONS worse. It has slightly less desireable action than my '93 Mexi Standard Strat - which isn't bad at all.

My guitar was fitted with Grover tuners by the owner before me. So tune slippage is not a problem unless I bend the crap out of the B and E strings up in the high registers - then those two strings will drop half a step. No biggie - it takes 2 seconds to twist them back up after the solo and the audience probably won't notice much anyways. This thing stays in tune better than my Deluxe Toronado - which I payed $395 for (and now currently grabs figures near the $600-range on eBay and Craigslist).

The neck is not dry like most squiers. It doesn't feel fake, and it doesn't feel like sandpaper. It's got a thin coat of nitro gloss and it feels about right.

While many people complain about the board width on a lot of Squiers, this one ain't too shabby. I admit I feel more comfortable on my MIM Standard, and way more comfortable on my Toronado (25 1/2" scale) - but my fingers have yet to slip off the bottom of the fretboard like they have with Squiers in the past.

No finish flaws really...but I mean is anybody really seriously LOOKING for them on one of these guitars? "Oh, I found a little bit of glue residue in the neck pocket". Oh really? Why don't you send it back and yell at them for not giving you American quality at a Squier price.

The only major qualm I have is that it's a top-load string set-up rather than a back load. I'm used to loading the strings on my Teles from the back, and I must say this "alternative" method is a real pain in the neck. In order to string your Affinity Telecaster properly, you must :

1) Kink the end of your string at a length of about 1"
2) Insert into bridge hole
3) Flip saddle on its side (90 degrees) using a Philips
4) Run string through saddle and pull a little bit
5) Reverse #3, pull through and resume stringing as you normally would


(See? It's so much easier skipping all five of those options and just loading it from the back...*poke* *pull* *zoom* and that's it)

It feels solid and I wouldn't have the slightest issue with using this as a main guitar (let alone a back-up) at a gig.

I mean really, it's kind of a stupid question. HC hasn't changed it for awhile and I'm wondering why. If you're playing it at home, then obviously it's going to hold out during a gig unless

a) you have REALLY bad luck, or

b) you treat your gear like crap because you're too busy showing off than focusing your mind on playing and having fun.


Had one string snap on me at the bridge but that's nothing that a simple file can't fix.

Reasonably solid.

I've played various different Telecasters and I've never heard one that rocks this hard for the money. Those guys must have put some extra lovin' into this axe because, wow...

I've owned everything from various Fender Strats (50s RI, 60s RI, 70s RI, '68 Japan Custom Shop RI, Mexi Standards), and played several Telecasters (owning a 50s RI at one point). I've also owned and played several "Deluxe" series Fenders, as well as the obvious Squiers including the Pro-Tone series.

I'm not saying this is the holy grail, but for 100 bucks this thing impresses me on almost every level.

I can actually count on my hand the flaws that I've found in this guitar.

Finger 1 = string breakage at the bridge. Only had this happen once, strung it up with a fresh set of D'add EXL120s and haven't had it happen since.

Finger 2 = Pickup selector sticks at bridge... just jiggle it a bit and it comes loose. I'm guessing if I could be vigorous enough with some contact cleaner, say...twice a week, I could have this problem resolved.

Finger 3 = B and high E strings slip out of tune during face-melting solo. Okay, so this is a bit annoying...but really it only goes a few cents out of whack, so give them a half-turn and you're right back to where you were. 2 seconds...no big deal, even during Rush's "2112".

Finger 4 = (I'm really trying hard to find fault with this guitar...I'm struggling) Neck pickup is a little weak; I'll probably slap a GFS Lipstick Tube in there and it'll be better than it ever was.

And really, that's all I have to say. I didn't even use five fingers to count the flaws.

And for $100, that's pretty darn good. From what I hear a lot of beginners and guitar enthusiasts alike adore their Squier Affinity Tele's. You can't go wrong. I like the Bullet series too... but the Standards never impressed me much! Go figger...

Go out and try one. Try several. Find one that fits you and give 'er a nice home.

A nice candy apple red tele with maple neck

Sound is good but the single coils hum a little and i might be switching them with emg pickups

Action is pretty good from factory

This is a great overall guitar i would reccomend it to other......I have gigged with it before and everthing was greeat

Made in China, year unknown ... but man what a looker! Maple neck with maple fingerboard, Alder (or Agathis -varies from one model to the other, this one feather light) body with a sweet, eye-catching metallic blue finish. Standard lipstick pickup in neck position, Telecaster pickup in bridge position. Top loading bridge with 6 individual saddles.

Sealed (Gotoh/Grover style) tuners that don't slip (I've heard a lot of mixed reviews about MIC hardware), standard 25.5" scale with 21 medium frets, plastic nut. No accessories included, but inexpensive enough to get a hardshell case and strap without making too big of a dent in the bank account.

Standard 1 volume, 1 tone 3 position blade switch arrangement.

This was the big surprise: I was expecting full hum-a-sonic from both pickups ... through my J-station straight in my E-MU sound card I detect barely any hum (note - using a clean patch from the J and I have a LCD flat monitor). Through my Traynor Hybrid amp and through dirty/overdriven patches on the J-Station, the 60 cycle hum is right in your face, worst in bridge position.

I was expecting to upgrade the pickups, machine heads & do the full string-through bridge conversion, but now, all I'm intending on doing is swapping the pickups with hum cancelling ones and perhaps do a bit of shielding. That's it that's all. One needs to define "twang" to me, but it sounded plenty twangy to my Cyberpals stock!

I own a Variax, but for certain signature sounds, only a Les Paul sounds like a Les Paul, only a Strat sounds like a Strat, and only a Tele sounds like a Tele!

Off the rack, it was as expected - pretty weak. High-ass action, intonation all over the place, nut height uneven. Thumbs up to the techs at Long & McQuade and to their free setup on a new instrument purchase policy.

After a proper setup, that metallic blue beauty was a whole lot nicer to play. It's a solid color finish, so no comments on bookmatching. There is a tiny scratch on the back of the guitar a few inches above strap button level, but only I can see it, doesn't really bug me.

It feels very light and frail, personally, I'd keep it home where it's safe. Then again, I may be wrong.

n/a

This guitar came out as a big surprise. I'd been advised to avoid the Affinity series like the plague, but seeing (and playing) is believing. The only reason I'm swapping pickups at all is that I have an aversion to 60 cycle hum. I've ordered a pair of self-adhesive copper pickguard shields from ebay, one for my MIM Strat (Dimarzio VV's) and one for the Tele. The sheilding may be overkill after the pickup swap, but ... every bit counts.

For those who still have issues with the Squier moniker, Musician's Friend has a nice article entitled "Squier, the other Fenders".

The hardware might be sub par on some instruments, but this inexpensive made-in-China Telecaster has been an eye-opener for me. I own a Squier Fretless Jazz bass and now a Squier Telecaster, one of the vilified Affinity series ones. And guess what? I like it fine!

Many thanks to my loving WMWW for the wonderful gift!

This model is an arctic white Fender Squier Affinity Telecaster.. alder body.. maple neck.. and all the other standard Telecaster features..

I am a bass player by trade.. but I also record demos of my own stuff. I needed another electic guitar because I needed a more "Fender-y" tone, as I mostly play Gibson guitars.. So, I went to Guitar Center, and I found this for dirt cheap.. And the sound is so right on for what it is.. They had Squier strats for the same money, but they just seemed so cheap and flimsy.. I think the Squier tele wins over the Strat..

This guitar is notably lighter than the Telecaster Standard, and the neck, like all Squiers, is unvarnished.. but, the neck feels right good and comfortable. The action was too low for my taste, and the truss rod was too tight, and the intonation was out.. as per usual with buying a new guitar.. so, after the treaking, it played even better..

I think this is a well built guitar, and the sound is very good for the money paid.. I think if I built a tele-style guitar from parts, it would be an awful lot like this guitar. I think it will last a long time.. I doubt I will ever play gigs with it, but I wouldn't have a back-up.. that is if I had the motivation to play guitar more seriously..

why deal with customer support? A guitarist should know how to do most repairs.. and.. being that it is from Guitar Center, it's warrantied anyway..

I think this is the perfect workingman's budget guitar. Nice quality and value for the money. and, if you want to, you can always upgrade the pickguard and the pickups, etc.. and even have a guitar thats better than the MIM Standard guitar, with some cash left over..

Nice looking Butterscotch blonde,maple neck,21 medium/jumbo frets

Trebly twang from the bridge pickup and creamy tones from the neck...all as expected. No noise from the pups...using with a Line 6 Spider 15 and computer monitors via guitarport. Bought this guitar having already decided to change the pups...but may well wait a while as they dont seem that bad.

Factory setup is good. Intonation is spot on and action is perfect.
Very slight roughness on some of the fret ends...but not enough to draw blood!Paint job is fine.

Too soon to say. First impressions are favourable in this dept.

12 months warranty.Got extra set of strings and lead thrown in from Dawsons in Liverpool.

Been playing for about 30 years..but still in the intermediate category. Also have a Yamaha pacifica 112 and Epiphone Wildkat.I really like the look/action and sound of this Tele and for the price I think its really great value.

2000 model in butterscotch. Alder body (unlike early 90s affinitiy teles which were made from plywood!!!)and an absolutely GORGEOUS maple neck. chrome harware which looks cheapo with a six saddle modern bridge as opposed to the classic tele bridge which has a small bridge plate with a lip round the edge (vastly better tone) and 3 barrel saddles. This one has a 'top loading' string system (just budget stuff to save money, presumably)

standard generic singlecoil telecaster pickups which are totally decent as well as most of the electronics. 3 way selector with volume and tone controls. Machineheads are more generic ching-chong-alikes but are also totally decent for the money. No case or anything, but what do you expect for the money?!?

Sounds like a decent tele. Bridge pickup twangs, neck pickup creams. volume/tone controls are unresponsive but they do the job. I replaced the neck pickup with a seymour duncan hot tele rhythm to increase jazz/blues tone. and I hacked up a mexican strat pickup to fit in the bridge position.

One thing, there is a LOT of earth buzz from this guitar which i can only assume is from the cheapo electronics and wires etc. This is very annoying in live situations and recording.

I actually used this guitar for a recording session and it performed infinitely better than my mate's gibson les paul with P90s. A nice woody bright sound with a twangy short sustain.

Increcdible action on this, shame that i like a high one! as i cranked it up with 11s i thought 'shame, a shredder could have a field day with this'. The finish is nice, with the woodgrain visible. It marks easily but looks cool when it does.
The neck is inch perfect. A lot nicer than my lite ash strat.

This guitar is not built to be thrown around like most teles, hence the light body. But i throw it around anyway and have had no problems particularly when throwing it onto the stage in a feedback frenzy. I could depend on it except for the wiring which is a bit terrible. strap buttons are great, as is the hardware.

never had to deal with them

A great little guitar which you can trash and smash and bash and modify with no conscience or guilt or worry. rock solid construction and a wonderfull neck. Bad wiring quality, but hey that can be easily sorted if you can be bothered.

2006 model SPC Transparent Butterscotch/ black pickguard 550 Squier Affinity Tele (China). 21 frets Alder body, maple neck and maple fretboard with .043 X .080" frets (6230). 3 way selector, 1 volume, 1 tone. Neck pup covered single coil, bridge uncovered single coil. Stop tailpiece (not string-through) with 6 individual adjusters. Die cast tuners. Everything a Tele should be and nothing more.

Excellent. Bright, lots of quack when you want it, nice middle position (best Tele sound for me) and warm and clear neck pup.
Princeton, G-Dec, Champ 15, Dano Dirty 30 and Honeytone. No noise from pups in my guitar room. Pot and tone are nicely linear. Lots of tonal possiblities. The strings are "Fender 250's" .009" and up. I'll put 10's on soon. These strings are decent and really put-out the quack and twang, but I like a slightly larger gauge.
With good amps and effects available, and the quality increase of inexpensive pups, the need for high-end pups is decreasing IMHO.

This guitar was manufactured very well. All woodworking is tight and clean. Finish is flawless.
The tuners are very smooth and hold their tune with aggressive playing. Pups blend well and only needed to lower the bass side of the bridge pup about .050".
The neck was nearly straight and required a slight truss rod tweek with these strings. Action was too high for me, but there is plenty of adjustment room, so no problem. I dressed one fret (7th) that was slightly high, say .005", to address a buzz. Fret edges are very good and require no dressing.
The bridge is very stable. Some would like a 'string-through' but I see no compelling reason for me.
For the price of this guitar I should give it a 10, but for the one fret that needed 2 minutes of work, I'll give it an 8.
This guitar is very handsome, just like me!

It's built as well as any guitar, so should be fine. I was in a regional rock band forty years ago with lesser built equipment than this. We still carried backups.

Bought this at The Guitar Center. I nearly pulled the trigger for an e-Bay Squier Tele, but called GC and they matched the price. It reduced the price a little from the going street rate.

GC has been good for me over the years and Fender (through GC) has been expedient and fair.

Playing about 46 years (many years before I was born).
Eastwood amber Sidejack (my best guitar overall), Fender standard Strat, two Squire Strats, Yamaha Pacifica, Dano Innuendo, Fender Bronco bass, Ibanez bass, Harmony 'strat' (old), Dean short scale 'strat'... Can you say 'bend'? I've had lots of cheap and expensive things over the years.
I always wanted a Tele, this is all I need to align the universe until the next obsession hits me.

Telecaster Affinity Butterscotch blonde Telecaster. Made in Indonesia, 2005. Controls the standard Volume, tone with 3 way selector. Two single coil pickups. Alder body, 21 medium frets with a maple fretboard on maple neck. Thin beautiful Butterscotch Blonde finish. Top loader bridge. Small sealed inline tuners, non-locking. Tele style body is a bit thinner than the standard tele body.

Jazz, Country, Rock

Play a Fender Hot rod deluxe with Boss ME50 effects pedal. Neck pickup actually surprised me with a great clean jazz tone. No twang in the bridge, sounded like a P90. Pretty quiet pickups though. Thought it would be a good way to get a tele cheap. Bought at GC off the wall during a recent sale. I owned a 68 Tele a long time ago and the neck felt very similar just a little smaller. Plays well with the Boss ME50. I could not believe the tone of the bridge pickup with over drive and distortion. Although it did not have the tele twang, it sang quite well when cranked up. The original plan was to replace the pickups, but I actually liked the neck pickup and was pleasantly surprised of the drive of the bridge.
If you?re looking for tele twang this guitar is not a great choice without pickup modifications. Also the top loader bridge probably has a lot to do with this. The neck is satiny smooth. The frets are a little over the edge as some of the other reviews have pointed out, but not bad. It plays fantastic, in fact that was the main reason I purchased it. I could not believe this inexpensive guitar could play so smooth.

Never dealt with Fender. I never had a problem with their guitars and bought all my Fender amps used.

This guitar has a nice tone in its own right. I would gig with this guitar and proudly show off the fact this is a Squier. I think it would be a great show stopper. It is nice and light because of the small body. The finish is beautiful but thin. It already has a chip in it but then again, people pay money for a reliced guitar! I have been playing for over 30 years, actually more, let?s leave it at that. Everything from country, rock, top 40, jazz, even darn banjo. Owned at least 4 Telecasters including this one, a Gibson 347, 3 ES335's, a Les Paul Fretless wonder, numerous Strats and fender amplifiers, boss effects etc... Still own a 335, 2 Telecasters, American Strat with Seymour Duncans, Taylor acoustic, and an Ibanez AF 75. The Squier butterscotch blonde is a good value. It was not quite what I was looking for but has its good points. A superior guitar for a novice but even good enough for a pro with minimal modifications. I give this a guitar an 8 based on the fact it does not have the tele twang or have a string through bridge. The Squier standard Telecaster is an excellent choice if that's what you are looking for.

I actually bought a Squier Affinity *Strat* instead. But these Squier Tele's are very seductive. My real contribution to this discussion is that if you truly want a through-the-body string path, just pay ~$30 more for a Squier Tele Special or Squier Telecaster Custom (etc.) that includes that feature. In other words, find a store where you can try the different models through the same amp -- and see whether the through-the-body string path really gives you the reputed better sustain.

It's also worth noting that all these Squier Tele's give you some kind of bridge that's independently adjustable for all 6 strings. Remember, true vintage Fender Tele's from the '50s came with only three separate barrels, one per string pair.

The sound has some Telecaster character. But it pales next to (for example) a G&L Tribute Telecaster, where the value is all in the pickups. The G&L's are both muscular and remarkably clear.

The unvarnished maple fingerboard/neck combination feels just wonderful, and provides very smooth action -- some of these feel better than some current American-made Fenders. Some of the finishes -- notably the Butterscotch -- are just luscious. Is there any more iconic American guitar than the Telecaster? Even if it's made in China?

Can't really comment (didn't buy one!), but they feel very solid, like a Telecaster should. My secondhand Squier Strat has clearly taken some abuse -- judging by a few surface gouges -- but seems fully intact. So these things seem to be quite durable.

No contact with Squier/Fender

Gives you the feel, action, and some of the sound of the iconic Telecaster, at an affordable price. Just hope it's made by *happy* slave/child labor in China!

Not sure of the year, but just bought it...Mine was made in Japan, and has all the standard items listed by everyone prior to me!
The body is alder, and the neck is hard maple, which at a guitar at this price is quite amazing! The Pickups are 2 single coils, the bridge being th classic lipstick pickup one almost expects in a tele. The tuners are the cheepo fender/squire tuners, and do the job, but aren't quality. The big 3 position switch is pretty cool, and throws almost a little to easily.

This guitar really sounds good for the price. I play almost everything, and it will conform nicely, maybe not the ultimate head banger,though! They are amazingly not noisy, but if you want true diversity, would probably want to change them. I was looking for the country twang, but may need to examine the amp I amusing as much as the guitar, since I am using a crate acoustic guitar amp with a Beringer v-amp2 processor.

This was by far the surprising part. This guitar came out of the box with a perfect set up. Low action, thin strings, no buzz. The finish is a red color, and actually nicely done. If you covered the Squire logo, you wouldn't be ably to tell it from the much higher priced Fender. Mine's neck is perfect!!! I guess I got lucky, but the frets are good, and the neck straight and fast. I fell in love with this guitar the moment I played it!

From what I know, the Squires are not the most durable guitars, but it's fine for my needs/wants. I wouldn't consider it as the only guitar for a gig, but I wouldn't count on any single guitar for an important gig. It's about as durable as a mass produced Squire can be!

Never delt with them...hopefully never will!!!

I really got lucky with this guitar! I got it at a stores closing, and payed well under the list price. It playes very nicely, and has taken the spot that my Tex Mex Strat once held. I have had every imaginable guitar guitar made, from a Jackson Soloist, a Les Paul, az Ibanez Jem, and countless other toys to fullfill my fancy! This guitar has found a place in my heart! I truely enjoy playing it, and it really fits my changing styles and interests. I can't believe the bargain I got from this guitar!! Based on other peoples comments, I guess you really need to play it before you buy it, and find the ones that are put together well.

Tele Standard. Not sure what wood, but light body, real light.

Sounds fair. Sure as hell fun to play, having never touched a tele before. I can imagine myself getting a Fender somewhere down the future, based on this Squier I have. For right now, this Squire, for nil money, sure is great.

The action was good out of the box. The pickups are fair, if you really don't care how you sound. Right money would be on a pair of new pickups. The frets were bad, quite sharp around the edges, but something I can live with. The neck feels good. Tuners need to go, bad. Half an hour, hour tops, and it detunes itself. Maybe I'll just keep one tuner on the low E. I can hear some of the selector plastic bits raddling in there, every time I hit the strings hard. Word to the wise, Arctic White isn't any where near white. Unless Squier based the "Arctic" part on yellowed snow.

Short answer, no. Lots need replacing before it hits the stage. LOTS. The finish seem like it'll last, strap buttons are solid.

You know what, for less then 2 bills, besides it's downfalls, it's fun as hell to play. There are too many things worng with it to play live or anything of the sort, but for practice or a garage band, it's good for the money.

butterscotch blonde, black pickguard, 3-way switch, chrome hardware, u guys know what its got
the dealer said it was a sposed to be a 52 reissue style, but it doesn't have a "ashtray" bridge

sounds absolutly brilliant, only buzzes and hums like a bitch.
its good for rock or blues, or even metal, anything goes.
I'm gonna get better pickups though.

brilliant neck, i love the neck, it is so good for a asian made guitar (not trying to be racist), but its such a beauty to play

get new pickups at this will be a 10

???

get new pickups and u'll get a perfect ten guitar(for the money at least)

I think this guitar was made about 2003, how do you tell? It has a black painted body made of solid wood and a maple neck. The neck is pretty chunky but this makes it very straight along the whole length of the fretboard and it is still comfortable to play. No fancy fittings or finishes on this one. Re-stringing with the standard bridge is not an easy task.

It sounds good, particularly for the price. I changed the bridge to a brass Gotoh with through body stringing and it now sounds fantastic, probably as good as a Fender Tele and better than some of them in fact.

As I bought it 2nd hand I can't comment on the original set up but I have had it set up professionally and it is now pretty good. There is a bit of fret buzz on the low E that is impossible to eliminate completely without lifting the action too much. The frets were finished OK and the whole thing was well put together.

Looks solid so it should last for years. The paint job, although chipped when I got it, is pretty good. Everything was good, particularly for the price.

Haven't had any need to get genuine parts yet.

This guitar obviously isn't as nice feature or finish wise as my American Deluxe Strat, but if you want to try a Tele and don't mind the name on the headstock, these are good value.
I would recommend changing the bridge for easier string changes and better tone. This is a cheap job and worth it to get something as good as a Fender for a fraction of the price. I would buy another one if I lost this one, it has a great sound.
I have been playing for a couple of years and have 3 electrics and 3 acoustics. I also own a Cort PRS copy and I would say the Squire doesn't look nearly as good as the Cort (beautiful mahogany body) but it sounds better and cost half the price.
The Squire is a bit heavy and the flat back isn't nearly as comfortable to play as the Cort or the Strat.

Its all been covered, It's a Chinese made guitar that looks like a Telecaster. I'm sure the guys that made would say 'Leo who?' or however that comes out in Chiese! But, it has th same features as a Tele at a bargain price - Just what I wanted.

I have a go at any thing (played for over 45 years)I mostly use a 15w Vox AV15VT Valvtronix amp, ( I like it)The guitar souds excelent.

Can get a wide range of sounds out of that combo.

Now, hear's the trick. If buying new, spend some time looking for the best neck / frets. Some will rip your fingers to shreds, as someone has mentioned already. Look for one with a well finished neck and dressed frets. You may have to try a few, but they are out there. (if you buy new from a shop)MIne was perfect!

Why should this not last? I can't imagine why not. Hardware is fine. The finish is pron to show dings very easy. I look after my guitars but already have a few small 'dints'. Strap buttons as good as any I have.

After a few months, I think it's pretty good.

not needed

I years warranty in the UK

Playing over 45 years, Own an Ovation, Fender Strat (Jap 1982) Samick Royal Bass (these are very nice).

I would buy another without doubt. I Like it a lot, nothing I would want different. I'm don't have any hang ups about 'brand names' never owned a pair of Nikes!

Made somewhere around 2002, standard Tele config, some sort of solid wood was used, quite lightweight, which is pleasant. Butterscotch/caramel sort of finish, also quit e pleasant to look at.

It came with a pickup mod done already, I bought it from a mate for 120? and he had fitted some no- brand korean SC sized humbucker.

I made a black scratchplate ( raw plastic bought from modeller's shop, use the original as a template!) and fitted some 20? secondhand tuners( in black)...totally transformed the look of the guitar, quite dramatic change, but really cool

Neck and body are fine, the electronics are of the Mickey Mouse variety, it works, but only just. If you're gonna do any SERIOUS gigging with it, get your soldering iron out and put some decent pots, switches and wires in there. Fretwork is OK on mine, good enough

Souds very good actually, gives a quite beefy Rock sound thanks to that bridge bucker, but used in combination with the neck pickup gives some decent sounds for jingly jangly/ counrty type stuff

This is a surprisingly good guitar ( especially since I paid basically pocket money for it). Finish is good , action is good, as mentioned before, the electronics are shit, but you can't have everything. Easily sorted little issues really.
As an upgrade/project guitar its an absolute steal.

Dont think it would just conk out on me for no reason, seems pretty well made. Just basic maintenance should keep the thing in working order.

No idea, dont care really. If something needs doing I do it myself, if it breaks/ burns to a cinder, just buy another one!

I use a marshall 5210 combo and a Yamaha B212, and also have a Gibson The Paul ( fabulous guitar!) and korg and Zoom effects.

The plan is to put in a decent full sized neck humbucker at some point, that would finish the job. All in all , a bargain guitar. Just make sure that if you buy one in a shop you play several....and pick the best one. there's always one that's better than the rest.

If you're looking for a Tele , but have virtually no money, you would do wise giving one of these a go.

2005 Squier Affinity Series Telecaster,made in Japan.
Color-Butterscotch Blonde,Body-Alder,Neck-Maple C-shape,21 medium,
jumbo frets,two single coil pickups-Bridge & Neck,3-Position pickup
selector.

For a tele at this price it sounds very good, I play in a Country
Gospel band and I was very pleased on just how good it sounded.
I play it through a Roland Cube 30 amp with some delay and it gives
me the twang I need and the middle & bridge sound great,real mellow
and jazzy.

My guitar plays great, I bought it on a Monday and was using it that
weekend. The action on this guitar is what sold me, I like my action
very low and it has no buzz. The finish is also what sold me, very,
very nice with no flaws that I can tell. The only thing I will change
for now is the pickup selector cause it feels cheap.The tuning pegs
seem ok, stays in tune pretty good.

I played with my band at a outdoor concert and it was HOT but my
guitar stayed remarkably in tune so I was pretty impressed.
This will be my main guitar on stage so I will replace the controls
sometime soon just to be on the safe side but aside from that it
really seems to be a solid, well built guitar for the price.

Just got It so I hope I don't have to deal with them.

I've been playing for over thirty years and through the years I've
owned Alot of guitars, some good & bad. If sounds and plays good
I'm sold, you don't have to go and sell your soul to buy a decent
guitar! This guitar suits my needs and I'm glad I got it.I have Arbor
Strat copy that I bought for around $300.00 and it looks and sounds
just as good as some higher priced guitars I've had. If you want a Tele but don't want to spend alot of cash this is the one for you.
Twang away & enjoy!

One-piece alder body. Oil-finished maple neck (!). 21 frets, medium-jumbo. Fender pickups, hot bridge single coil, lipstick bar neck single coil, with a 3 way selector (bridge-both-neck) (got a big toggle knob on it, which I like). Nice, vintage butterscotch glossy finish with a black pickguard. Very Texas looking. Massive tele-style bridge. if one is using straight strings (%-) one should have not trouble feeding strings through the bottom of the bridge. The 25.5" scale is greatly preferred by me over shorter lengths. Very pro feel. That combined with the fat but narrow neck make for an axe which feels a tad dainty at first, but once you hear it, and you feel how easy it is to play, dainty is the last word on your mind. Indeed, I found the fret job, while being perfectly decent and quite workable, isn't as perfect as one would find on higher-priced axes; as others have noted, it's an easy fix if does become a problem. But, again, the way the neck plays, it doesn' matter. I've tried playing with my LH thumb sticking out way over the top of the neck, and still couldn't get my LH fretting fingers to run into and trouble with the only-slightly-uneven treble ends of the frets. Alan keys included for adjusting the bridge and truss rod. Only modern thing which would've been nice (then, this is trying to reissue a vintage piece) would be locking tuners; easily upgradable. Stringing through body (also an easy modification) might have been nice, but with the longer scale, it's not so necessary. And I don't find it as necessary as with electric basses.

I've found the pickups, even the hot bridge one, to be remarkably quite for single coils. (One can always turn the body toward one's amp at the right angle to minimize pup buzz.) I'm using it with a nice H&K Edition Blue 30 combo right now. I'll be getting a Bassman 100 combo soon; I've already tried this axe through one at a store and it's the perfect foil. The bridge pickup is very bright, as one should expect from a tele. I do find the tone pot makes a big difference, though I prefer to use my amp. The neck pickup is not as hot as the bridge, as per usual, but when one uses the right picking technique, one can get it to sound round, fat, and pretty. I like the middle position, both pups, most. All around, a person can get the full array of sounds a tele is capable of creating, as shown, for example, by Roy Buchan on his first record, from stinging and trebly to round and deep, and everything in between. I play rock and jazz (mostly on bass these days). Definitely easily adaptable to both. For the record, I've found both pickups hold a note the full length of a long bend (no dropping out on the bridge pup as the string moves from over one pole to another).

It came with shitty strings, and the action is too low (some buzzing on the frets, which I hate), but the action can be adjusted most easily. The pickups are a little "high" out from the body for me; I tend to hit them when picking. Another easy tweak. One piece perfect alder body. No flaws, except, as mentioned, that the frets aren't perfect, but really--and I'm uptight about shit like this--they just aren't bad at all. Axe plays like a dream, like butter, really. Folks with big hands and/or big fingers might find the neck a little tight. I have long, thin fingers and it suits me just fine.

The thing is built like the proverbial tank. The shipping box it came in was tattered. Then, I pulled the guitar box out, and proceeded to drop it on the floor. The guitar is spotless. Everything feels extremely well made and durable. The tuning machines, well, they could be nicer, I suppose, but then that would probably mean heaver, more expensive, etc. They're certainly not going anywhere

I've been playing guitar for more than 20 years. I own a Guild dreadnought acoustic (D15), a fretless bass with a Warmoth neck and a locally made custom body, and another bass, with frets, on the way, this one both the body (and tele style) and neck are locally custom made. I love the fact that this guitar is so simple, yet can show off a wide variety of personalities, from mean to sweet. I sold my last guitar a few months ago. I decided I needed to keep one around because I still love to play guitar. I played one of these in a store and was sold. I've played a wide variety of guitars in my time. I never thought of myself as a Fender type, more Gibson and Guild. But I'm in love with this unbelievably priced honey of a guitar.

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.