Fender Squier Affinity Series Telecaster

Mine is a 1998 model made in Japan. This guitar is set up with 21 frets and a black finish that was originally complemented by a white pickguard, but I found it a little plain (as I do most fenders) and picked up a black pearlized one which looks pretty unique with the finish. Like, a regular tele, it has a volume and tone control with a three-way selector switch. It's got two stock single coil pickups, rosewood fretboard, maple neck, and alder body. Tuners are stock and so is the normal tele-style bridge.

This guitar is an exellent buy for the money. I'm playing through a little peavy rage 152 amp with my DOD GS30 for effects. It's not quite the best for my style of playing though. I like to do a lot of quick runs, harmonics and big bends (steve vai, joe satriani eddie van halen kind of stuff). I know, so why did I buy a tele right? Well, the truth is I just couldn't pass it up for the money (that and i was a little less capable at the time I purchased this.) The guitar gets good clean sound with of warm, rich tones from the neck pickup and an articulate twang from the bridge. The neck pickup seems to be a little weak, but it's not bad. The guitar is a little noisy but this is somewhat expected from two single coils. It seems a little limited in it's vesatility. It's not much for really crunching, and with the stock pickups it doesn't really cut like i would like it to. It sounds a little weak and somewhat lacking in clarity with distortion, but I am very pleased with it's clean sound which is very precise and full.

The guitar's action was pretty high, for me when I first bought it, but more manageable after I made adjustments. Even still though, I just can't seem to get the feel I want. I have also raised the pickups a little to try and get a little more bite. Other than that it was perfect right from the shop. A few things about it.... First, the neck plays a little slow. It's a little to thick for doing a lot of quick movements. Also, I personally like maple fret boards. The rosewood just seems to soft. (Of course I haven't been the gentlest with it.) But overall, I would say It's a pretty good set-up.

This guitar has been very reliable for me. I don't gig with it. But it's taken a beating and it's still ticking for me thus far. One thing...the finish is pretty weak. It's fairly easily chipped, but if you take good care of it there shouldn't be problems. The strap buttons have been solid, the tuners aren't the greateset as I get a fair amount of slipping, but it's not a big problem.

I've never had to deal with any customer support thus far, but I've heard good things about fender's people.

I've been playing for about 5 years now, and this guitar is very well suited for beginning players, but I find that it's getting to be a little insufficient for my playing style and preferences now. I would say if your looking to play heavier stuff or something with a lot of distorition, this guitar just isn't going to be able to really scream for you, although I'm a really big fan of it's clean sound. Basically this guitar just wasn't for me and I was asking a lot of it by trying to play my kind of music with it, but if your loooking for a guitar that's got solid tone, aren't planning on anything too aggressive, and don't want to go broke, this guitar is for you.

2000, Baltic Blue, 21 Frets, Basic telecaster. Nothing special

The sound on it was pretty good for the price but it wasn't bad. I upgraded the pickups to lace sensors and they sound great. It has a nice twangy clean sound clean, and a pretty good sound while distorted through my Boss Metal Zone.

After some changes the action is pretty good. I bought the guitar because I wanted a blue tele and I could only find it on the Squire. The finish isn't bad but it chips real easy, not that I'm that gentle with my guitars. I also hated the neck on it and threw on some cheap neck from ebay. I'm still not crazy about that neck either because it is too fat but it is made a lot better than the stock neck. I also threw Gotoh tuners on it and it stays in tune great. The bridge isn't that bad for a cheap bridge but I also had it professionally set up.

The original neck seems pretty cheap and it did not stay in tune for long with the original tuners. But after the changes I would have no problems gigging with it.

Don't know yet.

Unfortunatly I only bought it because of the color but after the changes I love the guitar. It is still noisy but it wouldn't be a fender if it wasn't. But even unmodified it is still great for the money.

twenty one frets, two single coil pickups, three way switching. Made in China with a laminated top and decent tuners. volume and tone control

Sound excellent for the rock/alternative that I play. I use it with a fender frontman 25r. the bridge pickup has that great tele-twangy sound, and sounds really bright with distortion. the neck pickup has an almont creamy crunch sound to it. put them togther and sounds like the one it was just on. the tone is either on or off, no in between. you get this wierd buzz on high gain/volume, unless you touch a metal part, which i think grounds the electrical current and it wont buzz.

the action on the fingerboard is awesome. you can go up and down all day without you're fingers sticking. the pickups were set up fine. one thing I really dont like is the bridge. to replace a string, you have to like bend the string to get it through the two respective holes on the bridge. thats a pain is the @$$. the pegs are decent, and hold fine. the black finish kicks tail.

Never played at an actual gig, i just jam with my friends. the finish, hardware, strapbuttons, etc. are all fine. i probably won't have this guitar for a really long time, but it's pretty good. one thing is the pickups. every now and then, one will stop working for a few seconds. it comes back on after a second or three, but it freaks me out.

don't know about the warrenty, never had to deal with the fender people.

just started playing, but i'm quickly learning that it really doesnt matter what brand it is, but the sound. some of my friends are like "Squiers suck", and i'm like "screw you" because it plays better than some gibsons i've looked at. for a guitar of only 140 bucks, it kicks ass. highly recommended for a beginner player.

Made in China (1999). 21 frets, volume + tone control with 3 way selector. 2 pickups, one at the neck and a slanted one at the bridge. Alder body with a maple fretboard. Body is artic white with a white pickguard, Very cool!!!
Simple and sleek, just the way i like it.

This is great for clean tones and for heavy rock. I play mostly Radiohead tunes through my Marshall MG15RCD and they come out as if Jonny Greenwood was playin it himself. There is the usual Fender hum through the amp but once you start rolling off those riffs you'll never know it was there.

The action is superb, i can easily barre up to the 15th fret, but i dont play past there unless im soloing. Finish is great, no smudges flaws or dodgy pain jobs. The fretboard is a nice calm beige which lets your fingers flow through notes.

I doubt this guitar would stand up for live playing with me as i tend to really go mad on my axe. But i dont see as if it going to fall to pieces or anything, since i use it for practicing.

I think i got a 12 month warranty, but i doubt the guitar is gonna blow up, and im sure they'd be very good about it if i rang them.

This guitar is superb for the price. If you love playing rock or alternative but dont have the cash for the BIG teles, get one of these and you will not look back.

2000 Baltic Blue Telecaster presumably made in Japan. 21 frets. Regular Telecaster volume and tone control, 3-way selector, and Pickups. Alder body, with a maple fretboard and u-shaped neck.

I mainly play funk, pop, new-wave, and dance music. I love the way this Telecaster sounds with the Crate GFX-65. I have your basic Sqiuer amp, the ones that come with the Strat Pack. It sounds pretty good on my little Squier amp with the help of my Boss DS-1 Distortion Pedal, can't put down my practice amp I can only do so much. I have a high level of respect for all my equipment. It sounds great unpluged! Of course I like the Telecasters for their twang, but it's up to the player to take that twang and go beyond. I have the diseases called Teletitis, I love every thing about telecasters. And I have my own concept of how they should sound.

Beautiful, because I picked it.

Though it said that Telecaster are pretty hard-bodied and rugged, I know that if it's man made it will break. I would'nt look for trouble even if this guitar is made out of adamantium.

N/A.

I've been playing the guitar for 4 years. This guitar was a must have in my small and upcoming arsenal. If I were stolen or lost I would'nt hesistate to purchase a new one. Excellent budget guitar. Prince's Telecaster was a budget guitar and see how he made it sound, see all the hits he made (Prince, Dirty Mind, Controversy, 1999, Purple Rain). Now that guitar is named after him as the Tour De Prinz. You can see what Prince's Telecaster guitar looks like on the Purple Rain movie or the his late seventies early eighties concert photos. See Ya!!!

Made in 2000, in China! 21 frets. Volume, tone, 3-way switch. Two pickups, usual Telecaster. I believe it has a maple neck, but I'm not sure. Pretty standard Telecaster, not a whole lot for features, but they are good enough.

I generally play rock, blues, country, whatever sounds good. I bought a Telecaster because I recently watched Crossroads for like the hundredth time and it influenced me to try a Tele. I'm using a Crate GXM30 or something like that for my amp, just a little one with a single 10" or 12" speaker. I'm also using a Supra Distortion pedal. The sound it amazing. I did try a few different guitars in the store (Mars), and the one I bought was definitely the best one. I love the way it sounds with the bridge pickup. The pickup on the neck doesn't sound that great with distortion on, but with a clean sound it does pretty good.

I like the action on this guitar. The neck is just about the right size for my hands, and I can play pretty quick when I need to. The bridge appeared to be okay, I'm not an expert on these things. The strings were all about the same height from the neck, which I thought was good. No flaws that I could see. The paint is smooth and looks good - no runs, low spots, scratches. The tuning pegs seem strong to me, despite what some people have been saying.

I think this guitar would do fine for live play. it would probably be better with different pickups, but what are you gonna do? I mostly play for me, and generally use headphones, so I'm not too worried about playing live. It would do better than my other guitar, so that's all that matters. I don't see anything on this guitar that wouldn't last. It seems much stronger in materials than the Squier Strat that I bought about 5 years ago.

N/A

I've been playing about 8 or 9 years, but hardly at all the last 4 years since I"ve been in school. I'm just trying to get back into it so I will have something to do when I am done with college. If this guitar were stolen, and I had the money, I would definitly buy it again--it's a great guitar.

This one was made in China. It has standard features - 21 frets, 3 way PU selector, volume/tone controls, black body, maple neck & fretboard. The tuners are the typical stamped metal w/plastic bushings.

This guitar is typical of your twangy Teles, but not quacky like a strat. It sounds amazingly good, given it's pricetag.

I cannot say that I have a consistant musical style, however, I really like the clean sound that this produces. It has a quiet little hum as you would expect from single coils. I haven't really tried to crank up the gain for a distorted sound, but there are other guitars for that. Lately I have just been using this as the one that I leave upstairs with my practice amp to pick something out when I feel inspired.

I have to say though, that I compared this one in the store to other Tele'e (Squires, Mexicans, American Standards...), and that is one of the big reasons why I brought it home. I could not find a substantial difference in the sound. Now, you need to remember that when you are in the store, you typically don't crank up the volume too loud, & I haven't had another Tele to compare it to since bringing it home. But I'm happy with it so far.

This guitar was set up as good as anything else that was already on the floor. The action is very light - you can play this for hours without ripping all of the skin off of your finger tips. The tuners are a little weak, but can he changed out later. The intonation was ever so slightly off, and easily corrected. I don't feel like messing with changing out the PU's. If I was that serious I would just buy a more expensive guitar. For my purposes, they are just fine. All in all, everything is very good.

If I were going to use this live, I believe that I would change the tuners. Aside from that, I think that it would do just fine. It would be especially nice to know that if you were somewhere, and a beer/soda happened to get spilled or someone accidentlly knocked it off the stand, it wouldn't be the end of the world.

Never used them.

For $140 bucks, I cannot complain at all. I originally went to the store to replenish my supply of strings. My brother in-law went with me to check out some MIDI stuff for his computer. While I was waiting for him over on the other side of the store, I started messing around this tele that was under the "ON-SALE $139!" sign.
When he came back from buying his stuff, I told him to check this this thing out. Next thing I knew, we were thinking up stories of how to explain why I bought another guitar. Obviously, it is not the price tag that would be the problem, but between me, my kids, friends, and other relatives, there are a lot musical instruments already laying around the house.

I have been playing for about 25 years. I am not what you might call a serious musician, however, I love to play & collect as much stuff as I can fit into that end of the basement. The short list of what I have are a Gibson Les Paul, a Yamaha 604w strat copy, a Washburn strat copy, a Mexican strat, a Fender Gemini II accoustic, a Series 10 bass, a George Steck piano, two Yamaha Stage Custom drumsets (two daughter's - both on drums), a Crate GFX212, a Crate taxi, a Crate GX15, an old Fender Twin in need of repair, a Fender 100w Bassman head&cab, & a bunch of other bits and pieces. I'm a basically a junk collector.

If it were lost or stolen, it would take me a while to figure out whether I ever owned it in the first place or whether it was someone else's who left it there during a jam session. But I would probably be out somewhere when the mood struck me & buy another one. It's just my nature.

This guitar is highly recomended for the following people: 1) someone looking for a starter guitar for their 10-13 year old. 2) the experienced musician who wants that twangy strat/tele sound for just a few songs and doesn't want to spend $800 to get it. 3) Hack musicians like myself who are not offended by the word "Squier" on the headstock and would like another toy. 4) Guys who already have a Tele but would like to have something to use in it's place so that the expensive one doesn't get destroyed.

Features: My white Tele, w/ white pick-gaurd was made in 00. Bassically it's a Tele, w/ a top-load bridge, and slighly smaller knobs than my A.Standard, or my 50's Tele.

The guitar sounded pretty decent stock. But, as with most innexpensive guitars, the pick-ups were lacking, espescially the bridge p/u. I immediately replaced the bridge p/u with an American Standard p/u that I had taken out of my other guitar-- BIG improvement. More clarity, output, fuller sound, No feedback. I play this guitar through my Rivera Suprema 55, with a fair amount of gain. and w/ the better p/u, it sounds great. I am actually amazed how well it performs compared to my more expensive guitars. It has a nice low-end, and the tone control has a very useable range, although I back it off a bit, as I do on all my Teles.

I must say, I have been playing for over 25 years, have owned many different guitars, including many Telecasters, and this little cheapy guitar hangs with the best of them. No shit. It plays that well. After doing a quick intonation adjustment, standard 12th fret procedure, using my tuner, the guitar played flawlessly. No dead-spots, very little string-buzz, near perfect intonation, all over the neck, and most of all, good tonal quality. It amazes me how Fender (China) can produce such a useable instrument, for such a low price. I hate to sound like I am shooting down expensive guitars, because I own several,and I do not profess to say that a "hardwood" guitar is superior to my ash-bodied A. Standard, but you know what-----this guitar, despite whatever it's made of, sounds and plays great! If I would have played it before I bought my other guitar, yes, I might have bought this one instead, and saved @ $800! I am not one who cares what it says on the headstock. If the guitar rocks, it rocks,....period. This one does. I'm sure I got a good one, and I bet there are some that vary in fit and finish, but this one's a keeper.In some respects, and it pains me to write this, it sounds BETTER than my other Teles. It has better punch than my A. Standard or 50's Tele, both of which are premium ash-bodied guitars. This Squiers high E and B strings lack a little resonance when compare to thew other two, but the remaining strings sound better, have more bite, and have a more usable frequency range. It's a damned flukey guitar....really. I find myself reaching for it every day, and plan on using it at gigs.

Finish is flaweless. Hardware - well as I mentioned, I swapped out the bridge p/u, and I put on Vintage styled, round-top knobs, as well as vintage tuners. Now it is as solid, good-looking as any Tele I've seen. As far as the top-load bride, I don't mind it at all. I'm beggining to wonder if I might actually like that system/tone better than my through the body Teles. I would/will use it professionally. I always take a b/u guitar, but I would trust this as my main, anytime.

Fender has always been fairly good with their customer support.

Been playing for over 25 years. Bassically, I have learned through trial and error that a "cheap" guitar can perform very well, with a few up-grades. This guitar is a perfect example. Fender needs to be careful, because if they keep making guitars this cheap, that play/sound this good, more and more people will opt for them over the high dollar stuff, including us professionals! Don't get mne wrong, the American made stuff is wonderful, and ther is a such thing as "pride of ownership", and the good feeling you get when telling other players what cool gear you have-----but, as I get older, I get more utilitarian in gear choices. Does it hold up? If I dent/scratch it, will I cry? Does it sound good, night after night? If it got ripped off, could I easily replace it? And of course, does it look cool? This Squier answers all these questions with a resounding "yes."

- Made in Indonesia
- Black body/White pick guard
- s/s/s pickups
- Tremelo bar
- 21 Fret

- Strings vibrate off the 1st fret slightly, even after raising the bridge, and that is with the stock .09's.
- Sound is bright, which I play primarily through my computer's SoundBlaster Live! card with some of the environmental effects.
- Pickups hum a bit when played through an amp, but not noticable when played through the PC (Fender has a mod listed on their web site).
- Cannot play the fretboard as fast as I can on my friends BC Rich (and my finger reach seems to be off by one fret on this strat than on the BC Rich)

- Finish was perfect
- Pickups seems to be adjusted OK
- Guitar was pre-tuned for drop-D tuning. When in this tuning, the strings vibrate on the frets really bad when played open and hard
- Cable input guard is loose and cannot be tightend

- Seems to be very rugged.
- Heavy tremelo playing will make it out of tune very quickly
- This is my first guitar, and it seems like it will withstand anything I can do to it

- Warranty - 1 year limited
- Since I just purchased it, I have not had to use the warranty

I just started playing a few weeks ago, and have been playing on my friends BC Rich Bich until I bought my own guitar (what a HUGE difference). Since I did not want to spend over $150 to start out with, I looked over all the user reviews on Harmoney Central and decided this guitar was the lesser of the evils, for each guitar in this range had some problems. I was most interested in this model because it had the tremelo bar and the front input instead of the bottom input. I wish it had a humbucker pickup to complement the single coils though.
I give it a 10 rating, for so far it seems to be perfect for a beginner.

Made in China
Blonde body, white pick-guard
Medium weight body, type of wood?
Two single-coil pick-ups
Nothing fancy, no special features

Amazing!! I was just fooling around in the guitar store, trying out guitars, and for a lark i decided to pick up this $149 Chinese Squier...hey! this neck plays pretty nicely!! man, i just might have to plug this one into an amp....
so i plug it in, and whaddayaknow? it sounds great!!so great that my friend mike comes over and says,"what guitar is that? it sounds awesome!"
we couldn't believe our ears, so we started pulling $1000 and $1200 Strats and Teles off the walls and comparing them side by side with this cheapo Tele...and i shit you not, this Squier Tele sounded as good as or better than every single one of those deluxe models....

we were appropriately shocked...the sound is full and warm, chime-like...the bridge pick-up is bright and plucky without being harsh...most of the Fender Teles we tried were actually painful when using the bridge pick-up...not so with this guitar...

the neck pick-up was full and lush, not muddy....and the middle position was a nice mix of the two...

i bought this as a back-up for my Strat, but after comparing the two at home through my amp, I've decided to make this my main axe...

the neck is what first grabbed me....smooth and easy to play...the action was nice and low....the factory set-up was surprisingly good for such a cheapo guitar....intonation was just about spot on...

The maple neck and rosewood fingerboard are solid, straight, and made for playing...

This thing is rock solid...it feels like truck could run over it and all you'd have to do is put on a new set of strings....

i'm not very concerned with cosmetics, and this thing is stripped dowm, but it remains a handsome guitar....stylish and cool like all classic Fenders....

the hardware may not be top-notch, but that's minor stuff which can be replaced down the road....what's crucial is that a guitar have "soul", that it wants to sing, and this one does...

I've been playing guitar for over 20 years and you can imagine I've played a lot of different guitars in that time....Now, I wouldn't say this is the best guitar I've ever had my hands on (that honor goes to a late 1950's Les Paul Gold-top), but considering the price, this just might be the best I've ever played in terms of value per dollar....

great sound and great playability for $149!!! and cool, classic looks!! There's almost no contest....

I think it is a 2000 or 1999 model. It is made in japan it has 21 frets volume and tone controls and a 3 way pickup switch.It comes with two single coils and is black tele-style cheap tuners and comes with nothing.

It pretty much plays every thing when i use it on my vox ac-30 top boost its a tad noisy on the 1 and 3 pickup positions. It gives a chunky kinda bright sound on the bridge pickup and a very warm tone with the neck pickup.

After fixing the rattle on a couple of strings it sounded okay but the black finish gets easily scratched.

The finish is fairly easily to peal it probably wouldnt withstand playing live i would use my 52' tele live.

Fender is my #1 company so they were pretty helpful.

I have been playing for six years and find it pretty acceptible for practicing.

This is a Fender procuct made in China, in 1999. It is equipped with 21 frets, and fairly cheap tuners. It has a hardwood body, maple neck, with rosewood fingerboard. Came with a top load Fender bridge and stop that is thinner than the Mexican models. It has six saddles on the bridge instead of three like some. The neck is a little thicker than the American Telecaster that I have owned. There were no accessories with this little guitar, but did get a free pair of 10-49 size strings. Two cheap single coil pickups that look exactly like the american made ones. The pick ups are cheap but will certainly get by for practicing and that is about the only use I have for this guitar, but it serves that purpose very well.

The squier is played through a Crate GFX65 most of the time as it was bought for the weight. It has the normal Fender sound. I would put it against an american tele up to a high gain sound. I play mosty country western, country Gospel, bluegrass, and blues. I use a blues driver at times with a Chorus between it and either the Crate, the Fender Ultimate Chorus, or the 71 twin reverb by Fender. It does very well with all the amps but is better with the Fenders.

As everyone knows these come in a little triangular box with an outer box marked Fender. It came out of the box looking very good and very well set up. The only problem was the guitar plug as it was not connected to the guitar. Fender has put a little square of hard fiber with four screws that holds the plug with washer and nut. I think I like that because I have had and have heard many people say that they have had problems keeping the little nut tight on their strats mostly and some teles. With this little square there is easy access to the plug and the wires to it that have been known to come loose from the solder. I bought this guitar mainly because I have a blue Gretsch 6120 and decided I liked the blue and it is the only Fender that I could find in blue. I do think we will see an influx of colored guitars in the near future. Ones that once came only flamed or sunburst tobacco style. The fret wires could have been much smoother on the edges but with a few hours of playing I don't notice it any more.

I would not use this guitar live unless it was just jamming or playing in a situation where it didn't make much difference. I don't care about showing off, but I am not sure enough of the guitar to try it as a loner. It seems to have a very good finish on it. In fact I have seen worse in the higher end Fenders. Think this guitar will certainly last the $129.95 that I paid for it.

Don't know much abut Fender customer service as I have always been able to work thigs out with the dealer as I get to be known with them. All I have read about Fender service from the factory reps is not too good. I would say it is about the same as I read about Gretsch Enterprises. If people run out and buy their products without even being enticed then i guess they feel they make a very good product and don't have to answer to anyone. It is certainly not right but as long as Joe buys, who cares as long as the dealer can solve it.

I have been playing and singing for as long as most of you readers are old. It went by fast, in fact too fast. I have owned 30 or more guitars, not because I am looking for something to make me sound better but have bought many for the uniqueness of the guitar. I have owned and played many very high priced guitars. Gibson, Fender, and Gretsch are not as good as they were. You are paying very high dollar for guitars that are very good but made with the cheapest electronics and hardware with which they can get by. This body on the Squier Affinity and other Fenders on the lower end are put on many guitars, the name goes on the neck. I do own the Gretsch 6120 which is fairly expensive, an arch top made in Japan and an accoustic electric. Sold all the other guitars as I can only play one at a time and I am getting over 50 and don't need that many. I mentioned the price of the Gretsch on purpose. I keep it in my music room. I have found that since I have bought the affinity, the Gretsch stays in the case and I am constantly practicing on the Fender because I actually enjoy it very much. I am not blowing smoke, but for $130, this is one good playing little guitar. Fender may have shot themselves in the foot for making a guitar so cheap. It is cheap enough that you can add pick ups to suit, put on a new nut, and tuners, still have a good guitar that didn't cost a fortune. The only problems some snobs will have is the name on the head stock. The three way swithch looks kind of chinchy but doesn't make any noise and I get the sounds I want out of this guitar. If this guitar were stolen I would just go buy another. If the Gretsch were stolen I would have to deal with the insurance co. etc. I must say I was pleasantly surprised by this little axe. I read considerably on the internet, and read several comments on the Harmony Central page about this little guitar. Thought I would see if it would come even close to what I read. It did what one would expect for so cheap a guitar and much more. I will add that I put in a submission on the Gretsch that I own, only gave it a 9 for any category. It retails for $2500.00. This retails for $199.95 and bought on sale for $129.95. You take your pick.

1999, made in China, already described in details by other submission. Blonde or cream in colour. Finish is very well done and the whole guitar looks like a tele.

This is a tele like sounding instrument. The bridge pu is a little thinner than a regular tele (I owned several through the years) but one can get really close to the real thing. I found out that by rolling off lightly the treble control and sligthly turning down the volume, I can get rid off the thinny sound. It really gets tele like. The neck pu is another matter. It is not as close to the real thing. This should be changed. I use this guitar with a Vox Pathfinder and a Fender Bronco. Sounds good through these amps. I have a few other guitars (Rick 360 and 620, Epi 400 custom) and this cheap thing sounds very good as a practice instrument. I leave it on the stand by my practice amps and don't have to worry about a thing. This cost only 200$can. On stage usage? Probably too noisy with the current pu's. It stays well in tune with the current tuners but I would not trust these on a live performance. With good pu's and tuners, would be a great back-up for stage use.

This is the most astounding part! Out of the box, it was better set-up than both of my Ricks when I bought them! Intonation and action are excellent. Feels as good as my 620 once this rick was professionnaly set! A pleasure to play. Boy I wish I had a guitar like that when I started to play electric in 68!My first Tele cost me $400 in 1971. If this is proportional to the current prices, this thing should have had a price of $50 back then...

See previous comments.

Been playing since 1966. I would certainely buy another. Great playing guitar for very cheap price. They should make versions in blonde and sunburst already fitted with a really good brige tele pu and charge a little extra like they do for special issues. I'm certain it would sell. I did not buy the regular squire because I like this neck with the rosewood fingerboard better. It was only $90 more for the regular but I preferred this one and later on I will change the pu's. I am very satisfied with the bridge: very solid and looks like a strat bridge. At first, I thought I would replace with a regular through the body one but it is not necessary. I am giving it a 9 for what it is.

Blonde finish , solid wood , looks like ash , rosewood fretboard , nice fat maple neck , 21 frets , almost crappy tuners , bridge seems o.k. and has through-body-stringing ! , CRAPPY pu's ! , standard post '67 Tele-electronics
Bought with mega-crappy Squire Sidekick-amp , use it a chair for my cats

Unplugged : very O.K. ! ( good platform for better pu's ) Plugged : like Neil Young ; Talking through pu's ! has no body , very bright and very microphonic Nice gadget , but I'm looking for a SD strat-neck- and broadcaster-lead-pu !
rating is for platform-concept !!!!!!

10-52 Strings , no string-retainer for G+Dstring
I tweaked it a little bit after buying it
very good for this price

With better pu's this guitar will be used as much as my Am.Std.Strat . I think I change the tuners too . I sometimes use a affinity - reliced - sunburst strat for busking .

Buy the blonde one and change the pickup's and tuners AND you've a ASS-KICKING-TELEcaster !

This is a 1999 Fender Affinity Series telecasters. It comes in in a small triangular shaped box, and includes adjustment tools, and nothing else. I own two other "pricier" telecasters, and although it's not built as good, it does the job. The price for one of these is reasonably great. The neck on these is pretty thick, which I don't like, but everything else is awesome. This model comes in four different basic colors, and I bought it because it's not easy to find a blue telecaster of any kind.

I use the guitar with the clean and overdrive channels on my Crate Blue Voodoo amp. There is a slight buzz produced when you're not touching any of the metal parts, but this is typical of Fenders. I own an American Standard telecaster but play this one much more because I think it sounds just as good and I don't have to worry about mishaps with this one.

Straight out of the box this guitar is ready to enjoy. The action seemed to be set properly, and despite everyone else's complaints about the finish, mine seemed ok. The machineheads are really cheap covered ones, but the guitar stays in tune pretty good so you might not bother even replacing them.

Very dependable. You can hold this guitar and just know it's solid.

I think it came with a 1 year warranty. I'm not guessing it's gonna crap out soon on me or anything, but if it would I'd just take it to a friend and have him fix it.

I'd prefer this guitar at this price over any other tele knock-offs. It's a well-built, well-sounding, and well-priced guitar. You can get better advice about the pickups and modifiying from the other submitions. I don't think you'll be disappoined here.

Webster's defines "affinity" as: "a natural liking". This Chinese- made Tele features 21 frets,maple neck,rosewood fretboard,single-ply pickguard,and a solid body(possibly Alder). Controls: 3-way switch, one volume and one tone using chrome-dome type knobs. Pickups: single-coils at the neck and a slanted one at the bridge. The controls are passive. My guitar's body is finished in solid red paint and the neck has a "light" satin clear-coat. The frets are medium-sized and the radius is relatively flat. Tuners are the enclosed type. Guitar came with allen wrenches for truss-rod and bridge adjustments. The neck is "U" shaped. The bridge saddles are similar to a strat's and the strings DO NOT pass through the body like other telecasters. However, pilot holes were drilled into the body(under the bridge)thus lending itself to a future upgrade. The controls mount to a chrome plate. There is a single string-tree on the "E" and "B". Purchased new in January 1999.

Has the Fender Tele "twang" and brightness. Played through a Peavey Supreme head and 4x12 cabinet with some gain caused lots of howling and feedback. This was fixed with an upgrade to Duncan hot-stack bridge and vintage neck pickups. Sounds good clean and dirty. Great for blues, country, rock(my favorite). Not recommended for heavy- metal. Nice with finger picking styles. The tone control has a very narrow "range-of-effect" and could stand to be upgraded for those players who really do use it.

Factory set up was done well. Fret, body, and neck finish was impressive on such an economical instrument. However, examine a few different guitars since I noticed some are fair while others seem quite good (this is called variability, my friends)! I purchased this guitar knowing it needed some upgrades. For the price, the instrument had a good foundation on which to build upon. As noted above, I replaced its pickups due to feedback problems. I also changed the tuners to grover minis due to tuning instability and control. Another string tree was added onto the "D" and "G" to increase string angle on the nut. A better quality switch was installed. These upgrades have made this guitar a good instrument and at a fair price. After the upgrades I give it an eight.

I've used it live and the guitar holds up well. This is a serious chunck of wood at 45 mm thick! Although still relatively new, the finish should hold-up well. But who cares at this price! The strap buttons are solid and designed well. I would use it live without a backup guitar. I believe the neck to be made from a lower grade of maple. Not "hard maple", but perhaps the cheaper "white maple". I've had to make a few truss-rod adjustments to correct for excessive relief. But, do not fret(pun intended), the truss-rod seems to work well.

I've never had to deal with Fender directly, so I consider this to be favorable. But, I honestly feel that if there ever became a problem, Fender (or their dealer) would make the situation right. After all folks, Fender Musical Instruments is no fly-by-night operation! I can not remember if there was a written warranty on this instrument.

I've been playing guitar for the better(or worse) of 20 years. I currently own ten guitars. I honestly wish that guitars of this quality and price were availablie when I first started playing! I would recommend this axe to anyone looking to start playing or others looking for some Fender "twang" that's "easy" on the wallet. I've seen this guitar offered in mail order catalogs for $129.00 now. That's a deal! Now with all my upgrades it may have made more sense to purchase a higher-end model, it was fun to improve this guitar as finances permitted.

very plain , 4 solid colors , basic tele pickups and controls , rosewood fingerboard, maple neck. slightly thinner body, not sure what kind of wood. Strings dont go through body like old teles ,but though rear of bridge. A bit difficult to get strings up though saddles.

Sounds nice , neck pickup sounds creamy like it should , bridge pickup sounds stinging like it should. not sure if pickups are alnico or ceramic but i cant tell.

guitar was set up very nicely w/ very light strings. I put on 010s soon after. Great paint job, beautiful neck and fingerboard. No flaws at all . Im very impressed w/ this guitar for 129.00 . It feels like a much more expensive ax. not a chunky feeling neck/fingerboard , smallish more vintage type frets. but you can still bend strings ect. comfy 9.5 board radius. Made very well in china. no sloppy workmanship.

its a tele!

impossible , but why would you need it?

not great for metal ect. but if you want a cheap tele get one

1999 Model Affinity Series Tele, made in China. Standard tele set-up, nothing too surprising. You know what you're getting with one of these. Nice white finish, no blemishes, rosewood fretboard, white pick guard.

Been playing for a little over a year, and have a Epiphone Les Paul, but decided I wanted a lighter sound -- this one fit that perfectly. That classic tele sound is there, no complaints. Very bright sounding. Playing it through a Peavey amp, and sounds good, with or without distortion.

This guitar was ready to go right out of the box. The action was perfect, though the strings were a little light. Once I replaced them with heavier strings, I wouldn't change anything. No flaws that I can see (and I looked pretty carefully).

This guitar could withstand a nuclear blast. It's heavy, solid, and, if I dropped it, I think it would break whatever it landed on before it got damaged. I would definitely use it without a back-up.

Haven't talked with the folks at Fender.

I've been playing for a little more than a year, so this is a great guitar for me -- not too expensive, and, to my ears at least, equal to or superior in sound to the Mexican Tele's. I also have an Epiphone Les Paul Standard, and a Yamaha Aucoustic/Electric. I've only had the tele for a couple months, but I'm starting to use it more and more, and find myself leaving the Epiphone behind.

made in china spent alot of time picking this guitar to back a strat, jackson the other teles a guitar centar the tone nobs were lose , so i would take youre time a dont just pick any model play it turn all the knobs the tuners and find the best one they arnt all the same if you want a good one take you time or drive back and forth three times with differnt guitars

great sound

look at all the models i picked this model because it feels like the fender model and sounds the same.

solid as a rock

look before you buy the strat of the same make had bad tuners

compared to epiphone explorer , fender strat,jackson js-1,epiphone les paul, they all faltered all of these guitars had volume or tone knobs that turned past were they were spousted to stop all three of the other teles had the same problem this one dont thanks to me i am very pickey

1998, Crafted in China, Features: one-piece maple neck, 25.5" scale, 9.5" rad fretboard, solid alder body, single-ply pckgrd, 21 frets, two SC pu's, volume, tone, chrome hrdwr. Finished in a very thick natural finish which looks better from a distance. Gets to look more like a sick colour close up but it was better than sky blue. Lovely neck, Rosewood board, tuners that are actually staying in tune really well (very suprising) Got a lovley moulded Fender case to go with it too.

Ok first the bad part. It hums like crazy. And then when you touch the strings it clicks and stops. So ive gotta keep at least my pick on the strings. This is my first Fender and ive heard about them humming but i reckon its just these shitty pickups. Ok now onto the sound. Compared to my Les Paul, my LP is much darker and fatter. I can get much more of a bite from my tele which was exactly what i was looking for. Excellent for all my clean on the neck pu especially. Bit too bright on all the other positions in the clean sounds. I was also very impressed with the tone knob. It really makes a difference rolling off some tone and muffling the sound. Much more versitile than im used to. Whacking in the overdrive you are greeted with an excellent lead tone on the bridge pickup. I can nail early Jimmy Page with it. If there wasnt that hum the pickups would get at least an 9 but i make it 7 cos of that. When i change the pu's im sure it will sound amazing so thats what i intend to do.

Action is great, quickly changed the factory strings and im happy with everything. No probs at all apart from the hum

Im sure this would be fine for live playing but the pickups need to be changed. Finish is very thick, bit too thick if you ask me. Wouldnt mind getting straplocks but im lazy :))))

i think ive got 1 year warranty nothing special, gibson do lifetime

i been playing a few years now and ive gone through tons of gear. My main squeeze is my LP but this comes clsoe in second. Definatley better for rhythm and also lead but my LP edges it cos of its fat tone. I love the look of the tele. I love Radiohead and Jonny Greenwood is one of my fave guitarists and he uses teles so ive always wanted one. Same because of Page. Im not too keen on the thick finish and the hum from the pickups but when i modify it it will be one sweet axe. Great value for money too.

Typical Fender Squier. Came in a trianglar cardboard box. Black body, white pickgaurd, very nice. Two single coil pickups, neck and bridge, neck pickup is an ashtray type (doesn't have six metal dots) 21 frets. One volume, one tone control; the way I like it, more that one tone control confuses me. The bridge is a proper one like you'd find on a strat on real tele, it is not like the type which you find on a Standard Squire Tele, which to me looks a bit dodgy. Came with two alen keys, one for the truss rod, one for bridge adjustments. Nice neck, could be a touch thinner.. A touch, tiny tiny little bit.

You can get as good a range of sounds on this tele as you would with a squier strat, even though it has one less pickup. The neck pickup is a bit disapointing (ok, more than a bit), the sound isn't quite as good as what you expect. The bridge pickup is OK for a heavy distortion sound (I use a Nobles ODR1) but you may have to fiddle with the tone controls as it sounds a thin. With both pickups selected it make more noise, good for feedback noises and pickscrapes. It can make the classic tele type twang. This guitar sounds best with a good quality amp. I had a cheap practice amp for a while and when I used it for gigs I noticed the difference is sound is substantial.

Out of the box the action was good, thanks to incredibly light strings. The length the strings were set to were not great. Harmonics were in the wrong places and around and above the tenth fret the notes were sharp. All strings were adjusted too short. The finish was disapointing. On the back there are lines in the paint work, as if the paint wasn't as thick in some areas. Incidiently, I've chipped the paint a couple of times (violent playing style) and there are a good few coats on it. There is a string tree for the High B and E strings but i wish they'd put one on the the G string. Also the low E machine head is way too close to the nut. The nut which is perfect apart from the fact it is wearing out at an alarming rate. Worryingly the 16th fret is not hammered into the next properly. On the B string it causes fret buzz because it juts out higher than the rest, to fix this problem requires destroying the low action I've set it to. The truss rod works, but it isn't that effective. It will take about a week of wrestling with it to find a setting that suits. I don't like the pickup switch, since it is a squier, it breaks the circuit with the last position before making contact with the next one, making annoying noise when changing settings

Unless you smash this guitar about it will not fallter. I have my doubts about the machine heads. They are the enclosed types and two of them (A, B) are very stiff (worrying)... One big solid lump of wood. Dead relieable. You won't need a back up. The neck pick up isn't as well attached as the bridge pickup. If you take the pickgaurd off you can rattle the neck pickup about a fair bit and the wiring is a bit exposed.

N/A didn't talk to them, don't want to. Strange people...

Despite it's faults, I love this guitar. It has servered me well over the time I've owned it (one year). For the money, I don't think you'll get a better guitar. It beats crap out of Elipiphone LesPauls I have played. But then again I hate Humbuckers. If it got stolen I'd buy another, but this time I think I'd get a bit more money together and but a TelePlus. Must get that bank robbing gear out of the garage.