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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

30 days from shop....

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Don't need to go into this one, you know what a Telecaster comes equipped with. Don't you?

I originally bought this for my Grandson at Christmas, however, when I got it home and played it, I went back and bought him a Squire Strat. I don't like Strat's so this whole thing worked for everybody. I played it thru my 64' BF Super Reverb and besides the nosy single coils, I loved that vintage sound, when cranked it takes you way back Daddy-o!!!

Well the MI China logo really fooled me when I played this at the store! I thought about changing the PU's but I'm keeping the originals in for now. Too much fun with these anyway. The finish is Butterscotch with the pale unfinised maple neck. The action was low, set up was good and played fine right out of the box! The old Squire bridge helps the old tone sound too.

Appears to be bullet proof. Very Solid! Very tuff!

Never had to deal with the Reps....

Have been playing for 30 years plus. Currently gigging with my band. I haven't used this guitar yet, but have been using it at rehersals and is really fun to play. I have a Custom Shop 52' re-issue and will semi retire it to keep it safe.... for the money, I would buy another for invitory before they stop making these. A truly great value!!

Typical Telecaster stuff. You already know the features or you wouldn't be looking at this. Telecasters are the epitomy of less is more!!!!!

I have been playing for 9 years now, I play a wide variety of music from Classical to Jazz and this thing does them all. The neck pick up is dreamy as anything with a lovely bell like hypnotic tone and the back one comes up and kicks you in the ass with it's high powered twang!!!!!

Action was nigh on perfect when I got it months ago and still is now, I may take it for proffesional set up to make sure theres nothing more I can get out of it though. The paint job is lovely and the neck feels like the nicest I have played on any guitar, let alone one at this price, and I have played Fender Deluxes and all the Les Paul variations that you can think of!!!!!

I'd gig with it without question, it's all solid, reliable and just beautiful!!!!!

N/A!!!!!

As I said, I've been playing a long time, this is without doubt the nicest electric I have ever owned (and played to be honest), there is no excuse for not getting one of these beaties, don't be a snob, you don't have to pay #1000's for a vintage when there is something this perfect for #150. Get one in , even if you have guitars falling out of your ass, these are amazing. I won't be suprised when the discontinue this line, it's a vintage in the making believe me. So stop reading this and order one while you still can!!!!!

It's a chinese made butterscotch tele with a maple neck...I think it's really pretty...the black pickguard and the butterscotch combo looks fantastic.

Well i would like to modify the guitar later on, but somehow when I plugged it on my 62 Airline (montgomery ward which i put a vintage 30 celestion)it had this nasty, gritty vomit midrange sound that i love. I don't really care about the neck pickup, but by some reason the bridge pick-up doesn't sound tinny at all ( it really rocks). I think I will just replace the neck with a stock fender strat pick up. For now, I will keep it the way it is and make some ears bleed.
I play a lot of country, blues and jazz...so it really fits what i play...I kinda just cop it some Jimmy Bryant licks if i play a bit of Jazz..

it was perfect out of the box...

the guitar looks really sturdy...I think i can wack it on our singer's head and it will be still in tune. the real test would be if I would demolish my drummers drum kit with it and still remain intact then it's good with me.

never dealt with any of those peeps... if it's broke i just fix it myself.

been playing for 15 yrs...and I am really happy with this guitar...I am not much of a vintage snob, but I will play anything that is wood with strings on it. The stranger sound I can get off the guitar ...the better...

This is a 2003 Affinity Squire Telecaster in butterscotch blonde . New at Guitar Center. I special ordered it(you get a free setup)bought a tweed case for 50 bucks too. Made in China, they stick it on the neck like they are proud of it , and when you check one out you will understand why. 21 frets, med jumbo.( They feel a little smaller than a med jumbo fret to me.) They are straight installed well, needs dressing though, the ends are a little rough. It is an alder body and 1/4 inch thinner than a standard tele. The paint is a butterscotch color, but darker than the real 52 reissue.Polyurithane finish. It looks beautiful to me. I use to own a 1972 telcaster, I love teles. I can't keep my yes off of it , sitting in the living room. I own several other guitars priced well over $2000.00, but I really do like this guitar. It's not my Les Payul but I like it very much.The pickups will be replaced with Lyndy Fralin Pickups, his office is less than a mile away and I love his pickups. They are about the best.The stock pickups are to bright sounding and not enough tone for me. The electronics are cheap. I will replace all of that withvintage spec controls. I was going all the way with replacing the bridge and the neck but after reading the review below. I have decided to skip those upgrades.
The tunning keys work well, stay in tune. I do not like the plastic nut and probably will have that replaced and the neck dressed and guitar setup.
The neck works it is straight feels nice it is a two piece maple neck. I miss the skunk strip but we are talking about an $170.00 axe.The neck feels good though, It sports a 9.25 " radius. Width at the nut is 1.61". It fits my hand well. I give it a 9 because I am replaceing the pickups and the flimsy electronic switch.

Over all for the price again. The guitar stock sounds nice. I would practice with it. To gig I am puting in the Fralin Pickups. Oh yes I will gig with it... I may one day upgrade the neck and bridge. This is kinda like a cool looking project guitar to me. To get a guitar this nice looking and be able to replace the pickups , You get a great guitar for the money.

I took the guitar apart when I got home. I put tens Diadarios on it, The finish is great. I do not like the plastic nut and will replace it. I had to raise the pickups some and I need a wrench to adjust the action, the neck is straight and the curvature is correct. The bridge works well, after reading the reveiw from the gentlman below, I have decided not to drill holes in the axe and put on the vintage bridge. He has a good reveiw, read it also.ACtion was not bad, I will reset it, better than the action on some american teles in the stores.

I would and will gig with it after upgrading the pickups and some of the electronics and have it setup well with a new nut ( the current one works fine, I just want a bone nut)Give it an 8 because of the flimsy electronic switch.

Have delt with Fender in the past w/o any complaints.

I am forty, play in two reggae bands, have been playing since 9th grade. I have owned 8 guitars. This one is great for the money BUY ONE. You will like it. I can leave it out anywerer w/o the worry of it getting messed up , I practice more .I would buy another. I compared it to the vintage reissue, for the low cost , this was the answer for me. They need bettter picups and a good setup job with 10 strings and your good to jam out with it. Again it is not my Les Paul but I love it.

This is a Butterscotch Squier Affinity Telecaster, crafted in China, purchased from Musician's Friend. Ok, I'll be critical and compare it to my '52. If you're in a hurry and want a judgement from me up front...BUY IT. NOW! Excellent beginner, fine backup for an advanced player with a few, cheap mods. My rating numbers are for those you'd expect on a $170 guitar.

BODY
I'm a sucker for black guards and butterscotch. The color is way oranger than the reissue, but it works. The alder grain pattern on the 3 piece body is striking. It could easily pass for ash. They trimmed about a quarter-inch off the thickness. Result: guitar weighs the same as the reissue, 7lbs. I don't miss the quarter-inch. I'd rather have a lighter guit than a thicker body. The top-loading bridge plate is acceptable. BTW, for you other vintage, 3 saddle bridge snobs out there, this guit resonates and sustains as well as my '52. I'm keeping it as is. I do prefer vintage, however. Neck pocket looks tight and right.

ELECTRONICS
I bought this knowing full well that the p/ups would be swapped out for some Duncans I had (JD bridge and Alnico ll Pro neck) waiting in the wings. Actually. The stock (ceramic) p/ups were OK except they got too bright at higher volumes. Pots were smooth but the selector switch was real flimsy. I ended up replacing everything in that rout, including the plate, which is so thin that you can twist it. The jack plate is a little disappointing but functional. A regular Fender 3 pos switch JUST fits in the shallower rout.

NECK
I couldn't ask for a nicer 2-piece maple neck on a $170 guit. Perhaps a little pale in color. Some use brown shoe polish for tinting. I'll keep it pale. Some earlier Squiers I've seen in stores had sharp fret ends. These are very satisfactory but not as well dressed as the '52. The FB edge is not as well-turned as '52 but acceptable. No uneven frets anywhere. I like the '52's Kluson tuners way more but these stay in tune. Strings: came with 9's (Fender 250) but changed to 10's (Everly's).
I should note that the FB is 1 mm thinner than my '52. I'm a medium hand size and it's just fine. Beware if you have big meathooks. The neck's thickness and shape is very similar to the '52. The nut is fitted perfectly and works just fine for me. No skunk stripe.

I've A/B'd this modded guit it to my '52 Result: no perceivable difference in tone, sustain. Real nice. I play country, blues and rock. Mostly clean, some OD.
It was very close before mods. Slightly brighter at volume.

I'm thinking this guitar was last setup somewhere in China. If so, the setup and action are excellent right out of the box.
The poly coat is not as thick as a '52, which is a good thing. Compared to the '52 ri, the neck feels like bare wood. It's not really, but you get the point.
The Chinese are knocking out some very fine guitars (I never thought I'd say that). Some of the hardware is cheap. Overall fit & finish is better than some American factories. Peavey, for one. I know. I have a 6 yr old Reactor (tele clone). Definitly on par with MIM. Just don't expect the quality of a $1200 '52 ri. I'm beginning to think that the '52 is slightly overpriced.

The body is a little thinner but if you had to hit someone upside the head, the results would be the same as the reissue: DOA

It's a Tele, but I wouldn't gig this w/o first swapping p/ups and that switch.

Ooops, one week old and I've already voided the warranty.

I have a two-year old AV '52 RI Tele and I wanted another tele for the occasional open-mike, use at my workplace and for using in the studio beside my bedroom: the family room. I'm mostly a hobbyist. If you have an extra set of p/ups with no where to go and you're GASing...this would work.
I had been looking for something either new or used with more vintage features like a MIM 50's Tele, a Muddy or a Highway 1. I just didn't want to spend that much for a second guitar.
I have a peavey clone tele to use as a back-up but just can't shoulder it's 10 pounds for more than 5-10 minutes.
I like this tele. I do like my '52 better. Oh yeah, if'n you already have the '52, the Squier will fit in the vintage case! If not, you'll need a gig bag.
Take the word of a geezer: buy it before it's discontinued.

When I got it 22nd hand from a music shop, it had standard Tele layout - 2 pups, three way switch selector and...er...that's about it, which is one of the things that makes the Tele a great guitar! I don't know the year but I do know that it's one heavy beast. It's black with a white scratch plate. Some of the supplied gear is a bit ropey and I didn't buy this guitar for it's amazing features so somewhere in the middle of that it scores a 7!

Sounds like a Tele. What can I say. However, I have had it modified. The pick ups are not too bad but die when you throw distortion or a lot of gain at it (apparantly this can be overcome by spraying sealant (like damp start for cars) on the pups but I never tried it). They are also quite low frequency and hum like demons. Also the machne heads are utter rubbish. Swing your body 45 degrees when you are playing and it's like you've hit the wang bar (which doesn't exist on a standard Tele!) With the mods (new pick ups and machine heads) it sounds ever so slightly short of a classic Tele (but about a quarter of the price!) Score without modification - 6 With modifications - 9.

No flaws - all bog standard stuff. Set up was from the shop I bought it from so was fabulous.

You could drag this thing to hell and back and it would still play as normal - it's a Tele! (It'd give Old Nick a few bumps and bruises on the way too!)

I never gig without a backup - and that would be the same no matter what I was playing - but that's more to do with breaking strings than doubts about the guitar.

No idea

I have been playing 20 years plus and am semi-pro. With all factory built guitars, just occasionally you are going to get a gem, one that plays like a dream. And, for me, this is the one. As soon as I picked it up it felt right and played beautifully. As I said, the weak points are the pick ups and the machine heads. So...there's now a Rio Grande vintage tallboy on the neck and a Seymour Duncan vintage in the bridge. And a set of standard Gotoh machine heads. The Rio Grande pup was 2nd hand and all that lot cost #135.00 - the guitar cost #100 so for #235 I have something that looks, feels, plays and sounds like a #850 USA Tele. It does not quite have the sustain of the USA models but this is barely noticeable. I have no qualms gigging or recording with this guitar and I love it. I put it through a pre 1995 Fender Twin and the sound'd cut your balls off! I use this is in my main band and sometimes when I dep. I would never use this guitar for heavy rock or metal - Teles just aren't made for that. And I don't play it anyway! I have four electric guitars in total (the other three are much more pricy) and this is my favourite.

Other reviews can tell you the features.

I do not own this guitar. My friend owns one, and I play it alot. Anyway, the guitar is GREAT for the price. I am a country/rock player and it suits that style fine. My friend plays his through a Rogue 50 watt amp. It sound good, except for a little buzz. I like this guitar.(Not as good as my Gibson).LOL.

I heard this guitar pretty early on, and it was great. It has some cheap parts, but alot of guitars do. The pickup selector was noisy, and the pickups as well. The finish is fine.

My friend plays this Tele in our band, and it is great. Great for lead. It has a spanky sound like a real Tele. The finish is fine, like I said. Strap buttons are OK, but, I wouldnt really trust a Squier button. My buddie has played this guitar everyday (for many, many hours), and it has held up fine. Alot of times, it will spend the night on an old guitar stand. It is played outside. It is hauled around. It has been borrowed. My friend wouldnt gig without a backup. He has a Ibanez(which is more exspensive), and he always ends up with a Tele in his hands. He would die if this guitar was lost.

N/A

My buddie has been playing for four years. He owns a Rogue 50 watt amp, a Ibanez?, and a Yamaha acoustic. Out of all those he loves his tele the best. However, my Gibson could kick its ass! lol. kidding.

Mine's a chinese-made squier, fairly recent, year not known. 21 frets, volume and tone controls, 3-way selector that's more of a 2-way, 2 stock pickups, black body, white plate, tele body, that's all i can say for that. i don't know much about it.

number of features is standard tele i guess, but the bottom line is the neck pickup is utter crap, which makes the left and middle selector switch sound the same, which is also crap. bridge pickup is decent, depending on music style. tone knob is fine, but i wish it went higher. the most frustrating one is the volume knob though. half of the time (on different amps), it won't change the actual volume. it'll either take distortion off for some reason or kill the bass. it makes no sense.

basically, the number of features is fine, the the features themselves are very problematic.

I try to play hardcore stuff (metal, aggressive punk,) with this guitar, and all i have to say is : THIS IS NOT A METAL GUITAR. not by the looks, but by the sound. clean, it sounds great for the most part, but turn on distortion and you'll realize your little metal-head brain made a big mistake spending 350 canadian for this. it lacks a lot of treble, though the bass is a-plenty. it's fine for other styles, but for aggressive stuff it's terrible. i use a small 20watt Hiwatt amp and a Mega distortion boss pedal, but i've tried it on at least 5 other amps with similar results. I'd say it's okay for blues, rock, slow things and others, but not metal. oh god not metal.

but the biggest problem is the noise the bridge pickup emits. i jam in a metal band, and the guitar won't stop screaming when i try to put the volume even remotely high when i'm in the same room as other guitars. i know it's not the pedal or the amps, i've tried different combinations and it always comes up. and the background noise is so bad sometimes i can't hear myself speak. basically, the pickups are utter shiznuts.

there was only once that i found it sounded good, but it was on an old expensive jazz amp of high quality that nobody will ever afford anyway.

the actual layout and esthetics of the thing look fine, although the bridge is alot too high (which i haven't changed, cuz it's good practice for the fingers). fingerstains on the fretboard are annoying, but what the hell can i do about those anyway. overall, its looks are fine, and the knobs turn like knobs should turn.

DO NOT PLAY LIVE WITH THIS UNLESS YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO. it has trouble with high sounds and it can't compare to any other guitars. the fretboard is getting stained a bit, but i've played this for about a year so it's understandable. it does last fine, i guess, but i wouldn't use it explicitely for a gig. though maybe AS a backup it'd be fine, considering what type of music you play. i guess it's durable, but not necessarily reliable.

i don't talk to other people unless i really have to. and i didn't talk to fender.

I've had this for one year, and a bit more. in the music store it sounded great, and i especially liked the button layout (no buttons in the way of my palm-mutes), but a few months in it started having problems when i started playing more seriously. i got into metal and found it was terrible compared to all the other guitars. basically, it's okay for beginners or single practice or with no distortion, although i guess you could get better sound by tweaking (A LOT). BUT FOR GOD'S SAKE, DON'T PLAY METAL WITH THIS.

Duh. It's a tele, everyone else has extensively listed the features, so I won't go on. The only differences between the Affinity and the Standard series is the top load bridge, and plastic plate output jack instead of a traditional STB bridge, and tele input cup. It's bare-bones, but then again so are all teles, so there you go. Gotta rate it 9 for simplicity.

In case you were wondering, it is indeed an Alder body (check the Fender 2003 Catalogue if you don't believe me). And FYI, all Fender bodies are machined in Corona and sent to their perspective factories, although sometimes they contract Samick to do their parts for their overseas guitars.

Before I modded mine, the sound was acceptable. Very reminscent of a Tele. Squier pickups however, are not the nicest ones. They will suit beginers and anyone who doesn't want to spend $200 more on a MIM tele. I however, replaced them. They are fairly succeptable to 60 cycle hum because of the strange ground wiring, but they are single coils, and single coils hum. I never keep the stock pickups on my guitars/basses, but I'm very picky.

Once I put .10's on it, Fretbuzz said goodbye. The pickups were fine. The intonation was slightly off, but then again, for $170 I didn't expect it to be perfect. If there is a flaw to this guitar it is the thin finish. It will chip easily, but if you tape care of your guitar, it will last you. No major flaws in the frets or the nut. The frets were actually leveled very well, and had no sharp edges.

The tuners on this guitar are actually very good. Granted replacements would be better, I've seen far worse tuners on guitars of this price range ::cough::epiphone::cough:: Strap buttons haven't failed me yet. As I mentioned above, the finish is slightly fragile, but treat your guitar with care and you'll be fine.

No idea. But it's Fender....I've heard horror stories, and I've heard success stories. You be the judge.

My only grievances with this guitar is the cheap plastic pickguard (for which, for a reason that eludes my sense of logic, doesn't match up with standard mounting holes for other tele pickguards) and the top load bridge which makes string changes slightly annoying. I can live with it though. I've had this guitar for a year, and I like it alot. I heavily modded mine though and now it sounds even better, I get 7 distinct tones out of mine and it's an amazing guitar. Some people will look down their nose at you for having a Squier, but nuts to them. I used to be one of them too, but this guitar converted me. I started playing bass on a Squier Bass from 99, this guitar was an '01 model I believe, and since then Fender has revamped the Squier line even more and I have no doubts that the newer guitars are far more competitive in terms of price/value than was previously thought. Anyways, my '99 Squier bass sucked. My Tele however is a fine guitar that plays amazing, sounded good, but now sounds better, and with a new pickguard looks cool too.

The newer Squiers are excellent beginner-midlevel guitars, although I would still be wary of ordering over the internet. I still recomend you go out and play extensively with the actual guitar you plan on buying as their quality control is still a little shaky. But there are gems out there that play great. With a nice setup, you're good to go.

Standard Tele so ill give it ten. Has two single coil pick-ups, one volume, one tone. Body is probably made out of Alder, Rosewood fretboard.

I love the sound of the clean neck pick-up, sounds almost acoustic. Really great. THe bridge pickup is good for rock. Only prob is some buzz i get from the 1st and sometimes third positions when i have put some gain to it.

Action was a lil high, so i easily lowered that. Also i brought the pickups a lil closer to the string. The finish is blue, and beware, chips easily, very easily. The tuners really suck. They are not smooth at all when adjusting the tuning and there is a lil clamp for the high e and b strings to hold them down that can mess up your tuning

I have had this for three years, my first guitar. It has had only one problem. The volume knob fell off. So wrapped a layer of duct tape around the potentiometer and stuck it back on. Now it is snug. This guitar plays surprisingly well. I really love it

dunno

This guitar is soooo awesome for the price. It plays awesome, In the three years i have had it, ive progressed in my playing ability. This song is great for rhythm but I can play summer song by joe satriani with ease on this guitar. Awesome starter guitar.

My guitar(as stated in previous reviews) was "crafted in China" it has 21 frets ,2pickup and tone and volume control. It's the usual Telecaster set up. The neck and fingerboard are both maple.

The sounds that this guitar can produce are nothing short of stunning(for any price, let alone #125). The front pickup is mellow and smooth and the back provides a nice twangy(I had to say it at some point) cutting tone. The middle selection offers a great combination of the two for perfect jazz style chord work. The sound is basically what a guitar is(or should be) all about. And beleive me this guitar gives you bucket loads of variation and great tone.

The action of the guitar, in addition the tone and general feel of it, was one of the major selling points for me. It is perfect for my style of playing. The finish is a poly based baltic blue and is flawless. Intonation was absolutley perfect out of the box and as a hole it is faultless. As soon as I picked this up I felt like I had been playing it for years. A first class product! A mate of mine came to have a jam and agreed that this does not feel like a "budget" priced guitar. It feels like a #500 instrument. I have been playing for 10 years and this is the nicest guitar I have ever played. The facts that beginners can now start withg something like this is amazing. Fender really have done a brilliant job.

Feels solid as a rock. Great sustain. Stays in tune no matter how many bends you throw at it and how hard you strum it. I would use this to play live or record without a worry.

Never spoken to them. Goit a 1 year warranty from the shop

Overall I would say that this is an ideal guitar for anybody who wants a Tele but doesn't have #900 to throw at an American Fender. I tried a number of Tele's and this was the nicest of them all. Yes that correct THE NICEST. I tried a couple of Mexican Fenders and this soundend much fuller and well...more like a Telecaster. I think that Squier have come on leaps and bounds in the last ten years as I remember the Squier stats feeling cheap and nasty and having a horrible action. Now however they have made me very happy indeed. Many thanks to Fender for an excellent product.

Made in China, twenty one medium size frets, solid Alder body with a C shaped Maple neck, volume and tone controls with a three way pickup selector switch, two single coil pickups, Arctic White finish with white single layer pick guard, top loading bridge with six individual saddles. Supplied with allen wrenches for the saddles and truss rod. A Twentieth Anniversary model.

I play a variety of styles, standards, rock and roll, soul/R&B, country, blues. I find this guitar useable for all of them. I play it through a Ampeg Gemini II and also use a Kramer K-15R amplifier when I don't feel like firing up the old Ampeg. I don't utilize any external effects at the present time but do sometimes utilize effects that are built into the amps. A little hum when selecting the neck or bridge pickup, none on the middle selector setting when both pickups are on. I like the sound of the stock pickups. The neck pickup, which has a chrome cover, sounds nice and full - almost like a humbucker. The bridge pickup, which is definitely louder, is nice and bright. Both pickups have good clarity and tonal range providing a wide variety of sounds just by adjusting the volume and tone controls. If you want that distinctive Telecaster sound, this guitar has definitely got it. Before I actually played this guitar through my amp, I was thinking of the possibility of replacing the pickups. Now I see no need to because I'm satisfied with the way the stock pickups sound.

The action on my Tele was playable right out of the box. The intonation and neck releif were set well. Pickup height required no adjustment. It was assembled very well with nicely made parts. The fret job was very well done. The paint on the body and chrome plating on the steel parts are flawless. The nut could have been notched and finished better but is useable as is. I will need to deepen the D string slot a little. The neck has no angle in relation to the body and that in combination with the type of bridge results in the bridge saddles being set lower than they should be. I will shim the neck at the heel so the bridge saddles can be raised slightly.

I think it will stay in one piece as long it is treated like a guitar.

I haven't dealt with Fender/Squier.

I've been playing for nearly thirty years off and on and have owned Fender Strats and various Gibsons. This is the first Tele I've ever had and I'm totally happy with it. If anything happened to it I would definitely get another. It is as nice or nicer than any genuine Fender I've ever played! I was thinking of using it as a platform to do a bunch of modifications on but now I'm just going to set it up real well and enjoy playing it. I got a Squier Strat a few months ago and it's the nicest Strat I've ever had as well. For less than the price of a genuine Fender I got a really nice Tele and a Strat from Squier! Bottom line: If you want a Telecaster but don't want to spend alot of dough, get a Squier Affinity!

All the features of the usual Tele, maple fretboard, alder body. Nothing to get excited about

It was my main guitar for about two years and then I bought a mex standard strat. When I compared the two the Tele seemed kinda dull and lifeless. It doesn't really have that twangy sound (atleast to my ears) I use it with my 68' Twin Reverb silverface. Sounds pretty good distorted, and with reverb.

When the guitar arrived, it was set up pretty well, action wasn't too high or anything. I switched out the .009's for 10's however and never ran into any problems. a few of the frets stuck out through the sides of the fretboard on the higher part of the neck, but if you're not really picky it shouldn't really bother you. The Affinity Squier comes with those cheap tuners you see on basically everything nowadays - mine stay in tune OK. I bought it from musicians friend as a scratch and dent (a dent and chip below the pickguard) with that arctic white color; which really isn't white at all, it's like a light yellow (yuck)

Yeah, this guitar would withstand live playing. It would probably take a few years before the hardware started going bad... I'm guessing saddles and tuners would go first. The strap buttons on mine have never loosened up in the years i've been playing it.

I've been playing for three years. I play blues,rock,surf. I own the Squier Tele, Mex. Fender Stratocaster, Epiphone Les Paul, Harmony Strat, Samick Acoustic, Yamaha 12 string acoustic, a 68' Fender Twin Reverb, a shitty Danelectro distortion pedal, and various knockoffs. I haven't had any regrets about this guitar except the color. If you're a beginner looking for a good electric to start on, then this might be the way to go.

i have not long bought an affinity squier strat,it is a limited edition blonde.
It was released in july 2002 and i am not sure if it is still made.
it has 3 single coil pickups with 2 tone controls and one master volume control,other features are a 5 position pickup switch and synchronous tremelo bridge.
it has 21 frets and the body id solid alder with a maple neck.the machine heads are standard die-cast tuners.
it has a 60's style headstock with a black scratch panel and had dot position inlays.
i havnt had it long enough to see what happens if it gets knocked about but it does have a polyurethane finish which is usually quite tough.
it came with no accessories but the shop assistent was feeling generous and gave me a gig bag and a handfull of plectrums.
all in all it is a good quality guitar for the money as you can spend the same money and get something that wants to cut your fingers and sounds like someone just stood on the cat.
if you are after a good all round cheap guitar this is the one to get

with the 5 positions you can get the sound you want for individuall songs.i play rythem on it and my son likes playing lead and it does both fine

i have found no rust flaws ect,it is still factory set up as i havnt had a fiddle with the bridge and pickups yet

i would be happy to play this quitar live and bt the feel of it it seems very solid so hopefully it would take the knocks,i think i would go and buy some higher quality feder strings first though as you get what you pay for

i have had bo dealings with fender

i have been playing for many years and have quite a few different makes of guitars and for the money this one is good,if it was stolen i would consider buying another one

my telecaster is a chinese telecaster made probably 2001 or 2000
its a 12 fret guitar with a rosewood fretboard all metal hardware no cheap plastic tuners 1 volume one tone knob typical tele stuff 3 way slector switch with lead and rhythm pickups the finish is black with a white pickguard standard tele bridge though it is top loading not string through body the neck is abit thinner than a strat neck very comfortable it gets 10 cause it c0mes with everything i normal telle does but except it has a top loading bridge

the guitar sounds awesome i have used it to play an array of musicial styles from ska punk reggae funk metal rock classical blues you name it ive pretty much played it on this guitar i ran it thru a ds-2 and a ce-3 the guitar handles the effects pretty well as good as a guitar with humbuckers does the tele has a bright sound not too bright but brighter than a strat some might think its to bright but if you much around with your amp you can get it how you want. It has the normal twang you expect from a telecaster i have used it to play reggae and funk songs and this guitar sounds wicked, the guitar can be noisy at times but you expect that with single coils. The guitar has a really great sounds as an example i was playing a gig with my mates and we had a strat copy a jackson with so seymour dunc's and a floydd rose in it and my mates stillw anted to use my guitars to play punk songs with they used it to play i want you bad and kryptonite the guitar is very good for palm muting cause of the bridge and cause you dont hit the middle pickup cause there isnt one. i play it thru my tubeworks td-762 amp sounds great on it.

The Guitar was setup alright when i got it but i had to tweak it abit to how i like it, the only problems i had with the guitar was when i bought it the tone knob was bent the nut had been glued on nad the tone knob didnt work in the lead position. The Paint work is a falw on the guitar it looks good but if you nock it hard enough which doesnt have to be very hard it chips and dings easily.8 cause of the paintwork

The guitar would withstand playin live but i have had some dramas i put 10 to 52's on it and while playing live i snaped a string at the saddle i put another one on and snapped the string below it. it was annoying but i had adjust the strings abit but its fine no no problems. The rest of the hardware on the guitar is goning to last its good quality i havent broken anything on my guitar and ive had it for a yr or so. the strap buttons on it seen to be alittle smaller then on a strat so the strat can fall off pretty easily nothing a few rubber bands on your strat or some strap locks cant fix. tnhe guitar wont breakdwon anytime soon. i would gig without out a backup ive already done it but you should take some strings with you. 8 againc ause of the paint work thats the only thing i think lets it down

i havent had to deal with the company so thats says abit i never had to get it repaired it didnt come with warranty when i bought it

Ive been playing for about 4 or 5 years, i own 3 strat copies ones in peices ones custom made by me the other has 2 humbuckers i also own 3 acoustics a ds-2 and ce-3 chorus tubeworks td-752 tube driver map and a drive cd-200 30 watt amp. If this was stolen id buy another one in a flash i really love this guitar its unique. I love the twang in the guitar which i used to to play everything from nirvana, stabbing westward,nin, mest, goldfinger,placebo,led zepplin,n.uf.a.n, reggae music. The only thing i hate well dislike is the paintwork it looks really good but it chips to easily, one thing i like is it works for heaps of styles of music. Ive compared it to a jackson 4 strat copies a fender bullet and i like this the best same with my mates. Anything i wish it had harder paint work that doesnt chip. I reccomend this guitar to some that wants a descent guitar that works well for lots you can play from nirvana to goldfinger with this thing and it works well for all them types of music

Fender Squier Affinity Tele, Chinese, Cream w/white pickguard, maple neck. In terms of "features", it's a Tele.

I modified the guitar as soon as I got it home by replacing the bridge pup with a Fender Lace (Red) Sensor. Therefore, I can only comment on the stock sound by comparing it to an Indonesian Squier I played in the store. The Affinity was thin and lacking in bass with the stock bridge pup. However, as I recall, it was very nice and twangy on the high end, though somewhat noisier than the Indonesian.

Set-up out of the box was perfect. The neck is wonderful! The easiest-playing neck of my 5 guitars. Saddles are lighter than the Indonesian, body thinner and less resonant. No string-thru design. However, that's where the bad news ends. The Indonesian rosewood necks were extremely variable in finish. I wanted white/blonde; the color of the Indo was a sickly yellow-brown, somewhere between diarrhea and vomit. The Affinity, OTOH, is really beautiful! And with the Lace Sensor, she sounds absolutely stunning! I can't describe to you the sheer playability of this guitar. I actually hate to put it down. She responds to every touch, with resonating, chiming subtleties that must be heard to be believed. I don?t care if the body is thinner, or if the saddles are lighter, or if the strings don?t go thru the body. How ever she does it, she does it right. I have never before sat down and played for four hours straight, feeling absolutely and wonderfully exhausted afterwards, not being able to wait to start again. I adore my Dean EVO SS, whose LP-like dual humbucker design is far richer with overtones and harmonics; and my Stagemaster w/3 Seymour pups + Floyd Rose, with its magnificent range of Duncan tones; but there is something unique about this guitar that just lets me get down to the music. It?s clean tone is to die for, and is not equaled or even approached by any of my other axes.
I have no trouble with the tuners. She stays in tune very well, considering the strings are new and still stretching.
I should add that, in addition to the Lace, I shielded the cavities with aluminum foil; which made the instrument much quieter. Further, in all fairness, the 3-way switch looks pretty crappy and could definitely use an upgrade. The pots are fine, though, and the cap looks like plastic rather than ceramic. The wiring is light, and perhaps one day I will rewire it. And the stock neck pup is decidedly inferior. However, these slight shortcomings must be viewed in light of its price, with was $160. Add $55 for the Lace, and I have an awesome instrument for $215. If I put a Lace in the neck, installed a new 3-way switch, and rewired it, I would be into it for another, oh, $75 max. And as far as I?m concerned, would be well worth the time and expense.

If you're worried that your friends will laugh at you for having a Squier, don't buy this guitar. If you aren't willing to put a few upgrades into it, think twice. Otherwise RUN down to your music store and check this baby out. Buy a Lace (or maybe a Duncan) pup, shield the cavities and replace the switch. The sit down and enjoy.

My Squier Affinity Tele is black with a white scratchplate and maple neck. It came in one of these Fender starter packs, which meant there was a 10w amp (which is surprisingly powerful) gig bag, strap, video blah blah blah included. I have a number of guitars and this one of my favourites even though it is considered a 'beginners' guitar. It has two single coil pickups, a 3 way pickup selector and volume and control knobs, black dot inlays. It is exactly the same as a Fender one except perhaps not quite as well constructed, or expensive!

It sounds pretty good in my opinion. The pickups produce a really nice tone. I favour the bridge pickup, but your playing style will determine this. There is lots of variety in sound and the guitar would suit any music style i reckon. I play mine through a 25w Marshall amp and a Zoom GFX707 effects station and the range in sounds is amazing.

Sometimes I use a capo too which is really cool 'cause when I have the bridge pickup set on it makes some really lovely sounds. It is well built and which always improves a guitars sound

When I recieved the guitar I was surprised at how well it was set up. I thought I would have to get the all that sorted out before I could start playing it, but all I had to really do was tune it so I was playing it more or less straight away. The finish was perfect - no dents or knocks. The neck fells great at the back too because it isn't painted or heavily finished. It still has that natural wood finish which I love.

The action was perfect. In fact I adjusted the action on my other guitars to match it. There were no badly fitted frets or anything like that. Great quality for the price.

Ive had the same strings on this guitar for ages (the ones it came with), everything has been reliable, no problems at all. It stays in tune very well and is still lovely to play. No noeck warpage or anything like that. Very dependable

I got it from Great Universal, the home catalogue company (who I doubt know much about guitars). Kind of fortunate really that I've had no problems with it.

I love this guitar. Its dependable, looks nice and sounds good too. It is much better than any other of my guitars and I sincerely reccomend it to anyone who wants a great guitar for not much money!

I got my tele when trading in an Epiphone Flying V and saying that I wanted to have a telecaster, the guy said "pick one, no extra charge." So I tried a whole bunch of them until I grabbed one that just felt right, one that felt like I had been owning it for years.
My tele is a Chinese made affinity series telecaster in black probably made in the late nineties since it had a thicker body than the others, through body stringing and a rosewood fingerboard. It came with the standard Telecaster set up of two single coils and passive electronics. As soon as I got it home though I began modifying it, the first to go were the tuners, the original ones were okay but I prefer Gotoh tuners on all my guitars because of their stability. Second to go were the pickups as I replaced them with a seymore Duncan "Little '59" in the bridge and a Dimarzio Red velvet in the neck position. This worked fine but the neck pickup and the mixed setting sounded too weak so I got out my router, widened the hole and put in a humbucker coming from a Gibson Les Paul Custom in it and thus balanced it out more evenly.

Because of my modifications, my tele sounds a lot fatter than most teles do. The Duncan really makes it rock, when using a distortion it sounds really good, it doesn't go muddy like with a les paul. When played clean my tele sounds like a tele, which surprised me concerning the mods I did. It does sound a little less brittle and much warmer but still like a Fender. The tele became my main stage guitar and I have bought (and quickly sold on) other teles as spares but none of them can match this. My one complaint is the weight, the older affinity teles are very weighty.

As I said before I did all the mods and ajustments myself so I don't think I can remeber how it originally was, I love using heavy strings 011-056 as a minimum and the neck took no ajustments to cope with that. My only complaint is the weight, it's heavier than my les paul but due to the sound and how it plays it stays the first guitar i pick up when I want to play.

I used this guitar live from the first day I got it, I took it out instead of my usual stage guitar (a red 1989 Squier Stratocaster)and played it the whole gig through. at the next gig I left my Strat at home. I replaced the old strap buttons with Schaller strap locks (again a mod I do with all my guitars) so there's no danger of my guitar coming loose from the strap. I tried buying telecasters to use as back ups but so far I haven't succeeded in finding one that's equally fit to dub in for it. (I even had a 1983 Tokai strat copy, amazing guitar, but I sold it again because I couldn't get it to sound right.) I would be really bummed out if somebody took it away from me.

Considering the mods I made, it probably wouldn't worth a dime right now but hey, I love it.

My current guitar line up includes the previously mentioned 1989 Squier strat (my baby), a self built mini flying V with Telecaster pickups (I am a luthier and I love my job!) used as a backup but due to it's too bright sound not for long, a heavily modified Peavey T 15 guitar and a self made Nylon string solid body. My amps are a peavey VT series tube head (the "Mace" the same amp Dave Davis uses) with a marshall cab, for smaller gigs I use my recently acquired Hughes and Kettner Attaxx Club 65 combo (great amp.)

The setup is fairly standard, although without a reverb tray. Intonation and action is easy to adjust via the bridge. The 3-way selector switch feels sturdy, as do the tone and volume controls. In fact, the whole unit feels very well put together. I've found with Squire, that you could have three guitars of the same model in a shop, and they'd all feel and play differently. I've found Squire strats and teles that feel better than Fender's own, but it's the luck of the draw, and to some extent, personal taste.

The affinity tele I picked up had a great low action and playable, 'friendly' feel. There was no fret buzz, despite the low action, although the nut is a little shallow and vigorous playing will cause strings to jump out of the nut.

The only other complaint I would have, is that there is little or no sustain. This is no doubt due to the thin body and cheaper electronics, and for the money you can't complain. All round, after a week of playing it, I find the affinity tele a great buy. How it will age is another thing, and I would have actually prefered to get a standard fat tele, if only for the neck humbucker for a greater tonal range.

The guitar stays in tune very well. I had an Ibanez and a Gretsch which were more expensive than the tele, but would not stay in tune half as well. The only problem is the G string, which is common to most guitars, it seems, and that doens't go out much or often.

The maple neck is very nice to play, compared to a rosewood neck, but again that's personal preference. Overall I'd rate it five out of five for the price - the most importnat thing is that I enjoy playing it completely!

it's a chinese tele, don't know when it was produced. 21 frets, 3-way selector, volume and tone control, 2 single coils of the cheapest nature, maple neck, don't know what the b/w body is made of, the finish is flawless so far (got it one week now), the pickguard is of cheap plastic and you already see traces of strumming. non locking brass tuners, brass bridge.

i play different styles, mainly punk/rock but also folk and jazz as far as my ability allows me. i mostly play at home with my pod II with headphones and directly plug it into a four track recorder. i also use a cheap no name 10w amp, i own an old acoustic 50w but can't use it at home for my neighbours would lynch me. i shall change the pick ups for sure, for they are rather thin sounding and tend to be noisy. in general the guitar features that twangy sound i was looking for - it's my fourth guitar, my main axes are a fender mex fat strat and a ibanez rg470. the tele sounds well when it is played clean or with some overdrive, with the new pick ups (i think of texas specials or dimarzio) it should be even better.

i got it via ebay from a shop in germany - it's setup was surprisingly good! i have tried out dozens of fender teles earlier this years and believe it or not, i didn't like them as much as this one (that's why i bought the strat then). the action is great, neck is very easy to play (i started playing with cheap guitars 25 years ago, i know what it means to play on a shitty set up guitar) it stays perfectly in tune though i bend a lot, no string buzzing, selector and volume knobs work fine, haven't detected any flaws so far except for that mainly cheap materials were used for it - but who complains about that at this price? for this price it's perfect.

i have played it for hours and it worked fine, it seems dependable but what do i know after one week. wouldn't gig with it without a backup though, but even good guitars can have problems at the wrong moment so i'd always have a backup guitar anyway.

as mentioned i got it through ebay so i have no warranty though it's a new one.

i play electric for 25 years now. started on a framus strat copy that i gave to a friend, then for a long time on a ibanez pf200 that i still own. aside from that i have a fender mexican stratocaster and a ibanez rg470.
i am very satisfied with this guitar considered the price (don't be fooled that it's higher than in US, instruments are more expensive here, it's about the cheapest price you get a new guitar for). i was looking for a cheap tele because i wanted that sound and i got it, simply and plain. it's an incredible good guitar for that price, i love to play it!