Saddles in Video:

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Size 10.5 mm


I picked up a Fender Squier Affinity Telecaster in Blonde with a black pickguard. I know – you are surprised. It was an open box and I got it for $180. When it was delivered, and I took it out of the box I found it was a brand-new guitar and a good deal for what I paid for it.

Here are some initial observations. I own another Squier Affinity Telecaster and I have to say that this specific guitar is a much higher quality guitar than my other Affinity Telecaster. The tuners are much better and are a lot smoother. Not something I think needs to be upgraded at all. Especially with the split shafts – which I prefer anyways. The neck has a solid feeling Maple, 25.5-inch scale length, C shaped neck with a 9.5-inch radius, and 21 frets. It feels just like most modern fender necks I play and feel comfortable with. The neck’s Satin Urethane finish feels good to the touch. One note is that the headstock is finished in a Gloss finish and not satin like the rest of the neck. The only negative I can say regarding the neck is that it sorely needs to have the frets worked on, especially on the edges of the fret board. They feel rough as I run my fingers across the edge of the fretboard.

The body is made of poplar and is Blonde but a little off in color from what I am used to on my other Blonde Telecaster guitars. The body has a Gloss Polyurethane finish. The back of the guitar has a belly cut and the overall weight of this guitar is 7 lbs and 3 oz which is on the light side for a Telecaster.

The three-selector switch has a feel as you move through the positions that is VERY different from a standard Telecaster, but it is very serviceable – more of a click and not the smooth progression through positions. The three positions are as follows:

Position 1. Is the Bridge Pickup
Position 2 or the middle position is Both the Bridge and Neck Pickups
Position 3 is the neck pickup.

The knobs and layout are traditional Telecaster.

The two pickups are ceramic single coils and the two pot controls are Master Volume and Master Tone.

I put the Affinity on the bench and changed the strings to a set of Ernie Ball Regular Slinky guitar strings in 10 through 46 gauges. I put the capo on the first fret and depressed the 17th fret where the neck first joins the body when I put the feeler gauge in at the 8th fret, I found I could not slide the feeler gauge in without pushing on the low e string. After I adjusted the truss rod and then remeasured, I moved onto measuring and adjusting string height. I could tell by looking at the height of the saddles that the action was extremely high and needed to be adjusted lower for my tastes.
Oddly enough intonation was spot on and did not require adjustment.

If you are a beginning guitar player, you really need to either take the guitar into a qualified tech and have an initial setup done with the strings you choose or learn how to do it yourself. This guitar out of the box would be difficult to play because of the string height and you would experience a lot of string buzz due to the absence of proper neck relief. You can take an inexpensive instrument like the Squier Affinity Series of guitars and when setup properly they feel as great to play as most high-end guitars. That is something it took me a long time to realize, and I am grateful to the work I have done in the videos on this channel because it has really opened my eyes to low-cost guitars and how serviceable they are. I used to be a brand name snob and I have to say that working on lower priced guitars in the past year have really changed my mind. I was reading an article the other day about music stars that play Squiers on tour. That really should say something to you. These folks could play anything they wanted in most cases, and they choose to place a Fender Squier instead.

The real test is when you plug a guitar into an amp and the sound that is produced. I am continually amazed at how the Squiers sound. I don’t know if any of you have your deserted island list of guitars like I do. Mine is a rough list that answers the question – if I had to sell all my guitars except for five (or a few) – what would be left. Lately I have been thinking at least one of them would be my Squier Classic Vibe 50s Telecaster made in China. I love that thing.



I purchased Dopro Solid Brass Guitar Bridge Saddles Brass Saddle 10.5mm for Stratocaster or Telecaster on Amazon for $20.99.

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