Squier by Fender Affinity Telecaster, Butterscotch Blonde
- Squier's Affinity Series provides the best value in instrument design available today, and is the perfect choice for the aspiring musician
- Two Single-Coil Telecaster pickups envoke the iconic tone of the original solid-body electric guitar
- The Top-load Telecaster bridge makes changing strings a breeze & provides optimal tuning stability
- The modern "C" shaped neck provides universal comfort for any style of playing
- All Squier instruments are designed by Fender and contain the crucial "DNA" that makes Fender instruments so iconic
- Number of Frets: 21
Raptor Cat
An amazing, solidly built, inexpensive Telecaster from Squier by Fender. Plays wonderfully right out of the box.
For an inexpensive guitar, this Squier Affinity Telecaster is simply amazing. It played wonderfully right out of the box. It is solidly built and crafted. Great "Racing Green" finish. The hardware on the guitar and the set-up was fabulous. I ran it through several amps and configurations and it sounded and performed sweetly. I also want to applaud Amazon for not only having this guitar in stock, but for the flawless fulfillment and delivery of both this Squier Affinity Telecaster and the accompanying Orange CRUSH12 | 12Watt Guitar Amp Combo that I also ordered. I compared shopped on no less than three additional "Music/Guitar" retailer competitor sites, and there was problem with each of them, from listing something that was no longer available to long wait, availability and delivery times. I went to Amazon, found it, found the amp, after a few click it was on it's way. I ordered it on a Monday and was playing it on Thursday. Fender has put out a quality Telecaster through its Squier line. Fantastic!
Maxine Robinson
Steal a Telecaster without risking your freedom!
I've been playing this Affinity for over a month now and I have been very impressed! The beautiful Butterscotch finish, although a little thick, is smooth and shiny with a translucent quality. What a beauty! The grain of the wood is gorgeous and the two pieces used in construction of the body is barley perceptible. The neck on my example is straight and true, with fast action and nice smooth frets with no burrs or sharp edges. The machine heads have a quality feel to them and have no trouble keeping things in tune. On looks and build quality alone this axe is a winner! The chrome plating on both the bridge and control plate is seemingly a liitle thin and slightly wavy, surely a product of cost cutting. The tone knob, like others have stated, is more all or nothing with incremental adjustments doing little to change the tone, but it does work at both ends of the spectrum. The knobs feel chunky and smooth. I've found no problems with the switch, although it does seem "slightly" flimsy. Those players who don't slam the switch should be happy and not experience any failure. The pickups hum under the usual circumstances, sound a tad weak,but pack plenty of that Tele sound. For the money you really cant complain and Im sure shielding the wires would solve some of the hum. You have to remind yourself that it costs under 200 dollars! Weak points are few and aren't necessarily deal breakers. The input jack isn't the usual recessed Fender unit and the bridge isn't a string-through-body like a true Telecaster, but those minor quibbles disappear when you strap the guitar on. But how does it play? Its got as much Tele sound as you could hope for for the price. The slightly thinner Affinity body feels light, the neck plays wonderfully although the slightly tighter string spacing at the nut demands fat fingered players to place their tips exactly on point. As delivered, the stings needed adjustment and a set up session but that's all. All in all, a great instument made amazing by its low price. If your on the fence, jump over to the Squire camp!
Rosemarie Noquera Lim
Very happy!
I’ve been playing guitar for over 25 years, I’ve owned many guitars, and I am a working musician. I currently play in an all original rock band. I have wanted a Tele for quite a while, to round out my tonal options, but I just couldn’t justify it over other needs. I unfortunately, had not considered a Squier before, because of industry bias, until I picked one up at a local guitar store just to mess around with it, only to realize tue bias is flat wrong. On top of that, I just couldn’t pass up this price. Now, don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t the perfect top end tele out of the box. I had to do some setup to suit my play style, and I will definitely upgrade some of the hardware, and electronics along the way. However, it will still have cost me less than buying one of the higher end Fenders after I am done. On that note, I will say I have not seen a single manufacturing flaw. Squier has done a wonderful job of making a low cost Tele. Fender really should be proud of their Indonesian brand. The body, and neck are spot on.
Lyka Habal Belisario
Amazing guitar for the $$$
This guitar is such a good deal. I was shocked at the quality of this tele, the tone is awesome the guitar looks great and doesn't feel cheap at all. I was going to buy this guitar to mod but i don't think I'm going to if it didn't say squire on the head stock i really don't think you would know this was a squire. Seems like they are stepping up their game. The frets are even perfect, they don't stick out at all and rounded off i couldn't believe it! THE ONLY ISSUE I HAVE is there were two small nicks and a scratch on the body. I polished it up and you can't really tell, not going to bother sending it back but thats just the chance you take purchasing a guitar online. The neck is super smooth as well....overall i definitly recommend getting for a beginner or advanced!
Amanda Hudson
Great guitar
This is a great guitar. It arrived with set-up work to be done to the intonation. The fret ends were a little rough. I used fine steel wool on them and on the fret board. Then I treated it with guitar honey(fret treatment). I set the truss rod and the pickup height. I reversed the volume /tone plate so that the 3-way switch would be on the right side. I installed a .001uf capacitor and a150k 1/4 watt resistor to the volume pot for better fidelity and a .047 orange capacitor to the tone pot. The result, a great playing and sounding guitar!
Chloey Amber-rose Ella-Grace
"Great Little Guitars For Little Money And For Any Level Player Really"
It came with a white pickguard which I switched put to black because I thought it would look killer and sure enough,,,, I think it does!....Looks great with the stock white one as well but for under ten dollars it Looks pretty cool! These guitars have no tremelo system so that is key for staying in tune and the machines are very competent as well.. The neck is perfect as well as the frets...These are just really great little guitars for the money and for any level player...Not to mention they are great for modding as well....I personally like it the way it is....After I did just a little simple tweaking along with a string change, the guitar looks, plays, and sounds great with no issues.......I did do a review on the pickguard that I bought ad well and how it fits the Squire Affinity perfectly!..And for Under ten dollars! That was the only mod that I did...switched out the white pickguard to the black one as you can see in the picture!
Beth Conklin
The Best Value in Electric Guitar Design
I'm a long time player (since 1970). I've played expensive giutars that fell flat on their face and inexpensive guitars that blew me away (1972 Electra Workingman!!!). I am not a buyer of "names" rather I buy on what feels right, plays well and sounds great! First off, out of the box, it was very playable and the neck and frets were dressed very close to American standard. I thought I would scotch bright the neck but seriously think with about 2 hours of playing I won't need to. I also noticed a good deal of residual wax on the bridge pick up. These were pre potted so again, something I won't have to do. It has a graphtech nut which would be an upgrade I would do. The finish...I wanted to do a relic job but wow... I'm not going to mess with butterscotch blonde this pretty. So...the pick guard.. standard black appropriate for color but I have to change SOMETHING on this guitar, thus I went tortoise shell. I find nothing wrong with the Chinese saddles but in order to match the nut I'm swapping them for graphtech string savers. A new set of 10s a tweet of the neck wait a week another tweek of the neck and I'm done. So on to the tone. I've had a couple different standard teles, g&l asat deluxe and a few FINE EXAMPLES of old G&L SC2 (hard tail versions) to compare. Blind taste test tells me that quite literally for pennies on the dollar, I've got 95% of the best American standard. I don't have money to waste but this experiment paid off. If I tinted the neck with gun oil, soaked the neck decals off, replaced with a stock fender decal ( or leave it blank), change the neckplate on back and hope they don't notice it's top loaded, only a rare few guitar guys would be able to determine it's a squire Affinity. The tone is amazing, it's bright and womanly vocal on the neck and middle position. The bridge is deep, rich and can cut through the mix. And remember I didn't change anything critical...just cosmetic ( for my taste). The tuners will take time to tell...they are fine now so I have no worries about the future. The fact that While Gibson is bankrupt, putting out substandard and inconsistent products FENDER can put this out for this price is amazing. I'm sure many many guitar guys my age are going to snob this, but those of us who are impressed by quality over a name will love this guitar. Any of my students wanting to upgrade to electric already know that I will set them up with one just like mine and their parents will be happy with the cost savings. Highly recommend this for vintage players like me and young players alike!
Mahnoor Hunjra
Excellent Beginner Guitar
I was unsure what guitar to get as my first electric lefty. This guitar was not my first pick. I had a larger budget and was eying up much more expensive guitars but has a hard time justifying the cost. In the end, I chose this guitar based on its simplicity and value. I bought a few luthier tools (fret leveler, action gauge, notched straight edge) thinking I may have to work on the guitar a bit to get it to play like more expensive models. Since I had the tools on hand, I checked everything out as soon as I unboxed the guitar. It turns out I didn't need to make any adjustments. The neck was straight, the frets were leveled, and the action was good. The only thing I had to do was lightly sand the edges of the frets to make them smooth. I've been using this guitar for a few months now and my opinion of it hasn't changed. I highly recommend this guitar if you are a beginner.
Richie Embry
Loving the Squier
First some personal background, I have been playing guitar for over 40 years. I have owned every major make and model you can imagine. Even so I have always been a Fender guy. I own quite a collection of Gretsch's, Fenders, Hagstrums and Schecters. But I am aging. I still play but I no longer need to lug around A car load of guitars and amps. So I have begun to lighten the load. I wanted to find an instrument that I could pull out and play without worrying about much fuss. On a whim I decided on this little Tele. I got the Butterscotch Blonde.All I can say is I am stunned by the quality of appearance, sound and feel. After a minor tweak to the intonation this Tele was ready to play. Great action out of the box. This may be a beginners guitar but I am as excited about playing her as I was about my first instrument. Fender has outdone themselves again. I love this little Squier, I recommend this guitar to anyone and everyone that loves to play and have fun doing it.
John Wright
my beautiful butterscotch blond
I have owned a few guitars but I am not a pro - never made a dime playing or writing Amazon reviews. Introduction: String spacing at the upper neck of the guitar has a dramatic effect on on fretting effort and overall play-ability. I address that critical parameter in this review along with pickup observations and a couple of tips. Acoustic has always been my default guitar type due to my long, thick fingers and a preference for simplicity. The old nylon strung classical in my garage made music in three seconds - no cords, amps, electric power. A while back, a buddy left his American Tele and a Yamaha modeling practice amp with me for a weekend. The amp had old tube simulations and effects that were interesting and when I plugged his Tele into that thing, with a touch of slapback delay - Johnny and Luther (Perkins) smiled. I had to have a Telecaster. In my hands, the American Telecaster felt more comfortable than my Squire. Pay no heed to the gentle folks who insist blindfolded experts cannot tell the difference. The USA version is heavier, has an adult nut width and upgraded hardware under the hood. To my ears, the sound of both guitars is very similar. If you have the money, buy the USA version and keep the Fender plant in California humming. If you cannot justify a mortgage payment for a guitar, read on. The review: My guitar was assembled in Indonesia. I examined it with a hand magnifier for defects and found good quality control. The body was formed by splicing four pieces of wood together but I could only see one subtle wood joint without the magnifier. Set-up and intonation were good out of the box. Wood grain is visible through the poly finish and the overall impression with the chrome knobs/trim and maple neck is beyond stunning. One of the critical guitar parameters for folks with wide fingers (me) is the upper string spacing on the fret board. Narrow nut width can limit string spacing. Some folks argue that narrow spacing simply requires better finger placement and technique but there is definitely a lower end where things get too tight to play comfortably. The following measurements were made with a digital caliper: Indonesian Telecaster: 41.9mm (my guitar) American Telecaster: 42.8mm (borrowed guitar) Chinese Stratocaster: 39.8mm (2005 Chinese Affinity Stratocaster) Again, string spacing and fretting accuracy are individual specific preferences but I simply cannot comfortably play the Chinese Stratocaster. The Indonesian Tele is fine and the American Tele is positively spacious (a good thing). I know that two millimeters difference seems insignificant between the Chinese and Indonesian guitars but to me, it spells the difference between a guitar that gets played daily and one that sits in the case. The bridge single pickup on this guitar absolutely exhibits that "Tele Twang" and the other is balanced and perfectly serviceable. Personally, I find the discussion of pickup preferences a bit amusing. The vibration characteristics of a metal string will not differ appreciably from one solid body guitar to the another. The metal string vibration within the magnetic field of the pickup and subsequent induction of voltage in the coil windings of the pickup will not be affected by the type of wood or other non ferrous components of the guitar. The bridge pick-up on the Telecaster is surrounded by metal and that absolutely impacts the magnetic field and induced currents in the windings creating that "Tele sound" On the non-electric side of the road, acoustic guitars employ piezo or microphone transducers that are affected by guitar cavity size, internal bracing structures and other physical factors that can and do affect the resulting sound. The pick-ups on this guitar are designed for the distinctive Telecaster sound. Don't let the cork sniffers persuade you to change them to higher priced alternatives. With a good effects amp, they will take you as high as your skill level goes. Recommendation: Put a touch of tri-flow in the nut string slots (helps hold tune), wind some flat-wound strings into her, and remember, practice makes permanent.