Fender Squier Affinity Telecaster - The Perfect 1st Guitar???
Well, HELLO AGAIN!!!
Decided to start up again; it's great to be back reviewing cheap but not "cheap" guitars again, and I can't think of a more perfect guitar to start with than my Fender Squier Affinity Telecaster. Got this one quite a few years back from Sam Ash; think it cost about $179 out the door. I wasn't even supposed to be buying a guitar that day; I only went to Sam Ash with my buddy Mark because he wanted to get a nice electric guitar rig. Well, he ended with a nice ESP and a Roland Cube 30; while I was waiting around, I saw this Squier Tele hanging and started noodling around with it (unplugged). I was really surprised how well it played, given the price. It did have a couple of unfinished frets, however. this emboldened me to walk up to the counter and point this out to the manager, asking if he would be willing to shave a few bucks off of the guitar. He agreed to eat the tax; win-win. I took the deal. How's It Look?
This Tele looks, well, like a Tele - Tele-shaped Butterscotch blonde body with the cliassic black pickguard, maple neck, that unmistakable Tele headstock. It sports the two single coil pickups (the neck one with the "lipstick" cover). Although it doesn't have the full "ashtray" bridge cover and has a 6-saddle bridge as opposed to the traditional 3-saddle bridge on the Fender American Telecasters, it still has most of the other classic Tele accents and aesthetics. It also seems to weigh slightly less than an a Fender Tele, in my opinion.How's It Play?
Once I got the guitar all set up, it was (and continues to be!) a joy to play. It's an everyday driver that lives in a stand; it's always tuned up and ready to go. I love the slim neck, that classic Tele "twang" and the lighter weight (than the LP copies and other guitars I have). Given the build quality for the price, I think that this is a great first "real" instrument for students and beginners. It does not play or sound like a toy; this is a real guitar. I use it to play some surf, but mostly blues stuff. It's great for rhythm playing too. Another thing; this thing stays in tune, no matter what I put it through (keep reading). I think I would gig with it, but I would definitely have a backup, because of the unique sound; it's simply not made to play everything and I don't like to use a lot of pedals or audio signal processing.
Gotta tell ya though, there were several frets up the neck (4,5,7) that were actually sticking out underneath down by the high "e" string. I had to file 'em down; they were actually cutting my hand. I went to Youtube and viewed several videos on how to do this; it worked out well once I got the right tools to file them down, taking great care not to damage the finish on the bottom of the neck.
Fender vs. Squier
OK, OK, herewego...
There are several distinct and disparate camps on this one:
- The first camp is made up of Fender "purists" who will only choose the American Telecasters and sort of look down on the MIM (Made In Mexico) Fender instruments.
- The second group of folks stoutly defend the MIM Teles but look at the Squier brand as somewhat of a lesser option (this was where I pitched my tent for a lot of years).
- Then you have the folks who love the Squier line for its economy, as well as the decent, "good-enough" build quality of these instruments.
Well, everyone is right and wrong on this one. While there may indeed be some significant differences in quality, workmanship, sound quality, I am now of the opinion that if set up properly, even the least of these instruments is playable and enjoyable. If Squier is lowering the barrier-to-entry for folks wanting to start making music, then all the better - everybody's welcome; pick-up-your-guitar-and-play!
Self-Inflicted Wounds
Of course, I had to relate my self-inflicted damage story on this one - this one was all me. I was playing one night, not paying attention to the fact the strap was a little loose on the rear strap button. You know the rest... well... maybe you didn't know about my wanting to swing the guitar all the way around me and catch it. (Kids, don't EVER try to do this without straplocks. In fact, just don't do this. it's dumb.) As soon as the guitar got vertical in front of me the rear strap button let go and it hit the ground with huge CRAAAACK!!! When I picked it up, there a big crack in the veneer on the top rear corner of the guitar. At that point I decided that she was going to be with me for life, so I put a bandage on the wound with some clear packing tape and called it a night (out of beer anyways). The next morning, I looked at my handiwork and decided to leave it as is. Now my guitar has some character as well as a story that it can tell its grandkids.
