Squier Affinity Tele SH FMT CRT

La chitarra ha un'ottima ergonomia grazie al belly carves, è leggera perchè il body è anche un pò più sottile, la tastiera è rifinita bene e non sporca le dita. Dal vivo è più bella che in foto. I pickup non sono eccezionali, ma comunque decenti. La cosa che mi stupisce ed infastidisce di più è il pot del volume che si trova 1 centimetro più avanti rispetto al solito, di fatto impedendo di spostare agevolmente la leva che comanda i pickup. In pratica quando si è al ponte non si riesce a passare velocemente alle altre posizioni perchè il pot del volume lo impedisce. Per me è una chitarra da 5 stelle se avesse i pickup leggermente migliori e se avesse il potenziometro del volume al posto giusto. Ora dovrò comprare un'altra piastra con i fori giusti.

I bought this Squier Affinity FMT assuming that the specs for the exact same model would be identical everywhere. Huge mistake. There are Indonesian batches out there (with a proper neck profile and a skunk stripe on the back) and Chinese batches (the one I received). The neck on this specific unit is awful: flat, cheap-feeling, and indistinguishable from a £99 budget brand guitar.Unfortunately, I made the mistake of disassembling the guitar immediately to start a modding project. I only realised how bad the neck felt once it was already apart, which voided my right to return it. If I had noticed it beforehand, I would have sent it back instantly, asked for a refund, and bought it elsewhere—even if it meant paying a bit more to secure a better-built batch.Verdict: When it comes to budget guitars, the best choice is always to buy them in a physical shop where you can actually feel them. If you do buy online, inspect the neck thoroughly before touching a single screw!

First thoughts were yes this is a nice looking guitar but before taking a closer look I did plug in just to make sure it worked, it did, so a quick tune up. It was quick as it was very nearly in tune, just a few tweaks and job done but I noticed whilst tuning the humbucker was out of line, slanted in its slot, a large gap at the bottom and flush at the top. Not good I thought, I now started to cast a more critical eye on it as a whole.

Tuning was very much fine, the tuners were doing a good job, the nut looked well cut and the frets were fine, no issues so far then. The action was very low and I noticed the saddles were very much on parade, very regimented, this needed sorting and also the intonation, although as it stood that was not far out but once saddle height was adjusted and the action sorted so to was the intonation so I was getting somewhere but the mis-alligned humbucker was really annoying me.

I loosened the strings and removed the scratchplate to see if the wiring was a bit too short and pulling it out of line, it was short but not enough to cause that, it did look though that the screw holes were a bit out on the one side. I replaced it tuned back up intending to readdress it later.

The neck was slim and easy to get around on, a very nice feel to it, the binding on the body was more cream coloured than white but the bodies finish was very nice indeed, faultless.
The bridge pickup was indeed pure Tele, the neck had nice depth to it and combined a very pleasant sound, all in all played clean with a touch of delay we had a very pleasing experience.

The humbucker though plagued me so having a spare scratch plate I decided to change it as nothing I had tried aligned the pickup correctly. I removed the strings, the pickup and scratchplate, reassembled and a perfect result. I restrung it with pure nickel strings and not only had I a good looking guitar but an even better sounding one and before I forget the weight is nice and light and the body shaping an excellent addition.

Summing up, yes I was a bit disappointed with the pickup alignment but that was solved with the mint green one I used but it in the end even without a skunk stripe it is a guitar I am more than happy with.