[bluebayou]

Through a series of events, I ended up purchasing a left handed Affinity strat. Plays pretty good. However, to get the best sound I can, I am looking at upgrades I can do. Pups I will address in detail later - however, chime in if you wish. The first upgrade I had in mind was the tone block. I have seen the FU-Tone stuff on their website and the reasoning to upgrade to brass seems pretty logical. Then the bridge. Not sure where to go on this. Is it necessay?? Saddles?? Tuners seem pretty good but a bit loose. For tuners I thinkm I could upgrade to left hand locking tuners pretty easily. The good Fender ones.
Any ideas and suggestions gratefully received.

 

[knight_yyz]

Be careful what you buy. Trem blocks are different sizes between models. String spacing is also a bit different between asian and american pickups

 

[cboutilier]

Be careful what you buy. Trem blocks are different sizes between models. String spacing is also a bit different between asian and american pickups

And Affinities don't always follow typical fender spec for parts. I'm not real familiar with the Strats, but the Teles are oddballs. Weird bridges, thinner bodies, etc.

 

[knight_yyz]

^^ Exactly right. The squier affinity is very thin, a standard tremolo block would stick out the back.

 

[JBFairthorne]

I'm not sure I would spend any money on an affinity. I would sell it and put the money I would have spent on upgrades into a better platform for mods such as a MiM or at least a CV.

 

[Tone Chaser]

Years ago I picked up an Indonesian Affinity, from a pawnshop,that needed TLC.
By the time I went over everything, set it up, I was shocked at how well it sounded, and how well it played.

Basically, I learned a lot. It was a tough sell locally to get a $100 bill out of it.

My experience was, it needed a good set up. That’s it. Pick up a MIM, or player grade American. Take your time, there are deals to be had.

 

[Ronbeast]

I’m usually a hardcore modder by nature, but I gotta side with everyone else on this one and recommend saving the mods for another beast.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with the affinity series, it’s just that there’s nothing really that special about them either and loading one with high performance parts will not necessarily make it a high performance guitar. You’ll quickly realize that for the price these mods will cost you, you could’ve bought a higher end guitar.

I have a Squier Standard series strat that I’ve modded extensively, but it has sentimental value to me and it’s a guitar that I will never sell; thus, I made it more to my liking.

 

[Kerry Brown]

With a decent setup they are good players as they are. If you're looking for one to mod the Affinity is probably not the way to go. Pickups are easy standard pick guards and or pickups and electronics usually fit but you may have to drill a couple of new screw holes. Some switches are slightly too deep and hit the bottom of the route but a few swipes with a chisel will fix that. Tuners are a little harder. You have to be careful that what you buy will fit. You will almost certainly have to drill a few screw holes and possibly ream out the barrel hole. Bridge parts are hardest. Nothing fits properly. You have to buy specialized parts that fit or modify the parts and/or the guitar.

 

[sulphur]

It seems that they've already bought the guitar.

You'll want to replace the electronics while you upgrade the pickups.
New pots, switch and jack, get some cloth wiring too while you're at it.

NextGen is a good source for parts, I've placed a couple of orders and have been pleased all round.
I think that they may be local to you too. Sorry if you're already aware of this info.
Canada's #1 Parts Source For DIY Musicians - Next Gen Musical Ltd.

It may be a good experience to work on if it's your first venture into modding.
Good luck on the project!

 

[JBFairthorne]

Just because he already bought the guitar doesn't mean he should sink more $ into it. Jus' sayin'....

 

[cboutilier]

If it were me: tuners, nut, pickups, wiring, jack, saddles. Deal with the block and bridge later if needed.

 

[cheezyridr]

i had one, it was a pretty good guitar...for what it is. i would not recommend spending money on it. when you're modding stuff, you want to get the most for your money. the affinity is not the platform to deliver that. it's a usable guitar, that will put up with more abuse than it deserves. but most of the good parts that fit fender stuff won't fit the affinity series. play it the way it is for a while, save your money for a better platform to mod. if you spend time collecting the parts, you have a decent playable guitar to play now, until you can build a guitar more suitable to your efforts

 

[Tone Chaser]

As Cheesy said, pretty good guitar for what it is, that can stand up to abuse.

 

[GTmaker]

my take on this " is is worth fixing/upgrading " thing is this.
It all comes down to the neck of the guitar....
its is straight?
Is it perfect ( or close to it) in your preference of thickness and width ?

Once you have "the" neck you like, everything else is fair game for upgrades.
Once upgraded and the neck was good for you, your guitar will be playable.

If the neck has problems, no amount of upgrades will ever resolve those issues and your guitar will never feel right.

G.

 

[greco]

This is a bit like putting a $100.00 saddle on a $10.00 horse.
You really gotta be in love with that horse to do it!

 

[Roryfan]

I once took one as a “mercy trade” & would recommend spending zero more dollars on it. If already you have parts on hand & want to work on your luthiery skills, have at ‘er. Otherwise you’re just throwing good money after bad.

The frets are crap & won’t hold up (do you really want to spend $300 on a $100 guitar?). Besides being thinner, the body is likely made from scraps (butcher block) with a veneer or some type of laminate.

Enjoy it for what it is or give it to a kid that wants to learn to play guitar.

 

[Roryfan]

This is a bit like putting a $100.00 saddle on a $10.00 horse.
You really gotta be in love with that horse to do it!

Speaking of $10 horses.......

“You sold me a blind horse!!!!!!”

“But I tell you hesa no look so good.”

 

[bluebayou]

Wow!! Thank you everyone. I had an idea that the block might be a different size but not all the other stuff, bridge, tuners, etc. So, it is decided then to just leave it be and later shoot for a better model. Thanks so much for the advice.
As for the horse - well. Any transaction with the Marx’s should be suspect.

 

[Ronbeast]

Wow!! Thank you everyone. I had an idea that the block might be a different size but not all the other stuff, bridge, tuners, etc. So, it is decided then to just leave it be and later shoot for a better model. Thanks so much for the advice.
As for the horse - well. Any transaction with the Marx’s should be suspect.

The mismatched sizing of parts can get pretty annoying with these squiers; my Standard is the same: thinner body, odd sized hardware. It’s a great guitar, but took lots of work to make most things fit. I’ve got about $200 into this guitar.

The upgrades I did to mine: Roller string tree, graphtech nut, graphtech saddles, a set of ‘89 American Standard pickups I got here for cheap, and a GFS brass block for the bridge; the block lined up with the holes on the stock bridge plate, but I had to mill the block a 1/4” shorter to clear the back plate.

I’ve got a set of used Gotoh tuners that I picked up cheap because of a scuff in the paint, and I’ve been meaning to swap the switch for a higher quality one. So, obviously it’s possible to upgrade these beasts, but it can lead to a lot of headaches and unless you love the guitar, I would just play it as is. If there’s one upgrade I recommend 100% it’s the graphtech nut; they’re about $10 and if properly filed will help alleviate tuning issues caused by strings binding at the nut. I consider that a worthwhile investment on any guitar.

Happy playing!

 

[butterknucket]

Yeah, as far as I know, most Squires are not standard Strat specs so make sure what you buy will fit it.