If the bads of a new guitar are that you've got to wipe it down, condition the fretboard, and change the strings, congratulations, you've got a guitar with no bads.
@@TheGuitarGeekeveryone is different. Personally I can't stand " budget guitars" the necks were not me and no I'm not buying a new budget guitar to sand down the neck. I rather buy a guitar that fits my hand. And I did to much surprise. Tease Guitar SBH-HD, the neck is amazing and the coils are clear and loud ‼️ The only reason I got the guitar was Torsten's owner view of customer service. And I had the guitar for a month, playing everyday and truly appreciate it ‼️ Would I check out another budget guitar, not unless it is Tease Guitar 🎸
@@TheGuitarGeek I’m not surprised. Some people instantly change when they hear Squier or Guitar Center. For them to both be in the same sentence turns them into guitar hating sleeper agents. It’s a shame really, they’re missing out on some great guitars
@@acousticdoug Agreed. I have a $200 Squier Sonic HT, and even being made in China, I still don't see how they're doing it for the money---it's a really solid guitar
@@TheGuitarGeek Every guitar I have ever purchased at least needed a 100$ setup and different pickups ect ect etc. this is a great mod guitar. It .reminds me of my Harley Benton double humbucker which is a fantastic guitar after modded
Nice guitar for the price but brother you just made my month. I dont normally go for Fender/squire stuff but a while back bought an open box Jim Root Mexi Fender Tele that was deeeeeep discounted because the pickguard was scratched to heck. Looks like someone took it out for a weekend of hard gigging and took it back to GC for a refund lol. Its just a pickguard so for over 600 off I snatched it up. When you pulled off that protective film and said there was another layer I paused the video and pulled that thing out of the case...... YES! The 2nd film was never removed, only the film is scratched up the pick guard underneath is pristine!.
Had one of these in all black. The first batch they did back around 2019 didn't have the belly cut. The second batch they made around 2023 they added in the belly carve which I think made the guitar way way better and I would definitely rebuy the newer ones.
Wish it had a push/pull - split coil so one could take advantage of both a more traditional Tele vs the more modern one. Cool pumpkin/Halloweeny colours..
Parallel humbucking would probably be a better choice; I would add a Free Way 3B3-01 six-way blade switch regardless. Also, a Railhammer Humcutter Nuevo 90 set with black covers would look ace!
@@Robstafarian although a personal choice, I wouldn't put much money into a Squier...for if I'm going to do a lot of alterations than I just assume get a better guitar from the get go...one that had more of the features I wanted !
like my Harley Benton double humbucker tele I would get it set up replace pickups with iron gear blues engines add the coil split and out of phase with a Broadwayswich or push pulls turn a cheap guitar into my number one I actually use it as a jazz box not a metal guitar
@@thehappyheretic2136 I couldn't WAIT to get rid of and sell my HB TE53-KR Keith Richards Tribute Tele with a Humbucker in the neck very much like his "Micawber". ....The porker of a guitar weighed 10lbs ! Took a big hit selling it but was glad to see it go. Harley Bentons are or can be notorious for weighty guitars. IF, and that's a HUGE IF I ever bought another HB, I'd buy it from their Connecticut Reverb distributer to save on the absurd shipping costs from Germany.
@@worthmoremusic The features you described do not cost much in parts or labor, including the effort necessary to develop the skills required; if a Squier guitar is a suitable base to which to add the features you want, then get the Squier and use the price difference to fund the modifications. The only exception to this is concern for resale value, and my own perspective is not to buy (much less modify) a guitar with that in mind.
Orange colour with black hardware is very appealing. ❤ The satin bare neck is a smooth and comfortable plus.🎉 I'd like to add that the D'Addario locking strap is the most versatile I ever saw (thank you Henning for reviewing).
The current Squier range is incredible - very inspiring for a starter or 2nd guitar. They give you so many options and my youngest nephew would love this. Even for old geezers like me they are interesting. I have never owned a Jazzmaster but the Classic Vibe was more lively and fun than a couple of Fenders I have tried. Fun is kind of important too!
The one aspect I dislike is how thin the necks are: my Squier Paranormal Nashville Strat's neck is thinner than my Schecter Omen Elite 6's (20mm to 22mm thickness, same nut width). I might wind up with a spare Warmoth neck (25.4mm thick soft V with no taper, 41.3mm nut width) to try with it.
I've gone to guitar center and played a number of them. My opinion is, they look nice but sound and feel horrible to play. I'm a professional guitar tech so its a bit annoying to see them set up so badly. My guitar's play better. These days, you're stuck with what you buy cause nobody is doing well except the rich. Not to mention, most other manufacturers are doing way more like, stainless steel frets, roasted maple and bone nuts for like 200.
@@ranman58635check out Tease Guitar... I'm not a budget guitar guy but I bought a Tease SBH-HD guitar and it is amazing. The reason I bought it was Torsten's owner view of customer service ❗ I have been playing this guitar for a month and I am shocked how good this guitar is for the money ‼️ Tease Guitar
Something interesting when it comes to coil splitting the humbuckers - on a couple of Squiers I've seen, they actually do have the extra two wires, they're just cut short and hidden away under the tape covering the coil. So, with a little more effort, they can still be split relatively easily. No idea if that's the case here of course
I have a Fender American standard Telecaster HH, one of the ones that they made around 2002-2004 ISH. As soon as I saw them in the Fender catalogue, I wanted one. They had a chrome blue one in the catalogue, and that's the one I wanted, and in 2012, one came up for sale, and snapped it up. I think it was about £550, which sounds unbelievable now, but they were cheaper then. I've have Seymour Duncan Prails put in it, with push pull pots, and it sounds monster! It looks a lot like that Squire, but blue.
I have a candy apple red version in the affinity line called an HH model, which I love and enjoy. It’s about 4 years old now and still looks/plays like new. Go Squire.
Nice Guitar! Several years ago Squire made a Telecaster Contemporary Telecaster in Red Sparkle with Maple Fretboard and Covered Humbucker pickups. I LOVED that Guitar. I did end up selling it to a youngster for his First Guitar and as I had it Setup by my Tech he didn't have to. He REALLY Loves that Guitar probably More than I did! Makes me feel happy that he's Happy!
Andy, your guitar reviews are always among the best out there. When it comes down to it, it's all about the sound of the guitar. You always demonstrate a wide range of RECOGNIZABLE tones. This video illustrates that this model covers a lot of sonic ground ...
I own a contemporary Tele in shoreline gold with the matching headstock, Humbucker, and rail humbucker. Reminds me a bit of this one. The only difference is that mine is more expensive. Beautiful color on this one!
I would have loved that guitar when I was between 12 and 25 since I never used clean tones back then. I'm 46 now and I rarely use clean tones, so I think I would love that guitar today as well. :)
Lovely guitar. The laurel board goes well with the orange body. I've got that new Squier troublemaker tele on order, looking forward to getting that in a few weeks.
A quick Google shows this exact model [Squier Affinity Telecaster HH Electric Guitar With Matching Headstock Metallic Orange] is available at multiple outlets, not 'just' guitar center.
if you see closely, you will recongize that all of this outlets are actually a guitar centers. guitar center here meant not as a brand, this FSR (fender special run) series was made to sell in guitar centers))
They really do keep nailing it. I got (by mistake, yes by mistake) a Sonic Strat recently, and a lot of love clearly went into it. I know my way around basic guitar tech/setup work, and sincerely, that Squier came to me with less issues than a recent Fender Japan Strat. Like any other its a roll of the dice, but if you get a Squier that someone put a lot of care into, they are astoundingly amazing guitars. There are no cheap or expensive guitars (well there are but stick with me). There are only good/well made guitars and everything else.
It’s been a while I’ve been impressed with Squire’s ceramic pickups. They sound sweet. And if you’re ok with ceramics, you can keep them for quite some time.
I love the Tele shape; a lot of people associate Teles with precision and "unforgiving" playing style (if you play a bad note, everyone hears it). Humbuckers were first introduced to the Tele line in the early 70s, 20 years after its original release, so it's hardly sacrilegious to countenance a humbucker or double humbucker Tele in 2024. My 2nd electric was a MiM Tele in cherry red with SH configuration bought back in the late 90s. However much I loved how it felt and looked, I couldn't make it work... there was no TH-cam (or even internet) in those days.. no one I could ask for advice, so I gave up and sold it to a better home. That Squier makes me want to love again.
Squier is like the fun experimental brand these days. Smart of Fender. If one of the Squier concoctions takes off in sales they can bring a version into the Fender lineup.
I'm wondering if Fender is doing themselves a disservice with the Squier brand in general. Obviously they want to sell the expensive Stratocaster series, that's where the money is. But they're making the Squier series so competitive that some players might choose the less expensive guitar
The increased volume would make the difference, and there is a chance that the profit margin is better than many of us would expect (as awful as that would be for the workers).
Amazing that a Squier comes almost perfectly ready to play at under $300, but a $2,000 Thinline I ordered arrived in absolutely unplayable condition - high action, bridge pieces were all fully forward and flat instead of radiused to the fretboard - boom, right back to Sweetwater and I bought an AIO/Wolf TC1 that was set up per my specs at 1/4 the price.
I got this guitar around 5 years ago from musicians friend. I pretty sure I paid 199$ .. I love this guitar. I got mine set up for d standard. Great for a grunge sound. It's definitely a great guitar for the price.
Tongue oil wood briten up the neck & keep it smooth, warmed up in an old wine bottle, no cap , with the bottle in a sauce pan with water, other wise it will blow up , other than that it's an old woodworking trick. Hot tongue oil on open poor wood really brings out the grain & obviously norishes the wood. Sorry for the winded suggestion. Love the channel...
I'm a mediocre player but have a good ear. It definitely has a better sound dirty. It would be a really nice guitar for grunge and metal in my old opinion. Great video. Thanks
I think those are the same pickups used in the Bullet Mustang and I found on my wife's Bullet Mustang that the bridge pickup needed to be raised up to get interesting.
Fender USA does not list this model, regardless of color. If all of those screws are standard, then this is effectively a revision of the Squier Contemporary Tele from a few years ago which allows for easy replacement of the humbuckers: the Contemporary Tele has oversize pickup screws such that the pickguard must be replaced to change the neck humbucker.
I love a good Tele! It's a Firefly, but it out Teles a Tele. It's just the single coils as well. It sounds so good. It's built sturdy with good appointments to it. Edit: That neck pickup is jazzy! Dang, that bridge pickup will sure cut through the mix, and our eardrums! It's a beautiful guitar! All it needs is some good humbuckers and locking tuners. Then it would be banging!
I'd wanted a Fender offset Jazzmaster style guitar for years. When I finally got the money for a MIM, I went to get one. Turns out none of the ones they had gave me that special feel. I saw the Squier Toronado and decided to give it a try. Long story short, after playing it for 45 minutes, I bought it. It needed a little TLC. Action adjustment and intonation. The only negative I found was that the frets required some buffing. I love the feel, and the sound is great. I plug it into a Notaklon with tone at 11 o'clock and drive at 1, right into the amp. The guitar volume and tone knobs are all halfway. All my other guitars are twice to 10 times the price. The Squier is on par with them and a load of fun to play. I brought it to jams, and everyone wanted to try it. Fender is really hitting it out of the ballpark with the Squiers.
Once upon a time, I was a guitar-snob, metal-head, and Teles just weren't on my radar. Then comes along a dude called John 5, and the veil was, not just lifted, but blown off. I bought a Fender Player Tele, put in Seymour Duncan Hot Rails, and I play that guitar a LOT. If I could mod the body, I'd add a 'forearm cut' (like the 'belly cut' but on the front).
Everything about looks/sounds great, especially at the price. I'd really like to see it with coil taps or single coil setup. Still, specs make for solid budget guitar, and that orange metallic is quite the temptation.
this is the third or fourth time they've released this Affinity in this color scheme with matching headstock and each time they jack the price up another $40-$50 , though at least this one comes with a belly carve and lets face it for a guitar under $300 its a looker and sounds great plus you could always upgrade the pick ups down the road , imagine the stock tuning machines would need to be replaced as well. if it had 22 frets it would already be in the cart
Fun review! 17:40 But that is a curiously strange angle? re: "on stage in out-of-box condition?" . Even if you buy a new _car_, one is expected to adjust the seats, controls, etc to their preference.
I have the same guitar, It's rather a rocking machine and I got even some les Paul tones. Its humbuckers 2 wire so I couldnt split coils maybe when I swap humbuckers
Really think they missed a trick not having a coil split for the pickups. I think Teles can sound great with humbuckers, the longer scale length compared to a Les Paul gives it a clarity and "piano-like" quality in the way the notes ring out but having the option to split would have added a heap of versatility, particularly if the pickups split well. Also Andy, I'd say that IS conductive paint, just not the highest quality stuff and they've only given it one coat so that is hasn't actually worked as it should
FYI, I was just informed that Guitar Center no longer does international orders. There is also no stock on this guitar from them. Carry on...nothing to see here. Great review, Andy. Too bad we can't get one.😄
Not exactly the same, but similar to the Squier Contemporary Tele I just got earlier this week. I wanted to scratch the telecaster-itch and it seems either of them do that well. When we see a guitar like this, it makes Epiphone's quality and price all the more confusing.
Kind of curious, just tried to find these and what I found was the exact same guitar released 4 years ago as an FSR, is this a re release of the same model?
Childish humour warning ... An orange and black guitar. Midroll advert for orange and black mens underwear. 😲 Spooky. But then the knockout blow .... 10:40 "Lets have a look at the range of the knobs" 🤭
That fretboard is typical of Indian laurel. A little oil on it, and it'll be outstanding! It's my favorite fretboard material. I wish more brands used it actually. Nothing wrong with rosewood, but I'm partial to Indian laurel. My experience with rosewood, is that especially on inexpensive guitars. There's a tendency to oversand and round edges to deeply. See it most often at the bottom of the fretboard, under the last fret. The rosewood is so soft, the sanders grind right through it, and leave it. That looks like shit. When I buy guitars from Sweetwater especially, I inspect the pictures very thoroughly. It's a commonly butchered area. I'd say a good 30% percent of the ones I looked through, had some rounding at the outside corners of the bottom. That just makes them look cheap. Those corners should be crispy sharp. Not ground down into the neck material. Rosewood is overrated!
Dude. I have a john 5 style tele. I assume the HB pickup rings are standardised across the Squier range? They are NOT the same as Gibbo rings. Can you tell me where to get replacements? As they crack SUPER easy. The whole corner under a screw has broken away on mine.
Looks great, but how 'budget & cheap' is this really compared to real budget non brand guitars? I paid $NZ319 for a humbucker Tele, bone nut, brass saddles ,locking tuners, meaty neck. Spot on out the box. About half of $US 285 for Squier.
Guitar Center should have been sponsoring videos like this one regularly. It's crazy that they haven't embraced the power of social media and it's almost 2025!! I guess it's because the company is controlled by a venture capital group instead of an actual person that loves guitars.
Looking for as many opinions as possible… My daughter is a 10 year old, left handed…limited choice in the mini guitars left handed and also tricky to tune…would she be better getting a Squier mini/Ibanez Mikro/Jackson Dinky or a lighter full size guitar like a Squier Sonic or Affinity?
Would you mind describing her height/wingspan and hand size a bit? I was forced to learn quite a bit about neck geometry because I have spastic cerebral palsy.
@@AVFCAM My first recommendation is an Ibanez GRGM21L, as I recommend hardtails and humbuckers for beginners in part because trying to avoid noise sources with single coils can encourage bad ergonomics. Though it is only available in black, a common problem with left-handed guitars, it at least has some sparkles in it. I suspect that the Gotoh GTC101 bridge may be a clean swap if you are interested, by the way, at least worth measuring. If she still wants to play after growing and can handle the 43mm nut width, then an Ibanez RGA42FML could be a great successor. I should probably mention that I did not intend to focus on a single brand.
@@Robstafarian Ibanez make brilliant guitars at any price point, so it’s hard not to focus on them. Thanks for the advice. I think I need to avoid the mini ones, Harley Benton do a really nice one, but the tuning is different, which complicates things unnecessarily I think.
Squier is and has been making interesting and alternate versions of fender guitars at a reasonable price. Unlike Epiphone, who seem to only be focusing on making slightly less expensive yet still overpriced copies of the Gibson USA line.
@@Duke-sr4pt and that's how you earn some brand loyalty. The fact that whatever budget I have, I can get a guitar that says "Fender" (even if it's sometimes in very little letters) and "Stratocaster" or "Telecaster" etc. means they're always gonna be hard to go past for something else...
@@ThatBrendonGuy Brand loyalty is never good. Loyalty to a particular set of laborers is a different matter, such as buying Wilde Pickups rather than "Bill Lawrence USA" knockoffs.
@@Robstafarian nah, it's blind loyalty that's never good, even to a "particular set of labourers". Just because I might like Fenders/Squiers now, I'm not gonna buy one if it's shit...
@@ThatBrendonGuy What you just described is not brand loyalty; that phrase refers to people who will not buy a product which competes with the brand to which they are loyal, even when it is empirically superior (Marshall held this privilege for decades.). The particular set of laborers are the people who created what you have enjoyed enough to develop a sense of trust. Sometimes, sets of laborers change brands (This was true of some particularly-skilled motherboard designers and firmware engineers in the late-'90s/early-'00s PC overclocking scene.); obviously, outsourcing and ODMs can make this scenario more likely.
@@Robstafarian no that Marshall example is just more blind loyalty. Brand loyalty is when one might play strats instead of strat copies, but brand loyalty is EARNED from a history of the product being GOOD. But if that starts to no longer be the case, that loyalty will fade, unless it's blind. Its possible even the work of those "particular set of labourers" you keep mentioning can start to suffer, there's no use being blindly loyal there either.
If the bads of a new guitar are that you've got to wipe it down, condition the fretboard, and change the strings, congratulations, you've got a guitar with no bads.
I’m with you there. You’d be surprised how many moaners would claim this guitar “sucks” though
@@TheGuitarGeekeveryone is different. Personally I can't stand " budget guitars" the necks were not me and no I'm not buying a new budget guitar to sand down the neck. I rather buy a guitar that fits my hand. And I did to much surprise. Tease Guitar SBH-HD, the neck is amazing and the coils are clear and loud ‼️ The only reason I got the guitar was Torsten's owner view of customer service. And I had the guitar for a month, playing everyday and truly appreciate it ‼️ Would I check out another budget guitar, not unless it is Tease Guitar 🎸
@@TheGuitarGeek I’m not surprised. Some people instantly change when they hear Squier or Guitar Center. For them to both be in the same sentence turns them into guitar hating sleeper agents. It’s a shame really, they’re missing out on some great guitars
@@acousticdoug Agreed. I have a $200 Squier Sonic HT, and even being made in China, I still don't see how they're doing it for the money---it's a really solid guitar
@@TheGuitarGeek Every guitar I have ever purchased at least needed a 100$ setup and different pickups ect ect etc. this is a great mod guitar. It .reminds me of my Harley Benton double humbucker which is a fantastic guitar after modded
Nice guitar for the price but brother you just made my month. I dont normally go for Fender/squire stuff but a while back bought an open box Jim Root Mexi Fender Tele that was deeeeeep discounted because the pickguard was scratched to heck. Looks like someone took it out for a weekend of hard gigging and took it back to GC for a refund lol. Its just a pickguard so for over 600 off I snatched it up. When you pulled off that protective film and said there was another layer I paused the video and pulled that thing out of the case...... YES! The 2nd film was never removed, only the film is scratched up the pick guard underneath is pristine!.
Nice man. 👍
Right. Now, all you have to do is get it relic'd.
@@Captain-Obvious1 why in the world would I do that
Had one of these in all black. The first batch they did back around 2019 didn't have the belly cut. The second batch they made around 2023 they added in the belly carve which I think made the guitar way way better and I would definitely rebuy the newer ones.
always nice to hear a fender(ish) guitar being played through a fender amp. 😊
Tele's with Humbuckers are my favorite guitars. A Tele body just sits on my lap more comfortably than Les Pauls, or Gibson style guitars.
Wish it had a push/pull - split coil so one could take advantage of both a more traditional Tele vs the more modern one. Cool pumpkin/Halloweeny colours..
Parallel humbucking would probably be a better choice; I would add a Free Way 3B3-01 six-way blade switch regardless. Also, a Railhammer Humcutter Nuevo 90 set with black covers would look ace!
@@Robstafarian although a personal choice, I wouldn't put much money into a Squier...for if I'm going to do a lot of alterations than I just assume get a better guitar from the get go...one that had more of the features I wanted !
like my Harley Benton double humbucker tele I would get it set up replace pickups with iron gear blues engines add the coil split and out of phase with a Broadwayswich or push pulls turn a cheap guitar into my number one I actually use it as a jazz box not a metal guitar
@@thehappyheretic2136 I couldn't WAIT to get rid of and sell my HB TE53-KR Keith Richards Tribute Tele with a Humbucker in the neck very much like his "Micawber". ....The porker of a guitar weighed 10lbs ! Took a big hit selling it but was glad to see it go. Harley Bentons are or can be notorious for weighty guitars. IF, and that's a HUGE IF I ever bought another HB, I'd buy it from their Connecticut Reverb distributer to save on the absurd shipping costs from Germany.
@@worthmoremusic The features you described do not cost much in parts or labor, including the effort necessary to develop the skills required; if a Squier guitar is a suitable base to which to add the features you want, then get the Squier and use the price difference to fund the modifications. The only exception to this is concern for resale value, and my own perspective is not to buy (much less modify) a guitar with that in mind.
Orange colour with black hardware is very appealing. ❤ The satin bare neck is a smooth and comfortable plus.🎉
I'd like to add that the D'Addario locking strap is the most versatile I ever saw (thank you Henning for reviewing).
I really do like that color, wish it came in a left handed model as well.
Same here. The current range of Squiers available as a lefty is poor.
@@TheWinterwraith Epiphone has a lot more leftys than Squier, I thought they were competing against each other.
@@markmcdonald5711 Yeah Gibson/Epiphone have a much wider choice across the board than Fender/Squier. It’s sad..
The current Squier range is incredible - very inspiring for a starter or 2nd guitar. They give you so many options and my youngest nephew would love this.
Even for old geezers like me they are interesting. I have never owned a Jazzmaster but the Classic Vibe was more lively and fun than a couple of Fenders I have tried. Fun is kind of important too!
There's nothing wrong with Squier Guitars these days, they are totally useable for home and gigging! They just seem to get better every year!
They are certainly getting more fun and a little more “exotic “
@@TheGuitarGeek I am liking the way they keep experimenting, like some of the shell pink contemporary series look awesome
The one aspect I dislike is how thin the necks are: my Squier Paranormal Nashville Strat's neck is thinner than my Schecter Omen Elite 6's (20mm to 22mm thickness, same nut width). I might wind up with a spare Warmoth neck (25.4mm thick soft V with no taper, 41.3mm nut width) to try with it.
I've gone to guitar center and played a number of them. My opinion is, they look nice but sound and feel horrible to play. I'm a professional guitar tech so its a bit annoying to see them set up so badly. My guitar's play better. These days, you're stuck with what you buy cause nobody is doing well except the rich. Not to mention, most other manufacturers are doing way more like, stainless steel frets, roasted maple and bone nuts for like 200.
@@ranman58635check out Tease Guitar... I'm not a budget guitar guy but I bought a Tease SBH-HD guitar and it is amazing. The reason I bought it was Torsten's owner view of customer service ❗ I have been playing this guitar for a month and I am shocked how good this guitar is for the money ‼️ Tease Guitar
Something interesting when it comes to coil splitting the humbuckers - on a couple of Squiers I've seen, they actually do have the extra two wires, they're just cut short and hidden away under the tape covering the coil. So, with a little more effort, they can still be split relatively easily. No idea if that's the case here of course
Looks pretty cool and unique. Squier rocks it right now!
I have a Fender American standard Telecaster HH, one of the ones that they made around 2002-2004 ISH. As soon as I saw them in the Fender catalogue, I wanted one. They had a chrome blue one in the catalogue, and that's the one I wanted, and in 2012, one came up for sale, and snapped it up. I think it was about £550, which sounds unbelievable now, but they were cheaper then. I've have Seymour Duncan Prails put in it, with push pull pots, and it sounds monster! It looks a lot like that Squire, but blue.
I have a candy apple red version in the affinity line called an HH model, which I love and enjoy. It’s about 4 years old now and still looks/plays like new. Go Squire.
Nice Guitar! Several years ago Squire made a Telecaster Contemporary Telecaster in Red Sparkle with Maple Fretboard and Covered Humbucker pickups. I LOVED that Guitar. I did end up selling it to a youngster for his First Guitar and as I had it Setup by my Tech he didn't have to. He REALLY Loves that Guitar probably More than I did! Makes me feel happy that he's Happy!
Andy, your guitar reviews are always among the best out there. When it comes down to it, it's all about the sound of the guitar. You always demonstrate a wide range of RECOGNIZABLE tones. This video illustrates that this model covers a lot of sonic ground ...
I own a contemporary Tele in shoreline gold with the matching headstock, Humbucker, and rail humbucker. Reminds me a bit of this one. The only difference is that mine is more expensive. Beautiful color on this one!
I would have loved that guitar when I was between 12 and 25 since I never used clean tones back then. I'm 46 now and I rarely use clean tones, so I think I would love that guitar today as well. :)
That's a gorgeous Tele!
Lovely guitar. The laurel board goes well with the orange body. I've got that new Squier troublemaker tele on order, looking forward to getting that in a few weeks.
A quick Google shows this exact model [Squier Affinity Telecaster HH Electric Guitar With Matching Headstock Metallic Orange] is available at multiple outlets, not 'just' guitar center.
Do those other outlets share ownership, like Musician's Friend?
if you see closely, you will recongize that all of this outlets are actually a guitar centers. guitar center here meant not as a brand, this FSR (fender special run) series was made to sell in guitar centers))
They really do keep nailing it. I got (by mistake, yes by mistake) a Sonic Strat recently, and a lot of love clearly went into it. I know my way around basic guitar tech/setup work, and sincerely, that Squier came to me with less issues than a recent Fender Japan Strat. Like any other its a roll of the dice, but if you get a Squier that someone put a lot of care into, they are astoundingly amazing guitars. There are no cheap or expensive guitars (well there are but stick with me). There are only good/well made guitars and everything else.
It’s been a while I’ve been impressed with Squire’s ceramic pickups. They sound sweet. And if you’re ok with ceramics, you can keep them for quite some time.
I love the Tele shape; a lot of people associate Teles with precision and "unforgiving" playing style (if you play a bad note, everyone hears it). Humbuckers were first introduced to the Tele line in the early 70s, 20 years after its original release, so it's hardly sacrilegious to countenance a humbucker or double humbucker Tele in 2024. My 2nd electric was a MiM Tele in cherry red with SH configuration bought back in the late 90s. However much I loved how it felt and looked, I couldn't make it work... there was no TH-cam (or even internet) in those days.. no one I could ask for advice, so I gave up and sold it to a better home. That Squier makes me want to love again.
Many a Tele fan might consider the CBS era to be heretical.
Squier is like the fun experimental brand these days. Smart of Fender. If one of the Squier concoctions takes off in sales they can bring a version into the Fender lineup.
That Tele color is awesome!
I have this exact one, bought at Thomann, year or two ago. It came as FSR for that year.
Damn it Andy! Now I gotta get one! That color is nice and the belly cut I'm digging!
Awesome. Really pretty.
I had this guitar for a while but hated the cheap hardware so I eventually got rid of it to a pawn shop for cash 😊
These things are insanely good! Fender is sick of Harley Benton eating their lunch!
I'm wondering if Fender is doing themselves a disservice with the Squier brand in general. Obviously they want to sell the expensive Stratocaster series, that's where the money is. But they're making the Squier series so competitive that some players might choose the less expensive guitar
The increased volume would make the difference, and there is a chance that the profit margin is better than many of us would expect (as awful as that would be for the workers).
Looks like a great platform for a Jonny Greenwood Tele Plus mod.
Change the scratch plate and add some Lace Sensors.
Amazing that a Squier comes almost perfectly ready to play at under $300, but a $2,000 Thinline I ordered arrived in absolutely unplayable condition - high action, bridge pieces were all fully forward and flat instead of radiused to the fretboard - boom, right back to Sweetwater and I bought an AIO/Wolf TC1 that was set up per my specs at 1/4 the price.
I got this guitar around 5 years ago from musicians friend. I pretty sure I paid 199$ .. I love this guitar. I got mine set up for d standard. Great for a grunge sound. It's definitely a great guitar for the price.
Great Revue, Mate
I love that color, hope it turns out to be a good, affordable guitar.
Tongue oil wood briten up the neck & keep it smooth, warmed up in an old wine bottle, no cap , with the bottle in a sauce pan with water, other wise it will blow up , other than that it's an old woodworking trick. Hot tongue oil on open poor wood really brings out the grain & obviously norishes the wood. Sorry for the winded suggestion. Love the channel...
Authentic dust? Get it on Reverb!
I'm a mediocre player but have a good ear. It definitely has a better sound dirty. It would be a really nice guitar for grunge and metal in my old opinion. Great video. Thanks
I think those are the same pickups used in the Bullet Mustang and I found on my wife's Bullet Mustang that the bridge pickup needed to be raised up to get interesting.
Such a great sound and color
Fender USA does not list this model, regardless of color. If all of those screws are standard, then this is effectively a revision of the Squier Contemporary Tele from a few years ago which allows for easy replacement of the humbuckers: the Contemporary Tele has oversize pickup screws such that the pickguard must be replaced to change the neck humbucker.
I love a good Tele! It's a Firefly, but it out Teles a Tele. It's just the single coils as well. It sounds so good. It's built sturdy with good appointments to it.
Edit: That neck pickup is jazzy! Dang, that bridge pickup will sure cut through the mix, and our eardrums!
It's a beautiful guitar! All it needs is some good humbuckers and locking tuners. Then it would be banging!
Sweet guitar also... I'm stealing that lick you did at 4:50. lol
I'd wanted a Fender offset Jazzmaster style guitar for years. When I finally got the money for a MIM, I went to get one. Turns out none of the ones they had gave me that special feel. I saw the Squier Toronado and decided to give it a try.
Long story short, after playing it for 45 minutes, I bought it.
It needed a little TLC. Action adjustment and intonation.
The only negative I found was that the frets required some buffing.
I love the feel, and the sound is great. I plug it into a Notaklon with tone at 11 o'clock and drive at 1, right into the amp. The guitar volume and tone knobs are all halfway.
All my other guitars are twice to 10 times the price. The Squier is on par with them and a load of fun to play. I brought it to jams, and everyone wanted to try it.
Fender is really hitting it out of the ballpark with the Squiers.
The trouble is that Fender keeps discontinuing the unique Squiers, like that Toronado.
Once upon a time, I was a guitar-snob, metal-head, and Teles just weren't on my radar. Then comes along a dude called John 5, and the veil was, not just lifted, but blown off. I bought a Fender Player Tele, put in Seymour Duncan Hot Rails, and I play that guitar a LOT. If I could mod the body, I'd add a 'forearm cut' (like the 'belly cut' but on the front).
Who? The robot from Short Circuit?
Everything about looks/sounds great, especially at the price. I'd really like to see it with coil taps or single coil setup. Still, specs make for solid budget guitar, and that orange metallic is quite the temptation.
to me, per HP42, all guitars should come with locking tuners, the end
I need to give Squire a second chance. Had one back in the 90's and it wasn't great, but the vibe and QC seems spot on these days.
this is the third or fourth time they've released this Affinity in this color scheme with matching headstock and each time they jack the price up another $40-$50 , though at least this one comes with a belly carve and lets face it for a guitar under $300 its a looker and sounds great plus you could always upgrade the pick ups down the road , imagine the stock tuning machines would need to be replaced as well. if it had 22 frets it would already be in the cart
Fun review! 17:40 But that is a curiously strange angle? re: "on stage in out-of-box condition?" . Even if you buy a new _car_, one is expected to adjust the seats, controls, etc to their preference.
These are actually old models, Squier sold these Pre Covid days around 2018, they were $179 then..they also had em in black
Wanting a lefty Tele with humbuckers, ESP makes one with a single humbucker but I would prefer dual. Come on Squier, get your lefty act together.
This is a friendly reminder that DC resistance is not a measure of output. If you want to measure output, then measure inductance at about 120Hz.
Appreciate it but it’s the universally accepted method.
It’s how Seymour Duncan does it and that’s good enough for me.
@@TheGuitarGeek How is the culture to progress if we repeat mistakes despite knowing better?
I have the same guitar, It's rather a rocking machine and I got even some les Paul tones. Its humbuckers 2 wire so I couldnt split coils maybe when I swap humbuckers
Squier should offer matching headstocks on all their guitars.
Oh yes please
a Fishman Fluence is what it gets into my mind with that.
It amazes me that the Affinity line is coming in around $300 now. They used to be $150-200.
I want the mocha flame top version with neck humbucker. Looks glorious.
I haven’t seen this!
@@TheGuitarGeek They are referring to an SH model.
i see u with those radiohead tunes
monty's espresso wax
Really think they missed a trick not having a coil split for the pickups. I think Teles can sound great with humbuckers, the longer scale length compared to a Les Paul gives it a clarity and "piano-like" quality in the way the notes ring out but having the option to split would have added a heap of versatility, particularly if the pickups split well.
Also Andy, I'd say that IS conductive paint, just not the highest quality stuff and they've only given it one coat so that is hasn't actually worked as it should
FYI, I was just informed that Guitar Center no longer does international orders. There is also no stock on this guitar from them. Carry on...nothing to see here. Great review, Andy. Too bad we can't get one.😄
Uh-oh... I'm starting to feel my GAS acting up again...! 😁
Excellent review, Andy!
A comparisson to the new Squier paranormal trouble maker would be intresting.
Matching headstock for the win🎉
Matching headstock beats non-matching headstock every time
I am working on a 1 humbucker Esquire with the 3 way going series/parallel/single (maybe not in this order)
If you use an asymmetrical humbucker, then a four-way blade switch can be interesting: series, split to screw coil, split to slug coil, parallel.
You sold me at 'free dust.' 😀
My only gripe is the neck to body heel needs a contour. They are so uncomfortable when playing higher up. Other than that it looks like my style!!
if only they had cheap guitars like this when I was starting out
I thought about buying one of these as a mod platform.
Sorry, not available at GC right now in either color.
This has been released before. I have mine at the studio. And we dont have guitar center. So this seems weird. But a good guitar.
For that money, if you like the look of the guitar, I like the look of the guitar 🙂 Its definitely at a price where you could easily mod it!
Not exactly the same, but similar to the Squier Contemporary Tele I just got earlier this week. I wanted to scratch the telecaster-itch and it seems either of them do that well.
When we see a guitar like this, it makes Epiphone's quality and price all the more confusing.
Beautiful ❤❤❤
This is okay but I like the G & L much better in build neck feel and PUP quality. Leo spanked the Squier with the ASAT
it is the magic tone dust that make this 6 string
do you recommend it?
Kind of curious, just tried to find these and what I found was the exact same guitar released 4 years ago as an FSR, is this a re release of the same model?
Childish humour warning ...
An orange and black guitar.
Midroll advert for orange and black mens underwear. 😲
Spooky.
But then the knockout blow ....
10:40 "Lets have a look at the range of the knobs"
🤭
No WAY!!!! 😂😂😂
That fretboard is typical of Indian laurel. A little oil on it, and it'll be outstanding! It's my favorite fretboard material. I wish more brands used it actually. Nothing wrong with rosewood, but I'm partial to Indian laurel.
My experience with rosewood, is that especially on inexpensive guitars. There's a tendency to oversand and round edges to deeply. See it most often at the bottom of the fretboard, under the last fret. The rosewood is so soft, the sanders grind right through it, and leave it. That looks like shit. When I buy guitars from Sweetwater especially, I inspect the pictures very thoroughly. It's a commonly butchered area. I'd say a good 30% percent of the ones I looked through, had some rounding at the outside corners of the bottom. That just makes them look cheap. Those corners should be crispy sharp. Not ground down into the neck material.
Rosewood is overrated!
Dude. I have a john 5 style tele. I assume the HB pickup rings are standardised across the Squier range?
They are NOT the same as Gibbo rings. Can you tell me where to get replacements? As they crack SUPER easy. The whole corner under a screw has broken away on mine.
Looks great, but how 'budget & cheap' is this really compared to real budget non brand guitars? I paid $NZ319 for a humbucker Tele, bone nut, brass saddles ,locking tuners, meaty neck. Spot on out the box. About half of $US 285 for Squier.
Nice guitar! Needs a P90 in the neck 🙂
Have you considered a Railhammer Humcutter Nuevo 90?
Guitar Center should have been sponsoring videos like this one regularly. It's crazy that they haven't embraced the power of social media and it's almost 2025!! I guess it's because the company is controlled by a venture capital group instead of an actual person that loves guitars.
Private equity will come for us all eventually.
Yes putting a nail through it is the best thing for it. Not really. Squire make great guitars. Cooler brand than epiphone.
Check out the Epi SG classic. Those P90s get huge with fuzz.
That's probably the best Les Paul that you can buy for the money ;)
Ha ha ha. I'm not sure there's another guitar that I would take over this one, but it is twice as expensive
"So, let's pop a strap on" - Andy 🤣🤣
does anyone know if this guitar is heavy or not?
I want a hb tele but not if it ways over 9lbs
What’s in the box Andy?
I prefer Squire Contemporary Tele RH, of course that was a hundred bucks more …
I just bought a car that color a couple months ago and commented I needed to find a Telecaster in Metallic Orange and Black! Serendipity!
Does look Niiiiccceeeee
Id like to know what genius decided to put an output jack in the only place they could so you can't sit on a couch and plug into an amp
Dust = polishing compound?
GC exclusive color. This might be the smartest thing GC has done in a decade. Or maybe the only smart decision lol.
Looking for as many opinions as possible…
My daughter is a 10 year old, left handed…limited choice in the mini guitars left handed and also tricky to tune…would she be better getting a Squier mini/Ibanez Mikro/Jackson Dinky or a lighter full size guitar like a Squier Sonic or Affinity?
Would you mind describing her height/wingspan and hand size a bit? I was forced to learn quite a bit about neck geometry because I have spastic cerebral palsy.
@@Robstafarian she’s about 139cm tall…
@@Robstafarian hand size average for her age…
@@AVFCAM My first recommendation is an Ibanez GRGM21L, as I recommend hardtails and humbuckers for beginners in part because trying to avoid noise sources with single coils can encourage bad ergonomics. Though it is only available in black, a common problem with left-handed guitars, it at least has some sparkles in it. I suspect that the Gotoh GTC101 bridge may be a clean swap if you are interested, by the way, at least worth measuring.
If she still wants to play after growing and can handle the 43mm nut width, then an Ibanez RGA42FML could be a great successor. I should probably mention that I did not intend to focus on a single brand.
@@Robstafarian Ibanez make brilliant guitars at any price point, so it’s hard not to focus on them. Thanks for the advice. I think I need to avoid the mini ones, Harley Benton do a really nice one, but the tuning is different, which complicates things unnecessarily I think.
Squier is and has been making interesting and alternate versions of fender guitars at a reasonable price. Unlike Epiphone, who seem to only be focusing on making slightly less expensive yet still overpriced copies of the Gibson USA line.
@@Duke-sr4pt and that's how you earn some brand loyalty. The fact that whatever budget I have, I can get a guitar that says "Fender" (even if it's sometimes in very little letters) and "Stratocaster" or "Telecaster" etc. means they're always gonna be hard to go past for something else...
@@ThatBrendonGuy Brand loyalty is never good. Loyalty to a particular set of laborers is a different matter, such as buying Wilde Pickups rather than "Bill Lawrence USA" knockoffs.
@@Robstafarian nah, it's blind loyalty that's never good, even to a "particular set of labourers". Just because I might like Fenders/Squiers now, I'm not gonna buy one if it's shit...
@@ThatBrendonGuy What you just described is not brand loyalty; that phrase refers to people who will not buy a product which competes with the brand to which they are loyal, even when it is empirically superior (Marshall held this privilege for decades.). The particular set of laborers are the people who created what you have enjoyed enough to develop a sense of trust. Sometimes, sets of laborers change brands (This was true of some particularly-skilled motherboard designers and firmware engineers in the late-'90s/early-'00s PC overclocking scene.); obviously, outsourcing and ODMs can make this scenario more likely.
@@Robstafarian no that Marshall example is just more blind loyalty. Brand loyalty is when one might play strats instead of strat copies, but brand loyalty is EARNED from a history of the product being GOOD. But if that starts to no longer be the case, that loyalty will fade, unless it's blind. Its possible even the work of those "particular set of labourers" you keep mentioning can start to suffer, there's no use being blindly loyal there either.